{"id":190,"date":"2006-02-07T17:27:30","date_gmt":"2006-02-08T00:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=190"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:32:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:32:20","slug":"athyra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/190","title":{"rendered":"Athyra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athyra<\/a><\/em> (1993) Steven Brust<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Once you get past the fact that it is not written from Vlad’s point of view, Athyra<\/em> 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 as he eventually meets Vlad. It also has several passages from the point of view of Rocza, which I found very interesting. After all, unlike Liosh, she came to Vlad full grown, and is still a wild creature.<\/p>\n

Chronologically, Athyra<\/em> follows Phoenix<\/em>. Vlad is on the road, and still on the run from the Jhereg. He wanders into the village near Smallcliff, and almost immediately, someone turns up dead. As a stranger–and an Easterner–suspicious immediately falls upon Vlad. Vlad tells Sven that although he knew Reins, he was not directly responsible for his death.<\/p>\n

As I said, it is a bit of a shock to read Vlad’s story from someone else’s point. But once you get past it, the story is interesting. So far it is the only book written from the point of view of a Teckla, and unlike the other books that have Teckla, this one is entirely sympathetic. (As much as I love The Phoenix Guards<\/em> and Five Hundred Years After<\/em>, the Teckla seem there for humor and to lightly make fun of, rather than as characters that we should care about.<\/p>\n

And it is an interesting point of view. Sven is a peasant who is learning to be a healer, and unlike those from the big city of Adrilankha, is concerned with things of a rural nature: the harvest, his apprenticeship. It is a very different point of view of Dragaera than any of the other books, which is one of the things that makes it so interesting.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the cover somewhat gives away the tone of the book, although I didn’t notice it initially. The Jhereg landing on the arm of a man who is all but unseen, off the edge of the cover.<\/p>\n

Like Teckla<\/em>, this book is quite different from the other books in the series, unlike Teckla<\/em>, the story is not as painful to read–for one thing, all of Vlad’s suffering is viewed through Sven’s eyes, and that distance makes things a little easier.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,291,41,39],"tags":[129,245],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-reread","category-sword-sorcery","tag-steven-brust","tag-vlad-taltos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/siQkW-athyra","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":191,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/191","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":0},"title":"Orca","author":"Michelle","date":"February 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Orca.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1260","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":1},"title":"Jhegaala","author":"Michelle","date":"July 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Jhegaala (2008) Steven Brust First things first, I love Steven Brust, and I love the Vlad Taltos books. That said, this is not anywhere close to being one of my favorite books in the series. Jhegalla is set between the events of Phoenix and Athyra. We learn some of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Jhegaala.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":2},"title":"The Vlad Taltos Novels","author":"Michelle","date":"April 27, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vlad Taltos Novels by Steven Brust Longer reviews for individual books can be found on my Steven Brust page. When I recommend fantasy books, this series is at the top of my list. The books are relatively quick to read, and is written in the tone is that of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Jhereg.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":185,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/185","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":3},"title":"Jhereg","author":"Michelle","date":"February 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Jhereg.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/187","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":4},"title":"Teckla","author":"Michelle","date":"February 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Teckla.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":189,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/189","url_meta":{"origin":190,"position":5},"title":"Phoenix","author":"Michelle","date":"February 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Phoenix.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}