Conference noted::sf

COOKIE::MJOHNSTON "MIKE.....(Dammit! Spock...)"      11 lines  27-JUL-1989 15:28
                               -<  ? Jhereg ?  >-
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Years ago - as in the 5 to 10 years back range - I read a book by Stephen
Brust called `Jhereg' (I'm not positive about that spelling). As I
remember, it was a pretty good book. I believe it was more fantasy oriented
than SF. I'm certain I've seen additional titles by him, but for some
reason, I've neglected to pick them up. Maybe I'll have to re-read that,
and see about buying some of his other work. At the time, I did not work at
Digital, but had friends who did, it seems to me that one of them told me
either that Stephen worked at Digital, or possibly that they knew him????
I'm not sure.

Mike J

TALLIS::SIGEL                                        28 lines  27-JUL-1989 23:34
                              -< The Brust Canon >-
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Re .4

Brust has written four novels about Vlad Taltos (in order of writing):

JHEREG
YENDI
TECKLA
TALTOS

Chronologically, TALTOS comes first, then YENDI, JHEREG, and TECKLA.  In 
addition, Brust has written 

TO REIGN IN HELL
BROKEDOWN PALACE  (related to the Vlad novels only extremely tangentially)
THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE STARS

plus various short stories included in the LIAVEK shared world anthologies
edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull.

While I don't know if Steve used to work for DEC, he did work in the
computer field before he quit to write full-time a few years back.

I've liked all his novels, though some have been more enjoyable than others.
I would suggest reading the Vlad Taltos novels in the order they were written
rather than strict chronological order, though you might want to read TALTOS
before TECKLA.

				Andrew

    Stephen -- who's been a friend of mine for about a dozen years now
    (he and I even look a lot alike, to the point of people coming up
    to me at conventions thinking I was him) -- never worked for DEC,
    but as Andrew says, worked in the computer industry. There was at
    least one time where he came out here to Marlboro to consult on
    some VAX issues when he worked for Network Systems.
    
    --- jerry

    I read Brokedown Palace a few years back.  I picked it up because of
    the title (I'm something of a Grateful Dead fan), and the fact that the
    book was dedicated to Jerry and the boys.
    
    However, I was pretty disappointed with it.  Just not my taste I
    suppose, but it just didn't make all that much of an sense to me.
    
    ... Bob
    

    Steven has a new book due in January (it may be shipping in December
    though -- with Ace/Berkley, you can never tell). This time, he's
    doing science fiction. It's called COWBOY FENG'S SPACE BAR AND GRILLE.
    
    --- jerry

    
    
    		Phoenix (next book in the adventures of Vlad Taltos) is 
    out! I just picked it up at the chelmsford mall. I looks *real* good!

    so what is it...8 books left to write? :-)

    re:.7
    
    More than that. There are seventeen houses, and there'd be one for
    each house. Plus I believe he's said there'd be two extra, so that's
    nineteen in all. We've only had five so far, so that's fourteen
    to go.
    
    --- jerry

Re: .7, .8

>    More than that. There are seventeen houses, and there'd be one for
>    each house. Plus I believe he's said there'd be two extra

So far we have four houses:  JHEREG, YENDI, TECKLA, and PHOENIX, plus
one extra, TALTOS.  That leaves thirteen houses to go, plus one
remaining "extra".

I get the feeling that the flavor of the next book (unless he does another
"young Vlad" novel like TALTOS) is going to be very different.  You'll
know what I mean once you read PHOENIX.

				Andrew

    re:.9
    
    If I remember, Steven said that the other "extra" will be an omega
    to go with TALTOS' alpha, so there won't be another "young Vlad"
    novel.
    
    Before anyone asks, obscurely-connected works like BROKEDOWN PALACE
    do not figure into the count.
    
    --- jerry

Re .10

>     If I remember, Steven said that the other "extra" will be an omega
>     to go with TALTOS' alpha, so there won't be another "young Vlad" novel.

What I meant by Steven writing a "young[er] Vlad" novel was his going back to
tell a tale prior to the latest in chronological sequence.  He's done that
twice now, when YENDI and TALTOS were published.  (Ignore the "sequel" claim 
on the cover of YENDI; chronological order of the novels is TALTOS, YENDI, 
JHEREG, TECKLA, PHOENIX, while publication order is JHEREG, YENDI, TECKLA, 
TALTOS, PHOENIX.)  At this point -- by my definition -- any novel that takes 
place chronologically before the events in PHOENIX is a "young Vlad" novel.

Clearly, given who Vlad is, who he was, and who he likely will be, that omega
book will be an amazing book, and I expect getting there will be more than
half the fun.

				Andrew

    Well, it seems Vlad's saga is on hold for the moment.  I've been
    reading "The Phoenix Guards" and "Five Hundred Years After."  They're
    stories of the Dragaeran Empire before the Interregnum; in fact, "Five
    Hundred Years After" is the history of Adron's Disaster.  The second
    title is a big hint that they are tributes to Dumas' Musketeer stories
    ("The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," and "The Man in the Iron
    Mask").  The writing style is as much about telling the story as the
    story itself, and makes for an amusing change.

Re .12

Actually, Steve is writing both Vlad novels and Khaavren romances.

ORCA, the next Vlad novel, has been in the hands of Ace for over a year,
but won't be published until spring of 1996.  No explanation from Ace for
the delay, but I would be unsurprised if the fact that Steve has sold
future Vlad novels to Tor has something to do with it.

Nevertheless, ORCA should be out before THE VISCOUNT OF ADRILANKHA, which
is the next Khaavren romance, and is still being written.