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Orca Steven Brust Books

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Orca Steven Brust Books

I'll be honest that I didn't care for the way the narrative was done in this book. I enjoy the stories from Vlad's perspective, but much of this book isn't. The story, to my mind, was a good one one with typical Brust twists and turns and a very interesting end. I just think that the change of perspective flattens the narrative a bit.


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Orca Steven Brust Books Reviews

This highly entertaining comic fantasy novel is the seventh by publication order, and eighth in chronological sequence, in the story of Vladimir Taltos. It follows on shortly after the sixth book, "Athyra." Vlad's attempt to obtain a cure for a young man who was injured saving his life in "Athyra" leads him into the attempt to unravel the secrets around the mysterious death of an Orca financier. This book also contains important plot revelations affecting the rest of the series.

If you have not previously read any of Steven Brust's "Vlad Taltos" novels or "Khaavren" romances, they are all set in a world of magic, where there are several intelligent species, including two types of men and women. Humans like ourselves are usually referred to as "Easterners," the other type of men and women call themselves humans but are usually referred to in the books as "Dragaerans" or occasionally as Elves.

All Dragaerans belong to one of seventeen "Great Houses" named after animals of the fantasy world in which the novels are set. Nine of the ten novels to date featuring Vlad Taltos, including "Orca" are named after one of these great houses, usually also featuring a member of that house in a prominent role if Steven Brust is planning to write a novel for each house we are about half way through the series.

Most of the great houses also have a preferred occupation. For examples "Dragons" and "Dzurlords" are soldiers, "Tecla" are peasants, "Chreotha" are merchants, "Orcas" are sailors, pirates or - wait for it - bankers, and "Jhereg" are gangsters or assassins.

Most members of House Jhereg are also involved in "the organization," which is the equivalent of the mafia. The hero, Baronet Vladimir Taltos, is an assassin and minor sorcerer, who used to be a prominent member of House Jhereg but is now on the run from the organisation after developing an unfortunate case of principles. Vlad has a companion and familiar, Loiosh, who is an actual Jhereg - that is to say, he is a small intelligent flying reptile - and Vlad is also accompanied by Loiosh's mate, Rocza.

Taltos narrates most of the stories with a wonderful dry wit which is one of their best aspects. In "Orca" the story is being told by Vlad's oldest friend, Kiera the Thief, to his separated wife Cawti. Sometimes the story is told from Kiera's own perspective, but for most of the book she is quoting Vlad.

The books are not written in a regular chronological sequence. For example the fourth published novel, "Taltos" is a prequel set before the main action of any of the others, while the eighth novel, "Dragon" is mostly set just after "Taltos" but jumps to a few weeks after "Yendi" for the conclusion.

Many of the Vlad Taltos novels contain either flashbacks to much earlier events, references to much later events, multiple timelines, or all three. "Orca" has one of the simpler timelines in the series, in that you get the story in rough chronological sequence as Kiera told it to Cawti.

This book includes a critical plot revelation for the series as a whole, as Vlad finds out the real identity of one of the most important characters in the series. Brust has obviously been setting this up from the start, because there are events in novels written a decade before "Orca" which make more sense when you have read this book. Further, Brust does not always remind you in later books about this real identity, so you need to read "Orca" beforehand to make sense of some events in later books such as "Issola" and "Dzur".

There is also a rather moving scene between Vlad and Loiosh usually their relationship consists of a constant stream of insulting banter, but in "Orca" there is a scene in which Loiosh is badly injured and you get an insight into another side of the relationship.

Make sure you read to the end because another important revelation comes in the very last sentence of the book.

You will get most out of the Vlad Taltos books if you read them in something close to the "official" order. My recommendation would be to start with either the first book written, "Jhereg" or the chronologically first book, "Taltos."

Here is a list of the books in publication order, with the chronological place of the main action of each book in brackets after

1) Jhereg (4th)
2) Yendi (3rd)
3) Tecla (5th)
4) Taltos (1st)
5) Phoenix (6th)
6) Athyra (8th)
7) Orca (9th)
8) Dragon (2nd)
9) Issola (10th)
10) Dzur (11th)
11) Jhegaala (7th).

If you enjoy the Taltos novels, you might be interested in another sequence of books which Steven Brust has set in the same country, but quite a few centuries earlier. These are something between a parody and a homage to the novels of Alexandre Dumas (Junior). He's called them the "Khaavren Romances" after the central character of the first two novels, who corresponds very closely to D'Artagnan.

Obviously none of the human characters overlap, but some of the Dragaerans do Khaavren himself meets Vlad Taltos very briefly in the book "Tecla" and his current role in the Empire is described in a sort of offstage cameo in this book, "Orca." Two of the major characters in the Taltos novels, Sethra Lavode and Lord Morrolan of Castle Black, are also important enough in the Khaavren novels to have books named after them.

The five Khaavren romances, in sequence, are

1) "The Phoenix Guards" (equivalent to "The Three Musketeers")
2)"Five Hundred Years After" (equivalent to "Twenty years after")

Then a trilogy "The Viscount of Adrilankha" (e.g. "The Count of Monte Cristo") which comprises

3) The Paths of the Dead
4) The Lord of Castle Black
5) Sethra Lavode

Overall I found both the "Taltos" novels and the "Khaavren Romances" very entertaining I recommend both series and this book.
2.5 stars. Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Orca is the seventh book in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. It’d be best to stop here if you haven’t read the previous books. We don’t want to spoil anything, do we?

Okay, so you should recall that Vlad Taltos, everyone’s favorite Jhereg assassin, is wanted by his organization because he betrayed them in order to save his wife from the executioner’s ax (or whatever implement the executioners in Dragaera use). Vlad has given up his territory and is on the run. In the last book, Athyra, he met a boy named Savn who helped him defeat a necromancer. Because Savn used a Morganti weapon to kill the bad guy, Savn is now witless, and he’s been that way for a year. Feeling responsible for Savn’s condition, Vlad finds a woman who may be able to heal him. In return, Vlad will try to find and stop the person who is trying to get the woman kicked off her land. He’ll need help from his friend Kiera, Dragaera’s most famous thief. Together they will uncover an extensive plot that involves a murdered financier, collapsing banks, the empire’s Minister of the Treasury, and even the Jhereg organization that is trying to assassinate Vlad.

As with the last novel, Athyra, Steven Brust is once again playing around with voice and structure. Fortunately we’re back to Vlad’s first person POV, but this time Brust also adds Kiera’s first person POV. This is the first time we’ve had a first person account that wasn’t Vlad. (In Athyra we had a third person POV from Savn’s perspective). Also, when Kiera talks, she is relating the story to Cawti, Vlad’s estranged wife, who she has met in a tavern after these events occurred. Vlad is often relating his story to Kiera and vice versa. So, often we get Kiera telling Cawti what she told Vlad that she did during the day and then telling Cawti what Vlad told her that he did all day. This sounds a little confusing, but it’s not really. Brust handles it well.

Brust has also been gradually changing Vlad’s personality. Since the end of Phoenix, Vlad has been a bit depressed due to being alone and separated from his wife and friends. I miss Vlad’s vibrancy and sense of humor, but this (temporary, I hope) period of depression makes sense after what he’s been through. Could Brust also be preparing us for a career change for Vlad? In Orca, our famous assassin has become a forensic accountant who tries to help an old lady keep her land.

While I like this more gentle and noble side of Vlad, I thought the convoluted financial plot of Orca just wasn’t much fun. Almost the entire plot involves Vlad and Kiera investigating a banking scam and trying to figure out who’s involved, how far-reaching it is, and what it means for the woman who’s trying to help Savn. To do this, they look at public records, sneak into offices to steal papers, go through papers for clues, meet people and pretend they know what’s going on so that others will spill information, tell each other what they’ve found and try to work it out together, etc. Maybe it’s just my personality, but I thought this was boring (although there were some bright spots such as when Vlad tries to swagger in a wig and platform shoes). Keep in mind that we’re hearing Kiera tell the story to Cawti after it all happened, so the events feel slightly removed from the present and some of the tension is removed, too. Also, it’s one of those types of mysteries that there’s no way the reader can figure out. We just have to watch Vlad and Kiera make wild guesses and eventually hit upon the right ones. This is not very exciting to me, but other readers may enjoy it.

I am not certain that Brust’s magical system is consistent in each book. Especially the rules for when and why teleporting should not be used. I don’t think this has been dealt with the same way in each book. I’m willing to overlook this, though, especially since I’m not certain.
At the very end of Orca, a couple of huge revelations are made. If you’re a fan of the series, you probably don’t want to miss these. They’re big.
A word about the audiobook version Because Orca has two first person POVs — one from Vlad and one from Kiera — Audible Studios divided the reading between two narrators. As usual, the wonderful Bernard Setaro Clark reads Vlad’s parts. Kiera’s parts are read by Angele Masters who also did an excellent job. Orca is 9.25 hours long on audio.
Only a few words need be said about this book. The story just keeps getting better and better. Steven Brust has been and is a master storyteller. This is not light and airy fantasy but good old fashion fun.
I'll be honest that I didn't care for the way the narrative was done in this book. I enjoy the stories from Vlad's perspective, but much of this book isn't. The story, to my mind, was a good one one with typical Brust twists and turns and a very interesting end. I just think that the change of perspective flattens the narrative a bit.