With Hawk we reach number fourteen in Steven Brust’s Taltos Cycle, and things are about to change. Again.
Vlad Taltos is tired of being on the run. The Organization – House Jhereg – has been hunting him for what seems like most of his life (well, OK, he has broken a couple of the House’s unbreakable rules), he has an eight-year-old son he’s only seen a couple of times, he misses his estranged wife, Cawti, and he’s had just about enough. The final straw comes when, coming surreptitiously into Adrilankha, he discovers a pair of Jhereg assassins lying in wait (not something that assassins normally do, but the bounty on Vlad is significant, with one proviso – it has to be Morganti, the enchanted blades that kill not only your body, but your soul: that’s how pissed off House Jhereg is). There is also a Phoenix Guard standing watch over the house. OK – enough is enough. Being Vlad, of course, he comes up with a plan that should get House Jhereg off his back for good. With a little help from his friends. (Yes, he still has friends, and some pretty heavy-duty ones at that.)
The novels in the Taltos Cycle have been more and more in chronological order lately – the early installments tended to jump around in time – which enables a larger ongoing narrative, and also makes it easier to spot Vlad’s development as a character – and he does develop. They’re still episodic – each volume can stand alone – but the ongoing story lines are clearer.
Well, as much as anything with Vlad is clear. As usual, Vlad has a plan, but he’s not letting us in on it, even a little bit – the lead-up to the climax is almost perfectly opaque, to the extent that the denouement is particularly satisfying – it surprises Vlad as much as it does the reader. (And yes, he does use all those implements he’s assembled — well, most of them.)
Speaking of which, this one struck me as particularly lean and focused, even if I had no idea what to expect: the digressions that could so easily derail the story, but which in Brust’s hands serve to enrich it, are almost totally missing: it’s a series of encounters and errands that provide color but also move the story along, even if we have no idea where it’s going.
What can I say? Except to note once again that not only is Brust fun to read, but it’s obvious that he had fun writing. If you haven’t read any of Brust’s work, start with the Taltos Cycle; if you’ve not kept up with the Cycle, get on it.
(Tor Books, 2014)
