Steven Brust

Vlad Taltos has a price on his head. It isn't the first time, but what's new is that the entire Jhereg organization -- thieves, assassins, vicious criminals all -- has committed to removing him from the board. It will take all of Vlad's considerable ingenuity to come up with a plan that will get the Jhereg off his back permanently.

"The Incrementalists--a secret society of two hundred people with an unbroken lineage reaching back forty thousand years. They cheat death, share lives and memories, and communicate with one another across nations, races, and time. They have an epic history, an almost magical memory, and a very modest mission: to make the world better, just a little bit at a time. Their ongoing argument about how to do this is older than most of their individual memories....

Donovan was shot by a cop. For jaywalking, supposedly. Actually, for arguing with a cop while black. Four of the nine shots were lethal--or would have been, if their target had been anybody else. The Foundation picked him up, brought him back, and trained him further. "Lethal" turns out to be a relative term when magic is involved. When Marci was fifteen, she levitated a paperweight and threw it at a guy she didn't like. The Foundation scooped her...