The Book of Jhereg: Teckla

I can't believe one book can change my mind about a character so completely.

Up until this point, I've really enjoyed the adventures of Vlad Taltos.  Sure, there are issues with the stories, but I've felt like they were mindless fun reads.  All of that changed when I read Teckla.

Teckla is about Vlad's wife Cawti getting caught up in an Easterner and Teckla revolution.  Vlad doesn't want her to be part of it.  But instead of trying to talk it out civilly, they get into argument after argument.  Then Vlad goes and sulks for awhile cleans the apartment or wanders the streets, goes and talks to people, then repeats it all over again.

The start of the book was really weird.  A revolutionary guy by the name of Gregory shows up at Cawti's and Vlad's.  He tells them that a fellow revolutionary, Franz, was murdered.  This is the first that Vlad had heard of Cawti's involvement with (and really the existence of) said revolution.  So after Gregory leaves, the two of them go on a long walk and argue.

I'm going to add here that it took me awhile to figure out this was exactly what Vlad was mad about.  Their argument wasn't detailed in any way, so I wasn't sure what the issue was.  I thought that maybe Cawti had gotten involved with these people and maybe slept with someone.  But no, she was just involved and I guess Vlad didn't want her to (because it could get her killed, too, I think). 

Vlad keeps trying to dissuade Cawti.  But every time he tries to "talk" to her, he makes sarcastic remarks or just starts off angry, which sets her off, too.  So of course nothing gets resolved between them.  At one point Loiosh actually tells Vlad that this has been happening (which is when Vlad finally tries to have a conversation with her, but of course it's a bit too late because she's already moved out).

I'd like to point out here that Cawti never felt like a real person, even though this book was in some ways about her.  That was a real shame in my opinion.  It was almost like Vlad had her on this pedestal, thinking that this was what she was; he never seemed to know (or actually want to know) the real person that she was.

So anyway, in the middle of their marital issues is the revolution and the Jhereg who owns the piece of the city where the Easterners live.  That guy first wanted Vlad to kill Franz (but Vlad turned it down, not really knowing anything about the revolution at that point).  And then wanted Vlad dead....you know what, I honestly don't remember WHY he wanted Vlad dead.  In the middle of the repetitive and boring action I lost track of why.  Anyway, so Vlad needs to stop the assassin, stop the other Jhereg, and stop the revolution so his wife doesn't get herself killed since she won't listen to "reason."

At one point, Vlad even decides that the only way to save her life is to kill all the leaders of the revolution (who happen to be Cawti's friends).  This goes directly against his whole moral of not killing Easterners.  Loiosh also didn't like that plan and said as much, but couldn't come up with a reason why they shouldn't do it.  The only thing that stopped them was the appearance of a ghost (which, while plausible in the setting, seemed kind of weird.  Why couldn't he have had second thoughts when he was about to go through with it?)

Honestly, anytime Vlad was talking to one of the revolutionaries was kind of painful to read.  He was accusing them of sticking to their ideals at the cost of innocent people's lives while he was honestly guilty of the same (remember, his solution was to kill everyone at one point).  It was also tough to read because Vlad and the revolutionaries both firmly had their minds made up about what they believed and neither side (with maybe the exception of Kelly, the revolutionary leader) was willing to even listen to the other side's viewpoint (at least without bringing their preconceived notions firmly into play first).  That was fine at first, but when it kept happening again and again, I really lost patience with the whole thing.

One thing that I found really interesting was that the revolution in Teckla reminded me of the Occupy movement in 2011, even though Teckla was written in 1986.  As far as I can tell, there wasn't anything in the early 1980's that was similar (although I admit I did only a quick Google search, so I might be wrong).

So yes, that was my opinion of Teckla.  I really didn't like it at all. 

The Book of Jhereg: Yendi

So today I finished Yendi, the second book in Steven Brust's Book of Jhereg.  Yendi was a rather interesting read, especially since, in terms of publication, Yendi is the second book.  You see, it actually takes place before Jhereg.  So this is the book that shows you the first time Vlad died and was revivified.  It also shows you how he met his wife, Cawti (who he is already married to in Jhereg).  It also shows us why he decided to make the best spy network.

It was also a little weird to read Yendi after some of the revelations that came in Jhereg.  Particularly concerning how the souls of the Dragaeran work (and Vlad's soul in particular). 

But anyway, Yendi is the story of how Vlad became more of a power in his city's underworld/mafia.  He has worked his way up as a sort of mafia boss, controlling a small territory.  Things have been going really smoothly for the last little while.  But then one of his neighbours, Laris, decides to move in. 

And unfortunately for Vlad, Laris is well connected and seems to know everything about the Easterner.  While Vlad knows basically nothing about Laris.

And many of Vlad's friends cannot really help him.  The Dragonlords Morroland and Aliera cannot get involved directly in the affairs of the Jhereg (particularly in a Jhereg/Jhereg war).  Sethra seems to have a similar issue (although I'm honestly not sure if she's a Dragonlord or a Dzur Hero, and what exactly the difference is).  But when Vlad is attached by the famous assassins, the Sword of the Jhereg and the Dagger of the Jhereg, he's going to need all the help he can get! 

Especially when he finds himself falling love with one of them.

But everything is not what is seems.  What looks like a simple grab for more power and territory starts becoming a crazy plot that spans centuries.  A plot that only a Yendi could conceive of.

Once again, I found myself loving Brust's writing.  The story of Vlad Taltos is a lot of fun, and I'm super glad I've got more to go!

The Book of Jhereg: Jhereg

I bought The Book of Jhereg last year, when my brother and I were going to a conference that the author, Steven Brust, was going to be at.  Unfortunately neither of us read it in time (my brother had a copy of just Jhereg which was missing some pages; I didn't receive my copy of The Book of Jhereg until a few weeks after the conference).  So now, with that same conference coming up in a month and a half, we both decided it was time to read!

The Book of Jhereg is actually the first three adventures of Vlad Taltos, Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla, collected into one volume.  According to the author, these are not the chronologically first three books (just the first three that were published).

To make things a bit easier, I've decided to review each of the three books separately here on this blog.

Jhereg was a good introduction to Vlad Taltos (and Steven Brust's writing).  It gives the story of how Vlad got his familiar, the jhereg Loiosh.  And then it skips ahead and gives us an adventure in their lives many years later.  Vlad, now an assassin with his own business, is hired for a big and seemingly impossible job.  A Dragaeran has made off with a lot of money.  And Vlad has to make an example of him.  The catch is that he has to do it before word of what the Dragaeran did gets out to the public.  Which gives him only a few days and not nearly enough time to study his quarry and plan the hit.  And of course when he does find the Dragaeran, things go from bad to worse: he is hiding in Castle Black, protected by the lord (who happens to be one of Vlad's friends/employers).  With the clock ticking, how will he get the Dragaeran without starting a war or dishonouring his friend?

Jhereg was honestly a lot of fun.  I loved all the characters, from Loiosh's asides to the Dragaeran cousins Aliera and Morrolan's bickering (to put it lightly).  Brust also did a great job worldbuilding: the Dragaeran empire seemed like an interestingly complicated place (made moreso by the Dragaerans' long lives - I mean, someone can spend 10 years planning something and it's considered a "short time.")  There were a couple of revelations that, while interesting, seemed a little out of place.  I think they're something that will be built on in later books (or at least I hope they will be!)  I also would have liked to know how the characters all met (particularly Vlad, Aliera, and Morrolan).  Jhereg touched on these things, but I felt like there was a lot more to the story that I would like to know.

So anyway, that's Jhereg.  I hope the fun continues in the next book, Yendi.