I didn't expect this book to go where it went. Seriously. Wow.It takes place as the latest, chronologically, with Vlad in the wilds in exile, but it just goes to show, you never know where you'll wind up. Do you think he's going home? hahahahaha wow.As fantasy, we get to join in a war between gods, but as science fiction, I've just been titillated more about the deep SFal past in this book than all the rest, combined. I mean, there's tons of reveals here and none of them are enough to satisfy me...

The ninth book of the Vlad Taltos series. If you, like me, have made it this far, you know what to expect and Brust serves it up. Vlad is hiding out from the Jhereg mainly and everybody else incidentally. So he is surprised when Lady Teldra, the servant of the Dragonlord Morrolan appears in his campsite one night.Always willing to hear out the people that seek him out, Vlad learns from her that Morrolan and Aliera are missing. Vlad may talk a good line about being a cold and calculating assassin...

Issola is the 9th volume in Steven Brust's "Vlad Taltos" series, and it advances the main story arc rather than filling in backstory as Dragon did.The book starts not too long after Orca ends, when Lady Teldra surprises Vlad in his hidden forest camp to tell him Morrolan and Aliera have gone missing.All the books revolve around a significant event, but Issola is where "it gets real." I would call it "The Empire Strikes Back" of the series so far. Very appropriate as we got a heaping helping of w...

Book 9 in the Vlad Taltos series. Another re-read. The author went back to his original literary style with this one. The story is told by Vlad in first person.Lady Teldra, a member of the House of Issola, leaves Castle Black and tracks down Vlad in the wilderness; he's still on the run from the Jhereg Organization's assassins. She asks Vlad to help her locate Morrolan, (the Lord of Castle Black) and his cousin Aliera. The pair of them have disappeared and even Sethra Lavode is stumped. They app...

REREAD (SEPT 2014)Not much to add to the below. The scaling issue remains a major problem, but it's partially made up for by getting to know Lady Teldra better.-----------(Original review Aug 2006)Overall 3/5Story 3/5 Re-Readability 4/5Characters 4/5 One of bits of coolness about Brust’s Vlad tales is the extensive and intriguing backstory that he weaves in and out of the tales (often, it seems, more by hints than fully-developed concepts). The problem with that is, sooner or later, you have to

I find that I've already marked this book as read, when in fact I have not. I must have been thinking of Athyra....At any rate, I found this volume to be Brust at his very best. I read the book in the course of two days, completely clearing my schedule to ravenously consume it.The Vlad stories are among his finest, simply because Vlad and his pet jhereg Loiosh are such wonderful smartasses, and the pinch of sarcastic humor is exactly the seasoning a story of high magic and dark sorcery requires....

This was a pleasant read, and Vlad’s narration is amusing, as always. I enjoyed Vlad's odd partnership with Lady Teldra.But the story was just not my cup of tea. It’s too abstract: an incomprehensible metaphysical contest involving the Great Weapons and the gods and the Jenoine, who are described as “a vastly powerful race of extradimensional creatures”.There has always been a lot of magic in this series, too much for my taste, but usually Vlad keeps everything grounded enough for me with that b...

You learn a lot about two characters, and a bit about how to make Klava.

After last volume's flashback to younger days, we're back to the present and Teldra, Morrolan e'Drien's assistant/majordomo, tracks down Vlad to ask for his help. Both Morrolan and Aliera are missing and she fears the implications since only a really powerful being could be able to capture them and prevent them from escaping.Vlad, having returned young Savn to his family and traveling alone again, accedes to go with Teldra to Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode's dwelling, and decide on a course of act...

Vlad's friends Morrolan and Aleria have been taken by the nearly godlike Jenoine and it's up to Vlad with the unlikely help of Lady Teldra, Morrolan's seneschal, to rescue them from wherever it is they're being held and then unravel the twisted plans the Jenoine have to seize our world.This was a rollicking good tale of adventure. Possibly the best of the Vlad Taltos books. Many things are revealed and explained. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and hope the next keeps up the pace.

This one was nearly perfect. Can't wait for the next one.

Great! Still a lot of talking but at least we weren't jumping around in time too much. Fun developments

3.5 stars.“I miss the days when I used to be nostalgic.” ~Vlad TaltosI’ve been slightly disappointed with the last few novels in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series, but with Issola, book 9, Brust returns to what I liked about the earlier books. While I admired Brust’s willingness to experiment with his world, his characters, and especially the narrative structure of his novels, I think he’s best when the overall plot is moving forward and Vlad is using his assassin skills to solve mysteries and h...

More Vlad!This is an unusual Vlad book in how, well, usual it is. That is, there's nothing weird going on structurally or plot-wise; it's a fairly straightforward quest story. There's an ancient evil (well, sort of), our hero sets off on a quest to do something about it (well, sort of), and there's a massive battle of good vs evil at the end (well, sort of).We do get Vlad as his usual wisecracking, reluctant-hero self, we get the detailed exploration of a field/topic (in this case politeness), w...

In trying to remember what I had and hadn't read in this series, I ended up re-reading Issola. I'm not usually terribly enthused by the epic powerful heroes having epic powerful battles that shake the earth and shape history, striving against the gods, and that sort of Very Important Thing. But when you have Vlad Taltos in the middle of things, the king of Getting By, Day to Day, and Where's My Coffee/Klava, it brings a different flavor to things.I cried at the ending, again.Oh yeah. There's a *...

I've always wondered about Lady Teldra and I was happy to finally get some answers. About the only thing I want to say about this is that it was the first time I have honestly believed a romantic relationship in the series. Not that it was a romance by any means, but Vlad and Cawti always seemed more convenient than real. This time I believed the attraction and was very much rooting for it the entire book.

Lady Teldra - and the issola quality of courtesy, as considered by Vlad and discussed with Lady Teldra- totally make this book.

Taking such a long break since book 8 makes it easy to start forgetting details of the 17 Dragaeran Houses... but this book was still great, especially where it ended...

And here's where it hits me that I don't know if I missed something, to blame Verra, or to narrow my eyes at Brust. I just know that when Vlad took off from the City, he wore a black phoenix stone. Here, he has something that seems to be a black one and gold one together. Since they're not so easy to come by, it just seems weird.Then again, he has a little box here to keep them in that nullifies their effects, so I tend to go with, "This addition will be explained in a novel someday." I guess it...

Vlad has lost almost everything. Living in the wilderness to avoid the price on his head, he's shocked when Lady Teldra finds him. And the message she bears is even worse. Morrolan and Aliera have disappeared without a trace, which implies culprits beyond anything Vlad has faced before, as the two had been well-defended against normal attack. Now Vlad once again finds himself in well over his head, making things worse . . .One thing I really like about these books is how well the various powers