Dragon (Vlad)

This novel is a jewel in the Vlad Taltos series. Even though written after every book in the series but Issola, this takes place both before and after Yendi. You see, there are a few chapters that divert from the main plot. That may sound confusing, but these two stories come together at the end. Anyway, the story is basically that the mob boss/witch/assassin Vlad Taltos is summoned by his friend Morrolan of the House of the Dragon. Vlad helps out in a war between Morrolan and another Dragon. The whole war was initiated in the first place for Barritt's Tomb, which isn't even a tomb and the late Barritt was not entombed there. The tomb is a place where many Morganti (soul destroying) weapons collected by Barritt are kept. Much of the novel is the everyday fighting and lifestyle of Vlad and company in the Dragon army. Some of the story is also infiltration and strategy. There's all the Vlad charm in here as well with the humor of both Vlad and his Jhereg familiar Loiosh. This is a great start for a newcomer to the series. You don't need a foundation given to you from the other books to understand or enjoy this one unlike Teckla and the ones following it.

I must say, I was a bit confused at certain points in this book, as I'd never read anything in the Vlad Taltos series before. What possessed me to start with this one, I don't know. Anyway. Back to my review. I thought the plot was very interesting, and I found I could not, for the life of me, put this book down. I attempted, really. Many times. It's rather frowned upon if you're reading such filth in class while your supposed to be learning about wind pressure and such. Fascinating stuff, that. I think Vlad Taltos is an interesting character and will look forward to reading the rest of the series(in order, this time ;).

The construction of _Dragon_ reminds me of Brust's time-jumping experiments of _Taltos_ but a half step better - which made it compelling and impossible for me to put down. I ended up reading this one sitting. The plot and action in the book was much more straightforward yet catching than that of _Athyra_ or _Orca_ which are different type of books altogether. I get the feeling that Brust tried to go back to his roots with this one.I know people feel pretty split on the issue, but I don't feel that this book is a good introduction to the Taltos series - it makes references to other Taltos novels frequently enough and in a way that loses the reader unless he knows what that story was about. Because of this, those who know nothing about other Vlad history or general Draegara vocabulary might find reading it a chore. For die-hard Brust fans, though, i think this book is a treasure.If i were to make a few criticisms about it, i'd agree that it seems like Vlad _and_ Loiosh seem to be more mature in thoughts and action than they should in the Vlad's chronology, especially compared to Jhereg, but i think that Brust has a right to do that if he wants - that particular inconsistency seems minute when considering the quality of the book. I feel, however, that Brust tried to make the various future histories of Vlad a bit too 'neat' in this book - he tries to explain too many relationshipa and connections from seemingly all of the other books in one short volume as opposed to saving some and stretching it out as he did in other "past" Vlad books. This may tie into my feeling of "too many references to other Vlad books" that I mentioned above.As an overall, however, I thought that the book was exciting and interesting to read. His jumping from various points in time might have been annoying if it was not well thought out, but its contribution to the atmosphere of the book helps define its mastery, in addition to the wit, humor, and genreal writing-style of Brust that, in my humble opinion, has never gone stale.Heh. Ever catch yourself imitating speech patterns or habits of characters you read? I've done that with Vlad.And, for the record, i say read the first four books first (Jhereg, Yendi, Techla, Taltos). Then the order of the rest isn't quite as important.

In this, the most recent addition to the Taltos series, Brust takes us back to Vlad's youth to reveal the story of the battle of Baritt's Tomb, which is mentioned in many of the other books. It is set after the events of Taltos, with occasional segues into the time just after Yendi. Vlad accepts a commission from his new friend Duke Morrolan, which is ostensibly to defend the wizard Baritt's hoard of sorcerous weapons. As so often happens, he finds himself dragged into an affair that is far too big for him to handle, involving a feudal dispute (read:war) between arrogant Dragonlords and the foundations of a plan by the mysterious Serioli that may shake the foundations of Dragaera itself. The action is intense, with vividly and beautifully rendered battle scenes. Dragon's dialogue is easily the wittiest and most amusing of the entire series, especially in the interchanges between Vlad and his jhereg familiar Loiosh. In summary, this is the finest of Brust's recent entries in the Taltos saga, and should not be missed under any circumstances.

I actually read this at my public library, and it was so intriguingly well crafted and such a relief from your ho-hum regular fantasy books that I ran out and promptly bought all the rest of the books in the Vlad series. Gives you glimpses into a world wider than is explained that you'll want to run out and get the rest too just to hear all the other stories behind it all. The other books in the series are widely different however, so beware. I happen to find it refreshing that there's different styles among them all, but others may want to check the reviews on the other books before doing what I did =)