Athyra

infobox Book |
name = Athyra
orig title =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Steven Brust
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = The Vlad Taltos novels
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Ace Books
release_date = 1993
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 243 pp (first edition, paperback)
isbn = ISBN 0441033423 (first edition, paperback)
preceded_by = Phoenix
followed_by = Orca

"Athyra" is the sixth book in Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series, set in the fantasy world of Dragaera. Originally published in 1993, by Ace Books, it was reprinted in 2003 along with "Orca" in the omnibus "The Book of Athyra". Following the trend of the Vlad Taltos books, it is named after one of the Great Houses and features that House as an important element to its plot.

Plot introduction

Vlad wanders into the village of Smallcliff and involves a local Teckla boy in his investigation of a recent murder.

Plot summary

Vlad has traveled through Dragaera for over two years. He now wears normal clothing, has discarded most of his assassin arsenal, and has lost a finger. While entering the village of Smallcliff, he meets Savn, a Teckla boy apprenticed to the local physicker. The two strike up a brief conversation, and Savn is often confused by Vlad's behavior, as he has never seen an Easterner before. Vlad's arrival in town is concurrent with the mysterious death of Reins, a former servant of the Baron of Smallcliff.

Vlad shows up again at the local inn, causing a stir. He talks to Savn and becomes interested in Reins's death. While most of the village assumes that Vlad killed Reins, Vlad begins to believe that the death did have something to do with him. After some questioning, Vlad determines that the Baron of Smallcliff is still Loraan, an Athyra wizard he killed during the events of "Taltos". The time Savn spends with Vlad in public alienates him from his friends in the village.

Savn takes Vlad to some nearby caves at his request and begins learning about witchcraft, sorcery, and thinking for himself. Vlad tells him that Loraan is an undead necromancer who killed Reins to draw Vlad out for a Jhereg assassin. Savn also becomes acquainted with Vlad's two jhereg, who are on constant lookout for assassins. Recurring sections from the point-of-view of Rocza reveal that she obeys the "Provider" only out of obligation to her mate, Loiosh.

Vlad describes his plan to tunnel into Loraan's manor and use the caves' "dark water" to kill him. Before he can put his plan in action, however, he is attacked at the inn by Loraan's men. Vlad fights them off but becomes seriously wounded before teleporting away. Using Vlad's comments about sorcery as a guide, Savn locates Vlad and treats his injuries. While the rest of the village searches for Vlad, Savn recruits the master physicker and they fight off Vlad's infection.

While recuperating, Vlad confirms Savn's growing suspicion that Vlad has been manipulating him in order to get his help. Savn goes to Loraan's manor and discovers that Vlad's allegations about him are true. Savn is thrown into a cell with his master, who has already been tortured into revealing Vlad's location. Savn treats his master and kills the guard to escape and warn Vlad. He contacts Rocza and summons Vlad into Loraan's cellar, where Loraan and the Jhereg assassin Ishtvan suddenly appear.

Savn realizes that Vlad is still too wounded to fight off his attackers. Remembering Vlad's lesson about thinking for himself, Savn dispels his irrational fear of his Baron and uses the caves' "dark water" to menace the undead Loraan. Vlad uses the distraction to kill Ishtvan, but collapses immediately afterward. Robbed of his power, Loraan simply begins throttling Savn until Rocza slips Ishtvan's Morganti dagger into Savn's hand. Savn kills Loraan with the dreaded dagger, but the horror of the ordeal, and a subsequent head injury, snaps his mind.

After reaching safety and healing completely, Vlad resolves to take responsibility for Savn's near catatonic state and seek out treatment for the boy he used.

Trivia and Allusions

* This is the first Vlad novel to use the third person perspective and feature a point of view other than Vlad's.
* Each chapter's epigraph is a verse from the Teckla folk song "Dung-Foot Peasant". The lyrics of each verse correspond to something that happens in the chapter.
* Savn's name was created by Brust as an acronym for "Still Another Vlad Novel". [ [http://www.speakeasy.org/~mamandel/Cracks-and-Shards/names.html#Savn Names ] ]
* Vlad's line, "When you make the seedblocks and leave them in the coolhouse in barrels, the true, true salad flax will melt--" is a reference to the line in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt".

The House of the Athyra

House Athyra is one of the noble Houses of the Dragaeran Empire. Members of the House are renowned for their academics and mental prowess. Athyra view knowledge as a means to power and pursue it zealously, either in the world around them or within themselves. Athyra are commonly wizards due to the power of magical knowledge. They generally live solitary lifestyles, cloistered away from society in their pursuit of arcana. As a result, they are often cold and cruel people. They wear red and white as the colors of their House, and have noble's points that indicate their noble status.

The House is named after the athyra, a large bird that uses psionics to attract prey and repel predators.

References