I know for a fact that I started this book much too soon after reading Dzur, but when I requested that book on interlibrary loan, the only available option was a combined volume that included this one. Because it was an ILLO renewal isn't allowed. And my local library didn't have Jhegaala either, so it was one of those two-birds-one-stone things.
Brust really enjoys putting together complex plots and we get to watch as crafty Vlad figures things out. In this case, he goes East, to his “homeland,” a place he's never been. A few questions to his grandfather and he has a clue about his mother's family. He can learn about his family while avoiding the Jhereg assassin that is pursuing him. It should be a win-win, right? But no one in the Eastern town of Burz believes him and he soon finds himself at the centre of overlapping plots. And no one will talk about his relatives. For once Vlad is being straight forward and he is met with only suspicion and hostility.
At this point, I've lost track of why there is a Jhereg after Vlad. In fact, Brust refers to a bunch of past events that I don't really remember either. But as the author, it's a good thing that he does! He also keeps up Vlad's unrelenting sense of humour, which thankfully is mostly funny and rarely grating. As an Easterner who doesn't relate to his own people much, Vlad's is a fish out of water story. Ironically, he fits into Dragnarean society more easily than his grandfather's. He mourns his failed marriage to Cawti, who does identify with her biological people, which is one of the reasons that their relationship soured.
Part of me wonders how much more Brust can come up with to do with this character, but I note that book 16 of the series will be published in 2023. So apparently Brust is still interested in his ex-assassin and he hopes that we are too.
Book Number 461 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project
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