Dragaera/Fridge

• Not a dislike, but when I read the Dragaera book Orca and found out that Sethra and Kiera are the same person, I had to go back and see where this was hinted at in earlier books. Then, I noticed in Taltos how at a point where Vlad is unwilling to climb Dzur mountain to meet with Sethra, Kiera shows up out of nowhere and gives him a peptalk. Also interesting is her promise that if Morrolan kills Vlad, he will be dead in less than a year. Sounds a lot different when you realize that the speaker is an insanely powerful sorceress. -- Jordan
  • Orca also has one that is less a dislike than a realization of the author's cleverness. It's been remarked how in one scene in the book, Kiera notes in her narration about an odd expression on Vlad's face. It's been suggested (and I agree) that this was indicating that he and his familiar were telepathically making snarky comments.--Jordan

• I didn't really care for Vlad's bullying of humans in Dzur nor the very bleak tone of the most recent book Jhegaala. Then, it hit me how the latter shows his development in the books set chronologically later. In the earlier books in the series, Vlad talks a lot about how Dragaerans, even the ones he likes, are scum. Notably, after experiencing cruelty from fellow humans in Jhegaala, he generally stops making such comments and is more willing to judge them by the same standards as humans. This also explains his behavior towards humans in Dzur- for better or worse, Vlad now treats everyone equally.-- Jordan
  • Not to mention the title of Jhegaala. Unlike all the other Taltos books, not a single member of the titular house is anywhere to be seen. But that's because as the series has gone on, the titles have begun to be more and more about Vlad and less and less about the circumstances and people around him. And so the book about an animal Dragaerans treat as a symbol of metamorphosis and change is the one where he's forced to reverse half his attitudes completely.-- Phoenix Fire
  • The observation that humans are a lot like Jhegaala, in that individuals have the capacity for a huge range of personality traits that evolve over time, almost makes everyone in the novel an honorary "Jhegaala", by Dragaerans' standards.
• Fridge Brilliance: There's a minor digression in (I think) Teckla in which Vlad notices that Rocza is acting a bit oddly, so asks Loiosh if she might be pregnant. This doesn't seem important, until you go back and re-read it after learning about Vlad Norathar, and take note of Loiosh's reply that Rocza is very close to the absent Cawti ... and you realize that she must've been pregnant by then.