I was getting annoyed that the first 3 books weren't chronological order and whether it should be recommended to read Yendi before Jhereg.....then the 4th book is a prequel!

However, I think this prequel is best read after the first 1 or 2. Explains how Vlad's relationship between Mallorran, Aleira & Sethra came to be. Vlad's trip to The Paths of the Dead is alluded to in the first 3 books and the only real spoiler is knowing who survives - although of course anyone can be killed and later revified anyway.

I liked the way the book was set-up, swinging between the immediate story concerning the paths of the dead and Vlad's early life and how he got on his career path.

Very enjoyable, with the expected "How do they get out of this one?" moment. ( )

This is the story of how Vlad was tricked by Sethra and Kiera the Thief to help Morrolan get Kiera's soul and reunite it with her body - it involves Gods, Necromancers, and the paths of the dead. Alternately, this is the one where Vlad is introduced to Sethra Lavode, the Necromancer, and Morralan, Lord of Castle Black, both very scary, very powerful people.

As always, its fun, full of sparkling wit. its not IF Vlad saves the day, its HOW Vlad saves the day. If I got the order of books down correctly, this is the first novel that introduces the bigger world of Gods in this series. Highly recommended! ( )

Thankfully a much lighter book than [b:Teckla|133466|Teckla (Vlad Taltos, #3)|Steven Brust|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1357479420s/133466.jpg|803245] in both tone and subject matter. Taking us way back to the beginnings of Vlad's career, we get to see how he met almost all of the important people in his life, as well as how he picked up a number of his habits and prejudices. So far this has been my favorite of the series. ( )

More like a novelette (especially by today's standards), but has some interesting backstory to the main character and the society. ( )

Read as part of 'Book of Taltos' omnibus ( )