After the events in Phoenix, Vlad is out and about in the wider world. This one is told largely from the perspective of an adolescent peasant that lives on the land of an undead sorcerer that Vlad had a run in with before. Brust clearly wanted to try a different pov and discourse upon the life of a rural peasant (as opposed to the urban take in Teckla). However, I find these child perspectives limiting and I am not a fan. Thus, this is one of the lesser Taltos books in my opinion. However it is still quality 4 star entertainment and gets a recommend.