Vlad’s in trouble—again!

Lyorn (Vlad Taltos #17) by Steven Brust     

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A return to the Vlad shenanigans is always a welcome experience. This time Vlad’s hiding out in a theater from quite a few factions. He sorted the problem with the Jhereg but now The Left Hand is after him, and he no longer has sorcery protections. Oh, and also, being turned into a demon was unplanned and particularly unhelpful. Yet Vlad needs to stay in the City. Big Problem!!

A friend advises him to hide out in a theater because apparently , “Every theater in the City has spells to prevent sorcery, and powerful spells to prevent clairvoyance and any other sort of detection until the show opens, and most of them don’t bother to take the spells down after that.”

Perfect! Sort of! A musical farce is being performed based on the challenge of theatre productions and the empire. I recognised some Gilbert and Sullivan repartee. Vlad by the way dislikes musicals.

He has a bed to sleep in but the food is abysmal so Vlad communicates with the outside to have it delivered. Of course! He’s a foodie! (Personally, I think that’s a bad idea, but I’m only a reader)

It seems the producer is having trouble with Jhereg investors. The latest a Lyorn. Of course Vlad lends a hand. After all he’s in hiding and bored and is doing nothing to bring attention to himself. Ha!

He also has Sethra Lavode, Warlord, working on his problem.

Along the way we’re given a potted history of the Empire and the Stage.

As usual I enjoyed the misadventures of the likeable rogue Vlad (officially Lord Vladimir Taltos, First Count of Szurke by the grace of Her Majesty) and his two small, long suffering, quite vocal, put upon companions, Loiosh and Rocza. 

A long time reader of Vlad novels, I love the tone, the irony, the sarcasm and the wit of it all. Well played Brust!

A Tor ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change