Issola - Steven Brust

[silverflight8]

Another one I really enjoyed. Attempting to talk about involves so many spoilers though so:


*NOOOO that's not okay Steven Brust! How dare!!

*I had such a bad feeling as soon as Lady Teldra stabbed the Jenoine. It was just written in a way that was screaming something really awful was about to happen. Plus it happened after Morrolan was killed so the stakes were definitely going to be higher. What a way to go, but how dare this happen to Lady Teldra! I really liked her, even back when we only knew she was the person greeting Vlad at the door (and discomfiting him by being so nice and even convincing him she was sincere about welcoming him). How! Dare!

*I absolutely loved that Lady Teldra managed to track him down in the woods. OK, she had Sethra's help, but still. I loved that she knew to stop well before she freaked out Vlad enough to make him do something he'd regret. Honestly the whole sequence before they get to Dzur Mountain is so great.

*Loiosh really respects Sethra and let her scratch his ears! Is this because she also served him a dead teckla that one time? :D

*Super interesting about the Paths of the Dead and their purpose. It also makes me wonder why Loraan was returned as undead (though that might also have been Blackwand's doing - it was Morrolan who killed him).

*Vlad sasses Sethra so so much, even more than usual. Maybe all the enforced solitude in the woods has done this to him. After all, Loiosh has him beat in the sarcasm department. But Vlad! Don't roll your eyes at the explanation is the one you demanded yourself! lol

*There's no way in hell Vlad would hear that Morrolan and Aliera were captured and needed help, and not go and help them. Stop fighting yourself and just take Sethra's suggestion to help them!

“That’s why we were taken,” said Aliera, giving me a look. “In order to coerce Vlad into doing what they want.”

“You’d think,” said Morrolan, “that if that was true, they’d have taken Cawti, or better yet—” He broke off abruptly and scowled.

This is clearly a reference to Vlad's son which he still has no idea about, yes?! Morrolan knows about him, clearly! oh my gOD

*We got so much good backstory!!

*Morrolan's backstory in the East! Oh my god he thought he was an Easterner? He was raised by them because his parents died? He thought he was just a freakishly tall human? hahahahaha oh my god. I assume that Dragaerans mostly grow physically as quickly as Easterners do, although of course Dragaerans consider eg 90 year olds to be young kids and 500 to be young adults, but it's not like Vlad feels Savn to be physically child sized or anything.

*Awwww

She nodded. “His name at the time was Fenarian: Sötétcsilleg. ‘Morrolan’ is just the same thing, rendered into the ancient tongue of the Dragon.”

Google Translate says this is Hungarian (as is all the Fenarian in these books, as far as I can tell) for Dark Star. Which is wonderful.

*This is pretty sad though, because Morrolan definitely outlived his foster parents :( While he was very young, by Dragaeran standards.

*Lady Teldra and Morrolan met in the East! Morrolan hired her to make up for his flaws, which yes, is pretty far-sighted of him, considering how old he is.

*I am dying at the recounting of Morrolan charging up Dzur Mountain because Sethra didn't pay tribute and Dzur Mountain is within his fief - and Vlad wondering but scared to ask whether in present day, Sethra pays Morrolan anything. I'm not sure which is funnier, honestly.

*I loved that Loiosh called himself cute (yes, yes you are!!) while the rest of them are attempting to digest the idea that the Jenoine barely consider them a threat, like a kitten playing with a string, cute, hardly worth planning around.

[Lady Teldra:] “I am still considering the matter and trying to understand, but it seems to me that they spoke to me—insofar as I could perceive tone—in the tone one might use to, well, a greeterbird. They were amused that I could form any sort of coherent thought; they think we’re cute.”

“Cute,” said Aliera e’Kieron.

“Cute,” said Morrolan e’Drien.

“I am cute,” said Loiosh.

*We found out who Drien was!

*I love that when Verra speaks and there are others around, they clearly hear something slightly (or sometimes very) different. It's a great way of illustrating how unlike the Dragaerans and humans she is and the way she can manifest in multiple places, etc.

*Oh my god, Vlad's outburst about Morrolan and Aliera. They do fight a lot and Vlad's been sick of it since about when they rescued Aliera, this has been building up for some time.

*I have questions about Aliera's parentage though. She's the daughter of Verra and Adron? Uhh....how did that even happen?! That's quite the reversal of the usual god and human union configuration.

*I loved the depiction of the outside of the little prison the Jenoine placed them in. It reminds me of the xkcd strip https://xkcd.com/1472/

*We got way more sorcerous/witchcraft explanation! I loved that Aliera filled in the basics and then just said bluntly "Your education was sadly lacking." lmao. For one, he hasn't had 500 years to learn, ok! Also the time of the greatest sorcerous education for him was when he was feeling extremely negatively of Dragaerans. But it was cool to learn more of amorphia - I kind of think of it as antimatter now. It was interesting also to think of the Jenoine thinking so radically different - of how to them physically moving is like spiritwalking, and breaking an illusion to look around is more like moving from places (though Lady Teldra calls this not quite accurate but close). An interesting concept and one that makes the Jeonine satisfyingly alien.

*I love that Lady Teldra learned to speak Jenoine at one point. Also that Morrolan is taken aback that she knows!

*I enjoy the conversation Lady Teldra and Vlad have about courtesy, and I totally broadly agree, though also one of the reasons Vlad survives, which Lady Teldra can't see, is because he's the main character ;)

*Loved this exchange. Sethra is probably exhausted by young people, i.e. the population of the entire world. I absolutely understand why she sits in Dzur Mountain by herself.

“Defense,” said Morrolan like it was something foul. “Why not attack them instead? I’ve always preferred attacking to defending.”
“I know,” said Sethra. “But you are still young, and may yet learn.”

*Aww, I love that Morrolan went down to his weapons storeroom, filled up a bag of daggers, and gave Vlad the bag because he knew Vlad had depleted his and would probably be feeling quite at sea without them.

I moaned softly. Sethra said, “Is the arm beginning to hurt?”

“No,” said Aliera. “That’s his moan of contentment after a good meal.”

“Now, how would you know that?” I asked her.

She gave me an inscrutable smile that she must have learned from Morrolan. I grunted and drank some more, and enjoyed the transitory sense of contentment I was feeling.

*I love that Aliera knows this! You can read between the lines at how many meals they've all had together (and food matters a lot to Vlad!)

*Some insane amounts of power brought to bear at the battle at the end! Wow. And here's Vlad again (this is the second time in this book alone) where he is hanging back, feeling outclassed and without a specific role, jumping in because he feels bad or he needs to help. Oh, Vlad.

*I really enjoyed how so many threads about the Great Weapons and Morganti weapons came together. Especially the Serioli's remark, when Morrolan and Vlad show up - the Serioli says "why do you only introduce me to 2 out of 5 of your party? Because one of them is half-there?" It's Morrolan, Vlad, Loiosh, and then Blackwand and Spellbreaker, half of the weapon. It makes me wonder who's in Pathfinder and Iceflame and Blackwand.

*Though I'm still a little unsure of this line: "and that’s how Pathfinder had saved Aliera’s life". I assume this refers to the time they were working to assassinate Mellar and they trick him into stabbing Aliera with a Morganti dagger. The sentience of Pathfinder? Can't really tell.

*I love that the Jhereg's threat of assassination via Morganti dagger now is like, nothing for him. Yeah, I don't think Morrolan or Aliera or Sethra are that concerned about Morganti weapons being aimed at them, either. And I absolutely love that he immediately has himself teleported to Valabar's to have a nice meal. RELATABLE

Comments

[sholio]

“Defense,” said Morrolan like it was something foul. “Why not attack them instead? I’ve always preferred attacking to defending.”
“I know,” said Sethra. “But you are still young, and may yet learn.”

OMG. You know, we talked a little about how one of my (many) little favorite bits in this book is Morrolan going down defending Vlad and Teldra - voluntarily taking a defensive rather than offensive role in the fight rather than allowing them to be hurt or killed - but I forgot about that bit ... I ... aaaaaahhhh. *falls over in a pile of feelings*

Anyway, yes, this is one of my favorite books in the series - probably tied with Taltos and Jhereg for top fave, I think. It's just so full of truly lovely character notes, backstory, worldbuilding reveals, funny bits, and all the things that make these books good. Rereading this book was delightful and yet also flavored with the tension of knowing where everything is going and somehow wanting things to turn out better this time but knowing they can't.

I loved the depiction of the outside of the little prison the Jenoine placed them in. It reminds me of the xkcd strip https://xkcd.com/1472/

Hahahaha! It is exactly like that. I also really love the descriptions of the Jenoine and the gods from Vlad's world interacting with the world in ways that are nearly incomprehensible to a human mind, yet were very comprehensibly described in the book.

Vlad sasses Sethra so so much, even more than usual. Maybe all the enforced solitude in the woods has done this to him.

I feel like Vlad in general seems to be more easily annoyed by everyone around him in this book than usual, and have a theory that this is EXACTLY why - all that time alone in the woods made him unused to being around people. He seems more closed off and abrasive with them than he was when we last saw him with his friend group a couple of books ago. I may be reaching a bit here, but the books are so careful with the character touches that it wouldn't surprise me if this is intentional.

I love that Morrolan went down to his weapons storeroom, filled up a bag of daggers, and gave Vlad the bag because he knew Vlad had depleted his and would probably be feeling quite at sea without them.

Yes, this was adorable. Vlad's not feeling well, give him a bag of daggers! And also brought him Roczsha - I can't remember how to spell it exactly - but I love that Vlad's jhereg (plural) are comfortable with his friends, even her, as wild as she is.

I'm pretty sure we know that Aliera got Pathfinder fully made, but I don't think we know anything about Blackwand, do we? It's possible that she(?) was made by Morrolan just as we saw Vlad make a weapon of Lady Teldra. (;___;)

In continuing bits of gender-stereotype-avoidance that please me in these books, I like that Morrolan's terrifyingly violent sword reads female to Vlad, while Aliera's relatively sedate one reads as gender-neutral.

[hamsterwoman]

Issola is one of my favorites also (though I also agree with sholio, that rereading it knowing what's coming at the end is definitely bittersweet, and thus I don't reread it as often as the other favorites of mine).

*Loiosh really respects Sethra and let her scratch his ears! Is this because she also served him a dead teckla that one time? :D

That's my guess, haha. Sethra strated their relationship off right :DD

*Vlad sasses Sethra so so much, even more than usual. Maybe all the enforced solitude in the woods has done this to him. After all, Loiosh has him beat in the sarcasm department.

That makes a lot of sense to me, in general. (Also, he might be feeling more comfortable with Sethra than previously thanks to what he learned in Orca).

This is clearly a reference to Vlad's son which he still has no idea about, yes?! Morrolan knows about him, clearly! oh my gOD

That's definitely how I've always read it, yeah. I'm not surprised Morrolan knows, because Aliera seemed to be involved in the birth, but I do wonder how various characters felt about not telling Vlad he had a kid in Adrilankha... There are solid pragmatic reasons for it, but still...

We get a lot of the Morrolan backstory, at greater length, in Paarfi, including him and Teldra meeting and asking Sethra for tribute. It is extremely hilarious. (You have to get to book 3, Paths of the Dead, for it to start showing up, and then most of it is in Lord of Castle Black, unsurprisingly, which is book 4.)

I really like that translation of Morrolan's name, and there are some lovely bits involving it in Paarfi as well.

*This is pretty sad though, because Morrolan definitely outlived his foster parents :( While he was very young, by Dragaeran standards.

Yeah, I've always wondered about this, actually. One thing we don't get to see from Paarfi is Morrolan's childhood in the East -- we meet him when he's young, but no longer a child -- and, he seems remarkably well-adjusted for somehone who must have lost his foster parents at a young age, and probably more than one set of foster parents, and must have also continuously outgrown whatever peer group he played with. We don't really get to see Dragaeran children (or at least not ones who experience linear time XD), so I don't have any idea of how Dragaerans mature physically or emotionally up to the age when we meet Savn (who I think of as the equivalent of a young teen, maybe 14-15?) and Polyi (whom I was thinking of as ~12 in human terms).

*I love that when Verra speaks and there are others around, they clearly hear something slightly (or sometimes very) different. It's a great way of illustrating how unlike the Dragaerans and humans she is and the way she can manifest in multiple places, etc.

Yes! I love the group conversation with Verra -- it's such a neat way of showing rather than telling the way a god is different from other beings!

They do fight a lot and Vlad's been sick of it since about when they rescued Aliera, this has been building up for some time.

True, lol! And more than fair XD

*I have questions about Aliera's parentage though. She's the daughter of Verra and Adron? Uhh....how did that even happen?! That's quite the reversal of the usual god and human union configuration.

I'm sad to say we never get any details on that score in Paarfi, but we do get to see Adron find out about it, and it's a moment I love.

Also the time of the greatest sorcerous education for him was when he was feeling extremely negatively of Dragaerans.

That's a really good point, too. It's a wonder Vlad learned any sorcery at all, honestly...

though also one of the reasons Vlad survives, which Lady Teldra can't see, is because he's the main character ;)

Hahaha (but yeah)

Sethra is probably exhausted by young people, i.e. the population of the entire world. I absolutely understand why she sits in Dzur Mountain by herself.

And LOL at this too!

I also love the detail of Morrolan brinding Vlad a bag of weapons (and his jhereg) to make him feel more comfortable. It's those little thoughtful touches, you know XD

It makes me wonder who's in Pathfinder and Iceflame and Blackwand.

There's some fan speculation on this, but mostly things that require the breaking of time and space (although that may well be possible in Dragaera). Some people have latched on to the ambiguous gender sense of Pathfinder to hypothesize that it contains Drien's soul, which would be kind of cool.

"and that’s how Pathfinder had saved Aliera’s life". I assume this refers to the time they were working to assassinate Mellar and they trick him into stabbing Aliera with a Morganti dagger. The sentience of Pathfinder? Can't really tell.

I assume it refers to the Mellar thing, yeah. I feel like the Great Weapon sort of acts as an anchor for the wielder's soul, and because it's stronger than a regular Morganti dagger, it gets to keep the sould rather than having the soul eaten by the regular Morganti weapon. But I'm also totally making this up -- I don't think anything in the actual books explains in what way the GW preserves its wielder's life in those circumstances.