Assassin books

[Saidin]

Hey all,

I have been looking for a new book/series to read, and I was interested in your opinions on a good book on assassins mostly. I looked through the forums and couldn't see another post about this ( prolly my own incompetency ).
To be more specific, I am after a book that is set in recent times ( past 20 years ), or so way back that it is before gunpowder. Snipers are a plus,though not required. Assassinating farmers is not what I had in mind, but more so of high value targets. This does not have do be based on a real story, fiction is alright in my book. The Bourne series was pretty good, but from what I heard the James Bond stuff is set for little kids/preteens

[Lost Ranger]

Well its not modern times but if you are into assassins I HIGHLY suggest that you pick up the Steven Brust stuff. Vlad Taltos has like 7+ books I think written about him (havnt looked in years) and he is an assassin, and a bad ass one. The books are extremely entertaining and worth at least 1 read through.

Check them out.

[Saidin]

Wow that was a very fast reply Lol, and thank you. I am sure if the plot is great, I can overlook the era of course. Appreciate the input.

[Grimmlokk]

Vlad Taltos books are awesome. I've recommended them a bunch of times.

That said, it's not really straight assassin stuff and it is a fantasy setting(some magic/spells, not too much though. That said, there's enough assassin stuff to satisfy you probably, and even if not the writing, setting, and characters are so awesome it's worth it either way.

Only others I know off heart that might fit the bell are the Farseer Trilogy books by Robin Hobb, but by the end the assassin angle is completely secondary. It's more just fantasy than what you're looking for.

[Burf]

I third the Vlad Taltos books. Great stuff.

Also, I just finished reading 'The Last Assassin' by Barry Eisler. His main character is John Rain, and he has several other books out (Killing Rain, Rain Fall, and some other clever titles with the word 'Rain' in them).

He mainly writes in first person, but he switches characters. It's a bit unusual when he makes the first switch, but I got used to it pretty quick. In all, an entertaining read. Eisler was apparently in the CIA for a few years, and he really goes into detail. I don't mean that in an Anne Rice sort of way where he describes what a pencil feels like for 8 pages, but in the sort of way where John Rain considers all the possibilities of a situation and prepares himself for whatever job he's on.

[Ham n Cheese]

Rain Fall.

John Rain, a Japanese American konketsu, or half-breed, learned his lethal trade as a member of the U.S. Special Forces. Although tortured by memories of atrocities he committed in Vietnam, he has become a paid assassin, a solitary man who lives in the shadows and trusts no one, even those who pay extraordinary sums for his ability to make murder look like natural death. But the aftermath of an otherwise routine hit on a government bureaucrat brings Rain to the attention of two men he knows from the old days in Vietnam: a friend who's now a Tokyo cop and an enemy who betrayed Rain long ago and is now the CIA's station chief in Japan. Like the gangster who hired Rain to kill Yasuhiro Kawamura, they want something the dead man had--a computer disk containing proof of high-level corruption, information that could destroy Japan's ruling political coalition. The search for the disk leads them to a woman Rain has come to love, a talented young jazz musician who also happens to be Kawamura's daughter. In this taut, brilliantly paced debut thriller, set in a vividly rendered Tokyo, the author manages an unlikely feat; he earns the reader's sympathy and concern for his protagonist, an amoral assassin who is one of most compelling characters in recent crime fiction.

[Burf]

I've only read 'The Last Assassin', and the summary you posted makes his stuff sound pretty cheesy and dumb, but it's enjoyable reading.

[Ham n Cheese]

Yeah it does now that I actually read it. I just finished Rain Fall recently and enjoyed it. Is that one you posted the first in the series or something? I didn't even know there were more Rain books until I searched amazon after owning the book

[Burkex]

I thought a really cool assassin was in the Bourne books. First off you might say something like: "I have already seen the movies so why would I read the books?" But the books are very different than the movies. In Bourne books it deals with a pretty sweet assassin named Carlos the Jackal. Carlos the Jackal is depicted as the world's most dangerous assassin, a man with international contacts that allow him to strike efficiently and anonymously at locations anywhere on the globe. During the first book, it is "revealed" that Carlos in fact orchestrated the Kennedy assassination. The books are a cat and mouse game between Bourne and Carlos. It is pretty badass and I have to say the story line of Carlos is pretty damn sweet.

Also the books dig much deeper into Jason Bournes past. You learn about how he fought in the Vietnam war for Medusa which was an assassination team/death squad. Basically you learn about the real Jason Bourne and how he became one of the best assassin's in the world. The books are nothing like the movies except for the first 45 minutes of the Bourne Identity movie which are the same, except the book is way cooler.

I think if you are looking for some good books on assassins you should definitely check out the Bourne books.


**BTW it was originally a trilogy by Robert Ludlum but there were 2 other books written continuing the series (The Bourne Legacy and The Bourne Betrayal.)

[Aamina]

Read Waylander, by David Gemmell. Its a book full of win about an assassin. Pre-gunpowder.

[Saidin]

"Vlad grew up working in his father's restaurant in Adrilankha, the capital city of the Dragaeran Empire. As an Easterner, Vlad was a second-class citizen and frequently bullied by Orca youths. Vlad's father bought a baronetcy from House Jhereg in hopes of gaining acceptance from Dragaeran society, nearly bankrupting himself. He tried to teach Vlad to turn his back on his Eastern heritage and embrace Dragaeran culture, but Vlad despised the Dragaerans. Instead, he studied with his grandfather, whom he calls Noish-pa, to learn the Eastern arts of fencing and witchcraft. With his Noish-pa's help, Vlad acquired his familiar, a jhereg he named Loiosh, and raised him from a hatchling. Vlad's father fell ill and died after refusing treatment with witchcraft, and Vlad ran the restaurant for a short time before entering the criminal world of House Jhereg as a low-level enforcer."

I am curious, will this be like Forgotten Realms ( Drizzt and co ) where there is a lot of magic ( Dark elves mostly ), but there is mainly a display of melee/close calls where the battle scenes are intense ? The magic will of course throw a twist into the sway of things, and depending on the author it can be conducive to the success/downfall of the book. I really enjoyed most of the Drizzt books, to give you an idea of my interests.

1. Jhereg (1983)
2. Yendi (1984)
3. Teckla (1987)
4. Taltos (1988)
5. Phoenix (1990)
6. Athyra (1993)
7. Orca (1996)
8. Dragon (1998)
9. Issola (2001)
10. Dzur (2006)
11. jhegaala (2008)

Here is the list I got off Wikipedia, does this look like the correct series you guys read ?

[Burf]

To Ham: 'The Last Assassin' was the 4th or 5th book, I think. I'm deployed and it was free, so I picked it up and read it. He covered enough of the back story that I could get a feel for what had happened in earlier books, so I wasn't really lost. The book stood on its own, but did incorporate elements from previous books (his relationships and a friend of his, the bad guy, etc), but like I said....he threw enough info in there to fill the reader in on what had happened.

To Saidin: That list looks correct. The books are nothing like Forgotten Realms. They're quite difficult to explain, really. There IS magic in the world, but Vlad doesn't really use it. It is written in 1st person (Vlad's POV). It has humor, but well placed, not overdone campy stuff. I just really enjoyed the Vlad books. Pick up Jhereg (or the compilation volumes: The Book of Jhereg, for example--the first 3 books in one). If you enjoy the Drizzt/FR books (I did, as well), you'll enjoy these, I think.

He also wrote some more books that are in the same time period with the same characters, but in a different writing style ('The Paths of the Dead', '500 Years After, 'The Lord of Castle Black'). I DID NOT enjoy those books. His writing style in those was....odd, I think is the best way to put it. The ones you've listed, though....great stuff.

[Grimmlokk]

Originally Posted by Saidin

I am curious, will this be like Forgotten Realms ( Drizzt and co ) where there is a lot of magic ( Dark elves mostly ), but there is mainly a display of melee/close calls where the battle scenes are intense ? The magic will of course throw a twist into the sway of things, and depending on the author it can be conducive to the success/downfall of the book. I really enjoyed most of the Drizzt books, to give you an idea of my interests.

There's some magic, but nothing close to the Drizz't books. The way it comes into the fighting is mostly from magic weapons that eat people's souls or other such things.

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Nelson DeMille has some excellent espionage novels. Very realistic, sort of reminds me of Splinter Cell type of work.
Charm School was one of my favorites, even though it was written in the 80's it still holds up very well, and the whole Cold War backdrop to it is fantastic.

[larseny316]

Started the Taltos books based off of this thread (just finished the Book of Jhereg). Really an excellent series. Its honestly nice light reading. It doesn't make my mind twist and turn like Erikson or GRRM do. Nor does it make my mind work because of so many unfinished plot lines like Jordan does. Its honestly (so far), just the story about one mans ups and downs as an assassin/mob guy. Vlad is a great character, sometimes conflicted about what he is doing, sometimes confused, but he is very human and thats what makes these books work.

The book contains ALOT of magic, alot. That was my very first impression. Every major character (and most minor), possess magic. What makes it different from other books, is that magic seems to be mainly used as utility. No phones.....good thing any and everyone can receive (and most send), psionic messenges. Teleportation is the main form of transportation. Normally this should piss me off, I dislike major magic in books, but it works. Vlad uses his wits, limited magic, decent witchcraft, and his assassin skills. When it comes time to fight, he doesn't rely on fireball of doom, he relies on a poisoned dart. And in this world, poisoned dart and fireball are both equally effective.

Definitly reccamend for anyone looking to kill time between the next major release of Huge Fantasy Series XXXX