I will say that this story works beause of its protagonist Because Vlad is smart until he isn't, and because he is, largely, honest with himself while we sit alongside his inner dialogue. He can be a lover, a killer, a man searching for redemption or a quiet life, a hero of sorts and a villain of same. And wearing all of those many hats, he's thoughtful, interesting, wry, slyly funny, and very human. There's a sense of immediccy, of energy, of reaching out toward a future he imagines as a bright one, shrotly before it explodes in his hand. Because if Vlad is the star of the show, Cawti, his soon to be wife, is a close second. I rather like Cawti. She's no-nonsense, witty, a little bit romantic, and as willing to comment on the quality of a restaurant dish or the politics of equality for workers as she is to put a knife through someones eye. WHich is to say, very. It's interesting to compare this pair of young lvoers, as they take their first steps of marital bliss, to what we know comes later in their lives - the joy and tragedy of knowing a little of how things will shake out before they do themselves. In any event, they're a vivacious pair, and one that captures every page they appear on. Brust's dialogue is a strong point, always able to raise a chuckle, or a gasp, or a tear - and his characters enable that by being fast talking, hard-feeling rogues, with hearts on their sleeves as well as swords at their belts.
And we're back in seaside Adrilahnka again. Over double-digits of books, Brust has managed to make the city as much of a character as the people which inhabit it, from the bustling nighbourhoods whose propserity is seemingly linkd to their place on the rotating caste-wheel that is Dragaeran life, to the glowering orange cloud that blocks out much of the light of the sun, to the sneeing, matter-of-fact prejudice by Dragaerans against "Easterners" like Vlad, there's texture and flavour in every morsel of description. When they sit down at a restaurant to hash out a business proposition, or skirt the edges of an abandoned house looking for trouble, or stand on the cloffs, looking at a sea which, in this case, isn't an amorphous murder-blob crated by runaway sorcery...well, you can feel the place, the years pressing in around, the drifting scents on the air and mutter of background dialogue. Adrilahnka lives, and in its life and depth and weight, it helps keep us grounded, and gives the characters a solid stage on which to set themselves against the forces that oppose them.
And what forces they are. I won't spoil it, but you know what, this one is a lot of fun. There's the snowball, the way that Vlad's injecting hoimself into a situation in a relatively minor way just propels him further and further through a chain of consequences until things are, perhaps, a little out of hand. And there's the way that each step in that chain has real stakes, has drama and passion in it, sure, but also consequences, which make sense to all parties. And then there's the way that there's also other stakes, hidden hands pushing thigns around, trying to serve an agenda which Vlad is, at least initially, ignorant of. Quite what's going on and how Vlad ends up in as much trouble as he does, well, you'll have to Read And Find Out. But I will say that this is a fun journey. In a sense it's a tragedy, seeing the younger Vlad again, before life...happened with him. But at the same time, it's a joy, and an absolute firecracker of a story, one I don't hesitate to recommend to all you long term Taltos fans. Brust remains on top form here, and you'll have a lot of fun coming back to Dragaera, and to Vlad.
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