I think in like January I’d resolved to start a Vlad Taltos reread in maybe March to prepare for this. I’m not ready!
For the uninitiated: I picked up JHEREG, the first volume of the Vlad Taltos books, in probably 1992 from a used bookstore that used to be on Witherspoon Street in Princeton, whose existence I’d forgotten about until literally now. Steven Brust has been putting them out slowly but steadily for the last 40 years or so; I believe he’s on book 16 of a planned 19? They follow the assassin Vlad Taltos, a weak and short-lived Easterner in a world of powerful and long-lived Dragaerans, through various adventures within and eventually outside of the criminal underworld of Adrilankha, where he holds a bought title in the noble house that does all the organized crime. These are slim, witty, tricky books; they operate decently on their own, but together they build up into an immersive and fascinating world.
I won’t do anything as gauche as count the number of these that have come out since A DANCE WITH DRAGONS except who am I kidding, of course I will; TSALMOTH makes three.
I can’t in good conscience recommend you start with the sixteenth book in a four-decade-running fantasy series, but I would absolutely recommend you pick up Volume 1, JHEREG, from your retailer of choice. (The linked book is actually the first three Vlad Taltos books, JHEREG, YENDI, and TECKLA, bound together; that won’t steer you wrong either.)
Currently listening: DISAPPEARANCE AT DEVIL’S ROCK, by Paul Tremblay, read by Erin Bennett.
If you’re enjoying my writing, you can get some of my short fiction on your e-reader for the low, low cost of $0. Remembered Air is a collection of six poems and short stories not available anywhere else. Download it here.