The Guardians

Sixth and final volume in “The Emperor’s Library,” “The Guardians” is told by three of the main characters introduced in “The Chronophage”—Nan, Rake, and Lim—and takes place immediately after the events of that novel. It returns the reader to settings familiar from earlier books in the series, as well as to wholly new locations: Bright Star, a city of gem-cutters in the mountains south of Gort, where the Guardians live in their vast fortress; Sillery Taun, where an ageless race await the return of the First Men, who reshaped the planet thousands of years in the past; and Port Axor, a town founded by the Empress Zoë at a location first encountered in “The Flight from Kar.” Circumstances diSixth and final volume in “The Emperor’s Library,” “The Guardians” is told by three of the main characters introduced in “The Chronophage”—Nan, Rake, and Lim—and takes place immediately after the events of that novel. It returns the reader to settings familiar from earlier books in the series, as well as to wholly new locationsvide the three protagonists. Lim teaches himself to read ancient books in the Guardian’s library, where he studies side-by-side with an alien creature; Nan and her brother Filo use an equally ancient technology to travel between Sillery Taun and the Empire, where she is wooed by three very different suitors; and Rake, using no technology whatsoever, finds himself a boyfriend and becomes confidant of a prince who paints cabbages.
With the death of the Emperor, civil war threatens the Empire and prejudice against the Rand becomes open warfare—a struggle that briefly reunites the main characters, but then sends them off again in different directions.
Beneath the counterpoint of these varied stories, a narrative of the planet’s hisBeneath the counterpoint of these varied stories, a narrative of the planet’s history unfolds and we learn how the final events in “The Clavis” now threaten the survival of civilization. tory unfolds and we learn how the final events in “The Clavis” now threaten the survival of civilization. “The Guardians” is about return to and recovery of the past, but it is also about the limits of knowledge and the inevitable passing of human achievement.