Book Of Taltos [Paperback]

TALTOS 4.5* -- Brust's funniest of the series, loaded with deadpan humor. This is a simple tale that establishes the beginnings of Taltos' relationships with many of the recurring characters of the other books. In regular paperback form it's 180 pages and you can read it in a few hours. Well-paced, good resolution of the three plotlines

Yendi 4* -- complex and satisfying for a short book, humorous

Jhereg 5* -- the first-published and best of the bunch, gives useful background and is the real starting point of the series

Teckla 2* -- maudlin and introspective without much context or reason for the tone

PHOENIX 4* -- picks up the pace after Teckla and re-establishes some of Taltos' business arrangements (he's an assassin and a small-time mob capo), has a complex and twisting plotline and has more of the humor of the first three books. Nonetheless, it still has some of the pall from the Teckla woven throughout the story.

Dragon 4* -- published 8th, returns to form of witty banter, smart introspection and twisty plotting of earlier books

Athyra 1* -- meandering and depressing; only book not told from Vlad Taltos' first-person point of view, actionless and largely themeless

Orca 4* -- better plotting and pacing for this Athyra follow-up, plus intricate mob-financing issues explored by Taltos in unmasking Orca-house mob syndicate

Issola 4* -- Newest entry is a philosophical stemwinder about the history of Vlad-world and the purposes of the g*ds. Therefore, Issola is not the place to start but it is a solid addition to the series if you've read some of the others.

Overall the Taltos 2-in-1 is a good place to start, but you should think about getting it with the Jhereg 3-in-1 compendium (Jhereg, Yendi & Teckla) because the five stories together have a continuous narrative arc and Phoenix will make much less sense if you haven't read the three Jhereg-compendium novels.

Dragaera is a world where very long-lived elves wielding powerful sorcery, short-lived humans, a host of other intelligent species and even gods exist in a uneasy, unhappy state of intermittent war and uneasy peace. Vlad lives in a part of the world where the elves rule, and his people, for the most part, live in squalid slums. He takes his hatred for his oppressors and turns it into a career, and assassinates elves at the behest of other elves. He becomes a minor mob boss in the Jhereg, the criminal underground operated by the elves. All of this is accepted behavior in Brustï¿s vividly imagined world.

Yet as the two novels in this book show, Vlad's best friends are all among his oppressors. He may loath the Dragaerans in general, but he comes to value them individually as friends and colleagues. Cynical and noble, murderous and ethical, cold-blooded and warm-hearted; he is a mass of contradictions and yet a self-consistent whole.

In addition to a fascinating protagonist set is an complex world, Brust experiments with literary forms. Whether itï¿s a homage to Dumas ï¿ as in "The Phoenix Guards" and "Five Hundred Years Later" ï¿ or interlocked chronologies as in "Taltos" in this volume, he uses those techniques to inform his narrative. Brust is a fine writer, with a nice sense of irony and narrative structure.

Finally, the stories here are a part of the evolving story of the puzzle that is Vlad Taltos. If you enjoy this book, you should also read "The Book of Jhereg," an earlier collection of Vlad Taltos novels.

I enjoy the Vlad Taltos stories very much; I think you will too.