kgbooklog

3-28-05
Steven Brust, Agyar
Tor (1993) ISBN: 0-312-85178-2
Score: -1

This is a classic as defined by Mark Twain: I really didn't like it, but I'm glad to have read it. It is a dark, urban fantasy unrelated to anything else he's written. There is a fine line between an author being clever, and being annoying, and this book really annoyed me. The narrator leaves a lot of stuff unsaid, so there's a lot of reading between the lines needed, and I may have liked it more if I hadn't already known SPOILER (but that wasn't the author's fault in any way). (I want books that make me think, and wonder, and speculate *after* I put the book down; having to think *while* reading isn't fun.) I certainly would have liked it more if Agyar was the least bit sympathetic, but instead I kept hoping Vlad Taltos would show up and put him out of his misery. It would also have liked more information on how the supernatural stuff worked, especially for things important to the plot (like Jill biting him). And Agyar rationalizing his actions by blaming the embalmists didn't help any.