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petrea_mitchellLast week and into this one, I read Lyorn and Tsalmoth, which catches me up on the main sequence of the Dragaera series.
I started in on it a few years ago, meaning to read the books in internal chronological order. Which I've mostly managed, although there are a couple books which have different sections happening at significantly different times, and Tsalmoth takes place relatively early on but was only published in 2024.
I got interested in Dragaera after coming across references to how the big threat of the series is alien creatures, and the whole setting with gods and demons and magic might actually be science fiction underneath. From that perspective, going in chronological order was not the best choice since most of the early books (in both publishing and internal order) don't touch on that at all. If that's what interests you, I'd say start with Taltos, which is a great entry point in any case, and then you can skip forward to Issola without missing much.
Reading the whole series, though, I've been able to appreciate how Brust has improved as a writer over time. It was about at Orca in particular that I stopped and thought, this is really way better than the first couple books. And so most of the books dealing with the big ongoing potentially sfnal stuff are at the better end of the series, so there's that.
I took detours into a few of the books outside the main sequence. The Paarfi of Roundwood books are definitely not for me; no matter how much Brust has improved, I feel he still isn't quite as funny as he thinks he is. Brokedown Palace, though, might be the best Dragaera book of all. It's about the Old giving way to the New, but with sympathy and understanding for those who support the Old; and there's some action and fighting (including the banishing of a god) but overall it's the story of resolving an argument between close family members.
Of the main sequence, my favorite hands down is Vallista, partly because I like stories about the structure of time and space going wrong, partly for the look at the customs of the different houses in one section, and partly for the moment when one of the chief schemers of the series suddenly realizes that their scheme may have already succeeded some time ago.
There are two more books planned in the series, Chreotha and then The Last Contract. Reportedly Brust finished the first draft of The Last Contract a year ago, so we at least will be able to find out how he intended for the story to end somehow. But I hope he's around long enough to get both of them finished.
I started in on it a few years ago, meaning to read the books in internal chronological order. Which I've mostly managed, although there are a couple books which have different sections happening at significantly different times, and Tsalmoth takes place relatively early on but was only published in 2024.
I got interested in Dragaera after coming across references to how the big threat of the series is alien creatures, and the whole setting with gods and demons and magic might actually be science fiction underneath. From that perspective, going in chronological order was not the best choice since most of the early books (in both publishing and internal order) don't touch on that at all. If that's what interests you, I'd say start with Taltos, which is a great entry point in any case, and then you can skip forward to Issola without missing much.
Reading the whole series, though, I've been able to appreciate how Brust has improved as a writer over time. It was about at Orca in particular that I stopped and thought, this is really way better than the first couple books. And so most of the books dealing with the big ongoing potentially sfnal stuff are at the better end of the series, so there's that.
I took detours into a few of the books outside the main sequence. The Paarfi of Roundwood books are definitely not for me; no matter how much Brust has improved, I feel he still isn't quite as funny as he thinks he is. Brokedown Palace, though, might be the best Dragaera book of all. It's about the Old giving way to the New, but with sympathy and understanding for those who support the Old; and there's some action and fighting (including the banishing of a god) but overall it's the story of resolving an argument between close family members.
Of the main sequence, my favorite hands down is Vallista, partly because I like stories about the structure of time and space going wrong, partly for the look at the customs of the different houses in one section, and partly for the moment when one of the chief schemers of the series suddenly realizes that their scheme may have already succeeded some time ago.
There are two more books planned in the series, Chreotha and then The Last Contract. Reportedly Brust finished the first draft of The Last Contract a year ago, so we at least will be able to find out how he intended for the story to end somehow. But I hope he's around long enough to get both of them finished.
