Agyar [Hardcover]

Steven Brust (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1993

The dark, sensuous Agyar appears in a quiet college town, where he leaves behind a trail of magic, violence, and broken hearts. By the author of The Phoenix Guards.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brust has concocted a marvelous fantasy, a vampire novel in which the word "vampire" never appears. Jack Agyar is, if not quite immortal, very long-lived. He writes the story of his life on an old typewriter in the attic of an abandoned house in an Ohio university town where he lives with the ghost of an ex-slave named Jim. In Brust's world, vampires don't necessarily kill their victims, but, rather, feed off them for lengths of time. Through one of those victims, Agyar meets Susan, an enchanting young dancer with whom he is shocked to discover himself falling in love. Meantime, the vampire who made Agyar plans to set him up for a murder she commits and he finds himself less and less willing to do her bidding. The plot may seem elementary, but Brust is a master stylist who creates such intricate characters that plot is almost irrelevant. (Brust adds the initials P.J.F. after his name. They stand for Pre-Joyce Foundation, a group whose members, among them Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, and Jane Yolen, believe that James Joyce ruined modern literature.)
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A mysterious young man appears in a midwestern college town, takes up residence in an abandoned house, and awaits his death at the hands of the woman who controls his destiny. As John Agyar attempts to reconcile himself to impending doom, he discovers another woman whose love for him leads to a dangerous revelation--and his only hope to escape his fate. The author of The Phoenix Guards (Tor Bks., 1991) and the "Vlad Taltos" series offers a fresh perspective on a popular theme of dark fantasy in this penetrating look at an individual caught between life and death. A good choice for fantasy collections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (March 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312851782
• ISBN-13: 978-0312851781
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,213,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in a family of Hungarian labor organizers, Steven Brust worked as a musician and a computer programmer before coming to prominence as a writer in 1983 with Jhereg, the first of his novels about Vlad Taltos, a human professional assassin in a world dominated by long-lived, magically-empowered human-like "Dragaerans." Over the next several years, several more "Taltos" novels followed, interspersed with other work, including To Reign in Hell, a fantasy re-working of Milton's war in Heaven; The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, a contemporary fantasy based on Hungarian folktales; and a science fiction novel, Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille. The most recent "Taltos" novels are Dragon and Issola. In 1991, with The Phoenix Guards, Brust began another series, set a thousand years earlier than the Taltos books; its sequels are Five Hundred Years After and the three volumes of "The Viscount of Adrilankha": The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, and Sethra Lavode.While writing, Brust has continued to work as a musician, playing drums for the legendary band Cats Laughing and recording an album of his own work, A Rose for Iconoclastes. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where he pursues an ongoing interest in stochastics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't hold on to a copy of this book!, November 23, 1999

By 

Michael M. Mason (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Agyar (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

Agyar is absolutely the best written novel I have ever read. I think the clearest proof of this is that I have never gotten it back from anyone I lent it to. I have quite literally purchased this book 4 times, then lent it to friends, and never had it returned. Brust accomplishes so much without beating the reader over the head with too much imagery. The story seeps into you very organically. The thing I love about Brust's writing is that there is absolutely nothing unintentional about it. He crafts his words with precision and intent. I absolutely recommend this book (I won't call it a Vampire book, since the Word is never mentioned, besides, I hate the Horror Genre). Anyone with an interest in good writing and storytelling must read this. Oh, and If I could borrow your copy for a few days....

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Read About It, Just Read It - Part II, October 16, 2004

By 

R. Townsend - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Agyar (Paperback)

I second the opinion of Benny "B". The less you know about this book, the stronger the impact. This book is best discovered. Don't read other reviews, many give too much of the story away, and thus lessens the impact. If I remember correctly, Mr Brust had said that this was a literary experiment in writing, one in which he was personally satisfied with the result. I read this book first in high school and then again several months ago. It has aged relatively well, is well written, and should appeal to many peoples tastes.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Vampire Stories ever written, December 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Agyar (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

Steven Brust has long been a favourite of mine, and if you read Agyar, you will understand why. I believe that there are very few vampire stories that are truly worth reading, perhaps it is something about the very nature of vampires that makes them so difficult to handle. However, John Agyar, even as a killer, comes across as a very well- rounded character who evokes the reader's sympathy. The story revolves around Agyar's fight to free himself from the machinations of his mistress, Laura, and his growing love for a talented young dancer named Susan. The ending, while not entirely completely rosy, is none the less very satisfying. A much- recommended read.