Phoenix

Vlad Taltos #5

by Steven Brust, Den Beauvais (Illustrator)

Verra, Vlad's patron goddess, hires him to assassinate a king whose country lies outside the Dragaeran Empire, resulting in increased tension between the two places. Meanwhile, the peasant Teckla and the human Easterners persevere in their fight for civil rights. As Vlad's wife Cawti is a firm partisan of the movement, and Vlad is not, their marriage continues to suffer, causing Vlad to make some decisions that will change his life forever.

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

245 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

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

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phoenix takes place shortly after Teckla, and Brust returns to the 'revolution' and Vald's wife Cawti, for better or worse. Reading this series reminds me of conversations with manic depressives-- full of live and vim one day, and morose and brooding the next. In any case, Brust utilizes Phoenix to tackle some deep social and philosophical issues only hinted at in the other volumes so far.

This starts off with Vald being 'summoned' by his patron deity Verra, who wants to hire him to do some work. Well, always nice to have a goddess owing you some favors! The target-- the king of an island nation off the coast of the Empire. Why? Well, this will involve some spoilers. Verra wants to provoke a war between the island kingdom and the Empire. Why would she want that? The revolutionaries are still at it, trying to change society, and Verra hopes that the nationalism evoked during wartime will overcome their efforts. Sound familiar? It should if you studied leftist movements prior to WWI. Many if not most radical movements in Europe detested the emergence of WWI, arguing it would just pit workers of one nation against workers in another. Socialism(s) saw their movement as transnational, with nationalism only serving the ruling class. Why does Verra want to suppress the revolution? Not really resolved; only some hints that the time is not ready yet (does this hint at the Bolsheviks? Maybe).

The assassination of the island king does indeed move them toward war with the Empire, as their navy starts sinking ships and such. The Empress responds by gathering her own navel forces and 'conscripting' sailors via pressgangs. Of course, only Easterners are subject to such things and of course, the revolutionaries are opposed. Rather than quashing the rebellion under a sea of nationalism, Verra's plan only prompted a bloody uprising while the leaders of the movement, including Cawti, are tossed in jail...

The most interesting part of this installment concerns Vald's development as a character and a human being, and Brust steps into some existential territory here to do so. Vald build his life on his hate of the Dragaera (who his granddaddy calls Elves; I am sure there is a story here...), and only 'works' on Dragaerans. He gets paid to kill his enemies! Well, Vald's grandfather has already caused Vald to question his line of work; not because he loves the elves, but because earning a living taking life is morally wrong. Is Vald starting to develop a conscious? Will he start doing what is 'right' rather than what pays the most? Stay tuned, as I am sure Brust is going somewhere along these lines. Better than Teckla, but not by much. 3 old school stars.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fifth book of the Vlad Taltos series, and I feel like Brust has prepared the way to get back on track again. Vlad is our friendly, neighbourhood assassin and generally amusing, snarky guy, but he has been involved in Dragaeren politics for several books, with he & his wife Cawti on opposite sides of the divide. It’s difficult to write humour for a character who is engaged in a struggling relationship, and humour is the main attraction of this series, in my opinion.

And now for something completely different—at book’s end, we see a new Vlad emerging. Has he really put his assassinating ways behind him? Or will he find that it’s a difficult profession to retire from? Are he & his wife going to have to go their separate ways? How much longer will he have his beloved grandfather to lean on?

I’m glad Brust didn’t write another prequel to avoid the issues. I’m looking forward to the next book to see where the tale goes from here.

Book 263 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy reading project.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Vlad Taltos novel, it doesn't follow the same tricks as the previous novels, which bodes well. The main issue, assassination, starts and finishes almost immediately, but the ripple effect tears the rest of his life apart.

I can't say that I'm very surprised that his marriage has fallen apart, because that was the main terror of the last novel, as was the revolution, which has now finally blown up the great city.

Poor Vlad. Not only is his vaunted practicality falling to shit, he's actually becoming a reasonably respectable hero that actually CARES to do the RIGHT thing. Oh my. I mean, it's not like we haven't seen a glimmer of this moral and caring Vlad in the past, of course, but to actually admit it to himself?

Oh, The Horror.

And so ends one major chapter of his life, in more ways than one, and he's left with only his dragon companions and his trusty blade and Wonderous Magical Item.

Where will he go? What kind of mischief will a major crime boss and assassin extraordinaire get up to now, without a wife or crew to hold him back?

There's absolutely no reason in hell to go over the implications of the title, except that Mr. Brust had imbedded his own meanings quite nicely into the worldbuilding without ever needing to apply it to our mythology. Too bad the story, itself, does the job quite adroitly. :)

Reborn!!!

[Melissa McShane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an improvement on Teckla, but not by much: Vlad's marriage is still imploding, Cawti is still being stupid, and there's still trouble in South Adrilankha. What makes this interesting is that Vlad's new job is given to him by none other than Verra, the Demon Goddess. She wants someone assassinated--a king, no less--and she wants Vlad to do it.

I enjoyed the setup for this one, as it takes Vlad outside the Dragaeran Empire. Having listened to this on audiobook, I don't remember some of the details. I don't have the memory for names I have when I've seen them in print, so now I can't remember the name of the drummer who rescues Vlad, but he was an interesting character. I particularly loved that Vlad suspects him of being an assassin for almost the entire book, and that you're never sure if he's right or not. And the fallout from Vlad's assassination is excellent, as is the demonstration that his friends care deeply about him. Once again there's the conflict between Vlad's stated hatred of Dragaerans and his abiding friendships with Morrolan, Aliera, Sethra, Kiera, and particularly Kragar.

I also like that Vlad really does have to come to terms with what he does for a living. It works better here than in Teckla, where Cawti and Kelly manipulated him into making a decision that wasn't fully his. Here, Vlad faces the reality that on some level, he's an assassin out of inertia, and on another level, he's doing it because he likes it, and on a third level, it's fundamentally who he's become. And some of those things aren't pretty. So Phoenix is the story of Vlad Taltos deciding who he's going to be. And that's excellent.

But it's also personally disappointing to me, and maybe I shouldn't ding the book for this. But I hate seeing Vlad and Cawti's marriage fall apart, even if I feel Cawti's transformation is better supported in this book than it was in Teckla. People change. People grow apart. Cawti just handled it really poorly in not being willing to talk to Vlad about what she was feeling, and particularly in her refusal to admit (at least within the pages of the two books) that a lot of her behavior was motivated by guilt over being an assassin, and a need to expiate her sins. So it makes me sad that they ultimately can't reconcile. Even knowing what's revealed at the end of Orca, and the glimmerings of hope provided by Hawk, doesn't make it any easier.

At any rate, I look forward to moving on to Athyra, which marks a major shift in the structure of the series--maybe not a shift, because it doesn't persist beyond that book, but a stylistic and narrative difference that shows once again that Brust is a master storyteller and fully in control of how he lays the story out, even when I'm not happy with it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 5 in the Vlad Taltos series. Another re-read.

Vlad is given an assignment by the demon goddess Verra. Considering the source, he shouldn't have been surprised at the way things went southward at a good clip. Before you know it, there is an official international incident.

The pending war isn't the only problem for Vlad. There is trouble brewing in the ranks of the Jhereg Organization, trouble escalating throughout the Empire, trouble festering in the Easterner Quarter, and the expected trouble within his own deteriorating marriage. Things are pretty much a mess in any given direction.

This was a really good installment. I had forgotten one particularly significant action of Vlad's. That one makes waves for the entirety of the rest of the series. As a matter of fact, there are series-wide repercussions for several of his decisions and actions in this one book, and not all of them are bad.

[Contrarius · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fine, fine books these are. Insert satisfied "ahhhhhhhh" here. I can't imagine why I never finished the series when I was reading these back in the 80's.

These books seem to have aged very well. I really see nothing that would mark them as "older" fantasy, or that would prevent anyone who enjoys "modern" fantasy from having a heckuva lot of fun with them. Brust tortures Vlad just as much as any author of "dark fantasy" does today, he's is just as morally gray (at least to start with) as any modern fantasist could desire, and he goes through about as much angst (although very manly, suppressed, inarticulate angst to be sure) as Harry Dresden. Add onto that the humor, the efficient and snappy prose, the blistering pace, and the convoluted plots, and you get consistently great yarns. Really, who could ask for more?

[Jennifer Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 5th book reads as if it could have been the last book in the series, but also comes closest to getting a 5 star rating out of all of them so far. Lots of action in this one, and plenty of laughs. Worth noting at this point - Kragar is easily one of the most interesting and likeable side characters I’ve ever come across in a series. His ability to go unnoticed is both incredibly useful, and a source of great humour. I expect the next book will most likely jump back in time again, and I’m looking forwards to reading more of Vlad’s adventures.

[Fantasy boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phoenix by Steven Brust is the fifth book in Vlad Taltos series. This book is a witty, adventurous S&S and consists of assassins, sorceries, teleportation, resurrection etc; those fictionally humanoid races all live under the rule of dragaeran empire. Our protagonist Also the narrator, Vlad who is a human was the low classic in the empire. But he has made many powerful friends in his life, the previous four books are his relationships with his old friends. It’s not exceptional that he also made friends this time. Aibynn Is his new friend he has made on the mission which is an assassination of the prestige governor on isle Greenaere. Aibynn is an interesting character who talk about gods, philosophy to Vlad, also he play drums, who is a nomad musician. It’s interesting that he was inadvertently intertwined with Vlad’s mission and brought out of the prison and became friend with Vlad. He chose to stay In foreign land mainly because the environment is good for play drums; there even brside shoreline the weather is still dry, quite unusual to my knowledge of weather.

The story explains some early settings in the previous books. This book has some interesting settings like teleportation, the floating black castle, it is good to remind me of the previous settings , as sometimes I forgot the settings and it might be related to the plots. This time the story more focuses on the rebellion of easterners. Vlad’s wife Cawti was considered the leader of the group. It’s interesting that Vlad mentioned that his role is totally opposite to Cawti’d role. He is a destroyer, on the other hand, his wife is a fixer who fix the problems of the empire. Vlad’s experiences with the empire and its people make him unforgivable of what the empire has treated to his people or other lower ranks of races. He pragmatically live with hatred. Like his grandfather said to him, life is normal living with hatred, but being controlled by hatred is foolish.

Phoenix is a fast read and the pacing is good, I can see the dialogues are witty and humorous, and there in the story has several mysteries about Vlad’s world that make me want to know more. Although sometimes the plots are confusing to me, and using the similar formulas in the previous books. The story is not action heavy as I expected it would be. Most of the plots are maneuvers not many swagsbuckling scenes. Overall, Vlad Taltos is an underrated fantasy series with philosophy and S&S vibe to it. I hope the later installments of the series are still as good as the previous ones.

[Darek Zawisko · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something incredibly satisfying about this series. It's witty and orginal. I've fully bought into the world that Brust has built.

[Shaitarn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

After DNFing a couple of books, it was a pleasure to read a book that I actually enjoyed.

This book follows on directly from the third book, Teckla. Vlad is given a job from his patron goddess, to assassinate the king of Greenacre, an island nation off the coast of the Empire. This action quickly triggers a war and as Easterners (humans) are being conscripted, riots break out in South Adrilankha, the poor ghetto area that Vlad owns, and the revolutionaries, including Vlad's wife, are arrested.

Although I found Teckla, with its political meanderings rather dull, this book was better as it had more action and a faster pace - call me shallow, but I prefer Vlad going out and getting on with his assassinations rather than discussing how the Empire should be run. Cawti and Vlad's relationship is still collapsing, but it's not quite as bitter and bad as it was in the previous book, which was something that contributed to its downer feel.

I found this book better than the third and it reassured me to the point that I'll continue to buy and read the Taltos books as I can find them (for some reason they seem rather hard to get hold of here in the UK).

[Susan Gottfried]

I heard a whisper that Steven Brust has been outed as one of those problematic personalities in the SFF world. That's not a surprise when you read his books.

But I like the books, and Phoenix shows why. There's real (and surprising) sensitivity from Vald toward Cawti, including a few sentiments that really linger with me. I love how their relationship is handled in these pages. I love the images of their past love and how it contrasts against where they are as a couple.

As far as the story goes, it's kind of typical Vlad, and of course it's fun. That's what we come for, after all. The rollicking adventures of Vlad Taltos, and to see how far he can push things. This time? Maybe too far.

Unfortunately, my library does not have book six. I put in a request that they buy it and I'll keep checking, but I might wind up needing to skip it and ugh. It's going to be a pivotal book in the series and I don't want to miss it.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much fun as the last book, because we're back to anguish over the pending revolution and trying to rescue Vlad's wife, who doesn't want to be rescued. Not fun to watch a marriage break up. It's poignant, but again, not much fun to watch somebody come to the realization that they might be a bad person.

There's some good stuff here, though, plenty of action and adventure. I enjoyed the drummer. I enjoyed Vlad meeting the Empress. I'm not sure where Brust is taking the character next, since this felt a little bit like a finale, but I look forward to finding out.

[Maggie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

probably a bit more than a 3.0, due to the fact that the mehness I am feeling is because the main character is in a 'meh' place in his own life. A transition novel, and I am very curious about the 'new' Vlad!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best of the bunch so far. I don't know where the story goes from here, but I'm stoked to experience it.

[Al Tarancón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estoy bastante seguro de que jamás llegue a leer este libro en su momento. Creo que me quede en los 4 primeros, y luego salte unos cuantos hacia delante. Asi que comenzamos a rellenar huecos.
Este libro cierra un ciclo de la vida de Vlad Taltos, mostrando la conclusión de las tensiones desarrolladas en el ultimo par de libros.

Es curioso porque lo que comenzó como una especie de fantasia noir ha ido convirtiéndose en una historia de intrigas políticas y criticas sociales que dudo mucho que hubiera apreciado del mismo modo cuando leí estos libros en mi adolescencia. Tengo la sensación de que me debía quedar con las partes mas fantásticas y no captar los mensajes más críticos de estas historias. Y esto me hace pensar que la escala de la historia de Vlad Taltos aún tiene mucho que dar de si. Es una serie con muchos libros, algunos incluso publicados recientemente, y creo que el alcance de una propuesta así debe estar cercano a lo épico. De pronto ya no lo veo como una simple novela de fantasía y aventuras, sino como una deconstrucción de un mundo de fantasía, un estudio sobre una sociedad que se torna más compleja según avanza la historia. Si el autor mantiene el estilo de contar las historias, usando tramas de fantasía mas o menos tradicionales con un trasfondo mucho mas desarrollado, esto puede acabar convirtiéndose en una clase magistral de creacion de mundos. Uno más siniestro y realista que tu típica historia de elfos y dragones, mas real a pesar de sus elementos más fantasiosos.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hired by his god to kill a king, what could possibly go wrong? Kicking off a war between three countries. Losing his wife to the protest movement sweeping the ghetto. Upsetting then betraying the criminal underground who now desperately want him dead. Yeah, Vlad is living a very full life if he can survive it.

[A. Housewife · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is as good as the first one. Fun, lots of lines I smiled at, finally some introspection and I'm curious to see how his marriage plays out (even though I know from the first book). Great adventures and great scheming. Everything to love about this series is great in this book.

[Anna]

I forgot the events of Phoenix came so early in the series

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like a weird conclusion to the story of VladTaltos yet I know there are other books. Yet perhaps he is just getting reborn like the phoenix giving the name to this novel.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite Brust book. So good.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard not to love Vlad Taltos (to be fair, it's not something I'm trying to do).

Using first person, as he does, Steven Brust let's us understand a fantasy character better than almost any fantasy writer ever has or ever will. Vlad is damn likable. He's self-aware, self-critical, and shares his reasons with us for everything he does -- living a fully realized code of ethics, and adapting as his situation in life and Adrilankha constantly fluctuates.

His marriage is on the rocks, his Noish-pa is in danger, his goddess is messing with him, and his friends are helping him fix the mess he couldn't help but get caught up in, and by the end of Phoenix everything has changed, and we see that a whole new phase of Vlad's life is about to begin. What that entails may wind up being a whole lot of the same, only different. Time and Athyra will tell.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Phoenix, the fifth novel in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series, is a turning point in Vlad’s story. By the end of this book, his life will have changed drastically. The story begins as Vlad is stuck in a situation that he might not be able to get out of alive. In desperation, he calls on Verra, his patron goddess, for help. She saves him (or so it appears), and in return she demands that he sail to the island kingdom of Greenaere and assassinate its king. Vlad can’t refuse, and so he goes. This sets off a series of events that eventually lead to a Teckla revolution in Adrilankha. During all the turmoil, both Vlad and his wife Cawti, a member of a rebel group, are captured and rescued more than once, and both have reason to believe they don’t have much longer to live. The usual crew is there to help, though, including Kragar (Vlad’s assistant), Loiosh and Rocza (his jhereg... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the Vlad Taltos series that I've read. In this book, Vlad tries to help his estranged wife Cawti, who was arrested for inciting rebellion of the downtrodden Easterners and Teckla in South Andrilankha. He is also given a job he can't refuse, to assassinate a king, which gets him into real trouble. (Vlad is an assassin and crime boss.) The ruling species (Dragaerans, otherwise known as elves) run the Empire, and Vlad is an Easterner (otherwise known as a human), but he has two familiars to help him (he's also a witch)- two mated jheregs- flying reptiles with poisonous bites , as well as influential Dragaeran friends. So, he enlists their help, and it's a very captivating story. Sethra Lavode, Morrolan, Aliera, Lady Teldra, Daymar are fascinating characters who are in most of the Taltos books, and in some of the Viscount of Andrilankha series as well. All are highly recommended to anyone who enjoys fantasy with witty banter.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so much better than I remember. This is the true point where the plot starts moving in other directions and brings in more genres. A lot of the stuff that I didn't get when I last read this 8 years ago are now a lot clearer.

I can't wait to continue my re-readof this series so that I can get to the new book that came out this year.



Old Review:
Another good book form the Vlad Taltos series. It seems that this one is where things are starting to change, and I like that. This book felt more like 3 episodes that are connected together then one book.

It was fairly short, and I got it done in only a few hours, which was nice. A good start to this years reading.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

One star down for Cawti being in this. I seriously hate that woman's guts and the way Vlad behaves like a pathetic puppy around her. As far as Brust's female characters go, I would much rather learn more about Kiera, Aliera, Sethra Lavode, the Empress or even Verra herself.

But Cawti aside, I loved the book dearly, mostly because Vlad finally, FINALLY admitted to himself that he loved his Dragaeran friends, Morrolan and co., and that he couldn't very well keep insisting that he hated Dragaerans in general when most of the people he cherished were Dragaerans. Also, Aibynn the Drummer. LOL! Aibynn was amazing.

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't my favorite of the series, mostly because Vlad spent too much time being troubled by his wife and other humans instead of putting pointy things in the dragaerans, but less than favorite Brust is still better than most people's best. I've only a few more to read before I've caught up--including my least favorite, Athyra and my favorite, Issola. Maybe I'll skip Athyra--boring. Or, maybe it will be better the second time around?

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each book in Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series is named after one of the Houses in the Dragaeran society ruling class. The first book, Jhereg, is named after the House in which Vlad holds the title of Baronet, also a "jhereg" is a small, sentient dragonlet; Vlad has one named Loiosh as his familiar. In the subsequent novels, the title and characteristics of the House reflect the plot: for example, in the second book, Yendi, the story revolves around a complicated mystery, the kind of long-game the Yendi are noted to be found of playing.

The fifth book, the one I just finished, is Phoenix, the title of the Empress's House. Vlad does have several notable encounters with the ultimate ruler of the Draegeran society, but the title is a metaphor that extends to Vlad himself. At the command of his patron goddess, Verra, Vlad assassinates the king of a small neighboring country, launching Dragaera into war and causing civil unrest in his home city of Adrilankha. As his world dissolves into chaos, Vlad realizes that he can help, he can save his wife and family, protect his friends, and resolve the conflicts at home and abroad. To do this, he must act as a phoenix and burn his life to the ground. His career, his marriage, his friendships, his family ties, his status in the House of Jhereg, even his life... he must be willing to sacrifice. It is for the next book in the series to see whether or not he will rise from those ashes.

Of course he will, this is a long series after all, with fifteen books and counting and Phoenix is only number five. And Brust has taken care to set up a long-game himself, with the unknown motives of the Demon Goddess Verra and her mysterious granddaughter Devera (who hasn't been born yet, so she must hide from her mother. I have no idea how that works. See? More to discover.) as well as the unresolved political ploys of the Dragaeran ruling class. But what I love is that Brust is willing to capsize his main character's life in service of that long plot rather than deliver formulaic novel after novel where the details differ but the character stays the same. Jim Butcher did this to Harry Dresden in the aptly named Changes, book 12 of The Dresden Files. Lois McMaster Bujold did this to Miles Vorkosigan in Memory, book 10 of the Vorkosigan Saga. That Brust did it in only book five of the Vlad Taltos series shows how far he is willing to push his hero in service of that plot.

[Joe Kessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm perhaps a bit biased, as this was the first Vlad Taltos book that I ever picked up back in the day, but I do think it's a big step forward from the previous volumes and possibly a series-best entry. In typical bouncing timeline fashion, we've returned to soon after #3 Teckla for the chronologically latest installment yet, dealing with the repercussions of that earlier story on our protagonist's marriage and his estranged wife's involvement with the growing protest / rebel movement. First, however, he's summoned to the divine realm of a goddess, who calls upon him to assassinate the king of a small island nation just outside the borders of the familiar Dragaeran Empire.

Although Vlad is a hitman by trade, this is the clearest look we've gotten at him carrying out that particular profession; in previous adventures, he's acted more in his capacity as crime boss or reactive brawler, so it's an interesting change to see him actually plotting out and then executing -- pun intended -- his strike, especially on a plainly innocent victim. That presents him as more of an amoral antihero than ever before, but it also nicely sets up his character growth over the course of this tale, which finds him ultimately turning his back on the Jhereg organization when they go after Cawti to protect their nefarious business interests.

Along the way we get the usual sardonic wisecracking and witchcraft, a delightfully offbeat new sidekick in the form of a native musician who may or may not be more than he appears, and some welcome cleverness in navigating the ensuing political intrigues from both Baronet Taltos and his friends. The topic of his crumbling relationship is handled with more grace and nuance than before, and, like the mystical firebird of the novel's title, he proves able to rise up from his apparent doom to embark on a fresh start of things by the end. I can only hope that that level of quality is maintained as I continue on with this series reread.

[Content warning for sexism and gore.]

Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog

[Lighthearted · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Vlad finds himself ambushed in South Adrilankha, he offers up a prayer to the Demon-Goddess Vera. She answers. As it turns out, she wants him to assassinate someone for her. Vlad's been considering getting out of the business but how does one refuse a goddess?

The assassination begins a war between the Empire and the sleepy outlying nation of Greenaere. The Empire begins drafting humans and Teckla into its army, which adds to the growing uprising within the Empire. Cawti is arrested twice. To save Cawti's life, Vlad goes against his House.

I love this series. I love the characters, the world-building, the fast-paced plots.

Cawti has changed dramatically since we first met her, but so has Vlad. He finally acknowledges that while he may have hated all dragaerans to begin with, most of his close friends are of that race. He's genuinely friendly to the Orca sailing him from Adrilankha to Greenaere (regular beatings by Orca youth during his childhood inspired, or at least deeply contributed to his early hatred of dragaerans). He's come a long way but where will he go next?

While Teckla showed us the beginnings of a rift between Vlad and Cawti; Phoenix shows the deepening of that rift. Their relationship struggles are sparingly told and heartbreakingly real. They love each other but it's not enough, at least in this book. What will she do with South Adrilankha? Can they find their way back to each other?

The world-building in this series continues to be exceptional. Each book reveals or hints at something new. This time we discover that there are different types of stones which block sorcery and psionic communication -- I wonder what Morrolan and Aliera will do with that information. We also learn that there are legends of strange lands beyond the sea, perhaps even beneath it. And while Noish-pa refers to dragaerans as elves, Vlad finds himself referred to as a dwarf by the dragaerans on Greenaere.

We don't learn as much about the House of Phoenix as we have about other Houses in other books -- after all, there is only one living member and she's the Empress of the Empire. We learn more about her though, and how she regards her role in the scheme of things.