Dragon

Vlad Taltos #8

by Steven Brust

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 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.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dragons, Audiobook

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always more or less loved this fantasy series and I'm finally getting back to it, and even though all the novels are good, the last few weren't quite as great as the young Vlad I'd grown to love.

That's why this one is such a treat. We've got a young kid in his prime doing stupid things for powers he only vaguely understands. Just because these powers happen to later become his closest friends doesn't diminish the sheer foolhardiness of his actions, though. :)

Vlad Goes To War. Hilarity ensues. Well, sort of. The hilarity is all on his dragon' part, I'm sure, and Vlad is all straight-man.

I vaguely remember these events being spoken of in passing during some future reminiscence in an older novel, so it's *again* a treat to drill down into his past and have him surrounded by all the things he grew up with, even if he goes off to enlist in the next moment. Does hindsight make things easier for us? No, not really. The events and the horror of war is still pretty graphic and immediate, and besides, things will always seem to go wrong when we're dealing with the legendary weapons.

Right? Oh yeah. Definitely right.

I'm stoked about this book and I'm ready to just go ahead an plow through the rest immediately. It's been way too long and I'm completely in the mood. :)

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this entire series has been intriguing, Brust outdid himself with Dragon, my favorite thus far. This takes place pretty early in Vald's career, when he was still installing himself as a minor crime lord and assassin but concerns the famous battle at Baritt's tomb and Vald's role therein; something referenced repeatedly in other installments. How and why did Vald ever find himself as a foot soldier in an elite Dragon unit? In pitched battles no less? Well, that is the question posed by Vald himself at the start of this one, while he is knee deep in bodies and gore.

Brust's inventive narrative style really pushed this one to brilliant territory. I cannot recall any other author oscillating among three time lines so adroitly and seamlessly. We have Vald on the battle ground (where this starts), Vald becoming emmeshed in the whole thing that puts him there, and Vald after the fact. Brust manages this without even using page breaks and it works! Plus, Brust employs Vald's trademark snark to excellent effect here.

The battle brings together two opposing Dragonlords, our old friend Morrolan and his opponent Fornia. Why are they at war? That constitutes a long story but one wrapped in notions of Dragon honor. The Dragon house (clan might be a better term) reminds me of some ancient teutonic tribe, with ridged restrictions on battle and honor. Fornia instigated the war by stealing some ancient sword that was under Morrolan's protection. Of course, Morrolan could have just stolen it back, but that would be unethical, as would simply having Fornia assassinated; it seems war becomes the only solution.

I love military science fiction and fantasy and Brust proves here he can run with the best of them. We get to experience the war first hand from Vald's perspective, the marching around, the fighting, but most importantly, the soldier's mindsets as this progresses. Brust even provides a humorous account of sorcery in war, with new offensive tactics encouraging new defensive ones on an upward spiral; for those raised in the cold war era, you might recall something similar eventually resulted in M.A.D.

I really give Brust some kudos for making each installment so varied and unique, in plot and narrative structure especially. Looking forward to more of the series, but Dragon will be hard to top. 4.5 waring stars, rounding up!

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

I like Vlad Taltos and his smart talking jhereg companion, Loiosh. In this installment, Vlad ends up in the army in an attempt to prove a point. It was rather like a cross between The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted and The Black Company. Brust doesn't get quite as silly as Harrison did with Slippery Jim DiGriz, but like Harrison he uses the opportunity to make fun of all things military. However, Vlad shows enough guile and sneakiness to remind me a tiny bit of Croaker in the Black Company. No one can match Croaker for sneaky, though.

Usually, I can handle alternate points of view. This story switches back and forth in time, always from Vlad's point of view. I found myself confused on several occasions, which detracted from my enjoyment somewhat. I think I can chalk that up to quarantine confusion or spring allergies or something.

All in all, this is an enjoyable series with short bite-size books. I never mind spending time with Mr. Taltos.

Book number 369 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 8 in the Vlad Taltos series. Another re-read.

This starts off with one of my all-time favorite opening lines:

"No shit, there I was.…"

As I've mentioned before in my other reviews of this series, the author changes his literary style for every book. The writing for this one is somewhat unusual. It's narrated by Vlad in first-person, but told in a new manner. Each chapter begins with Vlad describing the Dragonlord vs. Dragonlord war, of which he is a part of the infantry in Morrolan's army. So he's giving first-hand descriptions of the ongoing battle, but then he segues into the hows, whys and wherefors that brought him to this pass in the first place. The author pulls this off in such a way that it was a smooth transition without a noticible change in topics, and the switch between the times never gave me a jolt. That takes some serious skill.

He has also thrown some more Interludes into the mix. Because of these Interludes we become reacquainted with Sethra the Younger, (twit), Melestav, Kragar and Cawti. It was nice to read about Vlad and Cawti during their happier times.

[Chloe Frizzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes having a split timeline can add intrigue. This time it just made the book disjointed and confusing.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this one five stars on re-reading, as an audiobook, in internal chronological order, simply because Brust is at the top of his game with the craft of this one. As with Taltos, it's really not a good idea to read this out of publication order if you're new to the series, because so much of what happens is layered in with the intent of winking at the reader who's read the other books.

Dragon takes place in three parts, two of which are woven together so beautifully it's like a master class in how to do transitions. The third is a set of "interludes" that take place much later--after the action of Yendi, in fact. It's an interesting way to tell a story, particularly this story. Each of the Vlad Taltos Dragaera books (as opposed to the Khaavren romances) is titled, with one exception, with one of the seventeen Great Houses, and there is always an aspect of that house in the plot or structure of the novel. Since Dragons are proverbially known for being straightforward, Brust messing around with time as he tells this story is either unexpected or, more likely, a reference to what one of the characters (I can't remember if it's Morrolan or Sethra) says about how Dragons can be subtle if they have to.

But the way this works is similar to the structure of Taltos, where each chapter begins with the climactic scene and then transitions to the main body of the story, the part leading up to the climax. The interludes play a part in increasing the tension of the story: We learn that Sethra the Younger stole the sword the whole war is about before the climactic scenes reveal that it was stolen at all, keeping that section from feeling inevitable. The structure is so elegant I have to admire it separately from the plot.

The plot, on the other hand, is pretty much as straightforward as a Dragon: Sword is stolen, Morrolan wants it back, Morrolan goes to war over it, and Vlad is suckered into joining the army so he can help sneakily get the sword back. One great throwaway line that, again, you don't get if you've read the books in chronological order is Sethra Lavode saying "We don't know any thieves." Only Vlad, who intended to bail before the fighting began, finds he can't abandon these Dragonlords who will put their lives on the line because that's what soldiers do. It's an interesting twist for Vlad, who started the series (in Taltos) hating Dragaerans and now finds that not all of them are bigoted jerks. They respect him for fighting with them, they turn Loiosh into a mascot for the company, and some of them even come to be friends.

Brust's grasp of military strategy and tactics is sound, and the story of Vlad's time in the army is interesting enough. But I think, if Brust hadn't decided to whet our appetites with the climactic scene in between the "main" story, it would have been a very dull book, all that marching and attacking. I'm not sure how I feel about the interludes. They seem to serve the same interweaving purpose, and I think if he'd told the whole story of how the sword finally came to its proper owner at the end, it would have been anticlimactic and maybe tedious.

At any rate, it was hugely enjoyable. Next up is Yendi, one of my favorites because of the romance as well as the highly convoluted plot--worthy of a Yendi.

[Darek Zawisko · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Matt Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest of the Taltos books on its own--the plot is neither straightforward swashbuckling fun nor heady, convoluted mystery and intrigue, and in trying to write about war, Brust swings and misses on his normal ability of balancing entertaining story-telling with thoughtful meditation on "big themes of human life"--yet perhaps the first one that stands as an essential to the series as a whole. The doubled storylines point us both back and forth in time, and ensure that we as readers are forced into thinking about how all the books tie together, into understanding all the Taltos books as a large, grand narrative. In other words, while the book-as-adventure suffers, we get real insights into Brust's storytelling process, we hear Vlad tell the story and really begin to understand him as Brust's amanuensis (or maybe it's the other way around).

In short, Dragon is the weakest of the books so far, and the last one I'd recommend for someone wanting to read a great fantasy adventure. But for fans of the series as a whole, it's an absolutely necessary addition, as it's the book that makes us really begin to understand and make sense of the overall technique of the series.

[Jennifer Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The seamless switch between past recollections and present timeline was a bit hard for my medicated brain to catch up with at times. My new migraine medication (started the end of September and slowly increasing the dose) causes “brain fog” and comprehension delay at times. So I found myself having to go back and reread paragraphs to find where I lost track of what was happening sometimes 😅. I’ve also found myself in a bit of a funk, where I haven’t felt like doing any of the things I normally enjoy doing, like reading and colouring. So it took me a lot longer than it normally would have to finish a book of this length. I did enjoy seeing this entirely new side of Vlad - the soldier. He fights valiantly alongside his messmates (brain fog strikes again, I have a feeling I’m not using the correct word here, but I can’t for the life of me bring the right one to the front of my mind) even though he’s physically outmatched by those around him, and it’s entirely against his base nature to do so. Again, Brust breathes vibrancy into each character, and peppers laugh out loud humour throughout the storyline.

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do so wish I had read this one earlier. It was strange jumping back in time so much. I almost wrote the book up half way through as a wash because I wasn't able to get into based on the time jump, but then I really started digging seeing war through Vlad's eyes. It was quite funny and a unique perspective.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Vlad Taltos book that has Morrolan in it but very little to no Cawti gets at least 4 stars from me. This one was downright hilarious in places, though nothing is more funny - and interesting - than Vlad's very odd relationship with Morrolan. Also, the introduction of Daymar was a hoot!

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could, maybe should, be subtitled Vlad Joins the Army. This story takes us back into the past before Vlad went on the run, even before he got married. It explains some things brought up in other books.
While doing security work for Morrolan a dangerous but nondescript sword is taken from a collection of very dangerous weapons. Vlad is able to track down the name of the thief but Morrolan being a Dragonlord refuses to consider employing a thief or assassin to regain the sword. Instead Morrolan declares war against the perpetrator. Armies march, weapons are sharpened, bad food is served. Vlad is unhappy but signs up for the campaign to regain Morrolan's property.
There's quite a lot of action in this book, great descriptions of battles, some intrigue and skulking about enemy lines. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one jumps back in time to when Vlad was younger, still living in Adrilankha and in good standing with the Jhereg, and gets embroiled in some of Morrolan e'Drien's machinations against another lord of the House of the Dragon. Before you know it, a bunch of Morganti blades come into the scene, one is stolen, Aliera e'Kerion and Sethra Lavode become involved as Morrolan goes to war against the offending Dragonlord and Vlad finds himself recruited as part of his army. I liked it better than the previous two volumes, since we got to see more of Vlad's traditional supporting cast from the early novels.

[Rachel]

I used to enjoy these quite a bit, but they’re not clicking with me now. Couldn’t get into it.

[Stephen Burridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread. An interesting and well written installment in the series.

[Ties · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues to be fun, happy the story connects with the other main characters again.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's note about this series is that the books can be read in any order and are basically standalones. However, I'm thirty-three pages in and I have no interest in reading any further because I feel like I've missed a ton of info. Maybe this series has a high learning curve and this book is just like all of the rest, but I feel like I should understand more about the world and the characters than I do thirty pages in.

The idea behind the book is really interesting, and I wanted to see just how an assassin would fair in the army, but... I'm just feeling too lost to enjoy it, and I'm not interested enough to finish this book or read the rest of the series.

Not to say it was all bad. I did enjoy the main character's voice, and his connection to Loiosh was cool. Also, the whole setup for the story was really interesting, from what I understood about it.

But, the book just failed to really grab me, because I was too busy trying to figure out the world and who the characters were in relation to each other.

Also, content warning. It does have some swearing. Not sure how bad it gets, but the second word is the S-word.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragon is the eighth novel in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. As you’re reading the series, it probably doesn’t matter when you read Dragon since it’s really a stand-alone story which tells of a battle that occurred earlier in the series’ chronology, just after the events of Taltos, which was a prequel to the first three VLAD TALTOS novels. (As you can see, the books jump around in time). But Dragon is not one of the better volumes, so I wouldn’t recommend, say, reading it first and basing your judgment of the entire series on this novel. Read Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla and Taltos first.

Most of the VLAD TALTOS books are named after one of the ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[William Leight · Rating 4 out of 5]

After two books with the new Vlad, Brust takes us back to the old Vlad — most of the book, except for a few intervals, takes place shortly after “Taltos” — but in a decidedly new context, telegraphed by the title. This is one of the books where the choice of titular Dragaeran Great House is obvious and extremely apt. Almost all the Dragaerans in this book are Dragons (it's not clear whether Sethra counts as one or not), and because Dragons are mainly interested in war, Vlad finds himself, of all things, enlisted as a soldier. Honestly, this part doesn’t make that much sense. The immediate motivation for the war is, supposedly, the theft of a Morganti sword, though my impression is that the real reason is that Dragons enjoy fighting wars, and in the absence of any other available enemies are happy to fight each other. (For instance, one of Vlad's fellow soldiers explains that she enlisted in Morrolan's army because having "fought under the command of Sethra Lavode" -- Sethra is running Morrolan's campaign -- on her resume will be useful for her future career.) Vlad is drawn in because he was, at Morrolan’s request, guarding the cache of weapons that included the sword when it was stolen. Subsequent events leave Vlad very upset with the Dragon responsible for the theft, one Fornia: the connection between Vlad’s desire to do something to make Fornia regret his life choices, and his enlisting as a member of an elite unit — meaning professional soldiers, i.e. Dragons — of Morrolan’s army remains a bit hazy. The idea is that maybe he can get close to Fornia on the battlefield and do something unpleasant to him and/or foil his plan: nobody can understand why he wants that particular sword, so it seems safe to assume that he has a plan of some kind. And this does end up happening — there’s got to be some payoff, after all — but it seems a bit crazy to plan for it. After all, Vlad is a common soldier, directly on the front lines: the plan involves him a) not being injured, b) being able to find where the enemy commanders are, and c) being able to escape from the thick of the battle and get over there while d) not being attacked by any other enemy soldiers. There is, perhaps, some advantage in having your agent hide in plain sight among the infantry, but much of this advantage is negated by the fact that Vlad must stand out like a sore thumb as the only Easterner in his unit.

So there’s a bit of extra suspension of disbelief required, but Brust intelligently doesn’t leave you much time to dwell on these questions: the book moves rapidly from Vlad and Morrolan deducing that Fornia is up to something, probably having to do with Great Weapons — this last part being learned from a meeting with a Serioli, who also drops some information about Great Weapons in general and Spellbreaker in particular — to Vlad being welcomed into Cropper Company. After which the book flows very smoothly, despite having no resemblance whatsoever to the previous books. There’s no rhythm of a heist or an assassination here: Vlad is not dictating the course of events, or even under the mistaken impression that he’s dictating the course of events. He’s not exactly like the other common soldiers in his unit — he’s the only one who is personally acquainted with their general, for one thing — but he is just as subject to mysterious orders from above as they are. So much of the first half of the book is about Vlad adjusting to the soldier’s life: the marching, the bad food, the boredom interspersed with occasional bursts of violence. But even the violence is a very different kind of violence than Vlad is accustomed to, because here, too, he has very little control: the collision of two masses of soldiers leaves little scope for the kind of personal fighting that he’s used to, much less the carefully planned ambushes of his career as an assassin. Still, Vlad is the hero, so it’s not surprising that his individuality emerges again in the second half of the book: he takes on some sabotage missions, which make better use of his skills, and then carries out his disrupt-Fornia mission in the final battle of the campaign. Even here, though, what he does is not very similar to assassination, as he has described it in the past: doing “work” is all about making sure that nothing is left to chance, whereas here everything is open-ended and improvisational. Vlad may not be following orders, but he’s still not in control of events. To return briefly to the mystic vs. explorer dichotomy introduced in “Athyra”, Vlad is an explorer in this book, forced to accept the reality of other people and act in response to what they are doing, as opposed to trying to impose his preferred reality on them. And that’s why “Dragon” belongs in the this part of the series, even though chronologically it comes much earlier. Vlad is still a crime boss and hit man at this point, but taking on the role of common soldier, even temporarily, prevents him from acting or even thinking like one, allowing “Dragon” to fit comfortably next to books featuring his older and somewhat wiser self.

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Joe Kessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1998 title is a bit of an odd installment in the Vlad Taltos fantasy series. It's not the first volume to take place earlier in the protagonist's career, back when he was a low-level boss for the Jhereg criminal organization, but it's unusual for enlisting him in a war as the central conflict of the book, rather than presenting him with a tricky assassination contract or any murky political intrigues surrounding a dangerous business rival. Vlad winds up joining the army basically as a favor for his friend Morrolan, and while he's nominally there to conduct opportunistic sabotage on the enemy forces, he still trains and fights with a regular unit in the heat of battle. It's a poor fit for the antihero's skills and general self-interest that the plot never really manages to sell as plausible, much like when the second Gentleman Bastard novel sent its plucky con artist off to join a pirate crew for some reason.

Author Steven Brust juggles a few different timelines here, and the whole enterprise mostly comes together in the end with a few developments that either explain previously-unclear backstory elements or will matter more in subsequent sequels. I wouldn't say that fans should skip it -- and I'll readily acknowledge it may play better for readers who are more into military sci-fi as a genre -- but in my opinion the work can safely be approached as a weird diversion from the main Taltos storyline, functioning primarily to paper over those pesky continuity gaps.

[Content warning for gore.]

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[M.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does one rate Dragon? It's both a solid 5/5 and a hardly a 2/5.

The beginning - around the first 100 pages - is pretty much my favorite part of all the series. Vlad gets to re-meet Morrolan, the whole serie's most amazing character after Loiosh, in a way less hostile context and basically it's just them getting to know each other and Vlad going around "who the f is this guy?". It's both hilarious - the dialogue about borrowing the books, the funeral scene - and quite sentimental when you reread it, a completely unlikely friendship that somehow begins to work.

However, once we get to the battlefield, it just gets pretty dull: again, it's nothing but my personal opinion, and I have never appreciated battles for the sake of battles. Not necessarily bad, but quite boring.

I also wanted to highlight the depiction of war Brust gives. We are pretty used to the war as horrible, inhuman event, the massacre of civil, etc. and at the end it stops traumatizing us. Brust doesn't go this way, Vlad is mostly between the professional military and himself chose to end up there, yet we see the nonsense of this absolutely useless war, which admits even Morrolan, who started it in the first place.

The prize goes doubtlessly to Setra Lavode: "We don't know any thieves.". Totally, Setra, we absolutely don't.

[Jon]

I've been following the Vlad Taltos series, by Brust, for quite some time now, and I usually grab his latest novel off the shelf as soon as it hits the local stores. Dragon, which fits somewhere between Phoenix and Yendi, I think, is just out in paperback, so I bought it, then held off until I had some time to savor the entire experience in one fell swoop.


This is a good story which fills in some of the missing details from the rest of the series, such as how Vlad goes to work as Morrolan's security consultant, and how Aliera acquires the great weapon Pathfinder. We also learn a little more about Dragaeran Dragon clan (maybe it's more appropriate to call them a race) ideals and motivations.

There's plenty of action, tho of a different kind than we've grown to love Vlad for. In order to accomplish his mission, he joins an army as a foot soldier, and we see how he fares in straightforward combat, rather than his usual sneaky style. There's plenty of sarcastic dialogue and monologue from Vlad and Loish (his jhereg familiar), and a few interesting twists and turns to the plot.

However, I think Brust over-uses the device of bouncing around between times and events in Vlad's life in this one. It worked really well in Jhereg and Phoenix, but not so well in this one. Often, he switched right in the middle of a paragraph, which was disconcerting, to say the least.

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, I love this series.

Dragon, the 8th book published about Vlad Taltos, jumps back in time to a point before Vlad's narrative begins in book one, but after the story in book four. With digressions that take place between book two and three, and with information that is revealed in books six and seven that put it all in a different perspective. Got all that? It's an amazing high-wire act, and it is fun to keep all the pieces in perspective as the story spins out.

Ah yes, the story! Vlad, for reasons of his own (pride, mainly) enlists in the army of his friend Morrolan, and spends a lot of time tramping through the mud. Undercover as a mere soldier, he is tasked with somehow stealing a nondescript sword that may or may not have signifiacnt magical powers from the general of the other army. Who is surrounded by soldiers, guards, and powerful sorcerers. And knows Vlad is coming. And has a different agenda of his own, which has nothing to do with actually winning the war.

It's a fun book, but not one that should be read without a greater investment in the series. And aside from the puzzle pieces and the meticulous world-building: it's pretty freakin' hilarious. Vlad's dry, cynical humor is enough of a draw to keep me coming back and coming back.

[Joel Flank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragon is a flashback story of Vlad Taltos, while he was still an assassin in House Jheryg. However, this time, Vlad isn't hired to kill someone, but to help with some secret military maneuvers, which of course, means he needs to be embedded in the army. Being in the army is, of course, detrimental to the free wheeling breaking of rules Vlad is used to, so figuring out how to just fit in is his first challenge. Then how to keep fitting in while going on his mysterious missions, which Vlads friends and employers haven't told him about is even harder.

Of course, once he gets into the thick of things, all hell breaks loose and the real fun begins. As always Vlad's an engaging and entertaining narrator and the plot keeps the reader guessing, even though they know Vlad's eventual path due to the flashback nature of this story. The payoff at the end is highly unexpected and surprising for a standard military commando story.

[J F · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great flashback book.

My only issue with it is that the flashback occurs when there is still significant plot/ character development to occur with the rest of the Story.

It felt as if the author realized that he had pushed his readership of too far, and wanted to remind them of what they liked about the character and series.

I was not a fan of the prior two books. The wilderness story was out of the realm of what made the series and character interesting, and frankly was tedious. It was hard to muster interest in the characters.

the next book- told from the perspective of Kiera of the thief, was an interesting read, but again didn’t allow me to see the main character develop. It felt as if the author was expanding his capability, at the expense of the story.

I actually stopped reading the series after that book.

I returned years later, after downloading and rereading the prior six books, and coming across this anthology.

[Frank Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vlad goes to war.
One thing I have always liked about these books is, while there is a place the author wants to get to, he's not afraid to just let a whole novel happen out of a minor side plot point.
This is a strong zinger of a novel that has some shenanigans around a stolen magical artifact that end up with our assassin on the front lines. There is a nice bit about how sorcery (technology) has become so arcane and advanced that warfare has resorted back to gangs of people hitting each other with things.
Brust does well here exploring what it would be like to be a soldier in what is effectively a pre-firearms setting and the value that a well, special operative, can bring to such a situation.
This is 4.5 material and I went through this re-read in near enough one sitting, One of the better Taltos novels (although, spoilers, none dip below 4 stars for me) and as such, a recommend from me.

[Sander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Võlur Barrit, keda Vlad viimati kohtas surnute radadel, on surnud ja tema lossist on leitud tohutu kogus Morganti relvasid. Morrolan palkab Vlad Taltose seda valvama - ta kahtlustab nimelt, et ühte relvadest hakatakse varastama - ning paar üldse mitte keerulist sammu hiljem on Vlad endalegi üllatuseks juba liitunud Morrolani sõjaväe eliitüksusega eriülesannete täidesaatmiseks. Draakon on piripealne militaarulme mida pehmendab Vladi pidev arusaamatus mis toimub ja miks ja misk ta ikka veel on palgamõrtsuka jaoks kõige sobimatumas kohas ehk lahinguväljal.

Spoilerite osas on siin autor võtnud väga sirgjoonelise lähenemise - läbi terve raamatu on sisse põimitud ka tegevusliin mis otimub ilmselgelt sõja järgselt seega lõpptulemuses ei saa olal mingit kahtlust ja jääb vaid teada saada, kuidas see kõik juhtus. Mille huvitavust spoilerid üldse ei vähenda.

[Howard Brazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend reading this series in the order written. This was written in the middle, but takes place relatively early. Whenever I know a new book in the series is going to be released I pre-order.

This book is named Dragon, and has a picture of a dragon on the cover. But the dragons are a race of warlike "elves" in this world where the protagonist (Vlad) is a human in a magical world, on a continent of "elves".

The books have titles for the various elf races. And this plot has Vlad joins in a Dragon war, and he's experiencing as a grunt soldier in a realistic manner (even though there are sorcerers in other parts of the army).

That wouldn't persuade many people to buy it, but I am a big, big fan of the series. Vlad, and his smart-alec pet that is like a smart dragon that can hide in his clothes are very enjoyable.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another work of art. Actually the story of how Pathfinder was reclaimed, going back to a time before Vlad gets married, but after the time when he first “meets” Cawti. I think a lot of thought went into the story itself, particularly the massacre at Barritt’s Tomb. One thing we do not learn is what exactly happened to Vlad when he is blasted from behind during a downhill charge. We also do not know where Daymar disappeared to after breaking through the initial teleport block (although he simply may have run away as the text suggests). We also get the picture of how Vlad became the security advisor for Morrolan and how their relationship develops more in this story, for good or for ill. Anyway, this fast read is definitely worth your time as we continue to go through Vlad’s adventures together. Onwards!!!