Jhereg

Vlad Taltos, Book 1

By: Steven Brust

Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Vlad Taltos is a mobster and assassin in the magical metropolis of Adrilankha. A member of the Great House of Jhereg (named for the tiny dragon-like creatures native to Dragaera), Taltos is given the largest contract of his career but the job is even more complicated than he expects.

The first book in Stephen Brust's "Vlad Taltos" series, Jhereg has also been adapted into a graphic novel by Marvel Comics. Here, Bernard Setaro Clark brings the tale to life in a rousing performance.

©1983 Steven K. Z. Brust (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Hardboiled-Detective-Magic-Assassin-Fantasy-SF?!

If that is a genre, Steven Brust's first Vlad Taltos novel, Jhereg (1983), is a progenitor. Vlad Taltos, the hardboiled but sensitive first person narrator, is a 21-year-old assassin-spy security-chief crime-boss skilled with blades, conversant with poisons, expert with witchcraft, and bonded with a telepathically impudent but faithful familiar, a dragon-like scavenger jhereg named Loiosh. Humans like Vlad are a second-class minority in the City of Adrilankha among the dominant Dragaerans who possess life spans lasting thousands of years, tall bodies (7-foot average), and elvish features. The Dragaeran empire is at least 250,000 years old and is divided among 17 Houses named after and sharing the traits of dragons, hawks, jheregs and other animal species of their world. Despite being a human, Vlad is successful in the "business" wing of House Jhereg, and he has powerful friends in House Dragon. He has killed 41 people, but most of them deserved it and were revivified (as he himself has been), and there's always reincarnation, so we don't feel TOO uncomfortable about his profession.

In the first chapter, Vlad is hired by a high-ranking House Jhereg Council member to find an ex-Council member who just embezzled and absconded with nine million imperials. If he isn't killed within a few days, House Jhereg, founded on projecting a tough criminal image throughout the Empire, will become permanently and devastatingly known as a soft robbery target. Where is the culprit hiding? What is his background? What is he really up to? To have any chance at solving the mystery, Vlad will need to call on his friends and minions, experts in thievery, psionics, spying, magic, assassination, and the like.

It seems at times as if Vlad is writing a history/handbook for young would-be members of his profession, because he says things like, "And so, my fledgling assassins, you are asking me how you make sure that a corpse remains a corpse, eh?" and he begins each chapter with a pithy line of advice:

"There is no substitute for good manners, except fast reflexes."
"Always speak politely to an enraged dragon."
"No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style."

As we read this novel, we learn about the history of Vlad, the Empire, and a few of the Houses, the nature of human witchcraft and fencing versus Dragaeran sorcery and heavy blade work, the assassin profession, and so on. The short book packs an impressive number of concepts, like the "Morganti," semi-sentient soul-eating blades a bit like Elric's Stormbringer but divided up into a host of daggers and swords of varying degrees and types of power, sentience, and ability, the greatest of which bond with the souls of their wielders and decide whether or not to eat their victims' souls. Although Jhereg is a self-contained story, Brust leaves plenty of room for future and past developments in succeeding novels with the different Houses, magic, religion, Vlad's friends, familiar, and identity, and (I hope) the difference in human and Dragaeran life spans. Vlad mentions things like a Dragaeran "girl" being "only" between 100 and 800 years old, but never how he feels to be short lived relative to the Dragaerans. None of his Dragaeran friends and colleagues ever mentions how young and soon to die Vlad is compared to them. Aren't they already missing him? Aren't they bored with their long lives? Why doesn't anyone talk about this kind of thing?

Brust's people speak much contemporary American English: "What's up?" "Let's get out of here." And "Take it easy." That makes the strange world feel familiar, but often the writing sounds corny or flat, as when Vlad says, "Crap. Double crap. Dragon dung." Or "The question at that point wasn't should I press, or even how much I should press. It was rather how should I press. I decided to continue the game I'd started." There are some funny lines, though, as when Vlad's familiar Loiosh disparages cat petting: "Hey boss, isn't it disgusting how some people cater to the whims of dumb animals?" Vlad's self-directed irony is often funny, too, as when he gives "general pointers on assassination" like "Do not have yourself teleported so that when you arrive at the scene, you are feeling sick to your stomach."

Reader Bernard Setaro Clark's Dragaerans all speak a soft pseudo-British accent, his humans straightforward American English, though his Vlad has a nearly irritating tendency to elongate his long vowels: "Seven inches of blaaaade." I do like Clark's Peter Lorrie-like Loiosh: "Can I eat him, boss?"

In its genre fusing, humorous dark fantasy, Jhereg points the way towards series like the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. It is an entertaining novel, with exciting action and a world of great potential, but this first book in the series is not SO funny, stimulating, or stylistically rich.

Solid Swords and Sorcery, even if a bit cheesy

The story was bit slow to get started, and even a bit to cheesy at the beginning. It did, however, start to move along a bit faster and it slowly drew me in and entertained me on a long drive.

Although it reminded me of a Dungeons and Dragons saga, there were some novel concepts in the story, but I felt they we a bit undeveloped. Perhaps those parts were sacrificed to editing.

If you like the Fantasy genre, you should be pleased with this book. It's nothing earth shattering, but it is entertaining enough to warrant a recommendation.

Interesting take on the assassin storyline

What made the experience of listening to Jhereg the most enjoyable?

As you listen, you get to experience Vlad putting all the pieces together, and there is some beautiful plot craftsmanship unfolding here.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really enjoyed Kragar, Vlad's partner and right hand in his assassin dealings. Kragar is intelligent, and a bit snarky, making all of the interactions between him and Vlad really entertaining to hear.

What does Bernard Setaro Clark bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voices are superb and bring an added dimension that I don't typically add as a reader.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was a bit slow in the beginning, so not initially, but once the action really got going I wanted to find out what happened sooner rather than later.

Sorcerers-Witches-Familiars-Swordplay & Psionics😱

With Lords and Ladies and Floating Castles and Assasins plying their tradecraft.
Oh, and did I mention amultispecies world?
A pretty incredible 1st book for this series. 😱

Amazingly good

I don’t read fantasy often, but I picked up Jhereg as a child and was immediately hooked. Since then, I’ve made it a point to re-read the entire series every other release (or so). It’s just a fantastic journey.

So good, that I’ve abandoned several “legendary” fantasy series… because they simply weren’t as engaging. I know I said I don’t read fantasy often. It’s because so few can weave a story with a character as dynamic as Vlad, so I’ve soured on the genre. Thankfully, the Taltos series is sizable enough to satisfy for a long, long time.

Chill Comfort Listen

Sassy dragons, cloaks and daggers, eccentric mages. Scratches my classic fantasy itch. Easy to follow and not long.

Fantastic fantasy

I first read this book over 25 years ago. It’s an amazing introduction to a wise cracking duo of awesome assassins, with a great couple of magic systems and fun mysteries. Also it’s narrated beautifully.

Complex story, good action

I was a bit turned-off by the up-font number of characters, politics and snooty/catty dialogue so early on in this book, but after couple of attempts to re-listen, that all sort of melted away and I become immersed. Now I want to listen to the next in the series.

This series is loved by a lot of people, and fantasy genre but this book contains enough calculated action to keep the story moving. Well written and superbly-read.

Nothing riveting but lots of fun

There is nothing heavy or terribly intricate about Brust's creation--just a diverting tale set in a well constructed world with characters it is easy to cheer for. Often it is predictable, but it never lags or confuses. Sometimes inconsequential fluff is a wonderful change of pace when it is served with sufficient style and good humor and a sizable helping of clever repartee.

I am coming to this series late, but now that I have found it, I know where to go when I just need a lighthearted fantasy adventure/mystery as a break from a grueling foray into the likes of Brandon Sanderson or Cormac McCarthy. Satisfying in very different ways.

A Great Series for those New to Brust's Work

I've been a fan of Steven Brust's work for about twenty years and was quite happy when Audible released them. In particular the Vlad Taltos series have always been my favorites of his contributions to the fantasy genre. All of these books are quick paced, entertaining and extremely funny. Brust does an excellent job of telling stories revolving around an unconventional hero (a professional assassin) while allowing Vlad to remain human (i.e. someone who deals with the spectrum of human emotions, worries and fears) and demonstrating how he deals with these issues while carrying out his trade.

If you haven't read/listened to any of Brust's work, the Vlad Taltos books is a great place to start. They bring out some of his best characteristics as an author.

Warning: If you like ethnic Hungarian cuisine, some of Brust's depictions of food in his novels will make you extremely hungry. They are extremely detailed and descriptive. Brust should consider publishing a Vlad Taltos cookbook.


Bernard Setaro Clark does an outstanding job with all thirteen of these books. I would be hard pressed to find fault with his work on any of them. Excellent job overall.