The Vlad Taltos Series [Reading: Phoenix] (August 2024)

[Tammie]

I'm kind of interested in reading more of this series, but I'll see how I feel about it in April.

[Chris]

This is on sale currently in USA.

It's the first 3 books (Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla) in this series...

The Book of Jhereg

$1.99 each on Kindle USA

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Just a reminder, it's almost April, and Tsalmoth comes out on the 25th, anybody that still hadn't read one of the previous BR books from last year and wanted to catch up ahead of time (even tho, technically, Tsalmoth comes before Jhereg)...

[Chris]

I'm down. Even got approved for an arc of Tsalmoth so good to go with it...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm still planning to join for the read. :)

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "I'm down. Even got approved for an arc of Tsalmoth so good to go with it..."

I've been hoping I would get approved for the ARC, but so far I haven't heard either way.

[Chris]

Started reading Tiassa today...

[Chris]

So I finished the first section of Tiassa and....

I was at the beach, enjoying the view of the ocean and I had no other book in reach.....So....kept reading...

Sorry, I know we were supposed to read those other sections later on....Oops

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chris wrote: "So I finished the first section of Tiassa and....

I was at the beach, enjoying the view of the ocean and I had no other book in reach.....So....kept reading...

Sorry, I know we were supposed to r..."

Did you reach the Paarfi section?... I hear the whole Khaavren series is like that, in the style of the Three Musketeers... I'm not sure I could read 5 books of that... I barely managed 1/3 of one :D

[Chris]

Yes, I'm about halfway through that section now.

It's pretty good though. I was wondering if it would flow, but it's been pretty smooth.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It works... I just dunno that I'm a big fan of the style...

On a lark/dare, the author wrote some Paarfirotica: http://dreamcafe.com/downloads/

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

That's okay, you'll just be ahead of schedule when we hit those. :)

[Chris]

I started Jhereg...Halfway through now..I was looking yesterday and realized that it was originally published in April of 1983.

So this is the 40th anniversary of that book, first published in this series...

I could have gone ahead and started Tsalmoth as it happens before Jhereg, but with the release date of 4/25 I wouldn't get the buddy bonus until starting on 4/18 or later. I don't contribute a lot of points to the group but I'll work in what I can...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Chris wrote: "I started Jhereg...Halfway through now..I was looking yesterday and realized that it was originally published in April of 1983.

So this is the 40th anniversary of that book, first published in thi..."

Oh shoot, you've just reminded me I've not been updating my points ::facepalm::

I got my copy of Tsalmoth, so I'm looking forward to starting on the 25th or there abouts. :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

looking forward to reading some Vlad Taltos again... been awhile...

[Chris]

Great! Should be ready to roll with the new one soon.

Oh, I was doing a little research and I see that Lyorn is due for release next year (4/9/2024). He's turned it in and it's awaiting publication.

Timeline wise, it should settle in right at the end of our current list, after Hawk...

And after that he only has two more books in the projected Vlad series.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chris wrote: "Great! Should be ready to roll with the new one soon.

Oh, I was doing a little research and I see that Lyorn is due for release next year (4/9/2024). He's turned it in and it's aw..."

Great to see some momentum on the series... he's not young anymore, having been writing the series for 40 years like you said... 2 more books seems doable... versus when it was 5+ and he was only releasing one every 5 years...

[Chris]

Started Tsalmoth and having a lot of fun with this. Fits into our sequence nicely..

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "Started Tsalmoth and having a lot of fun with this. Fits into our sequence nicely.."

I'll hopefully be able to get to it soon.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

For some reason I was thinking an audio copy would be available on release day... weird.

[Chris]

Normally they are...Weird that Tor Books would sleep on this one...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Same... I was mostly hoping for an audio release... I've already got a backlog of ebooks to try and read...

It's hard to doublecheck audiobook releases, because Audible likes to backdate their releases, and pretend they came out the same day as the ebook, most of the time... even when I KNOW THEY DIDN'T, because I spend weeks/months checking for audio popups, sometimes...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm definitely not the only one online, clamoring for the Tsalmoth audiobook... found comments on Brust's blog and reddit... nothing official yet, tho...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm still planning to read it on ebook if I have to, but I have a queue and didn't plan for it well enough. Hopefully the clamoring will help me out with an audio release. :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Still no new news on audiobook release... I check all the time...

I'll probably buckle eventually, and read the ebook if I have to, but my current reading plate is booked solid with Buddy Reads, as everyone has started ribbing me about in the monthly digests :D

I guess when you're doing 30-40 BRs per month, you get a rep for being in every thread...

[Chris]

I finished Tsalmoth, but haven't gone forward from there yet. Way booked and hit something of a wall with reading...Work is heavy now with our annual Summer Project where the late hours pretty much shut reading down...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I can follow along easily with any non-Tsalmoth book, since they all have audio, but I'm kinda in a similar boat...

My reading has dipped a bit with the summer heat, and months of heavy reading, but I'm still reading a fair bit, it just ends up being all my BRs, and not much extra, at the moment...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Okay I’m planning to pick up Tsalmoth tomorrow and read it at a glacial pace. About one chapter per day. Tammie are you still game? Iain the no audio thing is seriously cramping my style but I’m tired of waiting to continue. :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I understand... I'll try and get to it, as well... somehow... in my neverending hectic reading schedule... still nothing on Audible...

[Tammie]

I'm still game. I can start it in a couple of days.

[Chris]

I finished Tsalmoth, so I'll just sit back and wait on y'all as I get caught up on other overbookings...

Heh...and enjoy the fact that I'm actually ahead of the group on a buddy read...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Chris wrote: "I finished Tsalmoth, so I'll just sit back and wait on y'all as I get caught up on other overbookings...

Heh...and enjoy the fact that I'm actually ahead of the group on a buddy read..."

Haha I’d say “yeah that’s a great feeling,” but don’t think I’ve ever experienced it. XD

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Ch. 1! (view spoiler)[ he’s going after 800 imperials but says he brings in about 1000 per week… sounds about right haha. He said things have quieted down - I think he’s just bored.

Reading about him all lovey-dovey with Cawti is especially jarring given what the cover looks like!

Glad to be back to this series. :) (hide spoiler)]

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "I finished Tsalmoth, so I'll just sit back and wait on y'all as I get caught up on other overbookings...

Heh...and enjoy the fact that I'm actually ahead of the group on a buddy read..."

Haha, it's a nice feeling when it happens.

[Tammie]

I've gotten 4% in. I had forgotten how much these books make me laugh. I had a giggle at this-

"If you get along when it comes to kissing, cooking, and killing, there's a good chance everything else will fall into place, right?"

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Tammie wrote: "I've gotten 4% in. I had forgotten how much these books make me laugh. I had a giggle at this-

"If you get along when it comes to kissing, cooking, and killing, there's a good chance everything e..."

haha yeah that one made me laugh too. The essentials, right?

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Through Ch. 4 (view spoiler)[that whole necromancies incident was a major whoops lol. Someone’s getting fired. I’m curious if it will play into the mystery of the book or if it was just a tangent. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Just started... early pages are full of humorous lines...

It's a bit jarring how he keeps pausing to talk to Sethra, or feel weird telling the story in front of Sethra Lavode...

I take it this means pretty much all the books have been recorded on storage cubes at Sethra's castle...

Not too surprising, really... Sethra is littered throughout the series, both as herself, and in disguise...

I assume this smooths out as Vlad gets comfortable and the story progresses... is also a good excuse to be light on the details about the awkward details of Vlad & Cawti getting frisky :D

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Just started... early pages are full of humorous lines...

It's a bit jarring how he keeps pausing to talk to Sethra, or feel weird telling the story in front of Sethra Lavode...

I take it this me..."

Haha yeah awkward because it’s Vlad and he manages to make everything weird. In past books we’ve read I always thought he was pushing the veil (I don’t know the right term) by addressing the audience/reader. But I’m hindsight maybe he was just talking to Sethra all along. Or just writing his account. I still think the style is neat.

Just finished ch 6. Nothing profound is standing out so far but I am enjoying it as usual. Kregar always amuses me.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Through Ch. 8 - I’m doing about a chapter a day and it’s a good pace so far. It was fun to see (view spoiler)[ Cawti and Kiera meet in this chapter. (hide spoiler)]

[Tammie]

Yeah this whole time I thought he was breaking the fourth wall? I think that's what it's called. I'm in chapter 6. I'm going to try to read a chapter a day too now that I finished my other books I was reading.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Tammie wrote: "Yeah this whole time I thought he was breaking the fourth wall? I think that's what it's called. I'm in chapter 6. I'm going to try to read a chapter a day too now that I finished my other books I ..."

Yeah something like that. I like all the risks he takes as an author but the real explanation for that is a little less ballsy. Well, maybe not considering in most books you can’t tell who he’s addressing.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 3: I can't believe he paused the story to let Sethra tell him a story about that sword at Castle Black, but didn't share it with the reader, lol...

Also, this is a spoiler for like book 7, but I need to jot it down so I don't forget between now and then: (view spoiler)[it's really weird that this story is being told to Sethra, and Vlad has problems with the weirdness of telling certain aspects of the story to her, but has no issue mentioning Kiera... who is one of Sethra's shapeshifted aliases... I guess it depends when this story is being conveyed... being the 16th published work, it feels like it must be later on, but maybe it's more chronological?... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

End of chapter 3: (view spoiler)[that final paragraph of nonsense is what I wish Jim Butcher had said to explain the feeling of looking at the Outsiders, instead of the handwavey "it can't be explained" he went with, in Peace Talks / Battle Ground... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 4: The absurdity of the "normal stuff" gets me every time:

(view spoiler)[ “There was,” said the Necromancer, her voice oddly even, almost monotone, “a sense of place becoming color, and time becoming sound. Of course, that is quite normal.”

To you, maybe, thought Morrolan, but he didn’t say anything.

“However,” she continued, “the colors began to bend back on themselves, which as you know is unusual.”

Morrolan, who knew nothing of the kind, nodded. Aliera was showing no trace of expression, but appeared to be listening intently. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: The absurdity of the "normal stuff" gets me every time:

."

Lol yeah every moment is an opportunity for humor. My favorite parts are always when he and Kregar are just talking. I’m through Ch 12. It was my favorite one so far. (view spoiler)[ it’s nice to finally have a lot of the mystery pieces together. At least regarding Fisher and the Tsalmoth heir. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm going super slow... seems like 2 chapters a week...

If I'm taking too long, we can probably continue with the audiobooks, when everyone else is ready, while I finish Tsalmoth at a snail's pace... I still check for audiobook news sometimes, when I'm visiting Audible for other reasons...

[Tammie]

I think we're all going at a snail's pace. I just got to chapter 11 last night.

I agree Niki, the parts where he and Kregar are just talking are my favorite parts too.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm on chapter 5 or 6...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I finished the book today. (view spoiler)[ overall it was fun, but I found myself getting bored near the end and read to move on to something else. As soon as we found out who Fisher was working for I lost a bit of interest.

It’s funny, I know there are a lot of things in this book that would have a lot of significance to the series as a whole… if I were inclined to pay attention hard enough to pick up on all of them. Like, subtle clues through each book that you’d have to pick up on and remember for future “reveals” to make sense. I just don’t want to work that hard at it, so I always read these feeling like I’m missing the big picture. I’m sure I’d like them even more if I always knew what the heck he was talking about.

Anyway I’m coming in at a 2.5/5 stars. I really liked the beginnings of the chapters talking about the wedding planning. (hide spoiler)]