Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Ace Books (1991), Reissue, Paperback
Pages
181
Description
Lord Vlad Taltos returns in the prequel to Jhereg, Yendi and Teckla. In this fantastic adventure, listeners learn what really happened when Vlad found himself walking the Paths of the Dead.Set in the earliest days of Vlad's career in the Organization, Vlad receives a job from the Dragonlord Morrolan. A second timeline chronicles the details of Vlad's development through childhood and into his early career in the Organization.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1988
Physical description
181 p.; 6.7 inches
ISBN
0441182003 / 9780441182008
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User reviews
LibraryThing member iayork
A Dragon A Day: While Yendi examines Vlad's life shortly following the time when he had begun to establish himself as a serious player in the Jehreg mini-Empire, Taltos reaches even further back, weaving three separate plots - the beginning of his come to power, his expedition with Morrolan, and
Beginning innoculously with a delivery theft by one of Vlad's henchmen, the story quickly involves Dzur Mountain - and its infamous undead inhabitant Sethra Lavode - along with Morrolan in Castle Black. It shortly becomes apparent this was a setup to get him to Sethra's quarters, to ask him to steal a very important crystal from a high wizard. Insane as it sounds, he has little choice, and when things go wrong at the last second, only a serendipitous find and Morrolan's quick entrance save him. But the ordeal is far from over, when an even more important ordeal awaits Vlad: A perilous journey with Morrolan into the Paths of the Dead to wake the soul trapped in the staff he took.
This is undoubtedly Burst's most mature work in the series to this point, giving up some of the manic energy and cockiness of the first in exchange for a much deeper look into the lives and souls of his heroes. Vlad never loses his snide sarcasm, but he does start to tone it down and put more thought into his dealings with powerful Dragaerans. Most of all, he finally begins to grudginly respect a few. The transition is both bumpy and natural, never plainly stated but obvious again his otherwise cavalier attitudes.
The book is also his finest technically, for while Yendi was an editorial mess, this continues Teckla's themes of emotional confict and redevelopment, in a more subtle way, while simultaneously mixing in a complicated and potentially disastrous device of interleaving two distinct yet connected stories, and a third above them all. And the last is how he succeeds, by leaving them independant yet somehow with relevance to each other; many passages will serve to shed an otherwise unseen corner of light on the other story immediately behind or following, and sometimes farther back, leading the reader to page back or ponder some old assumptions, some deliberately encouraged by the author.
The layers are what make the book memorable after its pages have been turned, thoughtful and roundaboutly organic just as Vlad's witchcraft is. As each chapter opens, a few paragraphs are excepted from the meticulously chaotic preparation casting of one final spell, the final climax that pulls threads from throughout the book into a single whole. The portions of the backstory that handle ground already trod in another book are often skimmed to concentrate on exposing more relevant details.
The book is most certainly a worthwhile read as long as a character-driven story with smooth pacing and imaginative action appeals to you.
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one mysterious spellweaving heading each chapter - into the fullest picture yet of his early life.Beginning innoculously with a delivery theft by one of Vlad's henchmen, the story quickly involves Dzur Mountain - and its infamous undead inhabitant Sethra Lavode - along with Morrolan in Castle Black. It shortly becomes apparent this was a setup to get him to Sethra's quarters, to ask him to steal a very important crystal from a high wizard. Insane as it sounds, he has little choice, and when things go wrong at the last second, only a serendipitous find and Morrolan's quick entrance save him. But the ordeal is far from over, when an even more important ordeal awaits Vlad: A perilous journey with Morrolan into the Paths of the Dead to wake the soul trapped in the staff he took.
This is undoubtedly Burst's most mature work in the series to this point, giving up some of the manic energy and cockiness of the first in exchange for a much deeper look into the lives and souls of his heroes. Vlad never loses his snide sarcasm, but he does start to tone it down and put more thought into his dealings with powerful Dragaerans. Most of all, he finally begins to grudginly respect a few. The transition is both bumpy and natural, never plainly stated but obvious again his otherwise cavalier attitudes.
The book is also his finest technically, for while Yendi was an editorial mess, this continues Teckla's themes of emotional confict and redevelopment, in a more subtle way, while simultaneously mixing in a complicated and potentially disastrous device of interleaving two distinct yet connected stories, and a third above them all. And the last is how he succeeds, by leaving them independant yet somehow with relevance to each other; many passages will serve to shed an otherwise unseen corner of light on the other story immediately behind or following, and sometimes farther back, leading the reader to page back or ponder some old assumptions, some deliberately encouraged by the author.
The layers are what make the book memorable after its pages have been turned, thoughtful and roundaboutly organic just as Vlad's witchcraft is. As each chapter opens, a few paragraphs are excepted from the meticulously chaotic preparation casting of one final spell, the final climax that pulls threads from throughout the book into a single whole. The portions of the backstory that handle ground already trod in another book are often skimmed to concentrate on exposing more relevant details.
The book is most certainly a worthwhile read as long as a character-driven story with smooth pacing and imaginative action appeals to you.
Show Less
LibraryThing member hrissliss
Reread. It's in the later books that one really begins to appreciate how nice it is to have an author who thinks through their entire series before setting pen to first paper. This book fleshes out many of the relationships seen in the future, and explains the hints and unidentified clues present
This one has less of a mystery aspect to it; the focus seems to be setting up events which happen later in the chronology of the world. It also has less characters, so the character focus is correspondingly smaller. (Sorry, overusing "focus" here.)
Brust also has fun with narrative in this one. Not only is it the first chronologically, revealing the way in which Vlad and his friend Morrolan met, but it also contains both flash backs and flash forwards - flashbacks showing Vlad's childhood and young adulthood, flash forwards revealing a mysterious spell Vlad is undertaking. (But which I won't describe, as it would be spoiler.)
As said, while not as brilliant as the first time I read it, still pretty fun reading. 7/10
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in the very first book Brust wrote. It's great reading the start of a relationship which is consistent with, and explains away, details found in later times. This one has less of a mystery aspect to it; the focus seems to be setting up events which happen later in the chronology of the world. It also has less characters, so the character focus is correspondingly smaller. (Sorry, overusing "focus" here.)
Brust also has fun with narrative in this one. Not only is it the first chronologically, revealing the way in which Vlad and his friend Morrolan met, but it also contains both flash backs and flash forwards - flashbacks showing Vlad's childhood and young adulthood, flash forwards revealing a mysterious spell Vlad is undertaking. (But which I won't describe, as it would be spoiler.)
As said, while not as brilliant as the first time I read it, still pretty fun reading. 7/10
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LibraryThing member silentq
Back to the Dragonlords in this book, and back into the past, where we get to hear the story that Vlad's been refering to throughout the other books that occur past this one in the time line. It's a titch confusing, as he's telling three stories at once, each chapter starting with the description
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of some magic working, then intercutting between the present quest and his start as an enforcer/assassin. But it's great to learn about his trip to the Paths of the Dead and to get to read about him doing major witchcraft. And keeping a secret from a Dragonlord. :) Show Less
LibraryThing member pastapril
I liked it a lot, and found myself laughing aloud at many parts. It was just as satisfying as Jhereg was, which brings back my faith in Brust as a writer. His motivations were clear, I liked how talk of his past was woven into the main story and made perfect sense in context.
LibraryThing member Ishpeck
This book could never be a "book on tape" scenario. The story-telling methods are very obviously meant to be on paper. The way Brust organizes this story helps keep the boring parts from getting too boring and keeps the story flowing the entire time.
LibraryThing member TadAD
Though #4 in the series, this one takes place before Jhereg filling in some of the backstory of our characters. I found it a bit lacking in the any substance. If I didn't like Vlad, Morrolan, et al. so much, this would have been a 2½.
LibraryThing member Darla
Fourth in the series. It's an odd series--it's all out of chronological order. In fact, this one, if I'm not mistaken, takes place before any of the previous books in the series. Yet, if I'd read it before the others, I probably wouldn't have liked it.
As it is, I liked it a little less, because the
As it is, I liked it a little less, because the
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rapid bouncing back and forth between 3 timelines kept me from really getting involved in any of the stories. Still, since I'd already met Vlad and the other characters, I did find it interesting to find out how he met and hired his right-hand man, Kragar; how he met Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra Lavode; and what really happened in the Paths of the Dead. Show Less
LibraryThing member hannah.aviva
I liked the main story of Morrolan and Vlad getting to know each other in the Paths of the Dead. It explained why Morrolan and Aliera are always ready to help Vlad without question. I had know idea how much he had helped them. I'm still not sure what made Vlad decide to help them in the first
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place. It was kind of weird throughout the book not knowing when or where the spell sequences were taking place. This book didn't really change my opinion about Sethra being strange. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
Book 4 of the ongoing Vlad saga. This one is more of an adventure story than the previous ones, as Vlad heads to the Paths of the Dead, which is supposed to be impossible, unless you are already dead. Vlad is really involved with some of the powers of the world now, including the gods. A bit
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different from the previous books, but it is clearly still a Vlad book. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandDune
The fourth book in Steven Brust's Jhereg series continues the saga of Vlad Taltos, the human assassin (as well as an up and coming crime boss) in the alien world of the Dragaeran empire. I say continues, but in fact the main events of Taltos take place earlier than those of the first three books,
What I particularly like about this series (apart from the character of Vlad himself of course, and his familiar Loiosh) is the way the books are structured. Book one Jhereg takes place when Vlad is established as a boss and married to Cawti, book two tells the story of how he met Cawti in the first place, book three takes place a couple of months after book one, and book four is earliest of all. No chronological order here! But as well as the timeframe of the main events, each book has at least one (or two) other storylines running through it with a different timeline adding complexity and interest. And each book drops little snippets of information about the events of the past that are picked up in later books, or hints of events to come in the future. It all adds up to the impression that the series of books were carefully planned out as a whole before the first one was written: whether that's true or not I don't know, but they certainly gives that impression. And so the reader's reaction to any set of events is frequently modified because they know how that character's relationship with Vlad will develop later, while assumptions from earlier books are challenged when the reader discovers more of a character's history
All in all I'm finding these books a great read and I'll be moving on quickly to the next one in the series.
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and tell the story of Vlad's first meeting with Marolan, Sethra and Aliera - key characters of the first two books - and the journey which Marolan and Vlad make to Deathgate Falls and the Paths of the Dead.What I particularly like about this series (apart from the character of Vlad himself of course, and his familiar Loiosh) is the way the books are structured. Book one Jhereg takes place when Vlad is established as a boss and married to Cawti, book two tells the story of how he met Cawti in the first place, book three takes place a couple of months after book one, and book four is earliest of all. No chronological order here! But as well as the timeframe of the main events, each book has at least one (or two) other storylines running through it with a different timeline adding complexity and interest. And each book drops little snippets of information about the events of the past that are picked up in later books, or hints of events to come in the future. It all adds up to the impression that the series of books were carefully planned out as a whole before the first one was written: whether that's true or not I don't know, but they certainly gives that impression. And so the reader's reaction to any set of events is frequently modified because they know how that character's relationship with Vlad will develop later, while assumptions from earlier books are challenged when the reader discovers more of a character's history
All in all I'm finding these books a great read and I'll be moving on quickly to the next one in the series.
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LibraryThing member crazybatcow
WHEW! After the disappointment in book three, I was hesitant to read this one, but since I had already bought it, and was looking for something different to read, I picked it up. Turns out I didn't need to worry. It is somewhere between very good like book one and pretty good like book 2. It is
No big surprises... the main character has a 'problem' to solve, he teams up with another character and they go solve it. Little bit of fighting, little bit of suspense, little bit of world development, quite a bit of character development...
All in all? Well, I will read the next book in the series.
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nothing like the waste of time book 3 was.No big surprises... the main character has a 'problem' to solve, he teams up with another character and they go solve it. Little bit of fighting, little bit of suspense, little bit of world development, quite a bit of character development...
All in all? Well, I will read the next book in the series.
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LibraryThing member jrg1316
This book tells how Vlad first got started with the Jhereg organization and how he rose to power. It also tells how he met those who would end of being his longtime friends: Kragar, Morrolan, Sethra, Aliera, and Kiera. A fun read.
LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
One of the stronger early entries in this adventure series. The story is told in three parallel sequences. Each chapter begins with a paragraph of two from a scene of Taltos performing some witchcraft for reasons not given. The rest of each chapter alternates between the main story of how Vlad
Recommended, but it's best to have read at least Jhereg beforehand.
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Taltos walked the Paths of the Dead and why several powerful Dragaerans became indebted to him, and a flashback series of reflections on Vlad's youth and entry into the assassination business. Brust skillfully juggles this potentially confusing structure to keep a nice coherent mix of snark and action. Recommended, but it's best to have read at least Jhereg beforehand.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This is the story of how Vlad was tricked by Sethra and Kiera the Thief to help Morrolan get Kiera's soul and reunite it with her body - it involves Gods, Necromancers, and the paths of the dead. Alternately, this is the one where Vlad is introduced to Sethra Lavode, the Necromancer, and Morralan,
As always, its fun, full of sparkling wit. its not IF Vlad saves the day, its HOW Vlad saves the day. If I got the order of books down correctly, this is the first novel that introduces the bigger world of Gods in this series. Highly recommended!
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Lord of Castle Black, both very scary, very powerful people.As always, its fun, full of sparkling wit. its not IF Vlad saves the day, its HOW Vlad saves the day. If I got the order of books down correctly, this is the first novel that introduces the bigger world of Gods in this series. Highly recommended!
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