Michelle's Reviews > Issola

Book 9 in the Vlad Taltos series. Another re-read.

The author went back to his original literary style with this one. The story is told by Vlad in first person.

Lady Teldra, a member of the House of Issola, leaves Castle Black and tracks down Vlad in the wilderness; he's still on the run from the Jhereg Organization's assassins. She asks Vlad to help her locate Morrolan, (the Lord of Castle Black) and his cousin Aliera. The pair of them have disappeared and even Sethra Lavode is stumped. They appear to be alive since the Necromancer couldn't find them, either.

I always liked Lady Teldra, and the first time that I read this book I was so glad that she had been given a co-starring role. It is really cool to see how much more there is to her than originally met the eye. Even as a reader I tend to think of her as just an exquisitely polite and courteous character. I really enjoyed her conversations with Vlad.

Another development in this one is that we finally meet the mythological Jenoine race in person. Up until now they've just been discussed. They have formed a big part of the ancient history of this world, and before this book Sethra Lavode was the only character with first hand knowledge of them. Although they exist in reality, most denizens of this world still maintain that they were a myth. Sethra should know since she's older than dirt.

This is such a fun series and I am really enjoying reading it again!