psc@lzwi.UUCP (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (05/01/85)
< Smokey the Bar says, "Stamp out software pirates" [squish!] >
Vladamir Taltos is an "Easterner", a member of a race that usually
isn't more than six feet tall. (You may be familiar with this race.) He
lives in the city of Adrilankha, the capital of the Dragaeran Empire.
Dragaerans *do* usually grow to more than six feet tall, and have pointed
ears, but are otherwise very similar to humans (oops, I meant, Easterners).
In this city of wealth and magic, Vlad survives by his wits, by his
witchcraft (an Eastern art, different from Dragaeran sorcery), his skills as
an "assassin" (which is a somewhat different trade than you might think),
his familiar (which is, more or less, the Jhereg of the title), and the
handful of heavies who help him control a small corner of the city. This is
the *good* guy. (That he comes off as likable is an indication of Brust's
skill, and of the fact that this isn't just another swords-and-sorcery,
elves-and-humans fantasy.)
The problem is that Vlad has accepted a little job. He's got to kill
someone who's very hard to kill, in a place where it's very hard kill
people. If he fails, his client has promised not to kill him for failure.
Ha. If he succeeds, he'll probably be the first casualty of a clan war that
could kill everyone he know, and thousands more; and if he survives that,
his client may still try to kill him.
None of this touches upon the richness of the book. Now bear in mind
that this solemn-sounding tale is often a rather light-hearted adventure.
What you have is a book that's fun to read, a book that encourages you to
re-read an occasional chapter so you know what's going on, a book that's
full of most of the things people read SF for. Recommended.
--
-Paul S. R. Chisholm
...!{pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc The above opinions are my own,
...!{hocsj,ihnp4}!lznv!psc not necessarily anyone else's,
...!{pegasus,cbosgd}!lzmi!psc including my employer's.