Publication Dates: 1983-present
About the books:
Using a fascinating backdrop of Hungarian folktales, author Steven
Brust has crafted a world populated with nearly-immortal magic users and the humans who share
their world with a combination of unique classes and castes of people and creatures. The main
character is a human assassin named Vlad Taltos who is accompanied by his snarky pet jhereg
(similar to a small dragon) on various adventures of magic, swordplay, love, life, death and
deceit. The series is now about a dozen books strong and still growing.
One of the more interesting facets of Brust's writing is
how the Taltos character and his world seem to mirror Brust's
life. As he went through a turbulent relationship, so did his characters and the books. As he
seemed to find the joy back in his life, so did his books.
Brust also wrote a wonderful related series, set several
hundred years before the Taltos series, "The Phoenix Guards", "Five Hundred Years After", "The
Paths of the Dead" and the recent "The Lord of Castle Black" that are wonderful homages to Dumas'
"Three Musketeers". They're not easy reading, but they're fun!
Personal:
It was TV Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe who first recommended
that the WriterGroupie read this series. As soon as she read the first book, she was completely
hooked and immediately went out and bought the next six books.
The WriterGroupie attended a signing by author Steven Brust
a few years back and found him as... challenging as his books. But she still loves reading his
work and buys each of his Taltos books as soon as they are published.
Related Links:
Author Steven Brust's Official Home Page
