Dragon (Vlad) - Softcover

Brust, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812589165 ISBN 13: 9780812589160

Publisher: Tor Fantasy, 1999

Synopsis

In which Vlad Taltos finds himself, much to his surprise, at the fateful Battle of Baritt's Tomb

Marching through mud just isn't as much fun as they say.

After years of surviving in Adrilankha by practicing the trade he knows best―killing people for a living―suddenly Vlad Taltos finds himself in the last place any self-respecting assassin wants to be: the army. Worse, he's right in the middle of a apocalyptic battle between two sorcerous armies, and everyone expects him to play a role they won't explain. All Vlad's got between him and the worst kind of death is his wits. Oh, and a smart-mouthed winged lizard...

Dragon is Steven Brust at his best―a swashbuckling fantasy adventure.

About this title

Review:

Vlad Taltos is not your average sword-and-sorcery hero. He runs a territory for the criminal House Jhereg. He's a witch with a flying reptilian familiar as smart and sarcastic as any sidekick in literature. He's also a master assassin in Adrilankha, the capital of the Dragaeran Empire. (Dragaerans are tall, very long-lived elves; Vlad is an Easterner, or human.)

Steven Brust is not your average fantasy writer. Like his mentor, Roger Zelazny, he enjoys playing with time. Although Dragon is the eighth book about Vlad to be published, most of it takes place between Taltos, the first book chronologically, and Yendi; interludes and an epilogue occur after Yendi, but before Jhereg. Dragon tells the story of the oft-mentioned Battle of Barritt's Tomb, and how Vlad enlisted in a Dragon army (Dragons are the warrior Dragaerans) and learned that war is nothing like assassination.

Vlad is quick to let readers know the score. "I'll let you stay confused a little longer, and if you don't trust me to clear everything up, then you can go hang. I've been paid." Trust him. Dragon stands alone, but don't miss the others (after Jhereg come Teckla, Phoenix, Athyra, and Orca). It's a fast-moving, satisfying series. --Nona Vero

About the Author:

Steven Brust is the bestselling author of Issola, Dragon, The Phoenix Guards, Five Hundred Years After, The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, Sethra Lavode, and To Reign in Hell, among many others. A native of Minneapolis, he currently lives in Las Vegas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Fantasy
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0812589165
• ISBN 13: 9780812589160
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288