Jhereg

3.5 s stars
Originally posted (with links) at FanLit.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/jhereg/

Audio readers, rejoice! Finally, Steven Brust???s VLAD TALTOS novels have been produced in audio by Audible Frontiers. For years I???ve been planning to read this long series and have only been waiting for this moment.

The VLAD TALTOS novels follow Vlad Taltos, a well-known and highly successful human assassin living on the planet Dragaera. The native species, the Dragaerans, are a tall long-lived race created by sorcerers who cross-bred humans and certain animals. The characteristics of the animals give each clan, or ???House,??? its name, physical features, and personality traits. The exception is the house of Jhereg (named after a small dragon-like creature) which is a low-class conglomerate of outcasts from other clans and also any true humans who can buy their way in, which is what Vlad Taltos??? father did. Each of Brusts??? novels in this series is named after one of the Dragaeran houses.

In this first installment, Jhereg, we meet Vlad Taltos and his familiar, Loiosh, the jhereg who can communicate with him through mind-speech. Vlad has been hired to kill a councilman named Mellar who has embezzled a huge sum of money from the Jhereg council. When Vlad catches up with Mellar, he discovers him hiding out in Castle Black, the floating mansion of Vlad???s friend, the Dragonlord Morrolan. Castle Black???s rule of hospitality is that anyone who has been invited to stay at the castle cannot be touched and nobody wants to violate this law because it would ignite another Dragon-Jhereg war. The last war devastated both houses. Vlad and Loiosh must flush out Mellar without offending a Dragonlord or starting a war. This is not an easy task and Vlad will need to solve a mystery and get a little help from his friends.

Jhereg is appealing for several reasons. Vlad Taltos is a great character ??? the sort of honorable criminal that you can???t help but like. It helps that in Brust???s world, an assassination isn???t necessarily permanent. People can be revivified if their body is still mostly intact and they haven???t had their soul destroyed by a Morganti weapon (somewhat like Elric???s sword). Vlad is clever and must use his brain, not just his weapons or witchcraft, to solve his dilemma (though I thought he solved the convoluted mystery a little too easily). Vlad???s friends are also likeable, especially Loiosh the familiar, Vlad???s wife (who he met when she tried to kill him), and a female Dragonlord. Brust???s female characters are strong, smart, and competent.

Steven Brust???s writing style, sense of humor, and dialogue are also pleasant, and the story moves quickly. There???s a lot to learn in the first novel of a huge epic, but Brust does this so well. We learn a little about Vlad???s childhood, the planet of Dragaera, the origin and structure of the houses (this was fascinating), and anything else we need to know. Brust gives us just enough extra to make us curious about his world, but not enough to make the plot slow down while we learn the entire history of Dragaera and its residents. (Yet, Brust???s world is so complex and detailed that some readers may wish for an online resource such as this helpful Wikipedia entry, and several fan-made Dragaera sites that you can easily find with a Google search.)

Audible Frontiers??? version was narrated by Bernard Setaro Clark. He was terrific, speaking with a lively manner and giving each character a pleasant and distinct voice. As usual, I had to speed up the narration a bit (I???m beginning to suspect that Audible has purposely slowed down their narrators). I???m pleased to see that Bernard Setaro Clark has also narrated the sequels and I???ll be picking up book 2, Yendi, which is actually a prequel to Jhereg, very soon. I look forward to spending more time with Vlad Taltos.

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-7
W-9
P-8
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.57/10

CAWPILECharactersSethraKragerAlieraMorollan- villain MellarDemonVladLoioshConfession: for some reason in my head I had Elric of Melnibone Atmosphere2-4 locationsCastle BlackRestaurantHis officeWritingGreat Writing. Holds up the test of time. SnarkinessVery well thought out and paced perfectly. I never felt like I was too far behind or ahead of VladPlotA quick recap. Vlad Taltos is a human mafia boss living in an elven empire. His side gig is assassination. His companions include a smartass flying reptile called Loiosh, his wife/better half in almost every aspect, Cawti, an arrogant Elven noble, Morollan, Morollan's creepy psychopathic cousin, Aliera, and others. Taltos is hired by his mafia bosses to kill a renegade member, Mellar. The case gets increasingly complicated when Taltos figures out that the renegade is trying to bring down two noble houses at one time through his death. Taltos figures out a way to kill Mellar, save his friends, not start a war, keep his skin intact, and make a lot of money.InvestmentThe use of fantasy animals is astoundingly clear, but also intrigingLogicMorganti weaponsLittle (big) genetic history dump. Btw you're also a very important reincarnated being. Just said and ignoredThe house's are more than just names for the houses. Its how they areEnjoymentEnds up killing Aliera with her great weapon. runsMiscLoiosh flying away with mate.... For honeymoonThe only time his hunches are accurate are when he ignores themWho's doing all the workHow to stop a revivication in 3 easy steps. Morganti blade. Put a sorcerous block/hide the body or burn it with fire.My wife cooked something so bland I'd feel no compulsion to comment on it.The First restaurant scene compared to the 2nd restaurant scene
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/

A really snappy and fun sort of fantasy heist. Vlad Taltos - assassin, social climber, male witch, short king - is an enjoyable first-person POV character despite his career in murdering. He's clever, tongue-in-cheek and debonair, but fallible and mortal enough to not get annoying. The worldbuilding can be a bit confusing but is original and intriguing. The writing is pacey and modern, a little rough around the edges but already confident. I'm happy to see there's sixteen more of these.