Subject: In Which the Plot of "The Viscount of Adrilankha", Much in the Manner of a Lady Who Has Dared to Sport a Bold New Style, Is Discussed (which discussion contains information that may spoil certain surprises to the reader unfamiliar with the volume "Paths of the Dead"). It is not our intent to bore the assumed reader (for, in this mode of communication, by which we mean electronic mail, or 'email', we can only hope that the subject line which we have had the honor of appending to this missive has intrigued as least one recipient out of so large a distribution enough that he chooses to peruse these words, rather than discarding them unopened and unread) with trivialities, that is to say matters which he pretends need no more though; we instead hope to present a few words on a subject that is at once of interest to both the author and the reader. Should the reader instead feel that discussion on the topic treated in the subject line of this missive can hold no intricacies for the agile mind to glory upon for several moments, he is invited to move on to other emails which have no doubt arrived in his inbox that, we have been assured, discourse at length on such meaningful topics as how the laws of a certain country may be modified so as to best suit both a mayfly and a tortoise, and which of a certain author's works most or least entertained the respondents' left eye (though, to be sure, we hope the two topics are addressed in separate messages for we are at a loss to discern who they may relate, one to the other). That having been said and now that we feel comfortable that we have suitably directed the attention of the reader toward the topic which he may find of most interest at the moment, let us say a few words about the Plot of the novel "The Viscount of Adrilankha", of which we hold in our hands the first third, that volume entitled "The Paths of the Dead". Thus far in the story that Mr. Brust has done himself the honor of translating the action has been primarily driven by the plot of, not surprisingly, the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode, the goal of which pretends to be the restoration of the Empire whose destruction was treated in "Five Hundred Years After". We are so informed in nearly these exact works by several different principle players in the drama that unfurls before us, and yet we wonder (for wondering, we have often been told, is a sign of intelligence; we therefore endeavor to partake of this pastime each day) what prompted the actions of the Enchantress. Hitherto the Interregnum seemed to be passing slowly: if the Plagues had abated we are sure they will erupt again; if certain warlords were rising we are sure others were, at the same time, in the process of falling. The gods themselves pretended to be taken aback at the "involvement" of Sethra Lavode (could it be they were unaware that she had, in fact, precipitated the events which they discussed?). Was it merely the age of the Phoenix Heir that the Enchantress was waiting for her to attain? Yet why then would she involve the title character of the novel, who is Piro, the Viscount of Adrilankha, and who we are assured us a good deal younger than the Phoenix Heir? Perhaps there are events of which we are unaware that prompted the Enchantress to action at that particular moment in history. If so, is it likely we will learn what these pivotal events happened to be now that the moment in which they no doubt occurred has passed in this current history? Or is it a whim of the author to keep such information he possesses on the subject a secret until such time as it is most amusing to him to let is loose upon his unsuspecting readership? We therefore solicit the input of those readers who pretend to have some conjecture or other offering on the subject we have had the honor to bring forward though, needless to say, such contributions need not be written in the same style which we have presented our words, in the interests of both file size and, we regret to admit, readability. Signed, Michelle of Gateway-to-the-Bay (Her crest, titles, and lineage block omitted, confident in the fact that the reader has missed nothing.) ===== Michelle "Brevity is the soul of wit." __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com