Taltos [Paperback]

Steven Brust (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1988

Lord Vlad Taltos returns in the prequel to Jhereg, Yendi and Teckla in a fantastic adventure in which readers learn what really happened when Vlad found himself walking the Paths of the Dead. Original.

Product Details

• Paperback: 181 pages
• Publisher: Ace; First Edition edition (March 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441182003
• ISBN-13: 978-0441182008
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in a family of Hungarian labor organizers, Steven Brust worked as a musician and a computer programmer before coming to prominence as a writer in 1983 with Jhereg, the first of his novels about Vlad Taltos, a human professional assassin in a world dominated by long-lived, magically-empowered human-like "Dragaerans." Over the next several years, several more "Taltos" novels followed, interspersed with other work, including To Reign in Hell, a fantasy re-working of Milton's war in Heaven; The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, a contemporary fantasy based on Hungarian folktales; and a science fiction novel, Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille. The most recent "Taltos" novels are Dragon and Issola. In 1991, with The Phoenix Guards, Brust began another series, set a thousand years earlier than the Taltos books; its sequels are Five Hundred Years After and the three volumes of "The Viscount of Adrilankha": The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, and Sethra Lavode.While writing, Brust has continued to work as a musician, playing drums for the legendary band Cats Laughing and recording an album of his own work, A Rose for Iconoclastes. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where he pursues an ongoing interest in stochastics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vlad walks the Paths of the Dead in the first of the series., September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Taltos (Paperback)

First chronologically speaking, that is. You will find that the Taltos series has much more dramatic impact when read in the proper order, as opposed to the publication order. Trust me on this one. In the volume in question, Vlad accepts a commission from the Dragon Heir to the Throne, Lord Morrolan e'Drien, to steal a staff containing a soul. Along the way, Vlad happens to run into the most powerful wizard living and goes to the land of the dead. Does this sound like typical fantasy fare? 'Cuz it's not. Brust's Dragaera is a carefully and convincingly realized world, with a cultural feel much closer to our 17th century than the muddled medievalism of most of what you've read. Magic is taken in stride, since it is a part of daily life, and this mercifully frees the characters up from talking about it as though they had wandered in from a B-movie. The characters are endowed with the doubts, foibles, and sheer petty-mindedness of actual people, and they never behave in the two-dimensional, moralizing way one finds so often in the heroes and villains of this genre. In short, this is thinking man's fantasy. And it's a lot of fun, too, especially for fans of wit and the one-liner. You'd be a fool to miss it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taltos: assassin plus., March 14, 2001

By 

Esther (Essex) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taltos (Paperback)

I was amazed to discover that Taltos was only published in 1988 - I had it down as a thoroughly modern fantasy, from start to finish. I loved this book. The dual plot's great, the characters are bursting with - well - character, the conversation is almost too real and the witchcraft, sorcery and religion are refreshingly original.
This novel centres on the recollections of a hired assassin and witch with more authority on both counts than is frankly comforting. I read the closing chapters of Taltos in a coffee bar and I'm sure I was followed home.

Brust also ties in themes of racism, calculated violence and the nature/nurture debate, and provides a disarmingly cynical view of the afterlife.

What distinguishes Taltos from the run-of-the-mill urban fantasy is its unrelenting first person truthfulness, its anti-hero stance and its level of psychic awareness. Brust deals with extreme themes as if they were yesterday's dishes, but he does it with style, tons of humour and unnerving realism. If you love urban fantasy, you'll kill for Taltos.

This book appears to be the third in a series. You may wish to try Jhereg first.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vlad blasts into a wizard keep... then goes to hell., January 23, 2000

By 

"jfp617" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taltos (Paperback)

This is one of my favorite Vlad Taltos books. Full of the cynical wit you'd expect from Vlad, this adventure gives you more than you bargained for. "Taltos" reveals how Vlad meets up with Morrolan, Sethra, and later Aleria. Very exciting, I couldn't put it down.