The Baron of Magister Valley

by Steven Brust

Hardcover, 2020

Call number

813.54

Publication

Tor Books (2020), 448 pages

Description

Reader, you will undoubtedly have had the misfortune of consuming the rotten fruit of fallacies that we--Paarfi of Roundwood (esteemed historian of House of Hawk and exquisite artisan of truths)--"borrow" our factual recount of Dragaeran history from some obscure fellow who goes by the name Al Dumas or some silly nomenclature of that nature.The salacious claims that The Baron of Magister Valley bears any resemblance to a certain nearly fictional narrative about an infamous count are unfounded (we do not dabble in tall tales. The occasional moderately stretched? Yes. But never tall).Our tale is that of a nobleman who is betrayed by those he trusted, and subsequently imprisoned. After centuries of confinement, he contrives to escape and prepares to avenge himself against his betrayers. A mirror image of The Count of Monte Cristo, vitrolic naysayers still grouse? Well, that is nearly and utterly false.… (more)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2020-07-28

Physical description

9.58 inches

ISBN

1250311470 / 9781250311474

User reviews

LibraryThing member eyes.2c
Dragaera! Surely a fascinating place!

Steven Brust, one of my fav authors. Such a pleasure to be back in Dragaera, with all it's intrigues and different Houses that make up part of this world, it's magic and sorcery. Indeed I'd forgotten the wordy ways of some of the Dragaerans.
This tale as related
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by the pompous historian and self acclaimed storyteller, "Paarfi of Roundwood (esteemed historian of House of Hawk and exquisite artisan of truths)" in a convoluted and drawn out manner, uses a very precious and exacting style, à la Alexander Dumas.
He delights in giving drawn out explanations to us mere mortal aficionados about everything from philosophical theories to reasons why he doesn't include some information. Underneath the effusion of verbose language is a fascinating story of betrayal and revenge, hope and justice.
Two Houses suffer at the hands of those who are greedy and corrupt. (Indeed that corruption stems from near to the highest in the land.)
The scion of one House is bundled off to an illegal jail. Those of another spend many years one step ahead of pursuers.
This is all set during at the time when the Orb, the source of the Empire's power fails, sowing disruption and discord across the Empire, including failure of authority.
I love Steven Brust's writing and have read almost all of his works. This latest contribution to the world of Dragaera is for me a winner!

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley
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LibraryThing member quondame
A pre-interregnum Monte Cristo type tale that gets lightly over the post escape machinations if nothing else. Lots of authorial ranting, so that were the work not fantasy it would be utterly self indulgent. It is, however very Brust.
LibraryThing member rivkat
On further thought, I still find the mocking-old-fashioned style of “I want to know X,” “Oh, you want to know X?” “I have hardly wanted anything else for a week now” more unpleasant to read than not. The basic story is of a young man betrayed and imprisoned in a secret jail for hundreds
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of years, while he learns all the skills and his fiancee and her brother, orphaned in the same course of shenanigans, struggle to survive. You may recognize the outlines from the Count of Monte Cristo, but it is very integrated into Dragaeran lingo.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This is the rare standalone story in the Dragaeran Novels by Steven Brust. Not part of any of the previous stores, it is written in homage of the Count of Monte Cristo, but of course, with a different slant in it. It has everything you could want from a novel, from conspirators, secret prisons,
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revenge, lost family, etc etc. Its a fun romp through Dragaera.
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