Jhereg: Vlad Taltos, Book 1

The book of Jhereg is something of a detective story in the midst of a fantasy world of dragons, elves, and of course humans. It follows the antics of wise-cracking assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion, called a jhereg, in the Dragaeran city of Adrilankha. Vlad Taltos is human; he is also a mobster and assassin and is the narrator of the book; for those familiar with the Dresden Files, he loosely reminds me of Harry.
Jhereg is book one of a series in which the writer, Steven Brust creates a very credible fantasy world. Originally published in 1983, I was curious to hear how it would sound in audio format and was pleased; I thought the narrator, Bernard Setaro Clark, gave a good performance bringing the characters to life. I would recommend this series for those who like this type of genre.

First penned in 1983, this underrated series of books is finally making its way to Audible. I know - I was one of the underraters. I've loved science fiction and fantasy since I could read, so we're talking half a century, and yet, I never could get past the covers of certain books. Tragic but true. I saw these novels on the bookshelf, and I didn't connect with the back cover brief, nor the garish covers (Sorry, Steven). I was, and sometimes still am, prejudice in that way.

But I stray.

During my lifetime, I HAVE often stepped out and acquired many unknown author's books, and have been both happily rewarded and nightmarishly punished. Look at my numbers and reviews here at Audible. I finally did acquire Jhereg: Vlad Talos, the first audiobook in the series.

I should have read these books a long time ago.

Mix swords, sorcery, and assassination with a European feel. Now, add a dash of machiavellian intrigue, and this is Brust's series, plain and simple. Exceptional character creation and interaction, twists, turns, and good narration. It all comes together for the truly enjoyable audiobook, and I can't sing it's praises highly enough.

Am I going to give anything away as to the plots, characters, creatures and tonality? If you look at my other reviews, I rarely if ever do that for good works of writing - It's not fair to you, the reader/listener. If a book or series is exceptional, it's because of the voyage of discovery.

I won't reveal the depths of the world-spanning Dragaeran Empire, nor it's death grip on society. I'd not dare detail how the Tekla House is only one of the seventeen rising and falling houses of power within the empire. I'd never delve into the intricacies of the ominous Paths of the Dead, the Imperial Orb, nor the Jhereg Dragon lords and their insidious plot to...

I'll stop there. You get the idea.

This is, simply put, good writing. Don't do like I did. Don't miss out for so many years on a great series worthy of your Audible credits, time, and appreciation. Get the first book, and listen and judge for yourself. And you'll probably buy the rest of the books.

Steven, I can admit when I'm wrong, and this is the case in this great first book in the series. I'll be making up for the lost time by acquiring the remainder.

The author throws you into a world that is fully realised and slowly reveals the details.

The banter back and forth between Vlad and his familiar Lyoush

Bernard did a tremendous job reading this book with wonderful pacing and atmosphere.

Assassins Creed meets Lord of the Rings

I recommend this author to ANY fan of fantasy.

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.

Yes this book was very well laid out and you understood what was going on in the story. Some things were predictable but others was a surprise.

The Dragon was the best character in this story.

Nope

If you want a good story about magic, dragons, assassins, multiple races, and families. There is a lot of depth to this book

I read this series years ago, but never finished it. Glad it showed up on Audible. Wonderful narration. These "Sam Spade style" detective novels can be fun, though sometimes hard to stomach in large quantities. Brust makes the genre pretty fun, though! Downloading the next book!

Vlad is a human easterner that has the ability to do some witchcraft. He summons a Jhereg (small dragon the size of a cat with human like intelligence) and receives an egg. Vlad bonds with the Jhereg and they have a mental bond. Vlad sales his fathers restaurant to become an assassin working for Dragaerans (they live for thousands of years and have several unique ability's of their own). There's a twist in this world just because you're killed doesn't mean you're really dead, people can be brought back to life.

Originally posted (with links) at FanLit.

Audio readers, rejoice! Finally, Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS novels have been produced in audio by Audible Frontiers. For years I’ve been planning to read this long series and have only been waiting for this moment.

The VLAD TALTOS novels follow Vlad Taltos, a well-known and highly successful human assassin living on the planet Dragaera. The native species, the Dragaerans, are a tall long-lived race created by sorcerers who cross-bred humans and certain animals. The characteristics of the animals give each clan, or “House,” its name, physical features, and personality traits. The exception is the house of Jhereg (named after a small dragon-like creature) which is a low-class conglomerate of outcasts from other clans and also any true humans who can buy their way in, which is what Vlad Taltos’ father did. Each of Brusts’ novels in this series is named after one of the Dragaeran houses.

In this first installment, Jhereg, we meet Vlad Taltos and his familiar, Loiosh, the jhereg who can communicate with him through mind-speech. Vlad has been hired to kill a councilman named Mellar who has embezzled a huge sum of money from the Jhereg council. When Vlad catches up with Mellar, he discovers him hiding out in Castle Black, the floating mansion of Vlad’s friend, the Dragonlord Morrolan. Castle Black’s rule of hospitality is that anyone who has been invited to stay at the castle cannot be touched and nobody wants to violate this law because it would ignite another Dragon-Jhereg war. The last war devastated both houses. Vlad and Loiosh must flush out Mellar without offending a Dragonlord or starting a war. This is not an easy task and Vlad will need to solve a mystery and get a little help from his friends.

Jhereg is appealing for several reasons. Vlad Taltos is a great character — the sort of honorable criminal that you can’t help but like. It helps that in Brust’s world, an assassination isn’t necessarily permanent. People can be revivified if their body is still mostly intact and they haven’t had their soul destroyed by a Morganti weapon (somewhat like Elric’s sword). Vlad is clever and must use his brain, not just his weapons or witchcraft, to solve his dilemma (though I thought he solved the convoluted mystery a little too easily). Vlad’s friends are also likeable, especially Loiosh the familiar, Vlad’s wife (who he met when she tried to kill him), and a female Dragonlord. Brust’s female characters are strong, smart, and competent.

Steven Brust’s writing style, sense of humor, and dialogue are also pleasant, and the story moves quickly. There’s a lot to learn in the first novel of a huge epic, but Brust does this so well. We learn a little about Vlad’s childhood, the planet of Dragaera, the origin and structure of the houses (this was fascinating), and anything else we need to know. Brust gives us just enough extra to make us curious about his world, but not enough to make the plot slow down while we learn the entire history of Dragaera and its residents. (Yet, Brust’s world is so complex and detailed that some readers may wish for an online resource such as this helpful Wikipedia entry, and several fan-made Dragaera sites that you can easily find with a Google search.)

Audible Frontiers’ version was narrated by Bernard Setaro Clark. He was terrific, speaking with a lively manner and giving each character a pleasant and distinct voice. As usual, I had to speed up the narration a bit (I’m beginning to suspect that Audible has purposely slowed down their narrators). I’m pleased to see that Bernard Setaro Clark has also narrated the sequels and I’ll be picking up book 2, Yendi, which is actually a prequel to Jhereg, very soon. I look forward to spending more time with Vlad Taltos.

I don't listen to audio books more than once. I also don't often read books more than once. I've read this book and knew my husband would like it, so we listened to it together. He was blown away and I found myself enjoying a story I already knew.

The voice acting is superb, especially the psionic whisperings of Vlad's sidekick, Loiosh.

Clark's reading is everything you want it to be--well-paced, distinctive voicings without overacting, unobtrusive and yet layered with appropriate cadence and nuance.

Don't miss this!

This book was an enjoyable tale, the series starts off deceptively simply but layers complexity with each subsequent story.

I really do like Vlad's character and the character development is well done throughout the series.

The naration when i first started to listen i thought was pretty average but after listening for a short while you find that the naration is all pretty good throughout with good variation between characters and a style that sucks you in!

I really enjoyed the humour throughout this book and the full series and have let out a few belly laughs in otherwise quiet locations.

I would thoroughly recomend the book and the rest of the series