Vlad Taltos is an assassin. Technically anyway, although he’s no longer hanging on the fringes desperate for acceptance and commissions. He’s also a former member of House Jhereg, popular there only in the sense of lots of people wanting to find him... to grab the price on his head. But when his friend Aliera gets charged with practicing elder sorcery—a capital crime, but also something she’s been doing under an official blind eye for years—he has to come to her rescue, despite it being more or less the stupidest thing he could do in terms of his own safety. But he simply has to, because the other weird thing is that none of her far more powerful friends seem willing to help her instead.

This is a series whose books vary a lot in style and focus. This one is a fairly straightforward tale of politics with a bit of adventure and some wit but not burbling over with it. Vlad spends more time working with the attorney he’s found for Aliera (and gotten her to accept despite herself) than working with his sword. The story itself can certainly hold its own as a standalone, but I have to say I think the reader would enjoy it a lot more if they'd read earlier books in the series to get a fix on the way things like the different Houses work. It would also put what are intended to be familiar characters in their proper context. It had been too long since I read them myself and I found it a bit frustrating at times.

That being said, Brust has a wonderful imagination and way with words that makes him always worth reading, even if you can't do your catching up homework first. Grab a copy of Iorich and open your eyes to a richly colorful world full of vivid and memorable characters, different from any other you've visited and vivid as the one in front of you. Brust is always entertaining, and while this is probably not my favorite book in the series, it's a far cry from being my least favorite.