Who's playing with whom?

Book Review:  Orca by Steven Brust

Still on the run from the Jhereg, Vlad seeks help for Savn.  It's been a year since the events of Athyra and Savn has been mostly catatonic since he saved Vlad's life by using a Morganti weapon to kill his own lord.  On the outskirts of Northport, a Tsalmoth hedge wizard (whose name Vlad can't pronounce) agrees to help, no questions asked, but asks that Vlad help her in return.  She's being evicted from the home she shared with her husband and she wants to stay.

Who actually holds the deed to the land is much more difficult to determine than it should be.  Vlad pulls in Kiera the Thief to help.  The land appears to be connected to a prominent financier who recently died under suspicious circumstances.  With the paperwork Kiera lifts from his home, they determine that Fyres was a master con artist -- he appeared to be wealthy but his companies were shells -- so many loans were involved from various banks and Houses that the inevitable defaults will have serious consequences for the Empire.  

The seventh book in the series brings us back into the twisted political intrigue of the Dragaeran Empire.  I wasn't all that invested in figuring out the connections between Fyres, the banks, the tenants, etc -- I knew Vlad would eventually spell it out for us -- so I just enjoyed watching him and Kiera in action.  We see a lot more of Kiera this time -- she's present throughout the entire story and narrates most of it.  It was interesting seeing Vlad through her perspective, "Sometimes I forget just how devious he is and how good he is at improvising, and his skill at calculating odds and pulling off improbable gambits.  Sometimes he thinks he's better at these than he actually is, and it is likely to get him killed one of these days."  

We not only see Vlad through Kiera's perspective, but we also see something of her relationship with Cawti.  They remain in contact and through this we learn that Cawti misses Vlad but still believes they can't be together.  And Kiera knows things about each of them that she chooses not to share, some things because they aren't ready to share them with each other, but some things for her own reasons.  Although we learn a lot about Kiera in this book, including her reason for watching over Vlad, her motivations remain mostly mysterious.

Scenes to look forward to:  Vlad tries to disguise himself as a Dragaeran, which involves shaving his mustache, wearing a wig, and swaggering in ridiculously high platform boots.  Big reveals about Kiera and Cawti. 

Everything is worth examining

Book Review:  Athyra by Steven Brust

More than two years have passed between the events of Phoenix and Vlad's arrival in a farming community far from the city.  He's still in hiding from the Jhereg and he's lost a finger somewhere along the way.  His arrival is quickly followed by the mysterious death of a local -- a local who years before had helped Vlad sneak into a certain nearby Athyran necromancer's castle.  Coincidence?  Vlad thinks not.  He determines to take out Loraan, once and for all.  That is, if the villagers don't take him out first.  It seems too big of a coincidence to them, that one of their own dies of no obvious causes, days after an Easterner is seen in town.

The sixth book in the Vlad Taltos series is . . . different.  It's narrated by a young Teckla named Savn.  After a chance meeting on the road, Savn becomes fascinated with Vlad.  He chooses to spend time with the Easterner, despite the cold looks the other villagers give him.  And for the first time in his life, he questions things he had always assumed to be true.  

It's interesting to see Vlad from someone else's perspective but it sets a much slower pace for the story.  Savn is young and thoughtful.  He's intrigued by Vlad and troubled by Vlad's past as an assassin.  He's likeable but lacks Vlad's charisma.

Loiosh is also mostly silent this time around, although we are treated to the thoughts of his mate, Rocza -- for me this was one of the most interesting parts of the story.  Again, we're given a different perspective of Vlad.  To Loiosh, Vlad is a parent -- to Rocza, Vlad is the Provider.  She doesn't mind doing things for him, most of the time, but she's mainly in it for the treats -- and Loiosh.

Not as much world-building this time although we do learn that there is blue sky above the strange overcast of the Empire.  And the overcast is apparently poisonous -- both Rocza and Loiosh hold their breath until they are well above or below it.  

I'm waiting for the next book, Orca, to come in from interlibrary loan.  Although I missed Vlad's narration this time, I'm anxious to see what happens with Savn.  And I'd love to see what's happening with Cawti, Noish-pa, Kragar, and others.

Some prayers may be better left unanswered

Book Review:  Phoenix by Steven Brust 

                                                                                                                          

When Vlad finds himself ambushed in South Adrilankha, he offers up a prayer to the Demon-Goddess Vera.  She answers.  As it turns out, she wants him to assassinate someone for her.  Vlad's been considering getting out of the business but how does one refuse a goddess?

The assassination begins a war between the Empire and the sleepy outlying nation of Greenaere.  The Empire begins drafting humans and Teckla into its army, which adds to the growing uprising within the Empire.  Cawti is arrested twice.  To save Cawti's life, Vlad goes against his House.

I love this series.  I love the characters, the world-building, the fast-paced plots. 

Cawti has changed dramatically since we first met her, but so has Vlad.  He finally acknowledges that while he may have hated all dragaerans to begin with, most of his close friends are of that race.  He's genuinely friendly to the Orca sailing him from Adrilankha to Greenaere (regular beatings by Orca youth during his childhood inspired, or at least deeply contributed to his early hatred of dragaerans).  He's come a long way but where will he go next?

While Teckla showed us the beginnings of a rift between Vlad and Cawti; Phoenix shows the deepening of that rift.  Their relationship struggles are sparingly told and heartbreakingly real.  They love each other but it's not enough, at least in this book. What will she do with South Adrilankha?  Can they find their way back to each other?


The world-building in this series continues to be exceptional.  Each book reveals or hints at something new.  This time we discover that there are different types of stones which block sorcery and psionic communication -- I wonder what Morrolan and Aliera will do with that information.  We also learn that there are legends of strange lands beyond the sea, perhaps even beneath it.  And while Noish-pa refers to dragaerans as elves, Vlad finds himself referred to as a dwarf by the dragaerans on Greenaere.

We don't learn as much about the House of Phoenix as we have about other Houses in other books -- after all, there is only one living member and she's the Empress of the Empire.   We learn more about her though, and how she regards her role in the scheme of things.

It's better to give than to receive surprises

Book Review:  Taltos by Steven Brust

The fourth book in the Vlad Taltos series, Taltos, takes us back in time to the events before Yendi.  So, if you're keeping track, the fourth book in the series is the first book chronologically -- so far. While I'm normally a stickler for seeing characters develop in a linear fashion, I also enjoy a good flashback.  This was an excellent flashback.

When we first saw Vlad, Morrolan, Sethra, and Aliera together in Jhereg, they were friendly, despite the fact that Vlad was both an Easterner and a member of the House of Jhereg, and the other three were Dragaerans of the House of Dragon.  Well, Morrolan and Aliera at least -- I'm not sure which House Sethra was born into, but she's two hundred thousand years old and a force to be reckoned with.  Dragaerans typically look down upon members of other Houses; Dragaerans also typically despise Easterners so it's a toss-up as to what they'll find most offensive about Vlad.  Having been regularly beaten by Dragaerans since he was a young child, Vlad generally hates all of them on principle.  So, how did this foursome become so friendly?

It all began when Morrolan and Sethra needed an Easterner who could handle a difficult task.  Why an Easterner?  Because Dragaerans rely a great deal on sorcery for protection and they don't think to include Easterners among the things they need to protect themselves against.  That difficult task led to another, this one likely impossible, a journey to and return from the Paths of the Dead.  The journey there was merely tricky -- it was the journey back that was the problem.  And it was the journey back that forged the bonds among them.

I've been curious about Vlad and Morrolan's trip to the Paths of the Dead since catching the mention of it in Jhereg and I wasn't disappointed.  It's an eerie place.  Vlad offers description of it, of course, but his, Loiosh's, and Morrolan's reactions to it bring it to life.  As creepy as this place is, there's still humor -- Vlad is simply an entertaining narrator, even when he's scared out of his wits.

A second storyline gives us more details about Vlad's relationship with both his father and his grandfather (love Noish-pa!).  Noish-pa refers to the Dragaerans as elfs and creatures of Faerie; he also remembers his home in the East as having a blue sky, white clouds, and a yellow sun (the Empire has an oppressive orange-red sky).  So many questions!  One -- what happened to the sky in the Empire?  Two -- why are Easterners leaving the East, with its pretty skies, to live in a dreary land where they are despised for being Easterners?  Three -- the specific mention of elves and faerie makes me think of our mythology -- is this fictional world set on Earth in the future?  Or, are the Easterners transplants from Earth?  *Jhereg informs us that aliens were up to all sorts of shenanigans, way back when.  Perhaps Dragaerans and Easterners began as the same race?  They both refer to themselves as human but there are clear genetic differences between them.

So many questions!  But back to a general overview of the book -- there's a reason why this book takes its name from its protagonist rather than one of the Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire -- not only does it offer more detail about Vlad's childhood, but it also offers more detail about Vlad's transition from working in his dad's restaurant, to becoming an enforcer, to becoming an assassin.  We're given given insight into the first time Vlad *knew* he killed someone, as well as the first time he accepted work as an assassin -- and his reactions to both events.  And we're left with questions about Vlad's mother and Kiera.  Who was Vlad's mother and what happened to her?  Can Kiera see the future?  I suspect she can.  What is Vlad's ultimate role in the Empire?  There must be a reason Kiera looks out for him.

A third storyline, and the only one that bothered me as such, was the extended scene of Vlad working a spell.  Each chapter begins with a snippet of that scene, which actually takes place at the end of the book.  I imagine the glimpses of Vlad working a spell were meant to foreshadow the gravity of the situation at the end but I personally think it would have worked better in one piece, at the end.  I re-read those bits, all together, after finishing the book, and I stand by that opinion. 

You say you want a revolution

Book Review:  Teckla by Steven Brust

The third book in the Vlad Taltos series immediately follows the events of the first book, Jhereg.  Vlad is contemplating what to do with his new wealth, maybe build Cawti that castle she's been wanting?  Their domestic bliss is interrupted by Cawti's involvement with a determined group of revolutionaries who want better lives for two of the Empire's most downtrodden groups -- the Easterners and the Teckla.

I love the relationship between Vlad and Cawti, so this was a tough read for me.  Cawti is committed to this cause and Vlad is not.  However, he is consumed by the fear that her involvement with this group will get her killed and he does what he can to protect her -- even if it means the end of their marriage.

The nature of this storyline also forces Vlad to examine his life's choices much more closely than he cares to.  It has me wondering what lies next for the snarky assassin.

 

Relationship Status: It's Complicated

Book Review:  Yendi by Steven Brust

Sometimes people fall in love, get married, and later wish the other person dead.  Assassins Vlad and Cawti went about things differently.  Cawti was hired to kill Vlad and succeeded -- luckily she didn't make it permanent and he was revived -- they both were.  Impressed with one another, they fall in love.  And they discover that there's more to the turf war that brought them together than it appears. 

The second book in the Vlad Taltos series takes us back before the events of Jhereg, to his early days, when he first began expanding his role from merely assassin to boss of an area.  The Jhereg is known for its criminal activity and it's not a surprise that Vlad is challenged by another area boss.  But it's not good for anyone that their turf war captures the attention of the Empress -- or is it?

As with the first book in this series, there's an intricately plotted mystery at the center of the story.  We learn more about Vlad's complicated relationships with dragaerans Morrolan, Aliera, and Sethra.  We learn what led to him becoming an assassin.  And we learn more about yet another of the 17 Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire:  the House of Yendi.  Each House has certain characteristics -- while there's nothing distinctive about the appearance of the Yendi, they have a reputation for elaborate schemes, manipulations, and deceptions.  Only a Yendi can unravel a Yendi's schemes . . . . 

I confess, this story started off a bit slow for me.  Early in Jhereg, we saw Vlad trying to prevent another Dragon-Jhereg war, so it was easy to cheer for him despite his profession.  Yendi shows us his early mob boss days and there was nothing for me to like there.  It wasn't until he met Cawti that I began to warm up to him this time.  That's also when it was discovered that there was more to the turf war than one Jhereg's desire to move in on another's territory.  At that point, I fell back in love with the series.  Up next:  Teckla.

I read a book about an assassin and I liked it

Book Review:  Jhereg by Steven Brust

Vlad Taltos is a human on a world dominated by dragaerans.  Human in appearance, dragaerans are different from humans in a few ways -- most notably, dragaerans are much taller and live for centuries rather than decades.  While there's a fair amount of prejudice towards members of different dragaeran Houses, most are united in their disdain for humans.  And yet, Vlad has managed to thrive.  There's a good deal of criminal activity in the Jhereg and when you need someone taken out, he's one of the best assassins money can buy.  Which is why a leading member of the council of House Jhereg, known as the Demon, approaches him to assassinate a former council member, Lord Mellar.  For reasons known only to himself, Mellar has placed the house in a precarious position and to prevent further damage he must be taken out.

Wow.  This is one of the most intricately plotted mysteries I've read -- and, genre-wise, the book is somewhere between fantasy and science fiction.  I loved every page of this book.  I'm amazed at the amount of world-building, mystery, humor, and character development Brust managed to blend into a such a slim volume.  And who knew that I would enjoy a story in which the protagonist is an assassin?  It helps that his target in this story is not an innocent.  It also helps that death isn't always a permanent condition in this world -- resurrection is quite common -- sometimes assassination is merely meant as a warning.  That said, the Demon wants Mellar taken out permanently and Vlad is determined to make it happen.

Vlad is likeable, despite being an assassin -- he's sharp, he's honorable, and he's an entertaining narrator.  In addition to being an assassin, Vlad is also a witch and he has a small flying lizard-like creature as a familiar.  Loiosh is wonderfully snarky and the two spend a fair bit of time exchanging good-natured insults (psionically, of course, because that's how they roll).

Vlad's target, Mellar, is an intriguing character as well.  As I said, he's not an innocent -- far from it.  A dragaeran, he's had centuries to plan the events now in play -- and he's every bit as good a planner as Vlad.  To figure out how to carry out the assassination in a way that won't result in another war among the Houses, Vlad first has to figure out what Mellar's end game is.

This may be one of the more complex fictional worlds I've encountered.  It's definitely one of the most tightly written.  I've already checked out the second book in the series, Yendi.  Do yourself a favor and check out Jhereg for yourself -- I've barely given you a hint of just how awesome it is.