24 March, 2004
Yendi, Steven Brust (209 pp, MMPB, 1984)
This is the second Vlad Taltos (after Jhereg). However, it takes place a few years before its predecessor. (This really confused me the first time I read it.) Vlad's been into the business side of the Jhereg organization for a year or so-- he's still a newbie vice boss. The story starts when one of his rivals starts moving in on his territory. Before long, it's Vlad's First Gang War.
But it gets more complicated from there (as befits the title). The gang war gets Vlad involved in high-level Dragaeran politics, and in particular, a centuries-long dispute over who's the proper leader of House Dragon and heir to the throne. And in the middle of this all, Vlad's meeting and getting together with his future wife, Cawti.
The rest of this contains spoilers for the entire Vlad series, so be warned.
So, Vlad and Cawti: the relationship was doomed from the start. As one might expect in the case of a short courtship, they start off entranced by the things they have in common (common histories, a common situation of being too Jhereg to fit in with other Easterners, but too Eastern to fit in with Dragaerans, same line of business), and it takes a while for a situation to arise which brings their deep differences to the forefront. The big difference being in the way each of them views their fellow sentient beings (Easterners and Dragaerans). Vlad regards people as individuals, and doesn't care too much about them in abstract groups. The world is divided into "Vlad's friends, who he cares about," and "everybody else, who he doesn't." Cawti, on the other hand, looks at people in groups, and might care about what happens to the group in general, doesn't consider individual members of the groups to be very important. This issue comes to the forefront in Teckla, but it's there from the beginning:
"Why take it so hard?" I asked her.
She stared at me. "Why take it so hard? He's using our people. That's us, Easterners, being set up to be beaten and killed just to manipulate a few guards. What do you mean, why take it so hard?" [...]
"I guess I'm used to it, that's all. I expect things like that."
She looked at me coldly. "It doesn't bother you anymore, eh?"
[...]
To be honest, it had never occurred to me to think about it. But Cawti was looking at me with rage in her lovely brown eyes. I felt a sudden flash of anger and said, "Look, damn it, I've never 'worked' on and Easterner, remember, so don't give me any--"
"Don't throw that up at me," she snapped. "We've been over it once. I'm sorry. But it was a job, all right? That has nothing to do with your not caring about what happens to our own people."
Another thing: In Vlad's time, there are rumors that the Empress has an Easterner lover. How does this tie in to her Eastern lover in the Paarfi books? Did Paarfi simply incorporate the "modern-day" rumor into his novel? Did Paarfi learn that there were similar rumors about the Empress back in the day, and included that aspect in The Lord of Castle Black? Did she really have an Easterner lover back then, and is it still the same guy, or does she just have a fetish?
Well, onward to Teckla, I guess. That should be fairly depressing.
It occurs to me that I'd very much like to see a book from Morollan's point of view, or Aliera's. And I don't mean the Paarfi-ized versions.