I'm doing a reread of all the books Steven Brust's Dragaera Universe, and this one is an oddball one - set in an Easterner Kingdom of Fenario, it follows the story of Miklos, the youngest brother of four Princes, who questions everything, much to his oldest brothers dismay. This leads to a fight, where Miklos leaves the kingdom to spend time in the Elf Kingdom, learning a few things about magic, and life.

This book is entirely different than the other books set in this world. Set in a falling down castle, with ties of tradition vs change, It is melancholy personified. On a reread as an adult, I found that I missed most of the theme, its not a simple book, although it is written simply.

One last thing, If you do read this with any other of the Dragaeron Novels, I'd suggest pairing it with "The Phoenix Guards", since one of the founding events of Fenario is written in Phoenix Guards. The difference between a myth in one story, and fact in another is interesting. ( )

Synopsis: A stand-alone fantasy set in the world of Steven Brust's bestselling "Vlad Taltos" novels. Once upon a time . . . far to the East of the Dragaeran Empire, four brothers ruled in Fenario: King Laszlo, a good man — though perhaps a little mad; Prince Andor, a clever man — though perhaps a little shallow; Prince Vilmos, a strong man — though perhaps a little stupid; and Prince Miklos, the youngest brother, perhaps a little — no, a lot-stubborn. Once upon a time . . . there were four brothers; a goddess; a wizard; an enigmatic talking stallion; a very hungry dragon; and, a crumbling, broken-down palace with hungry jhereg circling overhead.

My Thoughts and Reactions: It felt like I was reading a faerie tale, a fable or some other sort of morality play. The Interludes between chapters sometimes worked and sometimes just distracted me. I felt one-step removed from the characters. The story led me along and attempted to hammer home its point or moral, but I felt it missed the mark slightly.

Action sequences were limited to a dragon hunt that lasted one chapter and the nearly irrational behavior of King Laszlo and his obsession with the Palace. Characters developed and matured, but nothing was tied up neatly with a bow at the end. I surmise I finished this so quickly because of prevalent dialogue, although somewhat lacking in wit most of the time. ( )

Brokedown Palace combines my two favorite things about Brust's writing (other than Dumas pastiche) - Hungarian fables and Dragaera. The only reason it took me so long to get to it was that I was under the totally mistaken impression that it must be somehow related to the Claire Danes/Kate Beckinsdale movie of the same name.

It's an odd little book, and raises more questions than it answers in terms of the Dragaera mythos, but it's definitely worth reading. ( )

Brokedown Palace is in a vastly different style than the other Dragaera books (and it's not technically a Dragaera book, as it's set in the East) but that's just one of the things I adore about this universe. This one's very folktale-y, with enough surrealistic magical things to make you really, really wonder. ( )

A clumsily constructed, pointless story containing a morally badgering fable that is being rammed down the readers throat without finesse or fingerspitzengefühl.
None of the characters are the least bit interesting or believable. The excessive narrative exercises seems to be more for the sake of the author than the reader - although the 'wink-wink, nudge-nudge' tone aimed at the reader only makes it worse.
Some of the dialog is so misplaced and lacking in pace as to make it almost impossible to understand. ( )