kgbooklog

Steven Brust, Jhegaala
Tor (2008) ISBN: 0-7653-0147-4
Score: 5

A typical Vlad Taltos book (11th out of 19), set between Phoenix and Athyra. He goes to Fenario, but the town he visits is atypical in several ways, so we still don't really know much about the country (he also spends some time in the capital, but apparently nothing worth mentioning happened there). The book is divided into several sections, each beginning with a description of part of the life cycle of a jhegaala, and each chapter quotes some dialog from a play (looks like a murder mystery); I'll need to re-read to see how any of that relates to the plot of the book. The plot is exactly the sort of thing we usually see from Vlad, and like the last book the author expects us to read between the lines in a few places.

Next Book: Lawrence Watt-Evans, The Summer Palace

Steven Brust, Dzur
Tor (2006) ISBN: 0-765-30148-2
Score: 5

The tenth Vlad Taltos book, in which he has a good meal. He meets some people, learns a whole bunch of interesting things, reminds his enemies why he's their enemy, but the meal is the important bit. Though it is a complete story (introduces and resolves a conflict), this book mainly shows how the events of Issola have changed Vlad. The next book will probably start immediately after this one, and it seems to me that the epilogue belongs more to that book than to this one.

Next Book: Liz Williams, Snake Agent

3-28-05
Steven Brust, Agyar
Tor (1993) ISBN: 0-312-85178-2
Score: -1

This is a classic as defined by Mark Twain: I really didn't like it, but I'm glad to have read it. It is a dark, urban fantasy unrelated to anything else he's written. There is a fine line between an author being clever, and being annoying, and this book really annoyed me. The narrator leaves a lot of stuff unsaid, so there's a lot of reading between the lines needed, and I may have liked it more if I hadn't already known SPOILER (but that wasn't the author's fault in any way). (I want books that make me think, and wonder, and speculate *after* I put the book down; having to think *while* reading isn't fun.) I certainly would have liked it more if Agyar was the least bit sympathetic, but instead I kept hoping Vlad Taltos would show up and put him out of his misery. It would also have liked more information on how the supernatural stuff worked, especially for things important to the plot (like Jill biting him). And Agyar rationalizing his actions by blaming the embalmists didn't help any.