I'm pretty sure I've read this before, or at least started it some years ago, and maybe just didn't finish it. In any case, in preparation for Book 16, I picked it up again to read for well and good, and rather enjoyed it. It's not the best of the series (that's "Orca" or "Issola"), but I still love the cast, I was smiling through a good part of it, and it made me chuckle several times. It's been a long time since I read about Vlad, Loiosh, Rocza, and their friends, and this was a nice return to the world. It's a bit confusing near the end, and drags a little here and there, but overall it's a pretty great story in the universe. I do have some criticisms with the child, and there's... some ableism that the narrative doesn't really handle very well at all. Hopefully that doesn't make a comeback in "Tsalmoth".

But overall, it was an enjoyable book. Looking forward to the next. ( )

When you have a series that has reached its sixteenth book, with at least one more to go, there are going to be ups and downs, placeholders, and chapters that really advance the action. This book is one of those that advance the action, in that Vlad finds himself caught in a house built by dark wizardry that messes with time, and it's going to take a lot of hard thinking to get out of these circumstances. One is also given more of a sense of just what is going on with the whole world of the Dragaerans, and how an ending might be near. I've greatly enjoyed these books over the years, and the sense I get of a worthy climax to the series gives me a lot of pleasure. ( )

Book 15 in Brust's Vlad Taltos series. And it's a weird one. Our hero (well, all right, protagonist) finds himself trapped in a strange manor house where the architecture makes no sense and something weird may be happening with time itself. Which is very cool, in concept. In reality, even though it's still a typically quick read, I got kind of tired of wandering in circles around this place after a while and started wondering if the amount of story here might not have been better suited to novella length. And the ending is... confusing. Well, the whole thing is a bit confusing, but I was hoping the ending would clear it all up better than it did. Ultimately, it feels like it might mostly just be setup for something much bigger to come, even though the installments in this series are usually a bit more self-contained than that. So, kind of interesting but not exactly satisfying.

Rating: 3.5/5, although I always sort of feel like I'm rating the books in this series half a star higher than I really should, just because I keep somehow trying to convince myself that I like it slightly more than I actually do. ( )

I wanted to like this book but I couldn't finish it. I read about the first 100 pages and couldn't concentrate on the story. Some people might like, too much a puzzle with mirrors for me. I read the ending and decided not to read anymore. ( )

Wow, so now I'm all caught up on 15 Vlad Taltos books and it's going to be who-knows-how-long until the next one :(
I enjoyed this one quite a bit, although it's definitely up there with [b:Yendi|817357|Yendi (Vlad Taltos, #2)|Steven Brust|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1302450419s/817357.jpg|1058] for confusing plot. ( )