Customer Reviews

The Book of Athyra (Jhereg)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This volume contains the seventh and eighth books (chronological order in the series, not publishing date) in the continuing series of Vladimir Taltos adventures by Steven Brust. Taltos is all of the following: a sometime assassin, mobster, witch, philosopher, swordsman, noble, and detective who lives a stranger-in-a-strange-land scenario as what we would consider a normal human in a nation of 6.5 or 7-foot tall humanoids (Draegerans) who often have numerous magical abilities. The books, other than "Taltos" are named for the houses of the 16 noble classes and one peasant class in the society Taltos lives in. Here are the books in chronological order, not publishing order, with the books in the "Athyra" compendium in CAPS:

Taltos 4.5* -- Brust's funniest of the series, loaded with deadpan humor. This is a simple tale that establishes the beginnings of Taltos' relationships with many of the recurring characters of the other books. In regular paperback form it's 180 pages and you can read it in a few hours. Well-paced, good resolution of the three plotlines

Yendi 4* -- complex and satisfying for a short book, humorous

Jhereg 5* -- the first-published and best of the bunch, gives useful background and is the real starting point of the series

Teckla 2* -- maudlin and introspective without much context or reason for the tone

Phoenix 4* -- picks up the pace after Teckla and re-establishes some of Taltos' business arrangements (he's an assassin and a small-time mob capo), has a complex and twisting plotline and has more of the humor of the first three books. Nonetheless, it still has some of the pall from the Teckla woven throughout the story.

Dragon 4* -- published 8th, returns to form of witty banter, smart introspection and twisty plotting of earlier books

ATHYRA 1* -- meandering and depressing; only book not told from Vlad Taltos' first-person point of view, actionless and largely themeless

ORCA 4* -- better plotting and pacing for this Athyra follow-up, plus intricate mob-financing issues explored by Taltos in unmasking Orca-house mob syndicate

Issola 4* -- Newest entry is a philosophical stemwinder about the history of Vlad-world and the purposes of the g*ds. Therefore, Issola is not the place to start but it is a solid addition to the series if you've read some of the others.

All said, two of the weaker entries (Orca ranks seventh of the nine books) in the Vlad Taltos series are compiled in the Book of Athyra. Athyra itself is dour, boring, and unquestionably the worst of the lot (most of which, in contrast, are good to near excellent). Athyra is the only one not told from Vlad Taltos' first-person perspective, is one of the longer books in the series, and has neither the humor nor adventure that characterize the other eight. Brust is an experimenter as a writer -- a praiseworthy concept -- but Athyra essentially goes awry.

Orca is not overly memorable, but at least it is within the expectations of the rest of the books -- some swashbuckling, wise-acre humor, twisted plot and solid resolution. Buy it separately and skip Athyra altogether and you really don't miss anything.

I wrote full reviews for each book. In brief
Athyra-4 stars, a nice book from an innocent's viewpoint about Vlad.
Orca-2 stars, a dull book about financial swindles.

In full:
Athyra-I have not enjoyed a Vlad book as much as this once since the first three. Switching the narrative away from Vlad was a refreshing, and necessary move to invigorate the story.

Savn, an innocent Dragaeran youth is a wonderfully sympathetic character studying to be a physicker when Vlad arrives at his town. He befriends Vlad and begins to find himself ostracized from his friends for hanging around the Easterner. Once he helps Vlad with his injuries there is no turning back.

Through Savn's eyes we get to see a vulnerable Vlad, a hurting Vlad without the cockiness, one who is rethinking virtually everything about his life, life in general and the universe. We see Savn grow through meeting the challenges of befriending Vlad, his sister also and we see Vlad changed and changing from the flippant assassin.

The pace is relaxed, without being slow, and builds to a climactic ending with consequences for everyone. A very well done effort from Brust, it was almost like reading about Vlad for the first time due to the change of viewpoint.

Orca-In this plodding tale of Vlad, much talking is done about a banking financial swindle happening. Like Vlad investigates Enron, but not that much fun. In order to help Savn, who saved Vlad previously Vlad must help out an old lady with the power to possibly heal Savn. This leads to the investigation of the financial swindle.

Vlad and Kiera play Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew, except again, it really isn't that fun. The book is dialog heavy and as exciting as my accounting textbook, maybe less so.

As others have said, the revelation in the last 10 pages is the only payoff for reading the book. Not worth it in my opinion.

The two books in this volume, Athyra and Orca, differ from the other volumes up to this point in the series in that they are not primarily narrated from the point of view of the Vlad Taltos. While it is interesting to hear from the views of others, including that of a jhereg (the creature), some of the narrative is less compelling than in earlier books.

By all means, if you have gotten this far into the series, do read these. I just personally found the narrative from multiple viewpoints less appealing than the single-point narrative in the earlier volumes.

This book must have been a re-issue of the individual books. This one has Orca and Athrya.

Not a starting point for anyone.

In fact, it's hard to say what exactly the starting point is since the author gives a different opinion on where to start as well.

These two books take the main character, Vlad, out of his usual role. In fact, he's almost a backup character in these books. I found myself getting bored quickly and just plodded through these two books looking for an adventure that wasn't there.

And I did like some of the others ones. Just not this.

This set of stories is good indeed, but not as good as the first ones. Brust seems to bob up and down in this series.

The Book of Athyra contains two volumes in Brust's tales of Vlad Taltos, former assassin for the Jhereg organization, now on the run from them. The first book, Athyra, details Vlad's return engagement with the wizard Loraan (now undead), from whom he had rescued Aliera e'Kieron (with Morollan's help, of course) and stolen Spellbreaker.

Athyra represents a departure in viewpoint for this series, which was a bit of an adjustment at first, but worked well in the end. Instead of being first person from Vlad's POV, it's limited third person from the viewpoint of an adolescent Teckla peasant named Savn, whose life begins to change when he meets Vlad.

This volume also contains "Orca", which is the only Vlad book I haven't read yet. I'm practically drooling with anticipation. Steven Brust is simply my favorite author, bar none. His book The Phoenix Guards is my all-time #1 read.

The 6th and 7th (published, not chronological) collected installments in the Vlad Taltos/Jhereg series find author Brust beginning to experiment more with narrative, voice and story structure. The effect is welcome, injecting fresh life into his flagship character and setting. In Athyra, former assassin Vlad Taltos, passing through the eastern heartlands of Dragaera discovers that, in contrast with his favorite maxim, a seriously subtle wizard's style is not particularly cramped by a knife in the shoulder blades. Told primarily through the eyes of a peasant and the mate of Vlad's reptilian familiar, the story provides a character developing look at Vlad for both the reader and Vlad himself while exploring themes of the simultaneously stultifying and welcoming atmosphere of the rustic and rural. And there's a vampire. Orca, the second novel contained in the book, chronologically follows the first, and features a return to the labyrinthine plots which characterize so much of Brust's work. Two overlapping narratives--one by Vlad, the other by Kiera the Thief, a previously supporting character responsible for introducing Vlad to his one-time life of crime--begin with a simple attempt to save an old woman from being evicted and wind up in terribly realistic attempt to shore up and empire brought to the brink of financial ruin by an financial flim-flam artist. And, briefly, there's another vampire.

While neither book provides any essential revelation (OK, maybe there's two at the end of Orca) required to understand any of the sequels or prequels, the two books represent some of the finest literary installments in the series.

I think combining these two novels within one cover was a good idea. Athyra would not have ranked high as a stand alone. I'm not quite sure why but I didn't care nearly as much for it as I have the rest of the books. Vlad spent too much time in introspection, I think. Orca got back to having a little more action and interplay between characters. I found it much more entertaining. There are quite a few references to the previous stories so I would try diligently to read the preceding books prior to these two. Orca contains little tidbits that very innocuously tie the series tighter. I also liked the easily seen comparison to the predatory practices of many of today's corporations so clearly shown in the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Combined I have to recommend you read this book.

I absolutely loved Orca. It was really thought provoking and it added an interesting dimension to Vlad's character. In this book, you get to see the more sensitive side of Vlad the assassin. All the action and sarcastic jokes are great and all but it get's kind of boring after a while, especially in long series.
He doesn't turn in to a sap or anything.. or at least you can't tell since the stories told from the perspective of the boy he kind of adopts.... Anyway, it's a nice change.
I actually bought this book and have read it on several occasions. It's good through several readings and it's possible to gain new insight every time you read it. So READ IT!! [Note: Sorry for the rambling...]

This is a great light hearted read. The characters are real characters, and a lot of the comedy is slap stick, but when you need a light read to get your mind of things, Steven Brust's work is wonderful.