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Steven Brust

1955-

Reviewed by
Rob R., Stefan, Todd

Steven Brust has been nominated for several awards, including a Nebula and several Locus Poll Awards. You can download one of Brust's novels for free at his website.
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The Khaavren Romances: Two prequels and The Viscount of Adrilankha Trilogy — (1991-2004) Publisher: The Dragaeran Empire is a hotbed of intrigue, sorcery, intrigue, swashbuckling adventure, and intrigue. For those who would be heroes, it is a delightful time to be alive — and an easy place to die. Khaavren of the House of Tiassa is a son of landless nobility, possessor of a good sword and “tolerably well acquainted with its use.” Along with three loyal friends, he enthusiastically seeks out danger and excitement. But in a realm renowned for repartee and betrayals, where power is as mutable as magic, a young man like Khaavren, newly come from the countryside, had best be wary. His life depends on it. And so does the future of Dragaera. When swordplay beckons, it's all for one — and one for...The Phoenix Guards.

The Phoenix Guards prequels — Publisher:

Stephen Brust The Phoenix Guards, Five Hundred Years After

The Viscount of Adrilankha Trilogy

Steven Brust The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, Sethra Lavode

book review Steven Brust The Phoenix Guards The Phoenix Guards: Very nice change of pace

The brief review: I had a slight smile on my face the entire time I read this book. It is, as a reviewer of The Three Musketeers might have once said, "charming."

To elaborate: Steven Brust is very well (some might say "over") educated and knows how to turn a phrase. The plot moves along briskly; the characters, while not fleshed out too thoroughly, do have distinct and effective personalities. I was, at first, a bit lost about the world's/realm's infrastructure of Houses and about the characteristics of each (and what animals the fantasy names correlate to). However, I've not read the Vlad Taltos series, which apparently sheds some light on those matters.

This is not a book to be read at breakneck speed, as the dialogue must be savored and as there are plot details that could otherwise be missed. That said, even if one does commit to reading each excruciatingly polite phrase that the characters utter, there are still times when one wants to throttle them for not getting to the point. Brust plays this game nicely, but he perhaps goes to the well one too many times. Nevertheless, in two words, as the wonderfully pompous narrator might say, this is an amiable sabre-and-sorcery frolick, and I plan to check out Five Hundred Years After, the next book, very soon.
—Rob R. Comments

book review Steven Brust, Five Hundred Years After Five Hundred Years After: Brust is brilliant, and I don't use that word loosely

If there were justice in the literary world, you'd think Steven Brust would have received more acclaim and notice, as Brust's writing is crisp and lively, his pacing excellent.

As explained in an "interview" with the book's pompous narrator, Brust writes for those who love to read, i.e. those who enjoy a good vocabulary, good grammar, good phrasing, and (indeed) a good story. This is not some "page-turner" to be engulfed at one-sitting; if you did that with a box of Godiva chocolates, you'd become ill and lose the appreciation for each one. Just so with each of the book's chapters. The plot does slow a little too much in places — often due the musings of the intruding, over-erudite narrator — but there are worthy adages, tales and metaphors therein; don't miss them.

This is a fine, fine work. The swashbuckling spirit of The Phoenix Guards remains intact, but partially cloaked by ominous portents. Do not miss these books if you enjoy a good tale (fantasy or otherwise). I look forward to reading the next one. —Rob R. Comments

The Vlad Taltos novels — (1983-2010) These take place in the same universe as the The Khaavren Romances and have some overlapping characters. Nineteen novels are planned. Please note that the first three presented here are omnibus editions which contain novels 1-7.The Book of Jhereg contains Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla. The Book of Taltos contains Taltos and Phoenix. The Book of Athyra contains Athyra and Orca. Thus, Jhegaala is the eleventh novel. Publisher: Quick with both sword and wit, Vlad Taltos makes his way through the world of Dragaera as an assassin, aided by a small talent for magic and a lizard-like jhereg companion.

Steven Brust Vlad Taltos The Book of Jhereg, Taltos, Athyra, Dragon, Issola, Dzur, Jhegaala

Steven Brust Vlad 11. Jhegaala 12. Iorich

Jhegaala

Jhegaala is the 11th novel in the excellent VLAD TALTOS series by Steven Brust. In case you're not familiar with the series, Vlad Taltos is a human assassin living in the Dragaeran empire. Dragaerans are human-like, but live for 1000 years or more and have a complex society divided into 17 Great Houses which all bear some resemblance to a real or mythical animal. So we have the Houses of the Orca and the Hawk, but also the Houses of the Dzur, Dragon, and Jhegaala. Since humans are not part of the Empire, Vlad's father bought his son a title in the House of Jhereg — which is named after a reptilian scavenger and is basically the crime syndicate of the Empire.

Vlad is one of the most fascinating and entertaining protagonists in current fantasy: a smart-ass, bon-vivant assassin who enjoys good food and wine and has a great sarcastic sense of humor. A good part of the fun of reading this series is following the constant wise-cracks between Vlad and his reptilian familiar Loiosh ("You're pretty smart for a mammal, boss").

The series is incredibly complex in terms of plot, partly because the books aren't written according to the internal chronology, e.g. the first book in the series (Jhereg) is actually placed very late in the over-all plot, and amazingly contains all kinds of spoilers for the next books — not that this affects how much you'll enjoy reading and re-reading these books. (By the way, I recommend reading the series in order of publication, as we have them presented here.)

Steven Brust also has some interesting quirks when it comes to writing and structuring his books, not the least of which is his fixation on the number 17: not only are there 17 Great Houses in the Dragaeran Empire, but every book has 17 or 34 chapters, and 17 pops up literally all through the series. Every book barring one (Taltos) is named after one of the Great Houses, and in each of those books Vlad takes on the characteristics of the people in that House (e.g. in Issola, named after the courtly etiquette specialists, Vlad takes on some decidedly hyper-polite conversational quirks). Some of the books are structured according to odd little texts. One of them famously starts with the bill from Vlad's tailor ("Fix hole in shirt. Remove stain from trousers."). In every one of the 17 chapters, you'll see what caused one of those items to appear on the tailor's bill. Another novel's structure follows the menu of a 17-course dinner in Vlad's favorite restaurant. If all of this sounds overly contrived, you'll barely notice it when reading the novels, which are always funny and fast-moving. (For more Steven Brust trivia, check the excellent Cracks and Shards website.)

Jhegaala is a great example of Steven Brust playing fast and loose with the internal chronology of his series, because this eleventh novel is actually a sequel to Phoenix (book 5 in the series and first published almost 20 years ago). However, if you don't recall all the details of that novel, all you really need to know is that Vlad is on the run from... well, let's just say some people who want his head. He heads to Fenario, the human lands outside of the Dragaeran Empire, which unfortunately means that Jhegaala doesn't feature many of the recurring Dragaeran characters Kiera, Morrolan, Aliera, or Sethra. The book starts out fairly lighthearted but turns into what has to be one of the darkest installments in the series. I couldn't put it down and tore through it in one sitting. And now we finally know what happened in the gap between Phoenix and Athyra!

Jhegaala is absolutely excellent and wholeheartedly recommended to any fans of the VLAD TALTOS series. However, if you're new to the adventures of Vladimir Taltos, I recommend starting out with The Book of Jhereg, which bundles the first three books of the series (Jhereg, Yendi and Teckla) in one convenient omnibus. You'll be hooked in no time. The next book in the series, Iorich, will be released by Tor in January 2010. Since I have an advanced copy, I'll be reviewing it for you soon! —Stefan Comments

Iorich

Remember those episodes of Matlock in which someone is arrested for a crime, but during the investigation it turns out that the arrest was really just a front for a much larger intrigue? Steven Brust's newest VLAD TALTOS novel Iorich is sort of like that — except the person who is arrested is Aliera e'Kieron, and the larger intrigue involves Empress Zerika of the Dragaeran Empire. Oh, and Matlock's role is played by Vlad Taltos, human assassin and bon-vivant, who is still on the run from the Jhereg but has returned to Adrilankha to help out his friend Aliera. (Disclaimer: I actually don't know if there are episodes of Matlock like that, but it seems likely. Also, I realize I should probably have used a more current legal show like Law & Order, but I know even less about those. So there you have it: Vlad as Matlock. That must be a first.)

After the detour of the previous book in the series, Jhegaala, which was set earlier in the internal chronology, Iorich thankfully moves the story forward again. It takes places after the events of Dzur — and as such, it's definitely not a book to pick up if you're not familiar with the VLAD TALTOS series yet. (Instead, start with the omnibus The Book of Jhereg, which contains the 3 books that were published first. I definitely recommend reading the series in order of publication, at least until it's completed.)

Another contrast with the previous book: Jhegaala didn't feature many of the regular cast of VLAD TALTOS books, because it still dealt with Vlad traveling alone, on the run from the Jhereg. In Iorich, it's almost as if Steven Brust decided to systematically throw in every single regular character to please the fans: early in the book, Vlad has a sit-down with Morrolan, Sethra, Aliera, Kiera, Zerika (!), Cawti, and later on his old employee Kragar even makes an appearance. It almost feels as if the author was checking names of a list — not that I'm complaining, because it's lots of fun to see those characters in action again.

Fans of the VLAD TALTOS series will be aware that, in most of the books, Vlad takes on some of the characteristics of the noble house mentioned in the title, and Iorich is no exception. The Iorich attributes are "Justice and Retribution" (according to the handy new illustration of the Cycle, at the front of the book), and so we get to enjoy the delicious irony that career criminal Vlad Taltos is now working (more or less) inside the boundaries of the law to free his friend Aliera. Steven Brust also again uses the now-familiar device of chapter introductions that follow the theme of the novel — in this case, transcripts of court interviews and other legal documents. The transcript of Aliera's questioning at the start of chapter 12 is an easy highlight of Iorich.

There really isn't much to complain about in this solid new addition to one of my favorite fantasy series. I felt that, after the long set-up, the end was a bit rushed, but we can take that as an example of Vlad's "plan carefully and then strike quickly" style. There also aren't any really world-shaking revelations in this novel — it almost feels small-scale compared to some of the mind-bending earlier books.

Nit-picking aside, Iorich is a lovely addition to the VLAD TALTOS series. To long-time fans, this will be like a comfort read: set almost entirely in Adrilankha, with most of the major characters in top form, and Vlad doing his thing, talking with relish about his meals, wise-cracking back and forth with Loiosh — just like the old days, almost. In addition, we also get some beautiful and poignant scenes with Cawti, and on the flip side, the book has an appendix with some truly hilarious "deleted scenes" (even including a brief return of the dreaded KHAAVREN ROMANCES narrator Paarfi). We also get some fascinating looks at life inside the Imperial Palace and the Iorich wing (which is so labyrinthine that it's hard not to interpret it as a symbol for the Kafka-esque intricacies of the law).

If you're already a fan of the VLAD TALTOS series, you'll have a blast with Iorich. And if you're not familiar with the series yet, do yourself a favor and go find a copy of The Book of Jhereg right now. You won't be disappointed. —Stefan Comments

Stand-alone novels:

To Reign in Hell — (1984) Publisher: The time is the Beginning. The place is Heaven. The story is the Revolt of the Angels-a war of magic, corruption and intrigue that could destroy the universe.

book review Steven Brust To Reign in Hell To Reign in Hell: Fantastic accomplishment

The accomplishments here are nothing short of spectacular. Imagine writing a book populated with some of the most well known characters in Western history: Yahweh, Jesus, Satan, Lucifer (yes, they are separate), and the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. They all need unique personalities. If they're not, if they're retreads of biblical, Dante, Milton, or others, then the book fails.

Then imagine creating a reason for God to create the Cherubs, Seraph, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, etc. Give all of them a purpose. Imagine creating Heaven, giving essence to creation itself — a Big Bang, in effect. Imagine giving reason for the Fall. Not just the reason given in The Revelation, but a rewriting, of sorts, and one that absolutely has to make sense.

This should seem impossible. Only the greatest writers in history have succeeded when touching this material. I'm not going to suggest that Steven Brust is one of the greatest writers in history, but I will emphatically state that he was unbelievably successful. And he did his homework. He dug deep into Christian mythology (I'm saying mythology because many characters come from Dante, Milton, or others, and were never seen in the Bible), and must have spent hours upon hours plotting this novel.

It helps if you do your homework too. Luckily, I own a book called THE DICTIONARY OF ANGELS. You probably don't, so I'll help out a bit. Regarding having distinct Satan and Lucifer characters: there is no biblical evidence that supports the two share identities. I won't go into the various proofs but if you have doubts, Wikipedia does a fine job explaining the difference between the two. Brust also does a terrific job with the character of Jesus and the relationship between father and son. You can read about the the complex theory behind Brust's work at this Wikipedia page.

It helps to have information about some of the angels mentioned in the Bible and in non-biblical sources: (Disclaimer: I am not Christian, and do not believe in either angels or demons. This list is composed to help those who don't have access to other materials reference some angels and demons from the book.)

Bath Kol: Never identified as a character, only in passing reference to a supposed relationship with either Kyriel or Sith. "An angel, often spoken of as female, whose name means "heavenly voice." The angel is said among the Syrians to have the voice heard by Cain asking "Where is thy brother, Abel?" after Cain murdered his brother. Bat Qol is also said to have visited the famous second-century A.D. rabbi Simion ben Yohai (the supposed of the Jewish mystical work the Zohar) while he was imprisoned. In the sense of Bat-Kol, the angel can represent the divine voice that announces the will of God."

Kyriel: One of the 28 angels governing the 28 mansions of the moon.

Sith: Angel of an hour (6 to 7 o'clock); a regent ruling a planet.

Leviathan: In the book, the Regent of the West. In the Enoch parables, Leviathan is the primitive female sea-dragon and monster of evil, associated with Behemoth (who is not referenced in this book).

Ariel: The name has many implications, but Shakespeare saw Ariel as a sprite, and to Milton Ariel is a rebel angel, overcome by the seraph Abdiel in the first day of fighting in heaven.

Abdiel: According to Milton, the angel who overcomes Ariel in the first day of fighting in heaven. Brust takes Abdiel and runs with him.

Mephistopheles: Derived from the Hebrew "mephiz", meaning destroyer, and "tophel", meaning liar. One of the fallen archangels, and one of the 7 great princes of Hell.

Michael: One could write for hours. For brevity's sake: he ranks as the greatest of angels, whether in Jewish, Christian, or Islamic writings, secular or religious. He is chief of the order of virtues, chief of archangels, prince of the presence, angel of repentance, righteousness, mercy and sanctification, and conqueror of Satan. Archangel.

Belial: A great fallen angel. From Milton, "Belial came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd/Fell not from Heav'n, or more gross to love/Vice itself."

Asmodai: In Milton, spelled Asmadai. One of the 2 potent thrones. Uriel and Raphael are credited with vanquishing Asmadai. In the book, Asmodai is a builder of sorts, a blacksmith. Asmodeus, a name closely related to Asmodai, is credited with being the inventor of carousels, music, dancing, drama. There may be no connection.

Uriel: Like Michael, one could write for hours. He is one of the leading angels in noncanonical lore, and ranked variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the presence (remember that Michael is prince of the presence), presides over Hades, etc. Archangel. A patron angel of literature and music.

Raphael: The name seems to mean "God has healed". One of the princes of the presence and regent of the sun. This archangel is extremely healing to all living beings. Raphael grants joy, healing, love, miracles and grace. Archangel.

This certainly isn't an all-encompassing list, but it should be enough to get you started. You don't need to know what Milton, the Bible, or Dante said about any of these entities to fully enjoy the novel, but Brust has some good tongue-in-cheek fun that you would miss out on otherwise. —Todd Comments

Brokedown Palace — (1986) Publisher: Once upon a time there were four brothers who ruled the land of Fenario — along with a goddess, a wizard, an enigmatic talking stallion, and a very hungry dragon — and lived in a crumbling, Brokedown Palace on the banks of the River of Faerie. Beneath the palace the foundations trembled, for something was rotten in Fenario.

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars — (1987) Publisher: Once upon a time there was a kingdom that lived in darkness, for the sun, the moon and the stars were hidden in a box, and that box was hidden in a sow's belly, and that sow was hidden in a troll's cave, and that cave was hidden at the end of the world. Once upon a time there was a studio of artists who feared they were doomed to obscurity, for though they worked and they worked, no one was interested in the paintings that stood in racks along their studio walls. The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars is a tale of two quests, of two young men who are reaching for the moon. And the sun. And the stars.

Agyar — (1993) Publisher: A novel of immortality — and its price. Born over a century ago, Agyar was once a frivolous young man, before he found unwanted immortality in a woman's blood-red lips. Now he goes from woman to woman, and decade to decade, finding himself at last in an Midwestern college town, where he must choose between the seductions of salvation — and of destruction.

Freedom and Necessity — (1997) With Emma Bull. Publisher: It is 1849. Across Europe, the high tide of revolution has crested, leaving recrimination and betrayal in its wake. From the high councils of Prussia to the corridors of Parliament, the powers-that-be breathe sighs of relief. But the powers-that-be are hardly unified among themselves. Far from it... On the south coast of England, London man-about-town James Cobham comes to himself in a country inn, with no idea how he got there. Corresponding with his cousin, he discovers himself to have been presumed drowned in a boating accident. Together they decide that he should stay put for the moment, while they investigate what may have transpired. For James Cobham is a wanted man — wanted by conspiring factions of the government and the Chartists alike, and also the target of a magical conspiracy inside his own family.And so the adventure begins... leading the reader through every corner of mid-nineteenth-century Britain, from the parlors of the elite to the dens of the underclass. Not since Wilkie Collins or Conan Doyle has there been such a profusion of guns, swordfights, family intrigues, women disguised as men, occult societies, philosophical discussions, and, of course, passionate romance.Nor could any writing team but Steven Brust and Emma Bull make it quite so much fun...

The Gypsy — (1992) With Megan Lindholm. Publisher: Cigany is the gypsy, stalking the city in a cloud of magic. Stepovich is the seasoned cop, who keeps finding dead bodies in the gypsy's wake. The Fair Lady is Queen of the Underworld, drawing them both into her murderous web... until only the gypsy's broken memories stand between Stepovich's beloved city and the Lady's dark designs.

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