[Dragaera] Iorich ***SPOILERS**** First impressions

[Alexx Kay]

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and a bit more spoiler space...



>  Are the Jhereg actually useful to
> the Empire at the moment?

There are many ways to parse this question.  Are they performing more good
than evil?  Dubious.  Are they *necessary* to maintain the Empire. 
Arguably yes.  Would any attempt to dismantle them have huge negative
consequences?  Absolutely.

> Not sure the overall plot makes any sense, but I greatly enjoyed the book.

Likewise.  See my early "plot criticism" post for a more detailed take on it.

>  I don't
> understand how Kragar's office can survive this book.

It might not.  Lots of characters in this series are demonstrably willing
to risk their lives for each other, much less their careers.

>  Also why the Empire
> doesn't call in the Jhereg and say, "Vlad will die of being an Easterner
> soon enough, in the meantime if any of you kill him every single
> Jhereg will testify under the Orb that they weren't involved and any
> who are will be handed over to Vlad's friends."

Are you, by chance, an American?  At the moment, our central Federal
government is extremely strong, and the relative power of the State
governments are weaker than ever.  In Dragaera, the situation is very
different.  The Houses appear to have (collectively) more power than the
Imperium.  This is probably even more true than usual during Zerika's
reign, since she doesn't really *have* a House to back her up.

If Zerika were to do as you suggest, not only would the Jhereg scream (and
likely perform) bloody murder, but every other House would see it as a
completely unacceptable precedent.  Given the haughtiness and pride of the
Dragons, it is almost inevitable that they would see this as proof the
Cycle had turned, and they would probably get support from several other
Houses.  Lyorn and Dzur for sure, possibly even Iorich (since this would
be a big breach of normal applications of justice).  If Zerika were to
resist, a coup and/or civil war would be very likely.

Alexx

"This forces the self that exists /behind/ our "front identity" to take over
 the wheel of the moving vehicle.  After that, it gets rather difficult to
 describe, firstly because what is going on isn't remotely human, and
 secondly because one's self isn't actually present while all this is
 occurring.  Whoever is in control of the vertical and horizontal, as it
 were, isn't you.  Recollection of the experience is necessarily non-linear,
 fragmentary.  Time, mind, identity, cause and effect... all of these have
 been behaving in unusual ways.  A certain confusion is forgiveable."
    -- Alan Moore in correspondence with Dave Sim about _From Hell_