Swimming along with the Vlad Taltos reread, we come to volume 7, Orca. Now, the Orca are the shippers, sailors, bankers, and traders of the Dragaera. Given Brust’s sympathies, one would expect that this is the book in which he gives them a metaphorical drubbing, demonstrating his loathing of bankers and capitalists. After all, he made them Vlad’s primary enemy, with the beatings by Orca youth a catalyst in Vlad’s development.
There is some of that in the novel, but thankfully little of the polemic. Instead, Orca is a murder mystery novel, in the classic American mystery tradition of tracing threads leading to corruption among the rich and powerful.
Vlad has been taking care of Savn, who was so traumatized by the events in Athyra that he is little more than a walking vegetable, uncommunicative and capable of little more than eating what is put before him and walking when he’s told. So Vlad has brought him to Northport to look for a healer. The healer’s house is at risk due to some sort of banking shenanigans involving her mortgage. In exchange for Vlad’s handling the matter, she agrees to help, thus getting Vlad involved in investigating the death of an Orca businessman whose entire enterprise was built on fraud.
It is good to have Vlad’s wisecracking POV return — even if it is only for half of the chapters. The other half is from the first person POV of Kiera. This actually works quite well, especially given the tightrope Brust needs to walk to avoid revealing the major secret that comes out at the end. (Part of the pleasure of rereading these books is doing so with the knowledge of who Kiera really is.) Vlad and Kiera make a good team, tracking down the leads, pulling on threads, making things happen, and coming to conclusions. They uncover corruption and coverups leading to the highest levels of the Empire. We get a break-in, some fights, and Vlad resorting once again to assassination.
Orca is the longest of the books so far, and perhaps could have used a minor trimming of the fat. But that’s a quibble. The narrative structure is clever, with Kiera telling her story to Cawti, and Vlad telling his story to Kiera, and the reader being trusted to figure out what portions of that Kiera would have withheld. It is decent, middling Vlad Taltos fare and I enjoyed it.
Now, perhaps Brust believed he was making a case against the American system and for a planned economy. In fact, he ends up crafting an argument for less government intervention and a more lassez-faire economy. Of course, no author’s intent survives an encounter with a reader. And each reader’s take may well differ from mine.
Moving on to the self-promotional portion of the post, I am pleased to inform you that I will be appearing as a panelist this coming weekend (September 25-27) at P-Con, in Dallas. If you are in the area, come by and say hello.
