It’s been another over the top, busy week but in a good way. Both of our kids were back for Spring Break this week and, I have to say, it was a good week for everyone. Not sure about everyone else but I’ve always considered my #1 job as a parent to prepare my children for the day they leave home. Happy to say that both our son and our daughter seem to have made it in pretty fine form. They both seem happy and they’ve really grown – gotten stronger, smarter, more confident and more capable of making their own decisions. While you can’t help to feel a little loss with their growing independence, I find that it gets washed away in a flood of relief and satisfaction in seeing them start to take charge of their lives.
We sent them both off today and I finally have a little time to write. I have two books that I want to post on and this is one. There are authors that instantly move to the top of the Nightstand pile – no matter what I’m reading. Their books are always in my shopping cart, I track the release date and I purchase and download them as soon as they’re released. I feel that way about Jim Butcher and his “Dresden Files” books.
Steven Brust is another and it’s primarily because of his Vlad Taltos novels. It’s a mammoth series that I’ve been reading since the first book – “Jhereg” – came out in 1987. There are 15 novels in the Taltos series with at least 2 more coming as well as 5 titles in a prequel series called the Khaavren Romances – inspired by Dumas’ d’Artagnan romances. I can’t recommend these books highly enough. They’re tight, witty, complex and very, very fun. Vlad is one of those characters who’s aged really well. He’s a little slower, a lot wiser and not quite as cocky today as he was in 1987 when he first appeared in “Jhereg” but he’s every bit as lovable. I don’t know how anyone couldn’t enjoy this character or these books.
I saw “The Good Guys” pop up on Amazon about 6 months ago and it went straight into my Shopping Cart. It was released the same day as “A Call To Vengeance” and I worked my way through both in pretty short order. I’ve already posted on “A Call To Vengeance” and can honestly say that I’m glad I read it first. I saved the best of the two for last and ended New Release Week on a slightly higher note. I can’t tell whether Brust plans to turn this into a new series but he’s certainly left himself room to do so. While I hope he does, I have to say that I’d prefer him to get back to Vlad and finish his story before returning to the world he’s created in “The Good Guys”.
Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed this book. It’s just that Brust will never write another book that I won’t -as I’m reading – compare to his Taltos series. Those books are – and always will be – special to me – mainly because of his main character. Vlad Taltos is one of my literary heroes. I have a 30 year relationship with him and he’s NEVER, EVER, EVER let me down. Brust made the mistake of getting it all right for me with his first series and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to get over that bar. The only time he’s ever gotten close is with his Taltos prequel series – “The Khaavren Romances”.
So – the problem for me here is that it’s a good book – it’s just not quite as good as what he’s written for me in the past. He certainly grabs your attention from the very first page. He doles out information about his primary characters and the organization for which they work in a measured way that holds you and compels you to read on. He teases you with ambiguities about the relationship and politics between the two magical societies in a very skillful way. Brust makes you want to finish this one from the very first page.
Ultimately, the problem has to do with the main character in “The Good Guys”. Donovan is a very hard-boiled, self-contained private investigator working for one of the two magical societies existing in our world – the Foundation. He’s competent and confident and capable and worth cheering for. He’s committed to his team but he’s almost too willing to put them in harm’s way. He’s not a killer but ultimately proves himself to be all too willing to dispense remorseless, terminal justice. He has an endearing disdain for the bureaucracy that he serves but it becomes so pronounced that it calls into question where his loyalties lie – if he has any at all – or his reasons for serving at all. He just didn’t engage me and worm his way into my heart in the same way that Vlad has. I found very little beyond his professionalism and skill to admire. Short to long – he’s all nails – displaying very little humanity.
Vlad on the other hand, while he’s an assassin and a mob enforcer – not normally the type of calling most of us would associate with a rich and warm and appealing personality – is all human – something made even more tangible to readers by the fact that he’s one of the few human characters in this enormous 30 year cast of characters. He’s defined not by his profession but by his love of food and friends and family and his relationship with his Jhereg familiar (who in many ways is actually the most enjoyable character in the 15 books that currently make up this series) – his loyalty and his sense of humor and his chaotic way of always finding the correct answer to seemingly intractable problems. I live for new Taltos novels in the same way that I live for new Harry Dresden novels – they give me the precious chance to spend another day or two with Vlad.
My last word on this – if this is your first Brust novel – you’ll probably enjoy it far more than I did – largely because you won’t be measuring it against a 30 year literary love affair.