Rating: 
Summary: clever dark fantasy
Review: Steven Brust is one of the few writers today really writing interesting work. His creations remind me of Michael Moorcock and his characters and humor remind me of Fritz Lieber. It is very refreshing to see someone working in a different direction than the Tolkien rip-offs.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy at it's best
Review: Steven Brust, with the world of Draegera, has created a fantasy tapestry of rich adventure. One of the best sci-fi/fantasy authors I have come across in quite some time, his characters and plots are tight and well written. The Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla trilogy was a set of stories that paradoxically left me satisfied with the read, yet hungering for more. Vlad, the main character, is quite believeable. Unlike many other authors, Brust allows his characters to grow and change throughout the series. He makes the characters live. Subplots, twists, and surprises abound. I have read all of the Jhereg series, each one is complete in itself. Vlad takes on whatever challenges are before him, and always seems to scrape by, often with a little help from his friends. He goes through many trials and tribulations, pain and auguish, but finds and (sorta) loses love, wins friends and influences people. I could easily write a book about the books, but will refrain. This work, and all of Brust's work, I heartily recommend.
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Summary: Can't recommend it enough...
Review: The first three books of the Dragaeran Cycle, The Book of Jhereg includes in one volume what were three paperback books whose spines I systematically destroyed with reads and re-reads.Jhereg introduces us to Vlad Taltos, assassin, easterner (read: human), and witch. It also introduces us to his winged familiar, Loiosh, Morrolan, Aliera, and a myriad of other memorable characters. These first three are told from the first person perspective (which is unusual in fantasy not only because it's rarely done but because it's almost never done so *well*). The books are like a key turning in a lock: as you read, you can almost hear tumblers falling in place and then click-click-click, the book surges forward. They are part mystery, part adventure, part sardonic humor, very touching, with well-developed characters and a very interesting fantasy setting. Dragaera is a superb example of what a fantasy world *can* be, in terms of the city layout, the government, the people, its histories, and its organizations. Even the recipes and meals intruige: you'll wish you could eat or drink some of what Brust describes. Each of the books (Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla) is a complete tale, though they build off one another, and should be read in order. No waiting for 10 years to see a tale told, as has become the fashion. If you are looking for light-hearted fantasy, look elsewhere, possibly "Blue Moon Rising" by Green or another of Brust's works, "The Phoenix Guards" which is written in a swashbuckling style a-la Dumas. The third book, Teckla, is a wee bit dark. I have to quote one of the authors who recommended this book, which was one of the reasons I initially looked at this series and which I never regretted: "Watch Steven Brust. He's good. He moves fast. He surprises you." -Roger Zelazny None of these books disappoint.
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Summary: Not just another pretty face in the fantasy world
Review: There are not enough descriptive words or terms to fully encompass Steven Brust's work with the Taltos Cycle. Not only is it a brilliant work of high fantasy, it is also a treatise on socio-political maneuvering in a world with a fixed class system that (strangely enough, seeing as how these are beings that live for 3K years on average) seems extremely similar to our own. On top of those two aspects, the fantasy and the intrige, Brust's main character/alter ego Vlad is a brilliant roving narrator through whose eyes we see the world in an utterly realistic light. Vlad, while an assassin and a crimelord and an all around badass, is at his core a nearly perfect example of the human experience: non sequiter thoughts, inane ramblings to oneself and ones pet, and utter insolence in the face of higher authorities. We all feel these things, Vlad lives them. His is a voice you CANNOT afford to miss, and once heard it is a voice you will not forget.
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Summary: Three great works together at last!
Review: These three books: Yendi, Jhereg, and Teckla are great pieces of fantasy. Yendi is a complex story with elements of mystery to it. A small-time mob boss gets an enemy who tries to take over his territory sometime in the Dark Ages. It revolves around assasins, conspiracies, a weak love story, and an overall old-style mob war. Jhereg is a story that takes place a little later than its prequel involving a Jhereg theif who Vlad has to kill. But the theif had a long 10-year plan that makes him hard to kill and Vlad in danger himself. It has a lot of fantasy/mystery elements making it very interesting. Teckla involves another mob boss going up against Vlad and practically over-taking him. Amidst all this Vlad's wife, who was an assassin hired to kill him in Yendi, joins a Teckla revolution and puts herself in danger of the mob boss that Vlad is up against. Their marriage falls apart and Vlad is once again victorious. It is filled with mystery and a lot of suspense, making it a solemn favorite of mine. It is also a good value because Yendi and Teckla are now out of print alone and would cost quite a bit to get all these books seperately.
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Summary: Excellent collection of the first 3 Taltos novels
Review: This book contains the first 3 installments in the Vlad Taltos series ("Jhereg", "Yendi" and "Teckla"). The main character, Vlad, is a human assassin living in a society dominated by Dragaerans (a magic-wielding race, divided into 17 noble houses that are constantly scheming and plotting against each other). The stories are told from Vlad's point-of-view, so you will get to know this smart, witty and deadly character and his jhereg familiar quite well. These books are simply a pleasure to read! Since Yendi and Teckla are both out of print at this moment, this is a great opportunity to get into this wonderful series. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Wow! 3 great books in one cover!
Review: This book was my first introduction to Vlad Taltos. And now I'm hooked. The character development and interaction is incredibly detailed, and Brust makes you actually care for an otherwise despicable person. Vlad is an Easterner, living in the Draegaeran Empire. He faces prejudice, yet always manages to get even with those he hates. His relationships with his friends, wife, and associates are the hingepin to everything that happens. I just hope the rest of the series is collected in similar books.
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Summary: GREAT EXCEPT FOR.......
Review: This is a great buy and a great way to save space for these wonderful books.....except for the person who wants to read the series CHRONOLOGICALLY according to the world:) THe books do NOT follow the path of Vlad's life....
Rating: 
Summary: Too much magic, not enough characters
Review: This is a story of an assassin who gets mixed up in a plot with the wrong people...people who are very powerfully magically. I'm sure some of you are going to disagree, but I was sorely disappointed with this especially after two acquaintences so highly recommended the book. The book had so much potential but the author just dropped the ball for the following reasons: 1) For an assassin as the main character, the book had very little action. I'd say 95% of the book has to do with characters meeting in dark alleys to figure out what is going on. We never see how good of an assassin our protagonist is. 2) The protagonist I really felt is the only character we get to know BUT we only get to know him in a two-dimensional sort of way. All the other characters were dressing to the scenery and I never cared about any of them. 3) This is a HIGH magic type of book. The magic was so powerful that it leaves very little or no room for characters to use their skills and inginuity when trying to resolve challenges. 4) The main character (for an assassian) only succeeded because he had SUPER powerful friends. He didn't succeed because he has any brains or other strengths to get him out of situations. For example: If our protagonist would have found himself imprisoned, needing to escape, and thwart the people who put him there. . . this story would have our protagonist yell over at his buddy the caster and whine that he was mistreatd. Then the caster would just blow up everything within a 20mile radius and say to himself, "See, killing the bad guys and freeing you from prison wasn't so hard." OVERALL: I was very disappointed in where this book could have gone but didn't. I liked the Dragonlance novels much better than this and that isn't saying much. Please don't waste your time, especially since there are so many better books out there. My two cents worth.
Rating:
Summary: A fun departure from typical fantasy.
Review: This is not your typical high-fantasy. In fact, it's close to low fantasy. Brust writes realistic characters. The differences between the two races, Easterners and Dragaeran's is delved into and becomes an intrinsic element in this world. Vlad seems real as a fantasy character. It's refreshing to read a story where the 'hero' has limits, and must rely on a little help from his friends. The world feels fully realized, although the reader does not get more than a glimpse into its geography. Highly reccomended read for anybody looking for a fun read that's outside the norm for the genre. My only problem is the lack of maps, or better explained geography. The city of Adrilankha seems too complex to not have that reference.
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