The Ivory and the Horn (1995) Charles de Lint The Ivory and the Horn is the second short story collection by Charles de Lint, and like Dreams Underfoot, is set in Newford, the mythical North American city, where mythical beings reside. Reading these short stories makes me wish there there really was a Newford, so […]

Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read “The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep” in Snow White, Blood Red, and from there been sucked […]

Captain Alatriste (1996) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Sayers Peden My mistake came in reading this after reading Steven Brust. Following one swashbuckling adventure with another is bound to lead to comparisons, and as there are few whose writing I love more than Steven Brust, anything else is going to come across as weak by […]

Sethra Lavode (2004) Steven Brust Sethra Lavode concludes The Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy. Morrolan is ensconced in Castle Black and learning Sorcery as well as more about Blackwand, Zerika is settled into Adrilankha and attempting to consolidate power and call a Meeting of Principalities to legitimize her reign, while Kana, who still retains a hold […]

The Lord of Castle Black (2003) Steven Brust The second volume in the Viscount of Adrilankha series takes up where the first left off, even going back a bit to cover events that occurred towards the end of Paths of the Dead Zerika is now Empress in name, but has yet to become Empress in […]

The Paths of the Dead (2002) Steven Brust For me, Steven Brust books are like potato chips; I can’t read just one. And so, having recently finished all the Vlad Taltos book, The Phoenix Guards, and Five Hundred Years After, there was nothing to do but read The Viscount of Adrilankha. The Paths of the […]

Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he […]

The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust As is typically the case, once I finished reading the Vlad Taltos books, I felt myself consumed by an overwhelming desire to go back and re-read the other Dragaeran books. That is to say, mention of characters and events in the Vlad Taltos books whetted my appetite for re-reading […]

Issola (2001) Steven Brust Issola, for reasons about which I am not quite clear, is one of my favorite Vlad books. I think it’s because I like Lady Teldra so much, but it could also be the fact that Vlad is back to spending time with with Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra Lavode. Set after […]

Dragon (1998) Steven Brust I really like Dragon. It’s fun, it’s well-written, and I particularly like some of the observations that Vlad makes about life and war. For the most part, Dragon takes place soon after Taltos, however, a few parts of the story take place after Yendi. And if you think that’s confusing, you’re […]

Orca (1996) Steven Brust Set about a year after the events of Athyra, Vlad has wandered into Northport in search of a sorcerer who might be able to cure Sven, the Teckla boy who lost his mind during the events of Athyra. He finds one, however, her price is keeping her from being evicted from […]

Athyra (1993) Steven Brust Once you get past the fact that it is not written from Vlad’s point of view, Athyra is a very good book. The story is told from the point of view of Sven. It’s not first person like the other Vlad books, but we know Sven’s thoughts and feelings and impressions […]

Phoenix (1990) Steven Brust Chronologically, Phoenix follows Teckla. Verra, the demon goddess, has “work” for Vlad. She wants the king of Greenaere killed, and she refuses to say why. Vlad and Cawti are still at odds, with no reconciliation on the horizon, as Cawti’s actions with the revolutionary group continue to place her in danger, […]

Taltos (1988) Steven Brust With great relief I picked up Taltos, which again tells some of Vald’s history, and returns to the tone of the first two books. Taltos is fun and amusing, especially as Vlad and Morrolan get to know each other and learn to work together. It is also interesting to see Vlad’s […]

Teckla (1987) Steven Brust In case you were thinking that I love absolutely everything that Steven Brust has written, this book is the proof that I don’t. Back to the continuing time-line, the book follows immediately after the events of Jhereg. Unlike previous books, this story involves on the Jhereg, the jhereg, Cawti, Vlad, and […]

Yendi (1984) Steven Brust Yendi is the second book in Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series, however, in the time line it comes before the first book, Jhereg. Instead of taking off from where Jhereg left off, we go back in time, to when Vlad met Cawti, his future wife. Yendi are devious and delight in […]

Jhereg (1983) Steven Brust Comfort reading. Those books that you reach for when you’re feeling low, because you know they’re guaranteed to take you away from whatever is bothering you. That’s the place that Steven Brust holds in my library. Jhereg is the first Vlad Taltos book, and also the first Dragaera book. Vladimir Taltos […]

A Stir of Bones (2003) Nina Kirki Hoffman I really liked A Fistful of Sky, as well as all of Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s short stories that I have read in various anthologies, so I put A Stir of Bones on my Christmas wishlist. It’s a very short book–only 211 pages long–so I was saving it […]