Tiassa - Steven Brust

Tor, copyright 2011, 335 pages

ISBN 978-0-7653-3306-3

Edited by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Read April 2015 (age 35)

This is book #13 by publication order of the Vlad Taltos series of novels.  It jumps around a bit - some current storyline, some ancient history. It should go without saying, but don't start here.

From the back cover:

Once, Vlad Taltos knew his trade:  he killed people for a living.  That skill got him his foothold in House Jhereg, running the rackets for a chunk of urban Adrilankha.  Later, things happened that left Vlad a changed man, on the run from the Jhereg and frequently involved in the affairs of Dragonlords, Empresses, and even Jenoine.  Far more involved than the average human.

Meanwhile, in the very distant past, one of the gods fashioned an artifact - a silver figurine of a tiassa, a winged pantherlike animal.  To Devera the Wanderer, it's a pretty toy to play with.  To Vlad, it's a handy prop for a con he's running.  To the Empire, it's a tool to be used against the Jenoine.  And to the Jhereg, it's a trap to kill Vlad.

As it happens, however, the silver tiassa has its own agenda.

Reactions, and probably some spoilers, after the break:

Overall:

I'd forgotten how much fun Vlad was before he got all divorced!  This was a set of three novellas, only one of which was from Vlad's point of view - (The other two were Cawti, which was brief and fun, and Paarfi, narrating for a story with Khaavren as the POV character.  Which means that really, this book ties together the first twelve Vlad Taltos books and the 5 Khaavren romances.

Rating: 4

Premise:

Vlad goes back to Adrilanka and tries to figure out how to keep two of his buddies (the Empress and her Warlord) from killing each other.  They're both stubborn enough to go through with it just because.

Characters:

We're back home.  The characters are fun.  

Setting:

Despite being the what, 17th book in the setting, there are still things to learn, thanks to the sparse storytelling style throughout the books.

Plot:

We're continuing on in the tradition of bouncing all over the place, this time within one book, rather than between books, but it would be nice to see a bit more movement in the overarching plot that's been developing over the past while.  But it was also really nice to remember what a cheerful, confident Vlad was like.  I'm tempted to re-read the series, but I think I'll wait until the whole thing is done.  

Readability:

Very readable.  As ever, dialogue is a strength.

Other Opinions:

Russ Albery

Mixed reviews.  Kind of like me, he was a bit disappointed that the plot was fill-in.

Tor.com
Loved it.  Take this with a grain of salt, as it's from the publisher's site, but it was still a nice review.

There were lots of other generally positive reviews.  It was a fun book.