Jhereg

Rating:
Summary: This is, at best, mediocre Fantasy Fiction
Review: I really wanted to like this book...but I couldn't

I read the reviews of "Jhereg" that were posted on this site and I thought "Wow! It seems like all the elements are here for a first rate fantasy story.". This book was even recomended to me by a friend who has a similar taste in fiction as I do. With that kind of endorsement, I eagerly picked up the book and looked forward to a great read.

Well, "Jhereg" didn't do much for me. Maybe I missed something, but this was the most mediocre Fantasy novel I have ever read. To me, the problem was the complete LACK of originality in the story and the writing. If you're an avid reader of Fantasy Fiction, you'll recognize that virtually every element in this book was taken from other sources. The telepathic link between Vlad and his reptilian familiar isn't new; the floating cloud castles have been done before and the soul-stealing, semi-sentient "Great Weapons" are lifted straight from Michael Moorcock's "Elric" series.

Now granted, writers borrow from each other all the time, but I just don't feel that Brust worked very hard with his material. The writing is clumsy at times and the dialogue feels like it belongs in a bad 50's "B" movie.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to add a couple of extra letters to the word "Revive" and come up with "Revivify", or refer to a great and powerful magical weapon...as a "Great Weapon". And imagination was what was missing for me.

Even the "Dark Fantasy" aspect isn't very creative. Most modern books of this genre have that feel. In fact, many Fantasy books have assasins, barbarians and even malicious non-humans as their heroes. But those stories seem to create their heroes with more depth and endow them with more personality. After reading the book, I STILL have no clue why Vlad was such a revered and great asassin.

Maybe if I read the rest of "Taltos" series, I'd get a deeper picture of Vlad and his whole "Drageran" universe. But if "Jhereg" is a taste of what's to come, I'll pass.

If you want to read truly original Dark Fantasy, read the "Death Gate" series by Hickman and Wies, or read anything by Moorcock, Lieber, Zelazny or Howard.

If you have, you can skip this book because you've seen it all before.

This isn't a bad book. I just expected a little more.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and different, an enjoyable read.
Review: I was sucked into reading Steven Brust on the recommendation of a friend. I'd never heard of him before, and expected to be bored. Instead, I had a great time reading this book. It's witty and sharp, and turned a lot of my fantasy-reading expectations upside down. The style reminded me of that Futurama sense of humor, where a character will end a scene by suddenly saying "That's stupid. You're stupid, Fry. I'm leaving." Abrupt, refreshing, and FUNNY.

Our anti-hero in this story is Vlad Taltos, a pragmatic assassin who constantly finds himself in extroadinary situations. The story centers completely around him, and he is an interesting enough character that he carries the burden fairly well. The freshness of the writing has to do with its roughness. This isn't the poetry of Herbert or Tolkien, instead it has a rough and tumble realism to it that you don't see often in this genre. The world of Steven Brust has no romance in it's magic, which somehow makes the world romantic. It's a kind of gunslinger-y high-fantasy.

I agree with other reviewers that the first book is not the best, yet they are all fun and engaging to read. If you like Brust's style these are worth the time. If you are first time to Brust I'd skip ahead to The Pheonix Guards, and if you liked that, then come back and read the whole Vlad Taltos' series. (8 out of 10)

Rating:
Summary: absolutely great
Review: if you like fantasy, wit, dark humor, and a quick easy fun read, this book must be read by you.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites of all time
Review: Irreverent. A unique fantasy world. A word of warning, however: this is not Tolkienesque "high fantasy." The protagonist is a wise-cracking assassin with a very "interesting" approach to ethics, and very few of the people he interacts with are his moral "superiors."

The story is greatly enhanced by the effective use of first-person narration. (I am very glad to see the two most recent books of the series have returned to first-person.) Highly recommended, if you have a sense of humor and a desire to read something a little ... different.

Rating:
Summary: One of the top 100 Fantasy stories.
Review: Jhereg has an incredibly twisted plotline, and Vlad (the main character), faces obstacles so difficult that up until the end I thought the author was going to crash the story by killing or ruining the lives of everyone, but that didn't happen. The story soars to a great conclusion. Read the book.

In order to be a well-rounded reader of Fantasy, you have to have read this book.

It is the stellar stand out of all the Vlad books, the best of the best.

What's more, the universe this is all set in is intriguing beyond belief, a departure from all the panty-waisted magic-must-have-consequences/prices for its use novels; in these novels sorcery is a tool, and can be put to good or bad use, like fire itself. And plenty can be done with sorcery (no wimp-out here, as found in so many other books), teleportation, resurrection, lethal combat spells of all sorts; all great fun. I think that the system of socery devised by the author is one of the top three in fantasy, and simply one of the most interesting. Okay, I'll back up just a litte, sorcery does have some consequences, but they're more like the consequences of missusing fire (you might get burned, you'll choke on the smoke, doing it too much causes a certain kind of pollution, etc. But there are no moralistic parellels or "Wow, we made a pin float, the power will now backlash and destroy all magic and maybe the world! Oh my! Woe is me!".)

Rating:
Summary: Stick with it
Review: Jhereg is a pretty rough book to begin the Taltos series. My biggest difficulty with it is the author's heavy reliance on dialog, which resulted in some pretty forced conversations. It also forced backstory to be spoken -- a pretty preachy way of doing things. As a first book, it could have used a lot more description of the world, which is a pretty fascinating and unique place in the fantasy universe. However, by about the final 50 pages I had gotten my bearings and really started enjoying the characters. It's a good light read, and refreshingly different. But I do not recommend it as the first book to read in the series!

Rating:
Summary: A very interesting assassin
Review: Jhereg is the first book by Steven Brust that I have read.
Well, I knew nothing of this character before this book, and after reading it I find that I very much wish to find out more.
Jhereg creates a refreshing new world, with interesting creatures and characters. The plot is convoluted, and very complicated, but somehow I like this book even better for that. Vlad gives a facinating insight into the mind of an assassin. It's so good to finally find an assassin character with a human, dare I say even normal, side. Well, as normal as it can be, I suppose.
The other characters are so varied in type and personality that it gives you a realistic feeling when reading. You never know who, or what, is next, but it's oh so much fun to guess.
Now, I'll admit that I was a little confused going into this, as I had never read this series before and there really isn't much of an explaination going into it, but it didn't take long at all before I figured out who, and what, everyone was.
I really enjoyed the writting style, and I'm looking forward to checking out the next book.
So, while I can't speak for those who've read Steven Brust before, if you haven't, I recommend it. Definitely worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: A very interesting assassin
Review: Jhereg is the first book by Steven Brust that I have read.
Well, I knew nothing of this character before this book, and after reading it I find that I very much wish to find out more.
Jhereg creates a refreshing new world, with interesting creatures and characters. The plot is convoluted, and very complicated, but somehow I like this book even better for that. Vlad gives a facinating insight into the mind of an assassin. It's so good to finally find an assassin character with a human, dare I say even normal, side. Well, as normal as it can be, I suppose.
The other characters are so varied in type and personality that it gives you a realistic feeling when reading. You never know who, or what, is next, but it's oh so much fun to guess.
Now, I'll admit that I was a little confused going into this, as I had never read this series before and there really isn't much of an explaination going into it, but it didn't take long at all before I figured out who, and what, everyone was.
I really enjoyed the writting style, and I'm looking forward to checking out the next book.
So, while I can't speak for those who've read Steven Brust before, if you haven't, I recommend it. Definitely worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and well written.A must read for Fantasy fans
Review: Jhereg was definitely one of many great books in the fantasy and science fiction.Brust has away to mix excellent story,good dialogue,and incredible battles.He could do more with a few lines then many in the genre can do with a paragraph.Vlad Taltos and Loiosh are perfect for humurous dialogue.With a wit that is untouchable,Brust betters many in the field.

Rating:
Summary: A cliche of epic proportions
Review: Sarcastic first person narration from an "up and coming" youngster (Vlad) has been around a few times and I much prefer Robert Asprin's Myth series. At least Aspirin's characters are interesting. To compensate, Brust seems to just turn up the volume--more powerful weapons, more powerful friends, and a slightly more sinister (yet still lovable) main character. I couldn't bring myself to care about Vlad, and I grew to loath his group of high powered posturing friends.

Not only is this a cliche approach to fantasy, but it is little more than a baby step from the epic fantasy it is supposed to diverge from. It is clear who we are supposed to like--despite any lines they may cross, and it is very clear who we are supposed to hate. The single evil character plotted revenge for 300 years and the only the he was missing was a handle bar mustache. Even Tolkien's Golemn has more redeeming value than this poor guy.

The focus here is on a neatly packaged little plot. So neat in fact, it is a little insulting. I felt like I was grabbed by a couple of street thugs and forcibly drug through this novel and then held kicking and screaming while the troupe had a little five minute closing scene straight out of a situation comedy.

Now that said, you might like this book if you enjoy mystery novels that focus on solving a riddle rather then the characters. This book did make me chuckle a few times (very few), and it is a quick read. So it will not cost you too much to borrow a copy from your local library and see for yourself whether or not you want to jump into this series. I for one am getting out.