Lyorn

Bestseller Brust (Tsalmoth) continues his long-running series featuring sometime-assassin Vlad Taltos with a wonderful installment that combines theatricality, crime, Vlad’s trademark wise-cracking, and portents of world-changing events. Vlad, a member of the Right Hand of the criminal house of Jhereg, the more straightforward muscle and knives side of the operation, is on the run from powerful criminal sorceresses who belong to the Jhereg’s Left Hand. He holes up in the Crying Clown theater, which is protected from sorcery to keep plagiarists at bay. The company is preparing a musical adaptation of a historical play which the House of Lyorn believed besmirched their honor. A Lyorn in Vlad’s present day wishes to shut down the musical for the same reason. Vlad must find a way to thwart the Lyorn to safeguard his hiding place, rescue the son of his former lieutenant (who’s been kidnapped by the Left Hand), and process the revelation that his entire life has been manipulated by godlike beings, all while never leaving the theater. With each Vlad Taltos novel, Brust expands the history of the Empire but also dips into different narrative styles, with this musical-tinged story being a fine example: lyrics appear throughout, including a clever take on “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” There’s just enough backstory to refresh the memories of longtime fans and whet the appetites of newcomers. This series shows no signs of slowing down. (Apr.)