A review by cheezvshcrvst
Issola by Steven Brust

5.0

This is (to date) my fifth time rereading this wonderful entry in the Vlad Taltos series and it certainly does hold up. The One Big Thing that happens in this book is no less emotional, and certainly not “predictable” in the classical sense of the word. What would be any other sff rpg side quest is in fact a huge plot progression that does a solid job of giving us a LOT about the overarching story without actually TELLING us what’s what. We’re given a lot here: humor, exposition, violence including but not limiting to a cosmic battle or two or several (I won’t be exact), philosophical meandering by way of exploring notions of courtesy (this is also the plot structure, by the way, so eat your hearts out, swords and sorcery fans!), cute (shut up, Loiosh), and klava. Brust continues to develop Vlad as a character with more endearing nuances than mere wit and bravery. In fact, he positively infuses our anti-hero with some Big Damn Hero Attributes to wonderful effect. Issola deserves 4.5 outta 5 or better for being a page-turner that isn’t a mere popcorn action flick.