Yendi - Chapter Seventeen

[kalinara]

Shit, we made it to the last chapter. And I don't actually know what book I want to start next. But that's a debate for later. For now, let's see how it ends!

( with violence I presume! )

Yendi - Verdict

[kalinara]

So that was fun!

Sometimes I feel a little guilty, because I don't have as much to say about the books I enjoy versus the ones that I'm critical of. But let's give it a go.

So, the Plot:

The plot was fun! Like Jhereg, it's kind of a funhouse mirror of a mystery. Vlad needs to unravel a conspiracy that came into play centuries before he was born. And he does so, very well.

We also get a romance! I will say that I think the romantic element of the plot happened very quickly. But that might be intentional. Vlad and Cawti are both extremely isolated from their own people. Their closest bonds are Dragaerans who they work closely with. They're both dealing with a lot of assimilationist guilt and internalized bigotry.

It makes sense that they're immediately drawn to one-another as they're both very attractive, competent people in similar fields with that same connection of being a Dragaeran-ized Easterner.

But that's not a replacement for truly knowing someone. Vlad and Cawti are alike in so many ways that when they finally hit a fairly major point of disagreement, it hit very hard. And it's worth noting that they didn't really resolve it. They just chose to stop fighting about it so as to be with each other.

I think that it will come up again.

--

The fun part of the idiosyncratic timing of the novels is that we get to see where a lot of elements from the first book, Jhereg, got their start. We see Vlad meeting Cawti. We see how he developed the habit of changing weaponry. And we now have a better idea of why Vlad was so focused on preserving Morrolan's honor (and protecting Morrolan's relationship with Aliera) when he was plotting against Mellar.

Whatever the reason for the strange relationship between these characters, it's clearly mutual. In this book, we see Morrolan, Aliera, Sethra, and Kiera all doing what they can to help Vlad. And there's never really any suggestion that they're expecting anything in return. Instead, we get the impression that these characters, Vlad included, have a history of helping each other.

Of course, if we want to know how exactly these relationships came about, we'll need to read a different book. Hah.

As for the Characters:

Well, they're fun too!

Vlad is still recognizably Vlad, though he also comes across as younger and less certain than the version we saw in Jhereg.

Morrolan is Morrolan, Aliera is Aliera, and so on and so forth. There's less of a sense of character progression, but maybe that makes sense. They are essentially elves after all.

It was nice to get a closer look at Cawti, and the origin of her and Vlad's relationship. While I may have my misgivings about it, I can't deny that Cawti herself is really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where she goes from here.

But as I said, now it's time to think of a new book. Can't wait!