Suggests to me that maybe it's a matter of the author trying out different stuff each time

Brust is definitely trying to do a new thing in each book, sometimes in how the narrative is structured, sometimes sub-genre wise, often by what he brings into the epigraphs. Like, there's a heist book and a "war movie" book and a gothic and a ~courtroom drama and a musical pastiche. And while some experiments work better for me than others, I find the approach fascinating on the whole, you know?

between you & [personal profile] landofnowhere yeah i'll probably give the novelette a peek at some point ;)

Haha, it was only after I left my comment that I noticed landofnowhere also mentioned the shorter version. I found them nicely complementary, so I do think worth taking a look! (and looking forward to your thoughts if you do)