Taltos, continuing

[sholio]

Dzur: Well, that sure was a whole lot of nothing happening in the shape of a book.

Though I did really like seeing Adrilankha and Kragar again, and all of Vlad's friends being like "PLEASE JUST LET US HELP YOU, FFS." Also Vlad finding out he has a kid, THANK YOU FINALLY - I was honestly expecting that to go down in a much more acrimonious way, given that everyone he knows has been lying to him about it for years, and was relieved that it doesn't seem to have broken his friendships with anyone. I also really loved Vlad's comment that "his people" are his friends, not Easterners - which is also very sad, but these books handle found family in such a lovely and satisfying way.

That being said ... I think a lot of my frustration with this book is that while there was plot going on, it all felt extraneous to the things I'm interested in, and didn't really answer any of the questions brought up by the previous book. We got a few more hints about what Teldra-the-sword can do, and Vlad found out the thing about Verra messing with his memories (which, WTF). But all in all, I feel like I could have skipped this book and not missed much.

I think I probably am going to skip Jhegaala for now, because I am told that it's also somewhat dull and depressing on top of that, and since it's not taking place in the "now" of the timeline, I may as well read it later and skip straight to Iorich for the next one.

Comments

[ambyr]

That is pretty much my feelings on Dzur, yeah. I read it before/after surgery, and so I always think my memory of it is just blurred by stress and anesthesia recovery, and then I go back and flip through it and . . . yeah, not much happened. (But it does make a good unchallenging surgery recovery book!)

I keep wanting to find a way to appreciate Jhegaala and failing. Moving on to Iorich seems like a good choice. I will strongly suggest going back and reading the Khaavren novels before you get to Tiassa, though, if that hasn't been suggested yet--at very least The Phoenix Guard and quite possibly all of them.

[rachelmanija]

I feel like a philistine for saying this, but I don't like the Khaavren novels. I find the style both impenetrable and annoying. I'd say try the first one given that as far as I can tell, everyone who's not me loves them.

[ambyr]

I like the first two; I am not a huge fan of the Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy, but that's partly because Morrolan is one of my least-favorite Dragaera characters (I know! Heresy!) and he's a major player there.

[sholio]

LOL, whereas for me, "more Morrolan!" is a selling point. XD Different tastes and all that.

Since I'm going to be at the library anyway and they seem to have nearly all the Brust, I'll pick up the first Phoenix Guards novel while I'm at it and see what I think about it. I have a feeling they might be less to my taste than the Vlad books, because I'm not that fond of the general category of books they're riffing on, at least the "played straight" version, as opposed to the "vaguely influenced by" version, like the rest of the series is. However, it's good to know that it comes into play in future books.

[krait]

I should clearly go and reread Dzur, because pretty much the only things I remember about it are "fantastic food!!" and "funny Dzur teenage edgelord," both of which I'm fond of. :D

[sholio]

Okay, I did really love the Dzur teenage edgelord; he's great. :D

[edenfalling]

That was pretty much my takeaway as well: hilarious side character, and a delicious meal described so well that I always close the book hungry.