Les aventures de Vlad Taltos - La série

Vlad Taltos est assassin dans la cité d'Adrilankha où vivent différentes race organisées en Maisons. Vif d'esprit et agile à l'épée, il pratique occasionnellement la sorcellerie. Il est secondé dans ses missions par Loiosh, son familier, un jhereg fidèle et caustique. Un jour, un grand conseiller de la Maison du Jhereg demande à Vlad de tuer Lord Mellar, Mais ce dernier bénéficie de la protection secrète de la Maison du Dragon. Vlad se retrouve alors au centre d'un conflit qui le dépasse : les Maisons du Jhereg et du Dragon sont des adversaires de toujours. Leurs rancœurs pourraient bien resurgir et se transformer en querelle meurtrière, entraînant la cité d'Adrilankha dans le chaos... « Steven Brust pourrait bien être le meilleur auteur américain de Fantasy. Alors, qu'attendez-vous ? » Tad Williams

Vlad Taltos est assassin dans la cité d'Adrilankha où il vit en tant que membre de la Maison du Jhereg. Il contrôle depuis six mois les tavernes, salles de jeux, petits commerces d'une partie de la cité. Les affaires marchent bien jusqu'au jour où Laris, un Jhereg rival, décide d'investir le territoire de Vlad... Ce dernier peut compter sur le soutien de ses amis : le seigneur Dragon Morrolan, maître de la Citadelle Noire, Aliera e'Kieron, sa cousine de prestigieuse lignée, ou la grande Sethra Lavode... Rapidement, le conflit se transforme en guerre des gangs et s'emballe au point que l'impératrice elle-même s'en mêle. Mais durant la trêve imposée par l'Empire, Vlad tombe dans une embuscade et meurt sous les coups d'un mystérieux duo d'assassins... « Lloiosh, puisque ton travail consiste à avoir des impressions, je pense que je vais te suivre sur ce coup-là. Mais si tu t'es trompé et qu'ils me tuent, je serai très très déçu. »

« La ville d'Adrilankha, en Blanchecrête. La capitale et la plus vaste cité de l'Empire Dragaeran abrite de tout, mais en grande concentration. Les conflits entre les principales Maisons, et quelquefois au sein de l'une d'entre elles, deviennent plus compliqués et plus vicieux dans cette cité. Les Dragonobles se battent pour l'honneur, les nobles lorich pour la justice, les nobles Jhereg pour l'argent et les Dzumobles pour le plaisir. Mais les membres de la Maison Jhereg opèrent dans l'illégalité. L'Empire est à la fois indésirable et incapable de faire respecter les règles et les coutumes qui gouvernent cette Maison. Quelquefois, pourtant, ces lois implicites sont bafouées. C'est là que j'interviens. Je suis un assassin. »

« Un voyage au pays des morts... Tous frais payés ! Ce n'était pas vraiment mon idée des vacances idéales, mais c'était le boulot. Après tout, même un assassin doit gagner de quoi vivre. Le problème, c'est que tout le monde sait qu'un être humain ne peut pas entrer dans les Chemins des Morts et revenir vivant au pays des hommes. Cela dit, un Oriental n'est pas tout à fait humain, du moins selon les critères des Dragaerans. Donc la règle ne s'applique pas à moi... du moins je l'espère. » Ne t'arrête pas. Si tu t'arrêtes, tu n'en sortiras jamais. Si tu quittes les chemins, tu te perdras. Continue de marcher...

(Pas encore traduit en français) When the Demon-Goddess saves him from a certain death, Vlad must pay her back with his professional services as an assassin.

(Pas encore traduit en français) Vlad Taltos, sorcerer, sometime witch, and former assassin, and his faithful jhereg take on the biggest hitters of the House of the Jhereg.

Granted, walking around with two jhereg on your shoulders is not the best disguise for an ex-assassin wanted all over the Empire. But a young boy saved his life and then needs help, Vlad Taltos pays his debt--even if it means uncovering a financial scandal big enough to bring down the House of the Orca and the entire Empire.

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 be: 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.

(Pas encore traduit en français) 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.

(Pas encore traduit en français) In which Vlad Taltos confronts the Left Hand of the Jhereg…and discovers the game has more players than he thought... Vlad Taltos, a 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 is Steven Brust at his best—swashbuckling storytelling with a wry and gritty edge.

(Pas encore traduit en français) Fresh from the collapse of his marriage, and with the criminal Jhereg organization out to eliminate him, Vlad Taltos 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.

(Pas encore traduit en français) 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...

(Pas encore traduit en français) Once, Vlad Taltos knew his trade: he killed people for a living. That skill got him his foothold in House Jhereg, running the rackets for a chunk of urban Adrilankha. Later, things happened that left Vlad a changed man, on the run from the Jhereg and frequently involved in the affairs of Dragonlords, Empresses, and even Jenoine. Far more involved than the average human. Meanwhile, in the very distant past, one of the gods fashioned an artifact—a silver figurine of a tiassa, a winged panther-like animal. To Devera the Wanderer, it’s a pretty toy to play with. To Vlad, it’s a handy prop for a con he’s running. To the Empire, it’s a tool to be used against the Jenoine. And to the Jhereg, it’s a trap to kill Vlad. As it happens, however, the silver tiassa has its own agenda.

(Pas encore traduit en français) 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.