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| Jhegaala (Vlad) | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Brust
Publisher: Tor Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.06
You Save: $10.89 (44%)
New (31) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $13.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 11711
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 0765301474
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780765301475
ASIN: 0765301474
Publication Date: July 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081005210942T
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Product Description
Fresh from the collapse of his marriage, and with the criminal Jhereg organization out to eliminate him, Vlad decides to hide out among his relatives in faraway Fenario. All he knows about them is that their family name is Merss and that they live in a papermaking industrial town called Burz. At first Burz isn’t such a bad place, though the paper mill reeks to high heaven. But the longer he stays there, the stranger it becomes. No one will tell him where to find his relatives. Even stranger, when he mentions the name Merss, people think he’s threatening them. The witches’ coven that every Fenarian town and city should have is nowhere in evidence. And the Guild, which should be protecting the city’s craftsmen and traders, is an oppressive, all-powerful organization, into which no tradesman would ever be admitted. Then a terrible thing happens. In its wake, far from Draegara, without his usual organization working for him, Vlad is going to have to do his sleuthing amidst an alien people: his own.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
"I came for the aroma." July 12, 2008
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
A few SPOILERS, and three and a half stars.
Steven Brust sure takes forever to write a book, yet the man is worth the wait. He's one of my favorite authors, and I'm always like a pig in odious slop whenever he's writing about Vlad Taltos. JHEGAALA is the eleventh novel in the Taltos series, featuring that wise-cracking assassin and lowly Easterner living in the world of Dragaerans.
Some background stuff: Note that in the world of Dragaera, seven-foot-tall elves (called Dragaerans) are the ruling species, with the Easterners (or humans) predominantly treated as second class citizens. Vlad Taltos had eked out a living as an assassin for the House of the Jhereg and had, for a while, become a minor crime lord. Life was good, and he'd even gotten married. But then certain of his actions (and a peasants' revolt) drew the ire of the Jhereg House and he'd been forced to skedaddle, with assassins fierce on his heels. Several books (Athyra, Orca, Issola (Vlad), Dzur (Vlad)) have chronicled his adventures during his fugitive years. As things stand presently, Vlad is still on the run and seemingly without direction. So I do wish Brust would get on with current events...
...Because JHEGAALA doesn't catch us up to what Vlad's been up to recently. This eleventh book, instead, tells of a time in Vlad's past, filling in the gap between the life-changing events in Phoenix and his re-appearance years later in ATHYRA. So, chronologically, DZUR is still the most current novel. In this one, it's only been weeks since Vlad's marriage had soured and since the criminal Jhereg organization had put a contract on him. Vlad decides to leave the Dragaeran Empire and head East, to get even further away from the Jhereg and also to sate his curiousity regarding his mother's murky family roots. A lead takes him to the pungent village of Burz in the human kingdom of Fenario, possibly the home of his mother.
Vlad finds himself in unfamiliar territory, a human having to deal with his own kind. Immediately he's looked on with suspicion and his questions draw uneasy reactions from the villagers, especially when he throws out his old family name of Merss. Then, a tragedy unfolds, this possibly stemming from Vlad's nosiness. Soon Vlad and his winged lizardly familiars, Loiosh and Rocza, are full deep in shady goings-on. Vlad, really out of his element, remains clueless even as the body count piles up and mysterious entities such as the Guild and the Coven make their mark. And where does the elderly Count and his machinations fit in? Vlad has never been good at sleuthing. He'd rather stab something, any day. But, as it turns out, if he wants to get thru this predicament, he'll have to do it while bed-ridden...
Is JHEGAALA worth the wait? I happen to think so, but I can see why other readers might feel cheated. JHEGAALA is one of the slower entries in the Taltos series. New readers are advised to start with something more newbie-friendly, such as TALTOS (The Book of Taltos) or JHEREG (The Book of Jhereg (Vlad Taltos)). JHEGAALA, not as action-packed or colorful or boisterous as other Taltos novels, better serves Vlad's longtime fans. If you're up on Vlad's history, then this one goes a ways into filling in the timeline between PHOENIX and ATHYRA. JHEGAALA tends to be more introspective. Vlad really is an alien amongst his own people, having to constantly ferret out the townspeople's customs, beliefs, and frame of mind. Also, I don't think I've ever seen Vlad rendered more distraught or vulnerable. A significant portion of the book has him in helpless convalescence, from which state he's forced to orchestrate his survival. In the Dragaeran Cycle, the House of the Jhegaala reflects metamorphosis and endurance. This certainly applies to what happens to Vlad here.
Steven Brust's writing kept me flipping pages in spite of the languid pace and the lack of enough exciting stuff happening. As always, the entertaining banter between Vlad and Loiosh continues to be a strength. And, as always, it's fun having the story told from Vlad's wry point of view. And here's a thing: Somewhere during the reading, the book becomes a whodunit, and Loiosh and Vlad's wisecracks fit in that genre seamlessly. This is kind of a come-full-circle thing as Brust has admitted that there's a bit of Dashiell Hammett thrown in the writing style of this series. Personally, though, I didn't care all that much for the mystery part (too convoluted); rather, I just sat back and relished Vlad Taltos doing his Vlad Taltos stuff. He's never better than when he's being arrogant and smirky and sarcastic. But if you're new to this series, I can see why this book might not do anything for you.
JHEGAALA isn't at the top of my favorite Vlad Taltos stories, but I'll take what I can get. But I hope the next book in the series catches us up with what Vlad is up to right now. And, hopefully, we get to see more of Vlad's Dragaeran friends and more of Cawti and Noish-pa.
 delightful fantasy investigative thriller July 12, 2008
13 out of 29 found this review helpful
Vlad Taltos is upset with his divorce as he married expecting forever. However, he is more concerned over his former employer, Jhereg putting a hit on him for his recent betraying activities. He concludes if he wants to remain with a head on shoulders he has to leave Draegaria until Jhereg's assassins find a different target to occupy their time.
Vlad decides to visit maternal relatives he never met in some way out place. His only clues are their surname is Merss and they reside in Burtz, Fenario. He leaves with his usual retinue of familiars and his telepathic lizard pals Loiosh and Rocza. In Burtz, Vlad expected a hero's welcome or at least a welcome to the family greeting. Instead he is warned to be careful by everyone in the paper mill town he encounters including his Noish-pa grandfather as he is under surveillance because the leaders expect him to cause trouble. The outsider is further stunned by a lack of a local coven, a given in every Fenario village and the normally potent Guild remains silent while workers are abused. However when a fire that looks like arson kills most of his relatives, Vlad begins to investigate, but each clue he and his limited support crew uncover leaves them with many more questions and danger from a powerful despotic oligopoly.
This is a fresh change to the strong long running series as not only does Vlad leave town enabling the audience to meet some of his maternal roots, but he conducts a fabulous whodunit investigation. The story line is fast-paced but humorous with the amusement mostly performed by the two lizards who provide 1930s style sidekick comments to the sleuth. Fans will enjoy this entertaining trek into Vlad's heritage Steven Brust writes a delightful fantasy investigative thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Excellent July 8, 2008
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
It really is amazing that this the eleventh novel; in the Vlad Taltos serirs is as captivating as the first. Steven Brust attempts to write each novel so that it can stand on it's own, and again in this one he has done so. When I recommend people read them books, it varies on my approach. Always start with Jhereg but to some friends I recommend reading in order of publication and some in order of chronology. This book steps back from the last few and tells of an earlier tale. A tale of a man in search of his past and his family. It is also a tale of murder, intrigue, confusion and misunderstanding that all leads to a high body count.
In each of the Vlad Taltos novels Brust approaches them differently. He has created such a believable world that side stories and books mentioned become something the read would like to possess. In this book each chapter begins with quotes from a play Six Parts Water by a playwright named Miersen. These snippets leave you wanting to read or see the play. It is hard not to like the witty and humorous Vlad Taltos, even if he is an assassin by profession, even if he betrayed his 'crime family' to save his estranged wife. Even is he got most of his distant family murdered because he did not understand a situation he blundered into. This is Vlad Taltos, the man we would like to meet and know and count among our friends. He has impeccable taste in food and drink and live by a motto akin to 'Life is to short for bad food or drink.'
In this book we see a very different side of Vlad, he is not an Easterner trying to fit in without fitting in; in the Dragaera Empire, he has returned to the land of his ancestors in the east. He is a human among humans and yet he fits in even less than we are used to. In part because he has live his whole life in the west. Because of that in this book we see for the first time Vlad take a major misstep and pay a personal price, he is injured worse that we have seen yet in any of the books.
This book will be a great summer read for any fan of the fantasy genre, or for people who are already fan's of Brust works. It fills in some of the story between early books, and answers some of the reader's ongoing questions about Vlad, unfortunately it also raised many new questions. But those must be answered in another tale. Hopefully soon.
(First Published in Imprint 2008-06-27.)
 Not Happy July 10, 2008
10 out of 25 found this review helpful
I was very disappointed! Brust's earlier books were imaginative and entertaining. An entire alien culture living on the other side of the world from humans. Sorcery. Magic. Flying castles. Assassins. Gods. What have we here? A sad story about our former hero. No sorcery. No alien characters. No flying castles. A descent into Hungarian pathos. Eh. I'm sorry I bought the book.
Ray Watkins
 Always fun, just not always great July 12, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have been a long-time fan of Steven Brust and have followed this series since it's inception. Read Brust's To Reign in Hell or Cowboy Feng's and you'll understand why it's so easy to rest assured with any new Brust novel that you are sure to see sharp, defined plotting, always with a satisfying twist, and an ease with dialogue sure to raise a chuckle as you stay up that extra hour to finish.
But still, specific to Jhegaala, I was somewhat disappointed that the main storyline was not advanced as, strangely I thought, Mr. Brust clearly felt we needed more "backstory." I'll be back for every entry of the Taltos sagas, and pretty much anything else Mr. Brust writes -- I say that without qualification -- but Jhegaala, involving new characters, in a new land, with new politics, new problems, new conflicts, etc., yet set several years in the "past" just didn't do it for me.
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