Customer Reviews (26)

Obtuse, Charming Writing Style Meets Political Intrigue
Well, this is the second volume in the history of Dragaeran Empire, covering events happening five hundred years after the first with the same characters.It explains the origins of the Interregnum.The story itself follows Khaarven (primary), with hints, more cameos of Pel and Aerich.Tazendra features somewhat more prominently in my recollections, though that maybe because I found her role more memorable that the others.

Let me state I absolutely loathe Paarfi, and tend to skip passages where he prominently injects opinions into the narrative.He is what makes passages obtuse, and generally reduced my enjoyment of the subject.What I found charming were the actions and efforts of the protagonists, especially the byplay between the main characters.If you liked The Phoenix Guards, you'll likely enjoy this novel as well.The quality is comparable, though the subject matter is more serious, as it involves the fate of an empire.Khaarven starts as the Captain of the Emperor's Guards, and the problems he faces are much larger in scope.

The next book in the series is The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 1).

engaging often amusing swashbuckling sword and sorcery fantasy
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER the events of THE PHOENIX GUARDS, in which Khaavren fulfilled his life dream to become an Imperial Guard, he remains the same rank with little hope for promotion and no further aspirations.As he goes about his duty, the Dragaeran Empire leadership is very concerned as assassinations are happening seemingly everywhere even in safe havens.

Emperor Tortaalik I directs Captain Khaavren and his three still wary buddies and fellow Imperial Guards (Aerich, Tazendra and Pel) as well as others to investigate who is behind the killings.They and their allies soon uncover a great conspiracy fostered by unlikely partners starting with Dragonlord Adron and street urchins of Underside.At the same time the eldritch Sethra Lavode and Adron's daughter Aliera are in the crosshairs.

This is a reprint of an early 1990s sequel that once again pays obvious homage to Alexandre Dumas. The saga occurs about five hundred years before the time that Vlad Taltos roamed Dragaera. The adventures of the four musketeers are fun to follow though none come across as more than courageous, loyal, but somewhat superficially charming rogues who still lack depth though have matured since they first joined the Imperial Guards.FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER is an engaging often amusing swashbuckling sword and sorcery fantasy that also introduces the reader to key characters in the Taltos era.

Harriet Klausner

Vlad Taltos, This isn't.
Maybe I have overworked this author. I just didn't find this book interesting even knowing some of the characters. The plot didn't just plod, it made watching ice melt interesting. If his name wasn't on the book, I wouldn't believe the same guy wrote the Vlad Taltos series.This is a follow up to the "Phoenix Guards", which I didn't like either. Perhaps that should of alerted me to a possible trend. The setting is the same, the stilted speech is the same but the sizzle is gone. The best thing about the book was the cover art.I was really disappointed in the book and I don't recommend it.

Simply brilliant
This book's predecessor, The Phoenix Guard, was already a masterpiece, bringing, as it does, the spirit of The Three Musketeers to the Dragaeran Empire.500 Years After goes further, by mixing in a gripping plot, describing a tragedy that readers of the Vlad Taltos books know is coming, and showing how a dozen occurrences, each seemingly insignificant in itself, lead to the catastrophe.This may be Brust's single finest work.

Light hearted fantasy
This is a great light hearted read.The characters are real characters, and a lot of the comedy is slap stick, but when you need a light read to get your mind of things, Steven Brust's work is wonderful. ... Read more

Product Description
Vlad Taltos tells the story of his early days in the House Jhereg, how he found himself in a Jhereg war, and how he fell in love with the wonderful woman, Yendi, who killed him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Not Free SF Reader
Yendi delves into the backstory of Vlad Taltos, as he details how he came to be a player in the House of Jhereg, and bits and pieces about how he grew up and his life.

He gets involved with a conflict with another Jhereg, Laris, and even worse than that Vlad and his associates discover that there is a plot by Sethra the Younger and the Sorceress in Green to put a Dragon Emperor on the throne, thus elevanting their own position.

Vlad also falls had for Cawti, a human female thief with a dragonlord partner.

Luckily, Sethra Lavode and Morrolan, with Vlad, Cawti and Norathar's help have the power to overcome.

I think even the villain was confused!
Steven Brust's Yendi is an even shorter novel than his first Vlad Taltos book, Jhereg, but that doesn't harm it in the least.Brust has a way of economizing words so that his plots seem a lot larger than they are.Brust also manages to give us even more backstory on the Dragaeran Empire and its political workings, the House of Dragon, and its relationship with the House of Jhereg.How he manages to pack all of this into a book, along with the plot itself, is a mystery to me, but he does it very well.

This is a prequel to Jhereg, showing us, among other things, how Vlad met his wife, Cawti.It seems that a rival Jhereg boss, named Laris, is trying to move in on Vlad's territory.This basically sets up a war between the two of them, and things escalate to the point that the Empress sends in some of the Phoenix Guard to keep order.After being almost saved from one assassination attempt by his Dragon friends, Aliera and Morrolan, Aliera revives him as well as the two assassins (that's something that can often be done by the sorcery in the Empire) and Vlad learns that things are a lot more complicated than he had expected.Somebody's using Laris to further their own political ends, a conspiracy that could reach to the top of the Empire.And even worse, Vlad has fallen in love with the woman who killed him!

I began reading this before realizing that Jhereg was written first, and while Yendi is certainly understandable without having read the first book, a lot of the background of the series is revealed in it.I quickly read the first one before coming back to this one, and I was much happier.That being said, it is a prequel, so we get to see how he met Cawti, which was quite surprising.Brust does a wonderful job with this relationship, making it so it doesn't really seem unusual.They find that they have a lot in common, and we get some personal detail on Vlad that tells us why he became an assassin.We knew that he hated Dragaerans but the reasons he became an assassin drive this point home.It was a nice touch, and I loved the scenes between them when he revealed himself to her.

It amazes me how tight this novel is, considering the fact that it shifts gears in the middle to reveal the deeper and darker plot.The first part is basically concerned with the war between Vlad and Laris, and with the various assassination attempts.But when Vlad realizes that something else is going on, it really takes off and Vlad's mind is working faster than ours to figure out what is really happening, and who's behind it all.It's a tribute to Brust's characterizations that we can believe it when Vlad suspects that his Dragon friends may be behind some of it, because we can believe that they might be, even as we know they are Vlad's friends.As much loyalty as they have to Vlad, they are loyal to the Dragon House first, and when the plot quickly gets political, it wouldn't be that surprising to see them up to something.

In fact, this showcases even more Vlad's isolation and how much he needs Cawti.Loiosh, his Jhereg familiar and friend, is the only sentient being that he feels he can totally trust, and their relationship is also brilliantly portrayed.The psionic bond between them (even though psionics are common with these people, and Vlad can pretty much communicate with anybody using them, his bond with Loiosh seems more special) makes for some interesting dialogues during scenes, such as when Vlad is wondering if Aliera could be behind the whole thing, and Loiosh tells him he's being too paranoid.Brust manages to make Loiosh very likable, loyal to Vlad but not afraid to talk back to him if he feels it's necessary.He's also Vlad's personal protector, which comes in handy a few times too.

The plot is intricate (which isn't surprising, considering the ultimate plotter is a Yendi, and that's not a spoiler, because we don't find out who the Yendi is until Vlad does), but it does hang together.It seems to be a lot more convoluted than it needs to be, but evidently that's a trait of the Yendi, so it's not surprising.I'm glad that Vlad didn't figure out everything all at once, as I really don't like those mystery plots where one little piece of information all of a sudden brings the whole thing to light.Brust avoids that one, unlike the problem with Jhereg that I had.My only gripe with Yendi is that the Laris war almost becomes an afterthought, dealt with in a few pages at the end.

After two books, I've become a big fan of Steven Brust, and I can't wait to read more of his stuff.Yendi is another winning addition in the Vlad Taltos saga, and it's small enough that it's also a quick read.Good for those of you with large "to-be-read" piles, that it won't take you very long.This one should be added to it.

David Roy

Brust's excellent storytelling continues
I was completely enthralled with "Jhereg," and eagerly began "Yendi" immediately upon finishing it, looking forward to once again being thoroughly immersed in the world Brust adeptly weaves around the reader. I was definitely not disappointed.

I was a bit confused for the first few paragraphs, until I realized that "Yendi" is actually a prequel to "Jhereg," taking place earlier in time. Vlad is just getting started in the organization, and naturally encounters some resistance in the process. While the formula is somewhat the same (mystery unravelled at the last second, after much intrigue set in fantasy world,) it works exceptionally well.

Vlad's voice flows easily, and the words just kind of glide through the reader's head - as the pages turned, pictures and scenes formed in my head without my really being aware of having read the sentences. This is the mark of a truly gifted yarn-spinner. The same wit, humor, and clever banter that was so successful in "Jhereg" is liberally sprinkled through "Yendi," as well, and the characters are highly-believable.

The world Brust has created is vivid, and he doesn't go to extreme lengths to try to justify everything and explain all of the rules, spoon-feeding the reader, holding our hands through this thought processes; rather, he drops hints, and uses context to convey items of import. Sometimes, he flat out tells us "it's none of your business," or "that is a story for another time," or "you really don't need to know all of it, but." It's great stuff, and I love his voice. He gives small nods to current culture icons such as Monty Python in places, and uses modern language instead of pained, stilted "Hie thee hence, lass!" "Evermore, milady" and other such stuffs, making it a much easier, more believable story and setting.

A conflict within the House of Jhereg has Vlad being tossed hither, thither and yon, caught right up in the heart of things - would you expect anything less? In the process, he meets two of the land's best assassins, is killed by one of them, falls wildly in love, and of course hatches a plot so clever you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

Loiosh has a bit more to say in this volume, but is still mostly confined to one-liners - I do wish Brust would give Vlad and his familiar a more substantial relationship. The co-stars in the story have depth, great lines, and play crucial parts in the Vlad's life and in the plot in general.

A very entertaining next step in what will hopefully prove to be a great series. I'm tackling "Teckla" immediately!

the best in the taltos series
This one was so good that I missed reading it and subsequently read it an additional time just to savor it.Yendi takes place in the earlier days of Taltos's life, and speaks of a major Jhereg war that he started.I liked the "palace intrigue"/behind the scenes power struggles that occurred throughout the book.I even had to sit down about halfway through just to catch up to what was going on, which i consider a good sign.

There's even an amusing Monty Python reference hidden in there.Brust's writing style was getting better around this time, there is an improvement in style between this one and Jhereg.He fixes some of the details of the Taltos universe (for example, there are ways you can never be resurrected without using a soul killing dagger) and gets into character development, telling more about how Vlad's past made him the Boss he is today.Too bad its Brust's least favorite.

So, if you liked the first one, and don't mind slightly-confusing tales of aristocratic power struggles, then definitely pick this one up.

Yendi: A Review
Well, it seems opinions vary on this "chapter" of the Vlad Taltos series.People either think it is the best of the bunch or the worst of 'em (but they still like it).Even the author, Steven Brust, hasstated that this is his least favorite of the series (which stands at eightnovels, so far).

I loved Yendi and it is one of my favorites of theentire series.Are "hero", the assassin-mobster Vlad Taltos,gets involved in a mob war with another mob boss who is moving into histerritory.But, as the mob war escalates, Vlad finds a deeper plot thatcould threaten the entire Empire.Fun ensues!Assassins and mobsters andwizards, oh my!What more could one ask for in a fantasy series?The VladTaltos novels are great fun and an interesting take on your"average" epic fantasy.

Note: Yendi is the third novel (afterTaltos and Dragon but before Jhereg) if your reading them in chronologicalorder.It doesn't REALLY matter what order you read the Vlad Taltos novelsin but, hey, I'm being helpful. ... Read more

Product Description
Vlad Taltos, sorcerer, sometime witch, and former assassin, and his faithful jhereg take on the biggest hitters of the House of the Jhereg. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Not Free SF Reader
Vlad has been living the wandering life for a couple of years, not being an assassin and just generally trying to keep himself together.

He meets a young apprentice, and decides to teach him a few things, for his own reasons.However, his past Jhereg life catches up with him, and he and the boy Savn are put to the test to get out of it alive.

Better the most think
I also did not like this book as much as others... at first.
I am re-reading the series, and I find that Athyra is much
better than I gave it credit for.

I agree with previous reviewers on three major points.
One, Vlad grows up in book.This growth continues in Orca,
and Issola, but it's in Athyra that Vlad becomes more real, anda more complex character, and thus a better protagonist.

The swashbuckling assassin/mafia boss, who was almost a
charicature becomes a wanderer, a vagabond.While he
was forced on this path by an event described at the end
of the previous installment in the series, Phoenix, a reader
can sense that Vlad was ready for this journey for some time.

His meeting with Savn brings his wondering more in focus,
and forces him (and the writer) to re-examine Vlad's former
attitude; however, masterfully Brust does not give Vlad a
complete turnaround - Vlad uses Savn for his own purposes,
and Vlad's uncompromising drive is also present.

Vlad and Savn's conversations ring true.Savn feels like
a young adolescent Brust is trying to portray, and Brust's
characterisations are on target as always.In many ways
his characters are more real than other fantasy/sci-fi
I have read.

I would not start reading this series with Athyra, as I would
not recommend starting any series in the middle. Otherwise,
it's an excellent book, and urge others to give it a try.
In fact, if you read it already, try it again.It will
grow on you.

Added on 12/01/06 - I have reread the book and I find it even
better than before.Definitely my favorite book in the Dragaera
Universe.

Medicine and Killing by Trial-and-Error
Fans of the somewhat self-mocking, ironic Vlad Taltos, his mental gymnastics and impossible feats of working his way out of tight corners, will, I'm afraid, be somewhat disappointed with this book. Unlike all the previous books in this series, this one is not told from Vlad's viewpoint, but rather instead is done in third person and mainly from the viewpoint of Savn, a young (70+ year old) Teckla lad. Savn, apprenticed to the local physicker, gets caught up into Vlad's orbit by a chance meeting on the road, and is soon called upon to determine the cause of death of a traveling distributor that Vlad knows. This section is interesting, showing how much can be learned about such things merely by close observation and careful thinking, somewhat in the mode of Sherlock Holmes. But it also points up a major failing of Brust's imagined world - although the various denizens of this world (except for the Easteners like Vlad) live for a very long time, I found it very hard to believe that someone who has already lived for 70 years would display the level of naivete and ignorance of basic human interactions displayed by Savn.

Savn later gets a chance to use his medical skills to save the life of Vlad - and once more there are some interesting points brought forward about how knowledge is accumulated in this world. Use the scientific method? That might be difficult in a world where sorcery, witchcraft, telepathy, and walking undead are real - how can you believe your results? An older method is assumed here - if a particular procedure works once, that result is passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, although it is quite possible that the method may have extra steps that have no relevance to its actual success.

Beyond these interesting side-lights, the story itself is a pretty straight-forward tale of Vlad planning and executing a revenge against the local undead sorcerer lord. But since we don't get to see inside Vlad's head, the picture of the action is fuzzy, and worse yet, lacking in the humor that suffuses the earlier books in this series, most especially the ironic back-and-forth between Vald and his jhereg familiar Loiosh. Instead we get some looks inside the thought processes of Loiosh's mate Rocza.As she is basically a wild jhereg, not familiar with the ways of man, this view of the happenings is also fuzzy.We do get to see, to a degree, just how Vlad appears to the average person of this world, but it is not a very illuminating view.

Thus, other than some interesting background material about this world and its ways, I found none of the things that made the earlier books an engrossing and entertaining read.As this story is not important to later books, other than the introduction of Savn, who plays a minor role in the next book, Orca, this one can safely be skipped.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Fresh viewpoint helps series
I have not enjoyed a Vlad book as much as this once since the first three. Switching the narrative away from Vlad was a refreshing, and necessary move to invigorate the story.

Savn, an innocent Dragaeran youth is a wonderfully sympathetic character studying to be a physicker when Vlad arrives at his town. He befriends Vlad and begins to find himself ostracized from his friends for hanging around the Easterner. Once he helps Vlad with his injuries there is no turning back.

Through Savn's eyes we get to see a vulnerable Vlad, a hurting Vlad without the cockiness, one who is rethinking virtually everything about his life, life in general and the universe. We see Savn grow through meeting the challenges of befriending Vlad, his sister also and we see Vlad changed and changing from the flippant assassin.

The pace is relaxed, without being slow, and builds to a climactic ending with consequences for everyone. A very well done effort from Brust, it was almost like reading about Vlad for the first time due to the change of viewpoint.

like Scooby Doo, but worse
This book read like a Scooby Doo mystery "And it would have worked to, if it weren't for those darn kids!"

Nothing happened in this book, nothing at all.You'll wonder why this book wasn't 5 pages long instead of 100+.It also is 3rd person instead of 1st person which is not a turn for the better.We don't get any of Vlad's usual sarcasm and wit.

Definately the weakest book in the series. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Steven Brust, the Viscount of Adrilankha, Dragaera, Issola, Taltos, Phoenix, Khaavren Romances, Jhegaala, Teckla, the Phoenix Guards, Dragon, Jhereg, Yendi, Orca, Athyra, Five Hundred Years After, Jhereg, Dzur, Brokedown Palace, Iorich. Excerpt:Athyra Athyra is the sixth book in Steven Brust 's Vlad Taltos series, set in the fantasy world of Dragaera . Originally published in 1993, by Ace Books , it was reprinted in 2003 along with Orca in the omnibus The Book of Athyra . Following the trend of the Vlad Taltos books, it is named after one of the Great Houses and features that House as an important element to its plot. Plot introduction Vlad wanders into the village of Smallcliff and involves a local Teckla boy in his investigation of a recent murder. Plot summary Vlad has traveled through Dragaera for over two years. He now wears normal clothing, has discarded most of his assassin arsenal, and has lost a finger. While entering the village of Smallcliff, he meets Savn, a Teckla boy apprenticed to the local physicker. The two strike up a brief conversation, and Savn is often confused by Vlad's behavior, as he has never seen an Easterner before. Vlad's arrival in town is concurrent with the mysterious death of Reins, a former servant of the Baron of Smallcliff. Vlad shows up again at the local inn, causing a stir. He talks to Savn and becomes interested in Reins's death. While most of the village assumes that Vlad killed Reins, Vlad begins to believe that the death did have something to do with him. After some questioning, Vlad determines that the Baron of Smallcliff is still Loraan, an Athyra wizard he killed during the events of Taltos . The time Savn spends with Vlad in public alienates him from his friends in the village. Savn takes Vlad to some nearby caves at his request an... ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Saul Bellow, Steven Brust, C. L. R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya, Jean Van Heijenoort, Farrell Dobbs, Linda Jenness, James Robertson, Bert Cochran, Richard S. Fraser, Robert Malecki, Sy Landy, Robert Sheldon Harte, Morris Slavin, Willie Mae Reid, Jesse Simons, Alex Buchman, Arne Swabeck, Tom Maidhc O'flaherty. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 87. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Saul Bellow (June 10, 1915 April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only writer to have won the National Book Award three times, and the only writer to have been nominated for it six times. In the words of the Swedish Nobel Committee, his writing exhibited "exuberant ideas, flashing irony, hilarious comedy and burning compassion... the mixture of rich picaresque novel and subtle analysis of our culture, of entertaining adventure, drastic and tragic episodes in quick succession interspersed with philosophic conversation, all developed by a commentator with a witty tongue and penetrating insight into the outer and inner complications that drive us to act, or prevent us from acting, and that can be called the dilemma of our age." His best-known works include The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Seize the Day, Humboldt's Gift and Ravelstein. Widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest authors, Bellow has had a "huge literary influence." Saul Bellow was born Solomon Bello in Lachine, Quebec, two years after his parents emigrated from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Bellow celebrated his birthday in June, although he may have been born in July (in the Jewish community, it was customary to record the Hebrew date of birth, w...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=28754 ... Read more

Product Description
comic adaption of a great fantasy book ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Perhaps best for the Brust fan
Steven Brust's fantasy novels created a rich world, with plenty of room for narrative exploration and adventure. Characters, magical elements, and a smart-mouthed mini-dragon offered readers plenty of fantastic imagery.

It just didn't come together for me in this graphic form. The story adaptation lacked a bit - parts of the mythos might remain opaque to viewers not already familiar with Brust's stories. I could live with that, but the watercolor renderings just weren't strong enough to bring it to life for me. John J. Muth's Moonshadow, for example, shows just how literal and expressive watercolor can be. This, on the other hand, comes across as merely competent.

The story pulls the reader in and the artwork carries the reader along, but I can't say that either stands out. The whole, unfortunately, wasn't quite the sum of the parts.

-- wiredweird

Unbelievably weak; not worth the 23 pages it's printed on.
You are here because you read Steven Brust's work, started hungrily seeking anything of his you could find, and found out there was a graphic novel.

You are now quite eager to read of Vlad Taltos in that format as well.Maybe the rendition was fabulous.Maybe it was merely good.Maybe, in fact, it was average and thus not worth scraping up so many sheckels as it will take to find a used copy.

I am very sorry to say that it would need some improvement to even reach a grade of "poor," and that this work would be overpriced at half of the nine bucks that it originally cost.

Fault #1: This "Graphic Novel" is 46 pages long.That's right; 23 pieces of paper wrapped in a cover.The pages are so few that the publisher did not even bother to number them, and the fact that I counted them is testament to how small this 'novel' is.

Fault #2: This comic-book sized work, alas, attempts to encompass the entirety of the fully novel-sized book _Jhereg_, thus ending up with a literary flair and story arc more reminescent of a brief outline (not even a 'Cliff's Notes') than an actual story.

Fault #3: If Alan Zelenetz and John Pierard are fans of Brust's work or even actually enjoyed the novel they have sought to capture in graphic format, no evidence of said enjoyment comes through in the novel itself.More accuracy, attention to detail, artistic integrity, and story depth are standard fare in an issue of a "Conan" comic."Spellbreaker" becomes "Spellbinder", Morrolan grows a beard, Sethra becomes a hag, and the artistic style is less that of art than that of an illustrator of children's books who has lost all but the most garish of his or her water colors.

I cannot conceive of an audience that would appreciate this work.Someone who desired to see magic would find that the magic is humdrum and commonplace.Someone who desired to see gothic darkness would find that even deaths become as significant as roadside litter even when important.Breasts and nudity are not uncommon, but fail to be as titillating or well-drawn as that of elementary-school graffiti.

Indeed, the only reason I give this two stars instead of the single star that it very nearly deserves is that the author does manage to convey some small (very small) sense of the personalities of the people involved, and that the artist occasionally manages to portray a scene or situation in a way that is, if not brilliant, at least well done.

And in any case, it may be that neither the author nor the artist had any say in how ridiculously, moronically, foolishly short this work was.The drooling idiot who decided to portray a solid inch of well-written story (and the start of an epic) in fewer pages than the average insurance-company circular should be prevented from having the opportunity to ever make such a decision again.

Interlibrary loan this if you must read it.Otherwise, spare yourself; you could draw a better comic yourself on three sheets of paper.In crayon.With your left hand.In the dark.Drunk. ... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 2790. ... Read more

Product Description
Celebrated as one of fantasy's freshest and liveliest voices, Steven Brust is perhaps best know for his witty and wildly popular swashbuckling tales Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla, in which assassin and crimlord Vlad Taltos struggles to make a living int he perilous Empire of the Dragaerans. Now, in one handy volume, are the two newest adventures of Vlad Taltos, human in aworld of near-immortal Dragaeran "elfs," witch and telepathic partner to the winged-lizard Loiosh. Dragon tells the story htat has bedeviled Vlad's fans for years: how a self-respecting assassin ended up as a soldier on the losing side of the famous Battle of Baritt's Tomb -- an apocalyptic warbetween two sorcerous armies. Since Vlad much prefers the shadows to daylight, and a knife in the back to massed magical battle, you know the answer involves the words "kicking and screaming"... Issola finds an older and slightly wiser Vlad on the run from his employers, the house of jhereg, over the small matter of a double-cross. Unfortunately, he's going to wish he had only the jhereg to worry about, since two of his most powerful friends have been kidnapped by teh Jenoine -- the enigmatic race that may have created the Dragaerans hundreds of thousands of years ago and who are masters of time and space itself. And if that's not enough, the Jenoine apparently want to hire Vlad to kill a God.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Vlad Taltos Rocks
This is an omnibus containing the full novel "Dragon" and the full novel Issola.The main character is again Vlad Taltos and these are book eight and nine, respectively, of the series. Once again I find myself puzzled over how so much philosophic pondering takes place simultaneously with some serious action.Vlad tends to pontificate to himself in stressful situations and constantly finds himself in stressful situations. The interplay between Vlad and his familiar is reminiscent of some of the dialogue between Spencer and Hawk in the Parker novels, highly entertaining.Each book adds more pieces to the puzzle of this society. Some origins are actually determined in these two books. I recommend reading the entire series and specifically these two as well. ... Read more

Product Description
Two further adventures of Vlad Taltos in one volume by the author of The Book of Taltos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book of Athyra
Had to acquire the hardbound books as I had read the complete series in paperback.

Part of the Vlad Taltos-Jhereg series. Excellent adult/mature teen entertainment. ... Read more