Yendi is one of those exposition-heavy capers that really allows you to appreciate that a book is both stand-alone and sequel. Simultaneously a mob war novel and political intrigue novel, Yendi has tons of violence, gets-the-girl, friendship, and magic. It’s a worthy continuation of the Vlad Taltos tale, and it’s a prequel sequel. That’s pretty ballsy, huh? Brust establishes quickly and effectively that he’s got a lot of story and world he’s going to be showing off within by using a contained story that involves greater machinations and characters than you’d expect from the main plot. As I continue my reread of the Vlad novels, it’s important that I note that this remains one of my favorites of the series and that this book, Yendi, made me absolutely determined, when I first read it 15+ years ago, to never miss a Brust novel. 4.5/5 for being a quietly and powerfully intense novel with exposition that actually establishes characters rather than simply slogging through clunky story or plotlines that most writers wouldn’t figure out how to incorporate into the adventure.