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Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans living on a world called Dragaera. His recent novels also include The Incrementalists (2013), with co-author Skyler White.
As a drummer and singer-songwriter, Brust has recorded one solo album and two albums as a member of Cats Laughing. Brust also wrote songs for the 1995 multimedia CD Songs from the Gypsy by the band Boiled in Lead.
The Vlad Taltos series is set on what is apparently another planet, in an Empire mostly inhabited and ruled by the Dragaerans, who are humanoid but have such differences as greatly extended lifespans and heights averaging about 7 feet. Referred to as "elfs" by some humans, they refer to themselves as "human". The Dragaeran Empire controls an area that is 'enclouded', and does not greatly concern itself with the rest. Vlad Taltos is one of the human minority (known by Dragaerans as "Easterners" ), which exists as a lower class in the Empire. Vlad also practices the human art of witchcraft; "táltos" is Hungarian for a kind of supernatural person in folklore. Though human, he is a citizen of the Empire because his social-climbing father bought a title in one of the less reputable of the 17 Dragaeran Great Houses. The only Great House that sells memberships this way is, not coincidentally, also the one that maintains a criminal organization. Vlad proves surprisingly successful in this organization. Despite being a human and a criminal, he has a number of high-ranking Dragaeran friends, and often gets caught up in important events.
Brust has written 14 published novels in the series, which is proposed to run to nineteen novels – one named for each of the Great Houses, one named for Vlad himself (Taltos), and a final novel which Brust has said will be titled The Final Contract. The first three novels resemble private-eye detective stories, perhaps the closest being Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. The later novels are more varied than the first three. Though they read like fantasy, there are science-fictional explanations for some things.
Brust has also written another series set in Dragaera, the Khaavren Romances, set centuries before Vlad's time. Since Dragaerans live for thousands of years, many characters appear in both series. It is partly an homage to Alexandre Dumas, père's novels about the Three Musketeers, and is five volumes long, following the pattern of Dumas' series. The books are presented as historical novels written by Paarfi of Roundwood, a Dragaeran roughly contemporary with Vlad. Paarfi's old-fashioned, elaborate, and highly verbose writing is explicitly based on Dumas', though with a dialogue style that is, at times, based on Tom Stoppard's wordgames in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (according to Pamela Dean's introduction to Five Hundred Years After).
The two series are finally brought together in the thirteenth novel in the Vlad series, Tiassa, which can also be viewed as the sixth novel in the Khaavren series. Tiassa comprises what are in effect three related novellas, each told in a different style and connected by a common theme. The first section reads like the first three novels in the series, with a first-person narration by Vlad but including Khaavren's son, Piro; the second section has a different viewpoint character in each of its chapters; and the third section is narrated by Paarfi in the style of the earlier Khaavren Romances, with Khaavren as the viewpoint character and interacting with Vlad.
Most of Brust's short stories are set in shared universes. These include Emma Bull's and Will Shetterly's Liavek, Robert Asprin's Thieves' World, Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Terri Windling's Borderland Series.
Brust was a founding member of a Minnesota-based writers' group called The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede. He also was a founding member of the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.
There is a certain amount of variation in the writing style amongst the Taltos novels, as well as between Brust's various series. Brust uses a different narrative approach in almost every novel in the Taltos series. Some of these approaches are more purely stylistic and have minor effects on the actual story-telling; some are profound and involve the point of view of characters whom the reader never expected to get to know so well.
Further, as the writing of the Taltos novels has spanned over two decades, they have been influenced by events in Brust's own life. A fascination with the Mafia – subsequently brought into a somewhat shocking perspective by the murder of a friend – profoundly influenced his storylines, as did the breakup of his marriage. The events and arguments of his books, especially Teckla, are acknowledged by Brust to be influenced by his lifelong interest in Marxist theory and practice, especially as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Since Brust is a self-identified "Trotskyist sympathizer", this topic frequently comes up in interviews with him.
Lastly, Brust has a decided knack for slipping absorbing mysteries into the minor details of his stories; mysteries that tend to fascinate his readers, once they notice them, and often form the kernel around which later books coalesce, even though their resolution still springs upon the reader unexpectedly when it finally comes.
Cats Laughing released two albums with Brust as drummer, in 1988 and 1990. Brust also contributed as a songwriter and vocalist. The 1990 album Another Way to Travel features cover art that depicts the band members and a vehicle known as the Catmobile, the band vehicle for Cats Laughing. The car, owned by Brust in Minnesota, was a Cadillac ambulance, painted yellow, light blue, and dark blue, with murals.
A Rose for Iconoclastes is Brust's only solo album, released in 1993. The album was produced by Adam Stemple, a fellow fantasy writer and member of Cats Laughing. Twelve of the album's fourteen songs were written or co-written by Brust.
AllMusic reviewer Steven McDonald wrote, "Brust serves up a decent folksy stew with a few blasts of sarcastic humor, salted with performances from a handful of well-known friends." According to McDonald, "the writing tends to be stronger in the lyrical department than in the compositional area," and Brust's "satirical material tends to work better than the more serious material."
The album's title is a reference to "A Rose for Ecclesiastes", a short story by Brust's literary hero and mentor Roger Zelazny.
Two songs from this album, "I Was Born About Ten Million Songs Ago" and "Backward Message," were featured by Doctor Demento on his syndicated program, receiving radio airplay on shows from 1994 through 2009. "I Was Born About Ten Million Songs Ago" also appeared on an anthology, Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes #3, later part of a limited-edition CD boxed set.
Brust's short story "When The Bow Breaks" was nominated for the 1999 Nebula Award, although it did not reach the final ballot.
Five Hundred Years After was nominated for the 1995 Locus Poll Award (Best Fantasy Novel). Other novels nominated for various Locus Poll Awards were Brokedown Palace, The Gypsy, Agyar, and Freedom & Necessity.
Dragon was a finalist for the 1999 Minnesota Book Awards in the Fantasy & Science Fiction category. Freedom and Necessity was a 1998 finalist for the same category, while The Phoenix Guards was a finalist in 1992.
Brust discovered in August 2006 that he had made the New York Times extended bestseller list at number 30 with Dzur. He mentioned his ambivalence on this subject online. SciFi Wire posted an interview with Brust after Dzur came out.
About author and audiobooks:
Code:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Brust |
Vlad Taltos Series
Steven Brust - Jhereg (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Yendi (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Teckla (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Taltos (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Phoenix (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Athyra (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Orca (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Dragon (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Issola (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Dzur (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Jhegaala (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Iorich (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Tiassa (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Steven Brust - Hawk (read by Bernard Setaro Clark)
Code:
http://rapidgator.net/file/5f40cf1f0365e4c8b3f0f1b6f83f1645/Jhereg.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/45bd541ab3c76949d63c9b8993a85747/Yendi.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/684bf857bb4672ca626a4a7a8a9edd58/Teckla.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/31eaaf2caae03cbd1ab52ae8cde9dcca/Taltos.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/631c3d4d2e8f7e06d2ed071bb10e4306/Phoenix.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/4f28ca9404ee0f84cd3b3b109a905504/Athyra.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/0abe736b4fc5890190388bb010d0ed4a/Orca.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/b3c76db219f7acf3a6fb25d2b01f6b10/Dragon.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/dba6fdd9a98456f81db77fb65a48241e/Issola.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/49570fa696f6fabc1dd7cfae46d6f130/Dzur.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/b85697a6f2550166e7c51aafd62aadf4/Jhegaala.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/291d5b623cd34da041c2d9e34e9fa963/Iorich.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/24acd3284f27384d67d0cde83758f9e2/Tiassa.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/fbc7ec743ed89bd3e6bd83148f2b8be0/Hawk.rar.html |
The Khaavren Romances series
Steven Brust - The Phoenix Guards (read by Kevin Stillwell)
Steven Brust - Five Hundred Years After (read by Kevin Stillwell)
Steven Brust - The Viscount of Adrilankha: The Paths Of The Dead (read by Kevin Stillwell)
Steven Brust - The Viscount of Adrilankha: The Lord Of Castle Black (read by Kevin Stillwell)
Steven Brust - The Viscount of Adrilankha: Sethra Lavode (read by Kevin Stillwell)
Code:
http://rapidgator.net/file/6401016f7aaed707be52f18ce5928576/The_Phoenix_Guards.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/d6e6b0265bce35be1bf70abab8ee2bec/Five_Hundred_Years_After.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/c936c65b59b42249c1cb9f9dc62c35ff/The_Paths_Of_The_Dead.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/8fecbbc59898ca978f190c25e194e4a0/The_Lord_Of_Castle_Black.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/25fce93e54e0ad96d128863b4e73d371/Sethra_Lavode.rar.html |
Other
Steven Brust - The Incrementalists (read by Mary Robinette Kowal and Ray Porter)
Code:
http://rapidgator.net/file/be21df38e71dae2bf3fd723a977b00ae/The_Incrementalists.rar.html |
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