Issola FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
If you've never read a novel by Steven Brust, shame on you! You have no idea what you've been missing. The author of the bestselling Five Hundred Years After, The Phoenix Guards, Dragon, and the widely popular Vlad Taltos series doesn't just deserve your attention. He earns it.
Issola is a fine place to start if you've never experienced Brust before. Although it is a continuation of sorts of Dragon, this novel can certainly be read as a stand-alone novel. Dragon gave us insights into the eccentricity of an epic cast of characters, whereas Issola takes us back to a tiny crevice in time. Brust introduces us to the beings that roamed the earth even before the Jhereg (dragons) and the easterners (man).
Brust's characters are philosophical and subtly drawn. Especially strongly rendered is Vlad Taltos, a man who throughout his life has believed that "desperation requires and opportunity presents."
(Juliet Morris)
ANNOTATION
The story line contains the usual humor, illusions, and duels yet Vlad seems fresh mainly due to his relationship with Teldra who humanizes him. Loiosh remains a funny sidekick comic lightening the tale. Though new readers will struggle with the tone and self deprecating amusing references to previous novels, Steven Brust has written a triumphant story that fantasy fans will appreciate. -Harriet Klausner
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"On the run from House Jhereg, which he double-crossed, Vlad Taltos has been living far too long in the woods, where you can't even get a decent cup of klava first thing in the morning. Then suddenly he's found by, of all improbable people, Lady Teldra, the courtly, preternaturally charming sevant of his old friend the Dragonlord Morrolan." "Teldra has come to ask for Vlad's help, because Morrolan and Aliera have disappeared, and it looks as if they may be literally gone from the world. Consulting the ever-interesting and fabulously powerful Sethra Lavode, Vlad and Teldra find that Morrolan and Aliera are being held captive by the Jenoine." "Who have hitherto been a mystery - perhaps not to a lord like Morrolan, but certainly to Vlad. Indications are that the Jenoine may have made Dragaera and may have once been the masters of the gods themselves. Not the kind of guys you want to go up against." "Cynical, Vlad may be. And he certainly claims to be devoted to looking out for Number One. But Morrolan and Aliera are his friends, and he can't bring himself to abandon then - even if it means doing battle at the Sea of Amorphia itself." "After all, what's a little cosmic battle with beings who control time and space? It's better than hunkering down in the woods without even so much as a drinkable cup of klava."--BOOK JACKET.
SYNOPSIS
"Castle Black's Lady Teldra surprisingly finds Vlad Taltos, who buried himself in the wilderness more worried about survival than comfort. Teldra explains that she received help from Kiera the Thief who pointed in the general direction followed by the supreme sorceress Sethra Lavode who traced the specific spot via a link to Vlad's dragon Loiosh. Vlad concludes that the Jhereg would not be able to follow Teldra's path so he should remain safe.
Teldra wants Vlad to rescue Morrolan and Aliera who have vanished without leaving a psychic trace. For a decent cup of klava, Vlad would risk anything so he agrees to accompany Teldra to learn more from Sethra, whose servant knows how to make a mean klava. Vlad concludes that the creators of Dragaera, the ultra powerful Jenoine have captured his two friends. This explains the lack of a psychic trace. He knows any attempt to free his friends means visibility to his foes and a new set of dangerous enemies whose illusions make Vlad's abilities look like child play.
Long term fans of the Lord Taltos series will have a field day with ISSOLA, one of the best entries in several years. The story line contains the usual humor, illusions, and duels yet Vlad seems fresh mainly due to his relationship with Teldra who humanizes him. Loiosh remains a funny sidekick comic lightening the tale. Though new readers will struggle with the tone and self deprecating amusing references to previous novels, Steven Brust has written a triumphant story that fantasy fans will appreciate". -Harriet Klausner
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA
Vlad Taltos, accompanied by Lady Teldra, is off to rescue the Dragonlords Morrolan and Aliera, who have been kidnapped by the Jenoine, a species that built the world of Dragaera as a sort of laboratory experiment and regard the beings there as test subjects. With assistance from the Necromancer and Sethra Lavode, Vlad and Teldra locate the Dragonlords beyond the confines of their world. Vlad magically frees them only to discover that he and Teldra have become trapped instead. During their captivity, they discover that the Jenoine have tapped into the Lesser Sea of Arnorphia (chaos) and are using its power to gain access to the Orb and those whose minds link to it. Morrolan releases Vlad and Teldra, and together they, Sethra, the Necromancer, and the other gods battle the Jenoine to secure Dragaera from Jenoine access. No mere plot summary can describe accurately the fun and adventure that naturally seems to follow Vlad Taltos. Vlad is irreverent, ingenious, and funny. His silent dialogue with his familiar, Loiosh, a sort of minidragon who rides on his shoulder, is charming and witty. This delightful romp also is relatively short in length, making it attractive to some teens who avoid longer books. Give this newest volume to Terry Pratchett fans. Quality is consistent so add the preceding volumes in the Vlad Taltos series, among them Jhereg (Ace, 1987), Taltos (Ace, 1988/VOYA August 1988), Orca (Ace, 1996), and Dragon (Tor, 1999/VOYA April 1999), to the collection as well. All four are available as mass-market paperbacks. VOYA CODES:4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses;Broad general YA appeal;Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9;Senior High, defined as grades10 to 12). 2001, Tor, 255p, $23.95. Ages 12 to 18. Reviewer:Nancy K. Wallace—VOYA, December 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 5)
Kirkus Reviews
Newcomers will not be hard pressed to find their footing in this new installment of the popular Vlad Taltos saga (first hardcover in the series: Dragon, 1998) as Brust paddles in place orienting them and waits for his first big hook to arrive. Invisible Assassin and wisecracking hood Vlad, when not running something illegal for himself, works for House Jhereg, one of the 17 Great Houses of the Empire of Dragaera, a land ruled largely by semi-immortal "elfs." In the forest between Appertown and Ridge, Vlad awakes in a paranoid state and instant telepathic contact with his companion and familiar, Loiosh, a very small dragonlike jhereg, and Loiosh's mate, Rocza, the wild jhereg often on Vlad's other shoulder. Vlad's jheregs' smart chatter echoes that of Fritz Leiber's Gray Mauser, while sometime criminal Vlad's lowbrow tough-talk recalls that of Tony Soprano (without the obscenities). Lady Teldra, the High Priestess of Lord Morrolan, has arrived with urgent need of Vlad's services. She's an Issola, a nonhuman creature so graceful, elegant, and well mannered that Vlad feels plain and clumsy by contrast. Lady Teldra leads Vlad to Castle Black, the floating home of ten-foot-tall Lord Morrolan, whose friends (also close to Vlad) have been kidnapped. Then the Issola teleports our hero to the Halls of Verra, the capricious Demon Goddess, whose skills and abilities surpass any human's. To rescue his friends, Vlad believes he has to destroy Verra, but instead the Goddess lays out a plan he must follow to threaten the Jenoine, who hold the prisoners. All turns on a gambit made by Sethra, the Dark Lady of Dzur Mountain. And on Lady Teldra, who is not what she seems. Vlad's relentless wrynessamuses steadily and gives this fantasy the lift it needs.
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