REVIEW: The Book of Jhereg (omnibus) by Steven Brust

The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust
Publishing information: Paperback; 480 pages
Publisher: Ace Trade; 01 August 2009
ISBN 10: 0441006159
ISBN 13: 978-0441006151
Series: First three books in the Taltos series
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Back of the Book: "Vlad Taltos x 3! Three Steven Brust fantasy novels in one all-new edition-featuring intrepid assassin Vlad Taltos and his jhereg companion. A welcome addition to any fantasy fan's library, The Book of Jhereg follows the antics of the wise-cracking assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three adventures-Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla. From his rookie assassin days to his selfless feats of heroism, the dauntless Vlad will hold readers spellbound-and The Book of Jhereg will take its place among the classic compilations in fantasy.
--A pocket-sized dragon-what's not to love?
--A collectible 3-in-1 edition featuring one of science fiction's most memorable heroes"


When I found out there was a fairly famous series about an assassin I knew I had to run and grab a copy for myself. I love a good assassin novel. Unfortunately Taltos is not an assassin I will be returning to.

The book of Jhereg compiles the first three books in the Taltos series Jhereg, Yendi, and Theckla. While each is a separate story, I will give you a plot and then discuss the books as a whole.

Jhereg
Vlad Taltos, a mobster and assassin in the magical metropolis of Adrilankha, is given the largest contract of his career, but the job is even more complicated than he expects.

Yendi
Six months after he took control of his own territory in the criminal Organization, Vlad engages in his first turf war with a rival boss.

Teckla
Soon after the events of Jhereg, Vlad becomes embroiled in a struggle between the House of the Jhereg and a group of revolutionaries that his wife has joined.

Brust's world building is probably his strong suit. He has humans, dragons, and elves each with their own caste systems and clans. There is a rich history that is also brought up from time to time, but in this set we never get the entire picture just snippets here and there. The magic is also fairly decent. It is not mind-blowing or original but it works quite well in the world Brust has created. Most people can communicate mentally or can transport instantly to the destination of your choice.

Where I have a problem with Brust is his characters. They are all the same. Everyone is sarcastic. Taltos is very sarcastic and his familiar, a small jhereg, or dragon, which may have taken on his personality I can understand as they are nearly the same. But then so is everyone else in the books. The villains are sarcastic. Taltos' right hand man is sarcastic. The elves in a floating castle are sarcastic. No one was different it was one character just a different sex or profession. There was no distinction between characters, everyone was smarmy.

The plot was decent but not that imaginative for any of the stories. Each story is relatively short and the pacing was good. But I found myself not caring about any of the situations that Taltos found himself in. Mainly due to the fact that every character was the same. Brust did a great job keeping the endings a mystery as I had a hard time figuring out how Taltos was going to get out of the trouble he found himself in until he unfolded his master plan.

The Book of Jhereg did not live up to my expectations which may be why I did not enjoy the book but, the fact that the characters were very shallow did not help either.

Plot 4
Characters 4
Style 5

Overall 4/10