Issola
Ratings16
Average rating4.1
Okay, so maybe I've been living in the woods too long, where you can't even get a decent cup of klava first thing in the morning. So who should turn up but Lady Teldra, the courtly servant of my old friend the Dragonlord Morrolan? Teldra wants my help, because Morrolan and Aliera have disappeared, and according to Sethra Lavode, it looks like they may be in the hands of the Jenoine. Do I want to mess with them? The guys who made this place? And I thought I had problems before... Oh well, what's a little cosmic battle with beings who control time and space? It's better than hunkering down in the woods without even so much as a drinkable cup of klava. In Issola, Stephen Brust delivers another swashbuckling fantasy adventure for Vlad Taltos. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
3.5 stars.
???I miss the days when I used to be nostalgic.??? ~Vlad Taltos
I???ve been slightly disappointed with the last few novels in Steven Brust???s VLAD TALTOS series, but with Issola, book 9, Brust returns to what I liked about the earlier books. While I admired Brust???s willingness to experiment with his world, his characters, and especially the narrative structure of his novels, I think he???s best when the overall plot is moving forward and Vlad is using his assassin skills to solve mysteries and help his powerful Dragonlord friends.
In Issola, we???re back to a present timeline. Vlad and Cawti are separated but Vlad is starting to recover from the funk he???s been in for quite a while now. He???s been run out of his organization and is hiding from them in the woods. Then Lady Teldra (an Issola who is servant to the ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/issola/
Having discovered the Vlad Taltos series this year has been an absolute highlight. I think this book might be my favourite of the 9 I've read.
After being disappointed by the last 2-3 books, i was glad to be back to the main storyline. This time around the Lady Teldra has come to ask Vlad for help in finding Morrolan and Aliera who have gone missing under mysterious circumstances. This leads him to confronting beings that transcend both time and space.
The book effectively builds on the lore of the Dragaerans and the history of their world, pulls at some of the loose threads from previous books as well. It doesn't necessarily bring those threads to a definite conclusion, but it's getting there (one would hope).
Vlad is definitely back to form in Issola. I loved Lady Teldra's character as well. She was an absolute joy to behold and a wonderful addition to the cast.
With every new book, the characters feel more lived in, and so does the world. There may be books in the series here and there that don't have the best story, but the world that Brust has created is a really lovely one.
