Phoenix

A decent entry in the Taltos saga, but not a good entry point. It's a transitional book. Even though these books are not sequential, this does a fair amount of referring back to others, and is primarily about Vlad questioning who he is and what he does. Since I've never been fond of the hero assassin trope, I'm in favor of this debate though I was eager for it to finish one way or the other.

Recommended for fans. Novices should start with Jhereg.

The Vlad Taltos books are a comfort read for me. They fill a spot very similar to the early Dresden books, when they were still serialized monster of the week stories before the main plot truly developed. There is a chronology to these books, but the author says they can be read in mostly any order, so I've been reading them in publication order.

In one word, the Taltos novels are fun. They're consistently high-quality, not high literature but not amateurish, they don't overstay their welcome, they're mostly self-contained, and they're effortlessly funny. Humor in books often doesn't hit for me, but Taltos is always funny in a dry, sarcastic, witty-but-not-millennial-Marvel witty.

Phoenix in particular is a nice entry. To be honest, the show more whole subplot with Taltos' wife is a bit of a drag, and I feel like the author realized that as he seems to have wrapped that plot point up nicely here. There are the ever-present assassinations, scheming, a colorful cast of characters, and worldbuilding that's not terribly deep but is functional enough to get you immersed in the world. I like the fact that not every single aspect of the world is explained. Sometimes it's better to let things be a little mysterious. show less

Phoenix is the fifth Vlad book and follows on immediately from Teckla (the third, not the fourth, book). In Teckla Vlad wanders around being kind of angsty. His problems haven't really been resolved by Phoenix, he's just become more resigned to them. It isn't fun the way, say, Taltos was, but I still enjoyed it, because Vlad's problems are interesting and Vlad's a funny guy.

Also, Vlad still has Loish, his jhereg familiar and one of my favourite characters.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like when things are going wrong - your wife is ready to leave you, all your notions about yourself and the world are getting turned around, everything you trusted is becoming questionable - there’s nothing like having someone try to kill you to show more take your mind off your problems. show less

After the flashback of Taltos, we return to the time period of the other books and pick up with the story line after Teckla. Like the latter, this is an introspective and downbeat story line, lacking the light-heartedness of the first two books. The characters are still quite good, Brust's writing has not diminished but, darn it, I want all of the irreverent humor back, not just the occasional flash!

As a Vlad Taltos novel, it doesn't follow the same tricks as the previous novels, which bodes well. The main issue, assassination, starts and finishes almost immediately, but the ripple effect tears the rest of his life apart.

I can't say that I'm very surprised that his marriage has fallen apart, because that was the main terror of the last novel, as was the revolution, which has now finally blown up the great city.

Poor Vlad. Not only is his vaunted practicality falling to shit, he's actually becoming a reasonably respectable hero that actually CARES to do the RIGHT thing. Oh my. I mean, it's not like we haven't seen a glimmer of this moral and caring Vlad in the past, of course, but to actually admit it to himself?

Oh, The Horror.

And show more so ends one major chapter of his life, in more ways than one, and he's left with only his dragon companions and his trusty blade and Wonderous Magical Item.

Where will he go? What kind of mischief will a major crime boss and assassin extraordinaire get up to now, without a wife or crew to hold him back?

There's absolutely no reason in hell to go over the implications of the title, except that Mr. Brust had imbedded his own meanings quite nicely into the worldbuilding without ever needing to apply it to our mythology. Too bad the story, itself, does the job quite adroitly. :)

Reborn!!! show less

This one isn't my favorite of these books - However, it does introduce one of my favorite characters, the drummer Aibynn. This is the book that sets Vlad on a totally different trajectory and has him running from the Jhereg. Its a transitory novel, however we learn a bit more about the Demon Goddess.

An outstanding novel: Brust really puts what he's capable of in "Phoenix". He incorporates the suspense of Teckla minus the depressing overtone and the more on unbelievable aspects found in Taltos. And of course you get Loiosh's usual comic relief. It starts off with Vlad being saved by his demon-goddess, Verra (Example of the far-out stuff), and has to shine someone for her. It picks up from there. Brust really took his time on the descriptions and Vlad's thoughtshots, esp. in the segment when he is on Greeanare and hides in the tree. Many parts in the island scenes make you want to read on and on until the unexpected happens. You will be surprised at some of this stuff. It all comes down to an unprecedented climax in which Vlad must show more make a choice that could cost him his life. I'd call it the best in the series.
*note: this takes place between Teckla and Athyra show less