This was rather interesting in that the main thread of the tale was in a little god-made figurine with incidental characters handling it throughout a space of ten years, including a young Vlad, an older Cawti, his estranged wife, and, oddly enough, the Captain of the Phoenix Guards, of which apparently has his own series, so I just got to enjoy *his* strong voice, which was a pleasure and quite different from either Vlad's or Cawti's. 
 Suffice to say, strange things are afoot. There could be a horrendous invasion on its way and only stoppable by this little artifact, or it could be just some rather desperate and complicated attempts on Vlad's life. Who knows? I mean, it's not like Vlad has ever given anyone reason to dislike him or anything. 
 No. Not him. He's as sunny as the Demon Goddess is explicable. 
 Fun tale, split up quite a bit differently than any others that I've read by Brust, but that's only natural if the main character in focus doesn't actually have a voice. :) 
 Still loving the series!