What do you think?
Rate this book
Vlad Taltos #6
Athyra
Vlad Taltos--sorceror, sometimes witch, and former assassin--and his faithful jhereg take on the biggest hitters of the House of the Jhereg
246 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1993
12 people are currently reading
1,145 people want to read
About the author
Steven Brust
101books2,272followersSteven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
May 12, 2024
One of the things I like best about this series concerns how Brust keeps changing the script if you will, never falling into a formulaic trap (always an issue with a long series). In Athyra, Brust gives us a new protagonist, Savn, a 'young' (only about 80 years old) Teckla serf, who lives in a tiny village. Savn largely narrates the story, starting with Vald strolling into his little town.
Athyra takes place a few years after Vald's ostracism from the Jhereg (Brust chronicled that tale in Phoenix). Vald, laying low, has been wandering the countryside, occasionally robbing bandits and such. Shortly after Vald's arrival, a horse cart arrives in the town, with the dead body of the driver in the back. Oddly enough, Vald thinks he knows the dead guy from somewhere, but being an Easterner and newly arrived, draws lots of suspicion from the locals. Nonetheless, Vald befriends Savn, much to the chagrin of just about everyone, including his parents and little sister.
Savn, the village doctor's apprentice, soon learns that the dead guy (Reins) just seemingly died for no reason. The exchanges between Savn and the doctor over the course of the story are priceless! Vald, however, suspects something, namely, that the local lord had something to do with the dead body, and he and the lord have something of a sordid past (it is the same lord Vald stole is magic chain from from several volumes back). Further, Vald suspects that the body was not happenstance, but more of a warning to Vald. Well, Vald is not one to back down from a challenge!
I found this more philosophical than the other installments in the series, primarily due to the exchanges between Savn and Vald. Savn embodies the classic serf and has never really questioned his existence or the social institutions that define his existence. Vald challenges his world view (not only is Vald and Easterner, but a wizard and so much more!). Rather low key on the adventure side, but the existential musings make up for that. 4 feudal stars!!
Athyra takes place a few years after Vald's ostracism from the Jhereg (Brust chronicled that tale in Phoenix). Vald, laying low, has been wandering the countryside, occasionally robbing bandits and such. Shortly after Vald's arrival, a horse cart arrives in the town, with the dead body of the driver in the back. Oddly enough, Vald thinks he knows the dead guy from somewhere, but being an Easterner and newly arrived, draws lots of suspicion from the locals. Nonetheless, Vald befriends Savn, much to the chagrin of just about everyone, including his parents and little sister.
Savn, the village doctor's apprentice, soon learns that the dead guy (Reins) just seemingly died for no reason. The exchanges between Savn and the doctor over the course of the story are priceless! Vald, however, suspects something, namely, that the local lord had something to do with the dead body, and he and the lord have something of a sordid past (it is the same lord Vald stole is magic chain from from several volumes back). Further, Vald suspects that the body was not happenstance, but more of a warning to Vald. Well, Vald is not one to back down from a challenge!
I found this more philosophical than the other installments in the series, primarily due to the exchanges between Savn and Vald. Savn embodies the classic serf and has never really questioned his existence or the social institutions that define his existence. Vald challenges his world view (not only is Vald and Easterner, but a wizard and so much more!). Rather low key on the adventure side, but the existential musings make up for that. 4 feudal stars!!
August 22, 2015
We've got a whole new Vlad in a whole new land and a whole new MC.
Yup, we've gone from big boss to a side role as a mentor for a backwater healer's apprentice, and I can't say I dislike it. We've got all the traditional coming of age elements, a murder mystery, undead lords, and mean small-town peeps.
More importantly, we have the mental space and development necessary to turn a young man into a fully-functioning and thoughtful killer who will be henceforth plagued with not just nightmares, but full-blooming madness.
Great job, Vlad. Smooth move.
/em facepalm
What it doesn't have in huge action and movement, it makes up for in fully developed new characters.
Two thumbs up! Very entertaining!
Yup, we've gone from big boss to a side role as a mentor for a backwater healer's apprentice, and I can't say I dislike it. We've got all the traditional coming of age elements, a murder mystery, undead lords, and mean small-town peeps.
More importantly, we have the mental space and development necessary to turn a young man into a fully-functioning and thoughtful killer who will be henceforth plagued with not just nightmares, but full-blooming madness.
Great job, Vlad. Smooth move.
/em facepalm
What it doesn't have in huge action and movement, it makes up for in fully developed new characters.
Two thumbs up! Very entertaining!
December 30, 2017
My rating edged up on this re-read, though it's still not quite five stars. For the first time, we see Vlad through someone else's eyes, specifically a Teckla youth named Savn, and revisit the wizard Loraan, with whom Vlad has a History. The reason I liked it better this time around is probably that the revolution in Teckla and Phoenix make the Teckla look weak, and here we see a Teckla community thriving and living their lives without much concern for what the lords do. They're still serfs, and I wouldn't say they're happy in the State of Nature they live in, but they don't exist the way they do in Adrilankha, downtrodden and dependent on their betters to lift them up. (I really dislike the way Padraic Kelly and his revolutionists talk about the Teckla, like they're children who need adults to raise their consciousnesses.)
I also enjoy seeing Vlad as an outsider, though it was really odd not hearing Loiosh's voice at all. There's the usual pleasure of the naïve narrator, which Savn mostly is, interpreting through his own understanding events and characters the reader understands differently. Still, the story moves slowly, and it isn't until the second half that things really pick up. Now I'm looking forward to Orca, which I have read at least three times and whose events never fail to slip away from my memory.
I also enjoy seeing Vlad as an outsider, though it was really odd not hearing Loiosh's voice at all. There's the usual pleasure of the naïve narrator, which Savn mostly is, interpreting through his own understanding events and characters the reader understands differently. Still, the story moves slowly, and it isn't until the second half that things really pick up. Now I'm looking forward to Orca, which I have read at least three times and whose events never fail to slip away from my memory.
February 17, 2019
Although I liked this story well enough, it is my least favourite of the Vlad Taltos books that I’ve read thus far. I think it’s because it’s not narrated by Vlad, but by a young Teckla man who befriends Vlad on one of his self-directed missions. I missed the cheeky, smart-ass remarks that we have come to expect from our Eastern (ex-)assassin friend.
As I say, the story isn’t bad, but it suffers from this change in point-of-view. Brust has made the young man ignorant--he’s smart enough, but he’s had relatively little education and no experience to cause him to question any of his culture’s world views. There’s limited interest in his learning about the outside world and how others perceive it and him, but it’s not riveting.
I imagine that Brust wanted to experiment with a new writing technique--writing the same thing over and over may appeal to your core audience, but I can see needing to try new things to keep yourself interested in an established character. My hope is that book 7 will revert to Vlad as the main voice.
Book Number 309 in my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
As I say, the story isn’t bad, but it suffers from this change in point-of-view. Brust has made the young man ignorant--he’s smart enough, but he’s had relatively little education and no experience to cause him to question any of his culture’s world views. There’s limited interest in his learning about the outside world and how others perceive it and him, but it’s not riveting.
I imagine that Brust wanted to experiment with a new writing technique--writing the same thing over and over may appeal to your core audience, but I can see needing to try new things to keep yourself interested in an established character. My hope is that book 7 will revert to Vlad as the main voice.
Book Number 309 in my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
July 12, 2024
3.75 stars. Mostly listened to the audiobook.
Athyra by Steven Brust is the sixth book of Vlad Taltos series. I think the series starts having different POVs characters in Athyra. The main character, Savn is the main narrator in Athyra; from his POV, we see Vlad’s actions and personalities from different angle of the story telling which is quite interesting. Savn is a child so that he was learning the thing which Vlad’ve known and how the witchcraft works. The concept, Necromancer is introduced in this book that which the central plot is around it; his Lordship is the necromancer the villain in the story that makes the Story more scary to read( not very scary though). I think Vlad had enlightened Savn about what is more important not just to believe things also tests it several times, then to understand them. Vlad’s saying has courage’s Savn to take the action and confronting his lordship. I was wondering Vlad is the Philosopher or a scientist in the book?
After Vlad killed the prominent members of the house, he was on the run. He was escaping the searching, so that he was settling in the remote village to be invisible from the pursers. He met the the boy Savn and taught him about witchcraft. Soon Savn figured out what is the connection the death of Rein with Vlad. Vlad was being the teacher when his existence was not very welcome in the village as he is an easterner. After he was almost injured by the Lordship’s assassins, Savn saved him. During Vlad’s recuperation , Savn knew that Vlad has enchanted his parents not to object him to teach Savn witchcraft. Savn eventually confronted his Lordship and knew that he is a necromancer with Jehred assassin has been assisting him. In the end of the story he was in a comma and Vlad wanted to cure him and bring him to the outside world of his village.
Athyra is a fun book to read, there has less action as in the previous book, Phoenix. Just in the parts of middle and end. Vlad’s conversations with Savn are full of philosophical thinkings. Overall, it’s still good to read and Brust explores the world more than the previous books. I think as Savn joined Vlad’s team that would make the plots being more diverse in the later books of the series. Brust also wrote the female jhereg’s POV, from her POV to observe how she thought of Vlad the provider and Savn which is quite interesting.
Athyra by Steven Brust is the sixth book of Vlad Taltos series. I think the series starts having different POVs characters in Athyra. The main character, Savn is the main narrator in Athyra; from his POV, we see Vlad’s actions and personalities from different angle of the story telling which is quite interesting. Savn is a child so that he was learning the thing which Vlad’ve known and how the witchcraft works. The concept, Necromancer is introduced in this book that which the central plot is around it; his Lordship is the necromancer the villain in the story that makes the Story more scary to read( not very scary though). I think Vlad had enlightened Savn about what is more important not just to believe things also tests it several times, then to understand them. Vlad’s saying has courage’s Savn to take the action and confronting his lordship. I was wondering Vlad is the Philosopher or a scientist in the book?
After Vlad killed the prominent members of the house, he was on the run. He was escaping the searching, so that he was settling in the remote village to be invisible from the pursers. He met the the boy Savn and taught him about witchcraft. Soon Savn figured out what is the connection the death of Rein with Vlad. Vlad was being the teacher when his existence was not very welcome in the village as he is an easterner. After he was almost injured by the Lordship’s assassins, Savn saved him. During Vlad’s recuperation , Savn knew that Vlad has enchanted his parents not to object him to teach Savn witchcraft. Savn eventually confronted his Lordship and knew that he is a necromancer with Jehred assassin has been assisting him. In the end of the story he was in a comma and Vlad wanted to cure him and bring him to the outside world of his village.
Athyra is a fun book to read, there has less action as in the previous book, Phoenix. Just in the parts of middle and end. Vlad’s conversations with Savn are full of philosophical thinkings. Overall, it’s still good to read and Brust explores the world more than the previous books. I think as Savn joined Vlad’s team that would make the plots being more diverse in the later books of the series. Brust also wrote the female jhereg’s POV, from her POV to observe how she thought of Vlad the provider and Savn which is quite interesting.
January 15, 2013
I was almost halfway through this book and deciding that I really did not like it. For one thing, unlike all the previous books in the series, it's not told from Vlad's POV. For another, nothing much seemed to be happening. I couldn't get a fix on why one character had died, and what exactly Vlad meant to do and how. The character whose POV was the main focus was also very young, and the whole thing just seemed unformed, and not that much fun.
Then two things happened. I found a note inside from the person who had loaned me the book. And Vlad got wounded. And both events helped me look at the story from a new perspective.
See, I'm a wannabe doctor anyway, and once the main character began treating Vlad, I was fascinated. I love medical stuff, and this was full of detail. (Not for the squeamish.) After that, I found myself wondering (at least a little) whether Vlad would live or die, even though I knew perfectly well he'd live. That all kept me going until the final showdown, which I loved because Brust showed so little of the action. Fight scenes like that are so unexpected.
The note? Unfortunately, I don't have it handy; but basically it reminded me that I should appreciate a book for what it *is*, rather than what I want it to be. That made me stop being unhappy that it wasn't like the other books and start enjoying its virtues.
Having said all that, I still don't think it's as enjoyable as the other books in the series. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. But I did enjoy that medical section.
Then two things happened. I found a note inside from the person who had loaned me the book. And Vlad got wounded. And both events helped me look at the story from a new perspective.
See, I'm a wannabe doctor anyway, and once the main character began treating Vlad, I was fascinated. I love medical stuff, and this was full of detail. (Not for the squeamish.) After that, I found myself wondering (at least a little) whether Vlad would live or die, even though I knew perfectly well he'd live. That all kept me going until the final showdown, which I loved because Brust showed so little of the action. Fight scenes like that are so unexpected.
The note? Unfortunately, I don't have it handy; but basically it reminded me that I should appreciate a book for what it *is*, rather than what I want it to be. That made me stop being unhappy that it wasn't like the other books and start enjoying its virtues.
Having said all that, I still don't think it's as enjoyable as the other books in the series. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. But I did enjoy that medical section.
June 6, 2022
Book 6 in the Vlad Taltos series. Another re-read.
The author changed his writing style for this one, as he tends to do throughout the series. Instead of Vlad's first-person narration the story is told in third person from two separate perspectives.
The first point of view is from a young Teckla boy by the name of Savn. He is an innocent, inquisitive and likeable boy undergoing an apprenticeship to the village physician. His viewpoint alternates with that of Rocza, the jhereg mate of Loiosh. Her viewpoint was kind of cool since she is more of a natural wild animal than is Loiosh. He was raised by Vlad straight from the egg, so he's been heavily influenced by Vlad.
While Savn is trying to figure out what is happening, we, as readers up to this point in the series, are more in tune with the goings-on. We are given various hints and veiled answers from Vlad. This was handled very skillfully on the author's part. He's certainly no slouch in the writing department.
One thing has always bothered me about this story; actually, TWO things have always gotten to me. Vlad is most definitely a product of his environment and his life experience, but his manipulation and mistrust- while understandable- really made me angry. And the second objection I have to this book is the ending.
The author changed his writing style for this one, as he tends to do throughout the series. Instead of Vlad's first-person narration the story is told in third person from two separate perspectives.
The first point of view is from a young Teckla boy by the name of Savn. He is an innocent, inquisitive and likeable boy undergoing an apprenticeship to the village physician. His viewpoint alternates with that of Rocza, the jhereg mate of Loiosh. Her viewpoint was kind of cool since she is more of a natural wild animal than is Loiosh. He was raised by Vlad straight from the egg, so he's been heavily influenced by Vlad.
While Savn is trying to figure out what is happening, we, as readers up to this point in the series, are more in tune with the goings-on. We are given various hints and veiled answers from Vlad. This was handled very skillfully on the author's part. He's certainly no slouch in the writing department.
One thing has always bothered me about this story; actually, TWO things have always gotten to me. Vlad is most definitely a product of his environment and his life experience, but his manipulation and mistrust- while understandable- really made me angry. And the second objection I have to this book is the ending.
October 7, 2020
This was an interesting change from the way the story has been told up until now. Previously, the story has been told in first person, by Vlad’s character, while this book is written in third person, focusing on Savn’s point of view. I quite liked the introduction of Savn’s character though, and the subsequent glimpse into the simpler lives being lived outside of the somewhat chaotic city that Vlad (and therefore the reader) is accustomed to. The re-emergence of a previous bad guy that Vlad (and readers) had though vanquished, is also a nice twist. I’m looking forwards to seeing how the relationship between Savn and Vlad develops. Savn is certainly no longer going to be content with his quiet country life.
December 11, 2011
A somewhat cozy story, told from the point of view of a peasant boy whose eyes are opened to the world outside his village when he encounters Vlad Taltos. (Before now this series has always been told in first-person, from Vlad's POV.)
Vlad has been on the move for a while, trying to avoid Jhereg assassins, but as he pauses in a small farming village he attracts the attention of an old enemy. It's a good thing the Teckla boy he befriended has been studying to be a "physicker", because before long Vlad is in desperate need of one.
The book features lots of philosophical discussions ("How do we know what is true?") and long sequences of makeshift medical treatment. It's a slow, but fairly satisfying read, with a burst of action at the very end. I look forward to the next book.
Vlad has been on the move for a while, trying to avoid Jhereg assassins, but as he pauses in a small farming village he attracts the attention of an old enemy. It's a good thing the Teckla boy he befriended has been studying to be a "physicker", because before long Vlad is in desperate need of one.
The book features lots of philosophical discussions ("How do we know what is true?") and long sequences of makeshift medical treatment. It's a slow, but fairly satisfying read, with a burst of action at the very end. I look forward to the next book.
March 20, 2015
2.5 stars.
Athyra is the sixth book in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. If you haven’t read the previous books, you should probably skip this review until you’ve read Phoenix so that I don’t spoil its plot for you. I’m listening to Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration of the audio versions (Audible Studios) of VLAD TALTOS. Athyra is 8.5 hours long on audio, though I increased the playback speed, as I always do, so it was shorter than that for me. Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration continues to be excellent and I recommend the audio format for this series.
I mentioned in my review of Phoenix that Vlad had come to a turning place in his life. Because of what he did in that story, Vlad has left Adrilankha and is ... Read More:
Athyra is the sixth book in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. If you haven’t read the previous books, you should probably skip this review until you’ve read Phoenix so that I don’t spoil its plot for you. I’m listening to Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration of the audio versions (Audible Studios) of VLAD TALTOS. Athyra is 8.5 hours long on audio, though I increased the playback speed, as I always do, so it was shorter than that for me. Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration continues to be excellent and I recommend the audio format for this series.
I mentioned in my review of Phoenix that Vlad had come to a turning place in his life. Because of what he did in that story, Vlad has left Adrilankha and is ... Read More:
October 24, 2013
So, the events in had tied things up so neatly, that I probably put this sequel off too long...I dont remember a lot!
But it mostly didn't matter, as Vlad is now 'retired' and travelling around. However, his past catches up with him in the form of an undead Draegerean and a Jhereg assassin.
This book also different in that it's told from the perspective of a young Teckla boy who has befriended Vlad. This would normally be odd, but being sort of a 'restart' book anyway, it works.
But it mostly didn't matter, as Vlad is now 'retired' and travelling around. However, his past catches up with him in the form of an undead Draegerean and a Jhereg assassin.
This book also different in that it's told from the perspective of a young Teckla boy who has befriended Vlad. This would normally be odd, but being sort of a 'restart' book anyway, it works.
November 19, 2020
I adjusted my rating up to 5 stars after re-reading for the first time in at least 15 years. It's just such a damn good read. What a beautiful piece of work that such major protagonist development is shown through the eyes of a different character! I wouldn't read this novel of the series first, because a lot of my enjoyment was seeing Vlad's quirks and black-and-gray morality from the outside. Not only that, it's really refreshing to see the world through a Teckla's (i.e., a peasant's) eyes when so much of the series is centered on what are supposed to be the relatively few nobles and merchants (and personal relations of Vlad's).
May 2, 2016
This book was a giant switch from the first five. I wasn't sold on it for several chapters. Total shift in view point. I'm so glad I stuck with it though because I ended up really enjoying it.
It was quite interesting seeing Vlad from another individuals perspective. Especially from someone like the young peasant kid.
Was a very smart choice by Brust IMO - this total switch up is a great way to keep such a long series fresh.
It was quite interesting seeing Vlad from another individuals perspective. Especially from someone like the young peasant kid.
Was a very smart choice by Brust IMO - this total switch up is a great way to keep such a long series fresh.
July 1, 2017
It was OK. I was waiting for vlad to come back in full focus and then the book ended. Hopefully the next one will be more exciting, this country setting bored me.
June 4, 2024
A fairly entertaining book, albeit the shift of pov from Vlad to the young Savn was not overly successful for me. I missed Vlad’s snark and internal monologue, yet as he is spending a lot of time at deaths door, the novel would have bern rather short.
June 25, 2023
New character is a bit lame, but also awesome as heck! Really, REALLY hope to spend more time with him😢
New POV from Vlad's Shoulder-Dragon's GF! 🐉 She's !
New POV from Vlad's Shoulder-Dragon's GF! 🐉 She's !
Read
July 31, 2023Learning to question the inevitability of feudal power structures as the natural order of things will literally blow your tiny peasant mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
September 7, 2023Interesting POV good story and some philosophy. More depth than precious ones. Looking forward to the next
December 31, 2023
“Phoenix� seemed to represent an end of one phase of Vlad’s life, and hence also of this series, and “Athyra� adds to the sense of change by being a significant break with what came before. Given Brust’s proclivities, it’s no surprise that the book takes place a few years after “Phoenix�, but that does mean that we are firmly into a new period of Vlad’s life: Vlad has adjusted � well, to some extent � to his new life as a permanent fugitive, and perforce the reader must adjust as well. The setting is also novel: “Athyra� is not just the first book in the series to take place entirely outside of Adrilankha, it almost entirely eschews the kind of outside-Adrilankha settings we’re used to. There is no abode of heroes like Dzur Mountain or Castle Black, no mysterious or mystical foreign locations: instead, almost all of the book takes place in and around a small peasant village. The absence of familiar settings is matched by the absence of familiar characters: for the first time, none of Morrolan, Sethra, or Aliera appear. But the biggest change is also the most obvious: Vlad is not narrating. Instead, the book is told from the perspective of a Teckla boy named Savn � if he were human, he’d be in his late teens, but since he’s Dragaeran he’s more than twice Vlad’s age � a resident of the village where the book takes place. (Perhaps as part of a general theme of giving voice to the voiceless, we also get a few short sections from Rocza’s perspective: since she’s not psychically linked to Vlad the way that Loiosh is, we’ve never heard so directly from her before.) Savn is mostly an ordinary peasant teenager, but not completely: he’s sensitive, inquisitive, and thoughtful, qualities which are presumably the reason why he has been apprenticed to Master Wag. Despite his name, Master Wag is not a jokester or any kind of entertainer. Rather, he’s the village healer, who gets his professional name from the fact that in the absence of anesthetics, he tells stories to distract the patient � and in a way, he himself � from the pain of the basic surgeries (such as bonesetting) that he carries out. This kind of imaginative and fascinating detail � the reader will also learn a lot of about flax, the local cash crop � immediately makes Savn’s village feel just as interesting as the more distinctive settings that we’re accustomed to. The same is true of Savn himself, who in the previous books would have been just another anonymous Teckla boy. But by switching the perspective, Brust reminds us (admittedly at the cost of the distinctive narrative voice he developed in the first five books) that an anonymous Teckla boy is really a young man with hopes and dreams: if those hopes and dreams are inchoate, since Savn grew up in a setting and role where the kind of things he wants to do with his life are difficult to express, they are nonetheless just as valid as Vlad’s are.
Which is, of course, the point of the novel. Vlad has returned to the scene of one his former triumphs: Savn’s village is part of the domain of Loraan, the Athyra wizard he killed at the beginning of “Taltos� in order to rescue Aliera’s soul. However, in Dragaera death is often no more than a temporary setback: Loraan is now undead, like Sethra, and having succeeded in luring Vlad to his vicinity, is working (albeit uneasily) together with a Jhereg assassin to kill him. The previous time Vlad went toe-to-toe with Loraan, he had his organization to help with the planning and Morrolan to help with the fighting. The local Teckla, on the other hand, barely figured: one of Vlad’s underlings bribed a carter to smuggle Vlad into Loraan’s castle, but Vlad never even knew the man’s name. We learn the name, or at last a nickname, Reins, at the beginning of the book: the village is abuzz with the news of his mysterious death. Said death is less mysterious to Vlad, who can discern the message behind it. Given his highly-developed sense of vengeance and long-standing belief that the best defense is a good offense, it's no surprise that he almost immediately begins planning to take Loraan down. But this time his only resource is the local Teckla (and a wandering minstrel, as their guild has agreed to provide him with information), and in practice that means Savn. Most of the villagers have a small-town suspicion of such an obviously alien stranger, but to Savn Vlad represents the larger world, and he is fascinated with him almost despite himself. He knows that Vlad is an enemy of his lord � Vlad doesn’t try to hide this from him � and he’s not disloyal: from his perspective, Baron Smallcliff is not a bad ruler, and he doesn’t really believe Vlad’s stories of undead wizards and Jhereg assassins. But Vlad is living proof that another world is out there, another way of thinking and being beyond the rhythms of flax cultivation (a good chunk of the book is about the harvest, which is the first concern of everybody in the village), and Savn can’t stop himself from seeking him out. That’s not why Savn gives Vlad medical help in a fairly harrowing surgery scene: that’s a matter of medical ethics, as we see when Master Wag also helps Vlad when a wound becomes infected. But it is why, when Savn realizes that Vlad has been manipulating him, or at least his parents (to ensure that they don’t interfere with Savn spending time with Vlad), he nonetheless decides, rather than reporting Vlad to the village headman, to go straight to Loraan and see for himself if Vlad’s wild stories are true. And it is definitely why Savn doesn’t simply help Vlad survive the final encounter with Loraan and Ishtvan, the Jhereg assassin, but ends up killing Loraan with a Morganti dagger.
By the end of the book, then, it’s clear that Brust is giving us Savn’s perspective not just to make a change or a point but because he, not Vlad, is the hero. And yet at the same time, Vlad is quite obviously using him just as he used Reins. Vlad is in a different position than he was the first time around, and Savn is not Reins, so the means of manipulation that Vlad uses are different. And, to be fair, Vlad feels responsible for Savn afterwards, when mental and physical injury have left him semi-catatonic. But Vlad certainly knew the risks far better than Savn, and made no move to shield him from them. The book opens with a brief anecdote, in which Vlad kills an athyra � an animal, not a Dragaeran � rather than, as one of his companions points out, simply going around it. By the end of the book, it’s clear that this is a parable, because Vlad’s response to Loraan is the same: he makes no effort to avoid a confrontation, but instead heads straight for it, doing whatever he needs to do to ensure that he wins. Vlad may no longer be a Jherege assassin, but he is recognizably still Vlad, and his behavior in this book isn’t that much different from the way he would act when planning a hit in the old days. The key passage in the book comes fairly early on, when Vlad is explaining to Savn the difference between two types of Athyra: the explorers, who see people as tools, and the mystics, who don’t see people as being real at all. (As is often the case with titles in the series, it’s the concepts associated with the Dragaeran House in question that matter: Loraan himself only appears briefly at the end of the book.) When Savn asks Vlad which he is, Vlad says that he at least knows, now, that people are real. This is better than the alternative, he claims, and I suppose that’s true, yet it suggests that he still has a long way to go. You can take the man out of the assassins, but can you take the assassin out of the man? We have, supposedly, 13 more books to find out.
Which is, of course, the point of the novel. Vlad has returned to the scene of one his former triumphs: Savn’s village is part of the domain of Loraan, the Athyra wizard he killed at the beginning of “Taltos� in order to rescue Aliera’s soul. However, in Dragaera death is often no more than a temporary setback: Loraan is now undead, like Sethra, and having succeeded in luring Vlad to his vicinity, is working (albeit uneasily) together with a Jhereg assassin to kill him. The previous time Vlad went toe-to-toe with Loraan, he had his organization to help with the planning and Morrolan to help with the fighting. The local Teckla, on the other hand, barely figured: one of Vlad’s underlings bribed a carter to smuggle Vlad into Loraan’s castle, but Vlad never even knew the man’s name. We learn the name, or at last a nickname, Reins, at the beginning of the book: the village is abuzz with the news of his mysterious death. Said death is less mysterious to Vlad, who can discern the message behind it. Given his highly-developed sense of vengeance and long-standing belief that the best defense is a good offense, it's no surprise that he almost immediately begins planning to take Loraan down. But this time his only resource is the local Teckla (and a wandering minstrel, as their guild has agreed to provide him with information), and in practice that means Savn. Most of the villagers have a small-town suspicion of such an obviously alien stranger, but to Savn Vlad represents the larger world, and he is fascinated with him almost despite himself. He knows that Vlad is an enemy of his lord � Vlad doesn’t try to hide this from him � and he’s not disloyal: from his perspective, Baron Smallcliff is not a bad ruler, and he doesn’t really believe Vlad’s stories of undead wizards and Jhereg assassins. But Vlad is living proof that another world is out there, another way of thinking and being beyond the rhythms of flax cultivation (a good chunk of the book is about the harvest, which is the first concern of everybody in the village), and Savn can’t stop himself from seeking him out. That’s not why Savn gives Vlad medical help in a fairly harrowing surgery scene: that’s a matter of medical ethics, as we see when Master Wag also helps Vlad when a wound becomes infected. But it is why, when Savn realizes that Vlad has been manipulating him, or at least his parents (to ensure that they don’t interfere with Savn spending time with Vlad), he nonetheless decides, rather than reporting Vlad to the village headman, to go straight to Loraan and see for himself if Vlad’s wild stories are true. And it is definitely why Savn doesn’t simply help Vlad survive the final encounter with Loraan and Ishtvan, the Jhereg assassin, but ends up killing Loraan with a Morganti dagger.
By the end of the book, then, it’s clear that Brust is giving us Savn’s perspective not just to make a change or a point but because he, not Vlad, is the hero. And yet at the same time, Vlad is quite obviously using him just as he used Reins. Vlad is in a different position than he was the first time around, and Savn is not Reins, so the means of manipulation that Vlad uses are different. And, to be fair, Vlad feels responsible for Savn afterwards, when mental and physical injury have left him semi-catatonic. But Vlad certainly knew the risks far better than Savn, and made no move to shield him from them. The book opens with a brief anecdote, in which Vlad kills an athyra � an animal, not a Dragaeran � rather than, as one of his companions points out, simply going around it. By the end of the book, it’s clear that this is a parable, because Vlad’s response to Loraan is the same: he makes no effort to avoid a confrontation, but instead heads straight for it, doing whatever he needs to do to ensure that he wins. Vlad may no longer be a Jherege assassin, but he is recognizably still Vlad, and his behavior in this book isn’t that much different from the way he would act when planning a hit in the old days. The key passage in the book comes fairly early on, when Vlad is explaining to Savn the difference between two types of Athyra: the explorers, who see people as tools, and the mystics, who don’t see people as being real at all. (As is often the case with titles in the series, it’s the concepts associated with the Dragaeran House in question that matter: Loraan himself only appears briefly at the end of the book.) When Savn asks Vlad which he is, Vlad says that he at least knows, now, that people are real. This is better than the alternative, he claims, and I suppose that’s true, yet it suggests that he still has a long way to go. You can take the man out of the assassins, but can you take the assassin out of the man? We have, supposedly, 13 more books to find out.
July 6, 2015
This was my least favourite of the Vlad Taltos books so far, although it was still decent. That’s really how you can tell how strong this series is, because this is easily the weakest in the first six and it’s still good. Unfortunately, I feel I have to compare it to the other books in the same series (which, for me at least, have ranged between very good to excellent, in terms of overall quality), so this one loses marks.
Really, the main thing about this novel that made me appreciate it less than the others is something that usually would make me value it more highly � namely, authorial bravery manifested in the willingness to experiment. The intent was good; change the feeling of this book from all the others by switching from the previously used first-person point of view to a third person perspective which tightly follows a previously unknown character. Where it all falls down is the character that Brust chose to follow is rather ignorant and is, quite frankly, not very interesting. Compounding this is that a large part of the attraction of the dialogue of this series is the sarcastic wit on display during the psionic back-and-forths between Vlad and Loiosh, which is entirely absent here. Also, the action suffers pretty drastically as well. Usually, Brust’s action and especially his fight scenes are some of the absolute best in the business, but in Athyra the main character knows nothing about combat, and so Brust wisely keeps the detail level down, thus making the combat pretty spotty.
There was, however, some fairly interesting philosophical conversations which served as major plot drivers here, mostly between Savn, the peasant boy main character, and Vlad. The philosophy discussed, though not political philosophy and nowhere near as deep as some of the philosophy behind the plot of Teckla, was nonetheless well written and also very relevant to the plot of the novel, which is no mean feat. Also very interesting was reading the snippets at the end of each chapter written from the point of view of Rocza the jhereg, Loiosh’s mate. Here we learn that Rocza really has no psionic connection with Vlad, but instead has one with Loiosh, who relays Vlad’s instructions/requests to Rocza, who then may or may not decide to play along. Very interesting stuff.
In summation, a good book that was mostly left looking not that great when placed next to the superlative quality of the rest of the series.
Really, the main thing about this novel that made me appreciate it less than the others is something that usually would make me value it more highly � namely, authorial bravery manifested in the willingness to experiment. The intent was good; change the feeling of this book from all the others by switching from the previously used first-person point of view to a third person perspective which tightly follows a previously unknown character. Where it all falls down is the character that Brust chose to follow is rather ignorant and is, quite frankly, not very interesting. Compounding this is that a large part of the attraction of the dialogue of this series is the sarcastic wit on display during the psionic back-and-forths between Vlad and Loiosh, which is entirely absent here. Also, the action suffers pretty drastically as well. Usually, Brust’s action and especially his fight scenes are some of the absolute best in the business, but in Athyra the main character knows nothing about combat, and so Brust wisely keeps the detail level down, thus making the combat pretty spotty.
There was, however, some fairly interesting philosophical conversations which served as major plot drivers here, mostly between Savn, the peasant boy main character, and Vlad. The philosophy discussed, though not political philosophy and nowhere near as deep as some of the philosophy behind the plot of Teckla, was nonetheless well written and also very relevant to the plot of the novel, which is no mean feat. Also very interesting was reading the snippets at the end of each chapter written from the point of view of Rocza the jhereg, Loiosh’s mate. Here we learn that Rocza really has no psionic connection with Vlad, but instead has one with Loiosh, who relays Vlad’s instructions/requests to Rocza, who then may or may not decide to play along. Very interesting stuff.
In summation, a good book that was mostly left looking not that great when placed next to the superlative quality of the rest of the series.
August 24, 2012
The first time I read this book I hated it.
Some perspective. I had just moved in with Mike. I hadn't really read anything in a while. He got me into the Vlad books and I read the first...okay, five. (This is number six.) And loved them. Loved Vlad, and especially loved Vlad and Morrolan interactions.
Hear that? Part of the big reason I love these books is because they got me into reading again. Which was something I'd lost. It's one of the reasons I can't read strangers' reviews of them. They can't know what these books did for me.
So anyway, Mike only had the first five, and my going on about them had him read them again, and we hied off to the bookstore to get what was next. We found this book that is a combination of both Athyra and number seven, Orca.
I had loved Vlad telling the story, loved following him around. And then I hit this book, which is third-person (as opposed to first-person, see), from this kid Savn's POV.
Remember in a review, a couple of books ago, I said something about thinking, "Oh, it'd be cool to see Vlad from someone else's point-of-view"? Maybe I only said it out loud and not on here. Hmm.
Anywya, I had that thought, and then remembered this book, and laughed, because I remembered how disappointed I was in it the first time.
The first time.
I learned to appreciate it on further readings. There is some pretty cool stuff in here. A few philosophical things I dig, and some informative stuff that was just interesting---like when Savn uses sword sheaths and a water jug to fix a collapsed lung.
It's actually a good book.
But here's the other thing; if you don't know Vlad, and you don't have perspective on the antagonist (someone from a previous book), this book would be horrible. Because it would be hard to understand why you should care.
As it is, I appreciate Savn's POV so much these days because of what happens to him. Getting his POV before that is priceless. Just priceless. And leads into Orca.
These books are not always chronological, but Orca does flow out of this one, even if there might be room for a book in between them someday.
The point is, when a fangirl gets over being butthurt for not having Vlad tell the story, and gets a wider perspective, she comes to love this book.
Eventually.
Some perspective. I had just moved in with Mike. I hadn't really read anything in a while. He got me into the Vlad books and I read the first...okay, five. (This is number six.) And loved them. Loved Vlad, and especially loved Vlad and Morrolan interactions.
Hear that? Part of the big reason I love these books is because they got me into reading again. Which was something I'd lost. It's one of the reasons I can't read strangers' reviews of them. They can't know what these books did for me.
So anyway, Mike only had the first five, and my going on about them had him read them again, and we hied off to the bookstore to get what was next. We found this book that is a combination of both Athyra and number seven, Orca.
I had loved Vlad telling the story, loved following him around. And then I hit this book, which is third-person (as opposed to first-person, see), from this kid Savn's POV.
Remember in a review, a couple of books ago, I said something about thinking, "Oh, it'd be cool to see Vlad from someone else's point-of-view"? Maybe I only said it out loud and not on here. Hmm.
Anywya, I had that thought, and then remembered this book, and laughed, because I remembered how disappointed I was in it the first time.
The first time.
I learned to appreciate it on further readings. There is some pretty cool stuff in here. A few philosophical things I dig, and some informative stuff that was just interesting---like when Savn uses sword sheaths and a water jug to fix a collapsed lung.
It's actually a good book.
But here's the other thing; if you don't know Vlad, and you don't have perspective on the antagonist (someone from a previous book), this book would be horrible. Because it would be hard to understand why you should care.
As it is, I appreciate Savn's POV so much these days because of what happens to him. Getting his POV before that is priceless. Just priceless. And leads into Orca.
These books are not always chronological, but Orca does flow out of this one, even if there might be room for a book in between them someday.
The point is, when a fangirl gets over being butthurt for not having Vlad tell the story, and gets a wider perspective, she comes to love this book.
Eventually.
November 23, 2015
Now, that was a switch. The first five Vlad books were all told in the first person, from Vlad's own perspective. This one turns the series on its head by flipping to a third person account. What's more, it's using the point-of-view of a young Draegaran peasant boy.
We get to see Vlad Taltos as another sees him, as Savn becomes the central character. Vlad has wandered into his village, and strange things start occurring. While others think this strange "Easterner" is to blame, Savn isn't so sure. He's drawn to Vlad and is pulled towards a life outside the village.
It has elements of being the fantasy coming of age story, but this particular novel is more about Savn learning how to question things that he and his family have always assumed to be true. Vlad teaches him not to doubt, necessarily, but to not take everything at face value.
Vlad Taltos fans should really enjoy the flipped perspective. A nice added touch is end of chapter "thoughts" from the point of view of Rocza, the jhereg mate of Vlad's familiar, Loiosh.
We get to see Vlad Taltos as another sees him, as Savn becomes the central character. Vlad has wandered into his village, and strange things start occurring. While others think this strange "Easterner" is to blame, Savn isn't so sure. He's drawn to Vlad and is pulled towards a life outside the village.
It has elements of being the fantasy coming of age story, but this particular novel is more about Savn learning how to question things that he and his family have always assumed to be true. Vlad teaches him not to doubt, necessarily, but to not take everything at face value.
Vlad Taltos fans should really enjoy the flipped perspective. A nice added touch is end of chapter "thoughts" from the point of view of Rocza, the jhereg mate of Vlad's familiar, Loiosh.
April 6, 2017
This was very different from the first five in the series. For one thing, it's not told in first person from Vlad's point of view, it's told from the pov of a Teckla youth. For another, this has nothing to do with the city and power plays, or so it seems at first. I liked it, but I hope we get back to Vlad's pov soon.
November 4, 2015
Written entirely from an outsider's POV. It wasn't always pleasant to see Vlad through Savn's eyes. Still, what I like about the Vlad Taltos series is, that Vlad's actions have consequences, both for him and for the people around him, like for Savn in this book. I'm curious in what direction the series will be headed next...
May 4, 2024
Had the faint impression that I never liked this one as much as some of the earlier Vlad books for some reason, so did not really reread it the same way have I reread some of the earlier novels and Orca and Issola. Glad I did, it is just as good, just darker than some of the others. Nice shift in storytelling with much of the story being told from outside of Vlad's perspective.
November 7, 2016
Story was good but not a fan of this change in narration
September 24, 2024
Given how the last volume in this series sort of blew up the overall premise, and how author Steven Brust has bounced around in the timeline before now, it would have been unsurprising for this sixth novel to be another flashback entry, taking place in the days when antihero Vlad Taltos was still an assassin and neighborhood crime boss for the Jhereg organization. Instead, it's a welcome sequel to #5 Phoenix, which ended -- spoiler alert -- with the protagonist on the run from his former superiors, having acquired both some newly-developed scruples and a massive price on his head.
This one isn't a direct follow-up, since several years (and one of Vlad's fingers) have gone by in the meantime, a gap that Brust would later return to in #11 Jhegaala. But it's great to see him resisting the safe choice here and telling a story about a mafiosa absent the mafia -- a hired killer without anyone to kill -- well beyond the familiar Adrilankha setting and its regular cast of supporting characters. While subsequent installments like #8 Dragon and #16 Tsalmoth would indeed go back to that earlier era, Athyra positions its central criminal as a wandering ronin figure, a drifter who passes through a small town in the wilderness and gets drawn into the local troubles there (which admittedly do turn out to be more personal in nature for the reformed hitman, due to the presence of a returning villain from #4 Taltos).
The presentation of the plot marks a refreshing change, too. For the first time we're outside the assassin's immediate first-person narration, seeing him from the third-person limited perspective of a village boy unfamiliar with his secrets and his past (or even his short-lived species, as the human/Easterner is the only one the eighty-year-old Dragaeran youth has ever met). Although I do miss getting to hear the sarcastic psychic commentary from Vlad's jhereg familiar Loiosh, the shift in focus is an interesting stylistic difference, as is the new look at the wider worldbuilding details that come to us through the healer's apprentice. Savn is even a reasonably compelling protagonist in his own right, though his new friend rightfully remains the primary attraction.
This is not a book that moves the broader storyline too much, but as a distinctive episodic adventure, it easily stands out against its predecessors.
[Content warning for torture and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
--Follow along on ŷ here!
/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
This one isn't a direct follow-up, since several years (and one of Vlad's fingers) have gone by in the meantime, a gap that Brust would later return to in #11 Jhegaala. But it's great to see him resisting the safe choice here and telling a story about a mafiosa absent the mafia -- a hired killer without anyone to kill -- well beyond the familiar Adrilankha setting and its regular cast of supporting characters. While subsequent installments like #8 Dragon and #16 Tsalmoth would indeed go back to that earlier era, Athyra positions its central criminal as a wandering ronin figure, a drifter who passes through a small town in the wilderness and gets drawn into the local troubles there (which admittedly do turn out to be more personal in nature for the reformed hitman, due to the presence of a returning villain from #4 Taltos).
The presentation of the plot marks a refreshing change, too. For the first time we're outside the assassin's immediate first-person narration, seeing him from the third-person limited perspective of a village boy unfamiliar with his secrets and his past (or even his short-lived species, as the human/Easterner is the only one the eighty-year-old Dragaeran youth has ever met). Although I do miss getting to hear the sarcastic psychic commentary from Vlad's jhereg familiar Loiosh, the shift in focus is an interesting stylistic difference, as is the new look at the wider worldbuilding details that come to us through the healer's apprentice. Savn is even a reasonably compelling protagonist in his own right, though his new friend rightfully remains the primary attraction.
This is not a book that moves the broader storyline too much, but as a distinctive episodic adventure, it easily stands out against its predecessors.
[Content warning for torture and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
--Follow along on ŷ here!
/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
December 12, 2024
Cambio muy radical con respecto a los 5 primeros libros de la saga. De nuevo juega con el tiempo, situando esta historia al menos 2 años después de lo ocurrido en Phoenix, con un Vlad Taltos vagando por el mundo, logrando sobrevivir y evitar que los Jhereg den con el.
Pero el cambio más importante es quizás el narrador de la historia. De pronto ya no es Vlad quien nos cuenta lo que esta ocurriendo, sino que lo vemos casi todo a traves del punto de vista de otros personajes, aunque ya no narrado en primera persona, como las anteriores novelas. Un nuevo personaje, Savn, lleva la narración, siendo testigo de lo que ocurre, aunque parcialmente. Ya no estamos en la cabeza de Vlad, por lo que el autor se puede permitir sorprendernos con cosas inesperadas. Vlad ya no es la misma persona que conocíamos, y al prescindir de el como narrador, nos da la sensación de estar ante una persona muy cambiada, a la que deberemos ir descubriendo poco a poco. Savn nos sirve de introducción a esta nueva faceta de Vlad, para quien es un autentico desconocido, y podemos identificarnos con sus reacciones ante las acciones del que fue nuestro narrador. Un giro interesante. Me pareció muy divertido cuando Vlad comenta como alguien le convenció para contarle su historia hace un tiempo, e incluso llego a aceptar su promesa de que no se lo contaría a nadie....
Hay algunos momentos narrados desde el punto de vista de Rocza, lo que resulta también algo sorprendente. Rocza creció como una Jhereg salvaje, así que sus procesos mentales son muy diferentes de los de Loiosh. De nuevo acentúa lo diferente de la situación.
Francamente, me da bastante rabia pensar que aunque se seguro que lo he leído, no recordaba gran cosa del libro. Recuerdo más la consecuencia establecida en el final del libro que el proceso del libro en si. De cualquier modo, las historias las había leído salteadas, y estoy disfrutando mucho de la lectura regular de la serie. Aunque ya poco tiene que ver con la idea que tenia sobre el personaje, y lo que me atrajo de la saga en un principio. Estoy disfrutando redescubriendo y comprendiendo mejor los temas de los que habla en los libros, y como no se limita a ser una serie de fantasía, sino que trata temas políticos y sociales mucho mas densos y relevantes de lo que mi memoria logro retener.
Pero el cambio más importante es quizás el narrador de la historia. De pronto ya no es Vlad quien nos cuenta lo que esta ocurriendo, sino que lo vemos casi todo a traves del punto de vista de otros personajes, aunque ya no narrado en primera persona, como las anteriores novelas. Un nuevo personaje, Savn, lleva la narración, siendo testigo de lo que ocurre, aunque parcialmente. Ya no estamos en la cabeza de Vlad, por lo que el autor se puede permitir sorprendernos con cosas inesperadas. Vlad ya no es la misma persona que conocíamos, y al prescindir de el como narrador, nos da la sensación de estar ante una persona muy cambiada, a la que deberemos ir descubriendo poco a poco. Savn nos sirve de introducción a esta nueva faceta de Vlad, para quien es un autentico desconocido, y podemos identificarnos con sus reacciones ante las acciones del que fue nuestro narrador. Un giro interesante. Me pareció muy divertido cuando Vlad comenta como alguien le convenció para contarle su historia hace un tiempo, e incluso llego a aceptar su promesa de que no se lo contaría a nadie....
Hay algunos momentos narrados desde el punto de vista de Rocza, lo que resulta también algo sorprendente. Rocza creció como una Jhereg salvaje, así que sus procesos mentales son muy diferentes de los de Loiosh. De nuevo acentúa lo diferente de la situación.
Francamente, me da bastante rabia pensar que aunque se seguro que lo he leído, no recordaba gran cosa del libro. Recuerdo más la consecuencia establecida en el final del libro que el proceso del libro en si. De cualquier modo, las historias las había leído salteadas, y estoy disfrutando mucho de la lectura regular de la serie. Aunque ya poco tiene que ver con la idea que tenia sobre el personaje, y lo que me atrajo de la saga en un principio. Estoy disfrutando redescubriendo y comprendiendo mejor los temas de los que habla en los libros, y como no se limita a ser una serie de fantasía, sino que trata temas políticos y sociales mucho mas densos y relevantes de lo que mi memoria logro retener.
December 10, 2017
A departure in the Vlad Taltos series, in that it is the first book not told in first person from Vlad's perspective. This is appropriate, given that it is the first book after Brust "blew up" his premise: at the the end of the previous book Vlad abandoned his home and career and set off to wander the wilderness with a price on his head.
I like that Brust has created such a complex and detailed world: ruled by seventeen noble houses, each named for an animal, and the members of that house display characteristics of their namesake. Each book in the series (save the one named for Vlad) is named for one of these animals, and prominently features a character from that house. In the framing device of the book, we learn that an athyra is a type of bird with a psychic ability to manipulate predators and prey; the Athyra character is Loraan, an undead sorcerer. In his wanderings, Vlad has stumbled into Loraan's domain and is caught in a web of "kill or be killed" intrigue.
In a feat of narrative and stylistic skill, Brust also matches the style of the book to the characteristics of the named house. Athyras are known for being mystics and philosophers, and much of the story involves philosophical discussions between Vlad and the third-person focus, Savn, a peasant in Loraan's barony. Discussions about the nature of truth, about moral obligations, and about free will. Again, this is appropriate since Vlad is reevaluating his life.
The only thing I didn't like (and this is partly Brust's fault, partly my own shortcomings) is that several characters (including Loraan) played roles in the previous books, but because I'm not reading the series back-to-back I tend to forget exactly what happened before. So I take it as a given that there is some history there, but I wish there had been a little more recap. Athyra ended on a slight cliffhanger, as the repercussions of the fight with Loraan cause Vlad to take Savn under his wing. Apparently the next book, Orca, begins immediately after the events of this one, so I won't wait so long to pick it up.
I like that Brust has created such a complex and detailed world: ruled by seventeen noble houses, each named for an animal, and the members of that house display characteristics of their namesake. Each book in the series (save the one named for Vlad) is named for one of these animals, and prominently features a character from that house. In the framing device of the book, we learn that an athyra is a type of bird with a psychic ability to manipulate predators and prey; the Athyra character is Loraan, an undead sorcerer. In his wanderings, Vlad has stumbled into Loraan's domain and is caught in a web of "kill or be killed" intrigue.
In a feat of narrative and stylistic skill, Brust also matches the style of the book to the characteristics of the named house. Athyras are known for being mystics and philosophers, and much of the story involves philosophical discussions between Vlad and the third-person focus, Savn, a peasant in Loraan's barony. Discussions about the nature of truth, about moral obligations, and about free will. Again, this is appropriate since Vlad is reevaluating his life.
The only thing I didn't like (and this is partly Brust's fault, partly my own shortcomings) is that several characters (including Loraan) played roles in the previous books, but because I'm not reading the series back-to-back I tend to forget exactly what happened before. So I take it as a given that there is some history there, but I wish there had been a little more recap. Athyra ended on a slight cliffhanger, as the repercussions of the fight with Loraan cause Vlad to take Savn under his wing. Apparently the next book, Orca, begins immediately after the events of this one, so I won't wait so long to pick it up.
March 29, 2018
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.