The first to be published, this is actually the fourth novel in the timeline of the VLAD TALTOS series. The books recount the adventures of the wisecracking hired killer Vlad, a human on a planet mainly inhabited by the long-lived, extremely tall sorcerers known as the Dragaerans. One of the most powerful bosses in the Jhereg—Dragaera's premier criminal organization—hires Vlad, one of their guild members, to assassinate Mellar, who stole millions from the Jhereg leadership and fled. Unfortunately, this thief turns out to be protected in a way that makes it difficult for Vlad to do his job without gaining the permanent enmity of a friend. The reader also learns more about Vlad's past in this, and in other, lives.

Vlad Taltos tells the story of his early days in the House Jhereg, how he found himself in a Jhereg war, and how he fell in love with the wonderful woman, Cawti, who killed him.

The third to be published, this is actually the fifth entry in the timeline of the VLAD TALTOS books, and it represents a darker, more serious turn in the series. Vladimir Taltos is a short-lived, short-statured Easterner (what we would call a human) in a world mostly populated by the long-lived, extremely tall Dragaerans. He is also an assassin and petty crimelord. His lifestyle and career require some difficult moral choices. When his wife Cawti joins an uprising of Easterners and peasant Dragaerans (the Teckla of the title), it causes a severe strain in their marriage, and Vlad begins to question those choices. THE TECKLA WERE REVOLTING I'd always known they were. Teckla were lazy, stupid, cowardly peasants. Revolting. Old joke. But now they were revolting against the Empire. New joke. And a Jhereg crimelord, feeling the pinch, was popping the rebels. No joke. But the real joke? I was protecting them, from Me. Lord Vlad Taltos-loyal grandson, loving husband. Jhereg. Sorcerer. Assassin. Everything the rabble hated. Not that I craved wet-nursing a mob of slogan slobbering, doomed radical loonies, all of whom wanted me dead. Particularly since my royal peers, all of House Jhereg, also wanted me dead...

Journey to the land of the dead. All expenses paid! Not my idea of an ideal vacation, but this was work. After all, even an assassin has to earn a living. The trouble is, everyone knows that a living human cannot walk the Paths of the Dead, and return, alive, to the land of men. But being an Easterner is not exactly like being human, by Dragaeran standards anyway. Thus, the rule doesn't apply to me... I hope.

Verra, Vlad's patron goddess, hires him to assassinate a king whose country lies outside the Dragaeran Empire, resulting in increased tension between the two places. Meanwhile, the peasant Teckla and the human Easterners persevere in their fight for civil rights. As Vlad's wife Cawti is a firm partisan of the movement, and Vlad is not, their marriage continues to suffer, causing Vlad to make some decisions that will change his life forever.

Vlad Taltos—sorceror, sometimes witch, and former assassin—and his faithful jhereg take on the biggest hitters of the House of the Jhereg

With the help of his two jhereg, sorceror and former assassin-for-hire Vlad Taltos takes on the corrupt House of the Orca as he sets out to uncover a huge financial scandal

In which Vlad Taltos finds himself, much to his surprise, at the fateful Battle of Baritt's Tomb Marching through mud just isn't as much fun as they say. After years of surviving in Adrilankha by practicing the trade he knows best―killing people for a living―suddenly Vlad Taltos finds himself in the last place any self-respecting assassin wants to the army. Worse, he's right in the middle of a apocalyptic battle between two sorcerous armies, and everyone expects him to play a role they won't explain. All Vlad's got between him and the worst kind of death is his wits. Oh, and a smart-mouthed winged lizard... Dragon is Steven Brust at his best―a swashbuckling fantasy adventure.

Okay, so maybe I've been living in the woods too long, where you can't even get a decent cup of klava first thing in the morning. So who should turn up but Lady Teldra, the courtly servant of my old friend the Dragonlord Morrolan? Teldra wants my help, because Morrolan and Aliera have disappeared, and according to Sethra Lavode, it looks like they may be in the hands of the Jenoine. Do I want to mess with them? The guys who made this place? And I thought I had problems before... Oh well, what's a little cosmic battle with beings who control time and space? It's better than hunkering down in the woods without even so much as a drinkable cup of klava.

In which Vlad Taltos confronts the Left Hand of the Jhereg...and discovers the game has more players than he thought Vlad Taltos, short-statured, short-lived human in an Empire of tall, long-lived Dragaerans, has always had to keep his wits about him. Long ago, he made a place for himself as a captain of the Jhereg, the noble house that runs the rackets in the great imperial city of Adrilankha. But love, revolution, betrayal, and revenge ensued, and for years now Vlad has been a man on the run, struggling to stay a step ahead of the Jhereg who would kill him without hesitation. Now Vlad's back in Adrilankha. The rackets he used to run are now under the control of the mysterious "Left Hand of the Jhereg"—a secretive cabal of women who report to no man. His ex-wife needs his help. His old enemies aren't sure whether they want to kill him, or talk to him and then kill him. A goddess may be playing tricks with his memory. And the Great Weapon he's carrying seems to have plans of its own... Picking up directly where Issola left off, Dzur gives us Vlad Taltos at his best—swashbuckling storytelling with a wry and gritty edge.

Fresh from the collapse of his marriage, and with the criminal Jhereg organization out to eliminate him, Vlad decides to hide out among his relatives in faraway Fenario. All he knows about them is that their family name is Merss and that they live in a papermaking industrial town called Burz. At first Burz isn't such a bad place, though the paper mill reeks to high heaven. But the longer he stays there, the stranger it becomes. No one will tell him where to find his relatives. Even stranger, when he mentions the name Merss, people think he's threatening them. The witches' coven that every Fenarian town and city should have is nowhere in evidence. And the Guild, which should be protecting the city's craftsmen and traders, is an oppressive, all-powerful organization, into which no tradesman would ever be admitted. Then a terrible thing happens. In its wake, far from Draegara, without his usual organization working for him, Vlad is going to have to do his sleuthing amidst an alien people: his own.

House Jhereg, Dragaera's organized crime syndicate, is still hunting Vlad Taltos. There's a big price on his head on Draegara City. Then he hears disturbing news. Aliera—longtime friend, sometime ally—has been arrested by the Empire on a charge of practicing elder sorcery, a capital crime. It doesn't make sense. Everybody knows Aliera's been dabbling in elder sorcery for ages. Why is the Empire down on her now? Why aren't her powerful friends—Morrolan, Sethra, the Empress Zerika—coming to her rescue? And most to the point, why has she utterly refused to do anything about her own defense? It would be idiotic of Vlad to jump into this situation. He's a former Jhereg who betrayed the House. He's an Easterner—small, weak, short-lived. He's being searched for by the most remorseless killers in the world. Naturally, that's exactly why he's going to get completely involved...

Long ago, one of the gods fashioned an artifact called the silver tiassa. To Devera the Wanderer, it's a pretty toy to play with. To Vlad Taltos, it's a handy prop for a con he's running. To the Empire, it's a tool to be used against their greatest enemies―the Jenoine. To the Jhereg, it's a trap to kill Vlad. The silver tiassa, however, had its own agenda. Steven Brust's Tiassa tells a story that threads its way through more than ten years of the remarkable life of Vlad Taltos―and, to the delight of longtime fans, brings him together with Khaavren, from The Phoenix Guards and its sequels. Khaavren may be Vlad's best friend―or his most terrible enemy.

Years ago, Vlad Taltos came to make his way as a human amidst the impossibly tall, fantastically long-lived natives of the Dragaeran Empire. He joined the Jhereg, the Dragaeran House (of which there are seventeen) that handles the Empire's vices: gambling, rackets, organized crime. He became a professional assassin. He was good at it. But that was then, before Vlad and the Jhereg became mortal enemies. For years, Vlad has run from one end of the Empire to the other, avoiding the Jhereg assassins who pursue him. Now, finally, he's back in the imperial capital where his family and friends are. He means to stay there this time. Whatever happens. And whatever it takes. Hawk is the latest in Steven Brust's New York Times bestselling Vlad Taltos series. "Watch Steven Brust. He's good. He moves fast. He surprises you. Watching him untangle the diverse threads of intrigue, honor, character and mayhem from amid the gears of a world as intricately constructed as a Swiss watch is a rare pleasure." —Roger Zelazny

Vlad Taltos is an Easterner an underprivileged human in an Empire of tall, powerful, long-lived Dragaerans. He made a career for himself in House Jhereg, the Dragaeran clan in charge of the Empire s organized crime. But the day came when the Jhereg wanted Vlad dead, and he s been on the run ever since. He has plenty of friends among the Dragaeran highborn, including an undead wizard and a god or two. But as long as the Jhereg have a price on his head, Vlad s life is messy. Meanwhile, for years, Vlad s path has been repeatedly crossed by Devera, a small Dragaeran girl of indeterminate powers who turns up at the oddest moments in his life. Now Devera has appeared again to lead Vlad into a mysterious, seemingly empty manor overlooking the Great Sea. Inside this structure are corridors that double back on themselves, rooms that look out over other worlds, and just maybe answers to some of Vlad s long-asked questions about his world and his place in it. If only Devera can be persuaded to stop disappearing in the middle of his conversations with her Praise for Vallista Delightful, exciting, and sometimes brilliant. Neil Gaiman on Steven Brust Full of swordplay, peril, and swashbuckling flair, Steven Brust's Vallista is a treat for longtime fans of this popular fantasy series, a deep dive into the mysteries of Dragaera and all within it. Vlad Taltos Series 1. Jhereg 2. Yendi 3. Teckla 4. Taltos 5. Phoenix 6. Athyra 7. Orca 8. Dragon 9. Issola 10. Dzur 11. Jhegaala 12. Iorich 13. Tiassa 14. Hawk 15. Vallista "

First comes love. Then comes marriage… Vlad Taltos is in love. With a former assassin who may just be better than he is at the Game. Women like this don’t come along every day and no way is he passing up a sure bet. So a wedding is being planned. Along with a shady deal gone wrong and a dead man who owes Vlad money. Setting up the first and trying to deal with the second is bad enough. And then bigger powers decide that Vlad is the perfect patsy to shake the power structure of the kingdom. More's the pity that his soul is sent walkabout to do it. How might Vlad get his soul back and have any shot at a happy ending? Well, there’s the tale…

This novel follows the antics of the wise-cracking assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three “Jhereg”, “Yendi” and “Teckla”.