[Dragaera] Ooooh, Vallista.

[Steve Rapaport]

A lovely shout-out to the Gothic Romance, beginning with a paraphrase from
Austen, ending with one from Bronte, and loading the chapter titles with
punny Gothic Fiction references.

So I finished it far too fast. Oh my goth!

Vlad and Devera are trapped in a spooky old house with warped spacetime
geometry and a hidden beast.  Strange noises, secret passages, vanishing
ghosts, friendly demons, surly builders, starcrossed lovers.

And we also find out that Vallistas can be very annoying, and Issolas can
be all right.

We also get to see Vlad meet Laszlo for the first time (recall in Hawk,
Vlad makes it sound like they're meeting for the second time. So here's the
first.) Laszlo is described as looking a lot like the younger Brust.
http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/Renfest/skzb001.jpg (Though not as much
as Miska the Coachman is).

A lot fewer appearances by those we already know and love, and much more
detail instead on Verra, Devera, Dolivar(!) and the Paths of the Dead. We
find out more about the relationship between Verra and the Cycle and the
Empire that was hinted at with the first meeting of Iceflame and Godslayer
recently. Verra gives us another couple of "oh, that's why I did that!
Wasn't I clever then!" moments.So finally some decent hints about how Vlad
will finish his arc.

And it's all very Gormenghast.
Five stars!
-- 
\Steve