As I said, I was reading a book Evan had recommended to me. I’ve finished volume one which weighs in at a hefty 670 pages of pretty small type. I had to use reading glasses and that made me feel old. I never read something Evan recommended before, so this was a bit of a risk. But when we were in Book-A-Million killing some time, he showed it to me. I read the back cover, thought “Assasain” and “Fantasy” and immediately thought of Vlad Taltos. Brust’s Taltos series isn’t the best series I’ve ever read but it’s good. However, Vlad Taltos as a character is one of the most fascinating ever and one of the best.
This book has Durzo Blint in the Taltos role and they aren’t the same. I didn’t get Vlad Taltos at all, but something entirely different. He’s closer to Garrett from Glen Cook’s Tun Faire series. And it’s not a bad thing. We also meet Azoth who is a very complex character and that makes him interesting. He’s not some stereotypical character and there are quite a few in the genre and in this book. Logan is very stereotypical, but he’s needed. But whenever you’re reading the book, you keep hoping for more Durzo and Azoth.
We have the obligatory love interest, the madam, the guild, the bad king, and everything else you would expect. Yet, even so, this first book manages not to be cliché. It’s the first of three, and I won’t spoil it by telling you who lives, dies, gets married, and wins the lotto. I am looking forward to reading the second. One warning: there’s an interview with the author in the back of book one. I would suggest you not read it until you’re done the series as it had a spoiler that I wasn’t prepared for and am irritated I read. (And, yes, Mister Weeks, I am one of those quirky readers who reads the acknowledgements in the back of books.)
PS: Dolphins are up 10-0 on the Saints in the pre-season game. Yay.