Vallista: A Novel of Vlad Taltos

The clever 15th book in Brust’s Vlad Taltos cycle (after Hawk), set in a fantasy land where humans uneasily coexist with the 17 clans of long-lived nonhumans called Dragaerans, continues his recent trend of pastiching genres by taking on the gothic novel, including overt and occasionally overly cute references to classics such as The Mysteries of Udolpho and Jane Eyre. Series hero Vlad, a not-entirely-hapless human who’s currently on the run from Dragaeran crime bosses, gets a visit from Devera, the otherworldly young daughter of his friend Aliera, asking for his help. She leads him to a mysterious building called Precipice Manor and vanishes, and Vlad finds himself unable to leave. As he searches the building, he meets a ghost who claims to have built it, encounters servants ranging from butlers to sorcerers, and finds rooms that connect to one another in defiance of geometry. He also discovers that some paths take him to different times. In spite of the book’s limited location, it’s hardly a suitable introduction for new readers of the series, but longtime readers will have a lot to get excited about: many of the mysteries plaguing Vlad are solved here, and the Paths of the Dead, long one of the more complicated elements of this universe, are a major plot element. Brust’s signature wit and narrative voice keep the action flowing and entertaining. (Oct.)