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More Taltos: Iorich, Vallista, Hawk
I skipped a couple of books - I haven't yet read Jhegaala or Tiassa, but I also got the general impression that I could skip both of those without it affecting my enjoyment of the overall series much (a side benefit to a series that jumps around in the timeline as much as this one does). I also read Vallista before Hawk, because of library shenanigans, and I actually kinda think they worked better that way.
But yeah, I am all caught up now (except for an odd skipped book here and there)! And I feel like it was a good note to finish on -- there's a weak spot in the middle of the series, I think, but the last couple of books are great.
Iorich: The plot of this book felt nearly as aimless as Dzur (Vlad walks around the city; stuff happens; not a lot of progress on any of the main plot threads) but I enjoyed it more. There were a lot of charming bits, particularly Vlad deciding to sneak up on Kragar for a change, and I enjoyed the Iorich, who are endearingly weird and nerdy.
Vallista: This book was a riveting delight - which surprised me a little since none of the major supporting characters appear and only a couple of minor ones, but it had me from start to finish. The house was so cool and weird, I really enjoyed the book-only supporting characters and Vlad's changing relationship with them, and all the meta-arc stuff was GREAT. I know they've dropped various clues in multiple books about Dragaera being an experiment, but I think this book is the first one where we've had solid confirmation of how it all works, and there's so much game-changing stuff in this book about Dragaerans and the Cycle (and Devera, and Vlad's past lives, too).![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rachelmanija and I had an extensive email conversation about this (she's reading along with me) and I can't get over how much going all the way back to the very first book is cast in a whole new light by everything we find out about Dragaerans later, but still works. In particular, this puts a whole new spin on some of Vlad's offhand comments about Dragaerans' lack of imagination and their only having one word for a lot of things Easterners have many words for (they just don't care about anything outside their House's area of obsession; they're designed that way!). I need to pull all of that together into a post.
Hawk: And then this was an absolutely fantastic note to end on, with everyone coming together to help Vlad get out from under the Jhereg once and for all, whether he wants their help or not. The whole scene with Kragar getting stabbed was everything I could've wanted from a scene like that (Vlad taking off the amulet without a second thought; Aliera's reaction to being talked into healing a Jhereg ex-Dragonlord; Vlad's utter and yet understated distress during all of this) and I love how his friends spend the entire book being like "LET. US. HELP!! YOU!!!!" and giving him whatever he wants instantly whenever he asks for it. Most of the character relationships I'm invested in got some really nice interaction (Vlad and Teldra included!); we even checked back in with some of the past ones (Vlad and Sara, Vlad and Savn). I spent most of the book in a growing state of anxiety that Vlad's plans were going to go catastrophically wrong at the end in a way that was going to make things even worse... and well, I guess that's sort of true, and I'm not sure how to take the very last scene, but the thing I was most afraid of (due to Vlad dropping various hints like "well, no matter what, this is the last time I'll ever see THIS place again") is that Vlad's plan had some kind of horrific side effect built in (like he was going to genuinely fake his own death and never be able to talk to any of his friends again), and that didn't happen, so I'm very curious to see where the books go from here.
ETA: Oh, and I also love how years of running and being isolated has been wearing down Vlad's mental and physical health -- I mean, okay, I don't love it because VLAAAAAD, but I love the way that this is instantly apparent to people who know him, all of whose reaction upon first seeing him the last book or two has been some variation on "Wow, Vlad, you look terrible". And I'm really glad that he can start getting back to having a life now, hopefully, whatever form that's going to take.
I don't know what the experience of reading Vallista and Hawk in publication order would've been like since I didn't do that, but I honestly felt it worked better this way than the other way around since the house on the cliff plays an important role, and this also meant that I got to finish up with a book that was really focused on Vlad's relationships with his family and friends instead of one where he's off wandering around doing his own thing, which was accidental, of course, but it was a good set of feelings to stop on.
And now, a Very Important Poll! We're down to only 3 animals remaining in the Cycle. Which House is the next book going to focus on? (Includes the info on what each animal represents from the Cycle list at the beginning of the last few books, since that tends to be important to each book's theme.)
p.s. I love getting to actually see the House animals in the latest version of the Cycle list. The dog with the unicorn horn! The webspinning fox! (Up to that point, I assumed chreotha were spiders.)
But yeah, I am all caught up now (except for an odd skipped book here and there)! And I feel like it was a good note to finish on -- there's a weak spot in the middle of the series, I think, but the last couple of books are great.
Iorich: The plot of this book felt nearly as aimless as Dzur (Vlad walks around the city; stuff happens; not a lot of progress on any of the main plot threads) but I enjoyed it more. There were a lot of charming bits, particularly Vlad deciding to sneak up on Kragar for a change, and I enjoyed the Iorich, who are endearingly weird and nerdy.
Vallista: This book was a riveting delight - which surprised me a little since none of the major supporting characters appear and only a couple of minor ones, but it had me from start to finish. The house was so cool and weird, I really enjoyed the book-only supporting characters and Vlad's changing relationship with them, and all the meta-arc stuff was GREAT. I know they've dropped various clues in multiple books about Dragaera being an experiment, but I think this book is the first one where we've had solid confirmation of how it all works, and there's so much game-changing stuff in this book about Dragaerans and the Cycle (and Devera, and Vlad's past lives, too).
rachelmanija and I had an extensive email conversation about this (she's reading along with me) and I can't get over how much going all the way back to the very first book is cast in a whole new light by everything we find out about Dragaerans later, but still works. In particular, this puts a whole new spin on some of Vlad's offhand comments about Dragaerans' lack of imagination and their only having one word for a lot of things Easterners have many words for (they just don't care about anything outside their House's area of obsession; they're designed that way!). I need to pull all of that together into a post.Hawk: And then this was an absolutely fantastic note to end on, with everyone coming together to help Vlad get out from under the Jhereg once and for all, whether he wants their help or not. The whole scene with Kragar getting stabbed was everything I could've wanted from a scene like that (Vlad taking off the amulet without a second thought; Aliera's reaction to being talked into healing a Jhereg ex-Dragonlord; Vlad's utter and yet understated distress during all of this) and I love how his friends spend the entire book being like "LET. US. HELP!! YOU!!!!" and giving him whatever he wants instantly whenever he asks for it. Most of the character relationships I'm invested in got some really nice interaction (Vlad and Teldra included!); we even checked back in with some of the past ones (Vlad and Sara, Vlad and Savn). I spent most of the book in a growing state of anxiety that Vlad's plans were going to go catastrophically wrong at the end in a way that was going to make things even worse... and well, I guess that's sort of true, and I'm not sure how to take the very last scene, but the thing I was most afraid of (due to Vlad dropping various hints like "well, no matter what, this is the last time I'll ever see THIS place again") is that Vlad's plan had some kind of horrific side effect built in (like he was going to genuinely fake his own death and never be able to talk to any of his friends again), and that didn't happen, so I'm very curious to see where the books go from here.
ETA: Oh, and I also love how years of running and being isolated has been wearing down Vlad's mental and physical health -- I mean, okay, I don't love it because VLAAAAAD, but I love the way that this is instantly apparent to people who know him, all of whose reaction upon first seeing him the last book or two has been some variation on "Wow, Vlad, you look terrible". And I'm really glad that he can start getting back to having a life now, hopefully, whatever form that's going to take.
I don't know what the experience of reading Vallista and Hawk in publication order would've been like since I didn't do that, but I honestly felt it worked better this way than the other way around since the house on the cliff plays an important role, and this also meant that I got to finish up with a book that was really focused on Vlad's relationships with his family and friends instead of one where he's off wandering around doing his own thing, which was accidental, of course, but it was a good set of feelings to stop on.
And now, a Very Important Poll! We're down to only 3 animals remaining in the Cycle. Which House is the next book going to focus on? (Includes the info on what each animal represents from the Cycle list at the beginning of the last few books, since that tends to be important to each book's theme.)
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10
What's the next Dragaera book going to be?
View Answers
Lyorn (tradition and duty)
5 (50.0%)
Tsalmoth (unpredictability and tenacity)
4 (40.0%)
Chreotha (forethought and ensnarement)
1 (10.0%)
Something not an animal, along the lines of "Taltos"
0 (0.0%)
p.s. I love getting to actually see the House animals in the latest version of the Cycle list. The dog with the unicorn horn! The webspinning fox! (Up to that point, I assumed chreotha were spiders.)
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