Steven Brust
Jhereg (1983)
Author: Steven Brust
Genre: Fantasy (Light-hearted/Alternate World)
Plot Summary:
The House of Jhereg needs a man who has stolen a great deal of money from them killed in such a way that no other person would dare steal from that House again, and they need him killed before word about the theft gets out. Despite the fact that accepting an assignment with a time limit is risky, Vlad Taltos, a witch-assassin, takes the job - after all, the pay is really good. Unfortunately, the situation rapidly becomes more complex. Vlad's target, Mellar, is staying at Castle Black, where people die every day in duels and are revivified (brought back to life) shortly after. Since Mellar is supposed to stay dead, he's got to figure out how to get the man to leave Castle Black long enough to be killed. If Vlad doesn't finish his assignment, he's dead, but if he does it while Mellar is in Castle Black, he'll throw the Jhereg and Dragon Houses into a war that could destroy them both. SPOILER: Vlad discovers that Mellar actually wants to die and cause a war, as part of a long-term plot for vengeance. Vlad comes up with a complex plan of his own and, with a little help from his friends and his familiar, manages to get Mellar out of the Castle and kill him.
Geographical Setting: Dragaeran Empire (alternate world)
Time Period: indeterminate
Series: Vlad Taltos Series (Book 1)
Appeal Characteristics:
This series will probably appeal to those who like reading fantasy involving complex worlds. This world includes a variety of Houses, animals, a couple systems of magic, and a rich history; this particular book only touches on some of these things, making it clear that there is still much more of this world that the other books in this series can explore. The book's wry tone is also an appeal factor - although the topic, an attempted assassination, could have resulted in a very dark book, Vlad's sense of humor (this book is written in the first person) and his wise-cracking familiar, Loiosh, keep things light. The story's pacing tends to be slow but engrossing, due to the great deal of detail Brust includes about this world, its politics, Vlad and his friends, and being an assassin in the Empire. Vlad is an anti-hero: despite being the kind of person you wouldn't want to have as your enemy, he is likeable and follows his own code. Loiosh, his familiar, is also interesting, although not used much in this book. Readers may also enjoy the story's problem-solving aspects and hints of mystery, as Vlad finds out more about Mellar and his motivations while trying to accomplish his own goal.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoyed Jhereg's dialog, humor, and mystery elements and don't mind reading something not in the Fantasy genre might want to try Robert B. Parker's Early Autumn (Spenser Series, Book 7), in which a detective, Spenser, deals with a messy child custody case. By this point in the series, Spenser, who is in many ways similar to Vlad, is firmly established as a tough hard-boiled P.I. who does what he has to help his clients, but always following his own code of conduct. Jim Butcher's Storm Front (Dresden Files, Book 1), about a modern-day wise-cracking wizard-for-hire with a bit of a dark side, is suggested to those who liked the mystery, fantasy, and humor elements in Jhereg and would like a main character who seems much like Vlad. Readers who would like another book with complex politics and an assassin as the main character, might try Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, Book 1), about a royal bastard who is trained to become an assassin from the time he is a child. Tanya Huff's Fifth Quarter is suggested to those who are mainly interested in another book set in a complex and well-developed world with assassin main characters. In this book, two assassin siblings find themselves in trouble when their target steals the body of one of them and forces the pair to coexist in the other's body. Readers who enjoyed Jhereg's characters and would like something with more laugh-out-loud humor should try one of Pratchett's Discworld books, many of which make good stand-alone reads. Pratchett's Pyramids features a main character who was trained as an assassin and suddenly finds himself having to learn how to be a pharaoh after his father's death. Pratchett's Feet of Clay, in which the Discworld's Commander Vimes is trying to track down a killer and a person trying to poison the Patrician, is suggested to those who would prefer something with more mystery and liked the relationship between Vlad and his employer in Jhereg (the relationship between Vimes and the Patrician has similarities).
Red Flags: several deaths, although no detailed descriptions; no glossary (the animals that the Houses are named after are often mentioned by name, but not described, and there is lots of other information to keep track of, so a glossary would have been nice)
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