Vlad Taltos, by Steven Brust, is a relatively unknown gem that has now officially been coming out for 30 years. Planned as a nineteen-book series and still going strong, Lyorn is the seventeenth(!!) entry in the story and one of my favorites. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this series and feel like I just bombarded you with word salad, here is a short primer. Vlad Taltos follows the life of the titular Vlad as he tries to make his way in a magical kingdom as a foreigner. He has burrowed his way into The Dragaeran Empire, a powerful magical kingdom made up of 17 great houses, each represented by a magical animal.
The houses exist in a complex web of power and wax and wane with strength as the years pass and their house rises to the top of the calendar in a magical zodiac-esque system. The houses themselves are a combination of noble bloodlines and individuals who join of their own volition, and each house tends to attract people who identify or align with the temperament of its signature animal. For example, Vlad is a part of the Jhereg house, represented by a temperamental, vicious, and cunning lizard–which suits him perfectly.
Each book in the Taltos series focuses on a different house, usually telling two stories—one related to something personal of Vlad and the other having to do with Vlad’s involvement in some private matter of the house. The books are less a linear story of Vlad’s life and more a disparate and deeply non-chronological story of the experiences that define him.
Our house in question this time, Lyorn, is represented by a unicorn dog (depicted in the cover art) and they represent values such as tradition, legacy, order, and rule-following. The chronology of this story places it fairly late in Vlad’s known life, and our two storylines in question focus on Vlad hiding in a theater to avoid the consequences of his actions. We are approaching the finale now and it’s time to start wrapping up this enormous tale. This book is a fun little jaunt but also very much about establishing the stakes of our end game.
Each Taltos book has its own little gimmick and they run along a scale of how much I think they work within the confines of the greater story. Lyron, sadly, is at the far end of the “doesn’t work” side. Don’t get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed this book. Big things that have been brewing for real-world decades are finally coming to a head and Lyorn does a good job of hyping up that upcoming finale. However, the theater theme (while fun) feels more like Brust is really into show tunes at the moment. Still, the book is filled with witty poems, limericks, and lyrics that all bring the joy of the stage to the book. The plot is a bit messy, with the main focus being Vlad simply remaining in hiding the entire book. The real prize at the end of the tunnel is getting to see some serious character growth for Vlad and finally feeling the chronology of the narrative lock-in in preparation for the final arc. The sassy fun and games of the last 17 books feel like they are coming to a close as we get really serious for a poignant (and yet somehow still sassy) ending.
I had a lot of fun with Lyron, I love all the setup it did for the finale, but I suspect it will fall just short of our top books of 2024. The pieces were all great but the composite puzzle didn’t quite get where it needed to go. But, I really think a lot of you should put this series on your to-do list. It is reaching its climatic end and it will be really fun to be a part of it.
Rating: Lyorn – 8.0/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
The dog with a horn looks intriguing and suggest a more unique type of fantasy.