{"id":2260,"date":"2011-02-24T20:41:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T01:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=2260"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:47:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:47:19","slug":"iorich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2260","title":{"rendered":"Iorich"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iorich<\/a><\/em> (2009) Steven Brust<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Vlad is once again back in Dragaera City. Aliera has been arrested for practicing elder sorcery. Yes, she has been doing so for years, but so have many other people, none of whom has been arrested.<\/p>\n

Although Aliera has friends–many powerful friends–their positions in court and the stability of the empire, combined with Aliera’s stubbornness, keep them from coming to her aid, so Vlad takes it upon himself to do so.<\/p>\n

I’ve loved the Vlad books since I picked up my first years ago. I’ve read and reread them all for the world and the characters but more importantly for the dialog. I’m a tremendous fan of hard boiled mysteries, and that’s precisely how the Vlad books read, witty dialog and all.<\/p>\n

And yet…<\/p>\n

It felt like there was something missing from this book.<\/p>\n

Vlad is witty as always. Liosh is fun and enjoyable. They both get into tremendous amounts of trouble, and yet…<\/p>\n

Do I grow tired of Vlad? I suppose that could be it, yet the earlier books still draw me.<\/p>\n

I think it is a combination of several things. Vlad is still on the run. We spent books and books hearing about how his life was forfeit and that’s why he has scrupulously avoided the city. Yet here we have an entire book where he not only spends time in the city but wanders around and even makes his presence known.<\/p>\n

I really do not understand how he survived this book. By all rights he should not have, yet there were not even any serious attempts made upon him. And I think that got to me after awhile. All those years of Vlad wandering in the desert seemed unnecessary, since he can apparently wander at will around Dragaera City without (much in the way of) harm. <\/p>\n

It just felt… wrong.<\/p>\n

And to top it off, After waiting for more than a year, they canceled the mass market paperback printing and instead made a trade paperback edition. As I’ve said before, I like paperback books and will wait a year or more for a book rather than having to end up with a hardback. So now I have a book I don’t know how I feel about, in a format different from the rest of the books in the series.<\/p>\n

Bah humbug.<\/p>\n

If you’re a Vlad fan, you’ve almost certainly already read this, but finishing this book made me want to go back to the earlier books, to see if I have changed or if the series has.
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iorich (2009) Steven Brust Vlad is once again back in Dragaera City. Aliera has been arrested for practicing elder sorcery. Yes, she has been doing so for years, but so have many other people, none of whom has been arrested. Although Aliera has friends–many powerful friends–their positions in court and the stability of the empire, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":[2,8,291,39],"tags":[129,245],"class_list":["post-2260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-mystery","category-paper","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-iorich","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20","url_meta":{"origin":2260,"position":0},"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":186,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/186","url_meta":{"origin":2260,"position":1},"title":"Yendi","author":"Michelle","date":"February 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Yendi.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":188,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/188","url_meta":{"origin":2260,"position":2},"title":"Taltos","author":"Michelle","date":"February 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Taltos.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":193,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/193","url_meta":{"origin":2260,"position":3},"title":"Issola","author":"Michelle","date":"February 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Issola.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/187","url_meta":{"origin":2260,"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":2260,"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\/2260","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}