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Steven Brust

Agyar Paperback – Bargain Price, August 1, 2004

by Steven Brust (Author)

4.1 77 ratings

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Born over a century ago, Agyar was once a frivolous young man, before he found im-mor-tality in a woman's blood-red lips. Now he roams from woman to woman and decade to decade, finding himself at last in an Ohio college town, where he must choose between the seductions of salvation and of destruction.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orb Books
Publication date

August 1, 2004
Dimensions

8.3 x 5.56 x 0.67 inches
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Steven Brust
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Hardcover
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Packs more of an emotional wallop than any verbose gore fest served up by less iimaginative talents. -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Packs more of an emotional wallop than any verbose gore fest served up by less imaginative talents."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Compact, understated, and highly persuasive...Brust accomplishes with a wry turn of phrase or a small flourish what others never achieve despite hundreds of gory spatters."--Kirkus Reviews

Packs more of an emotional wallop than any verbose gore fest served up by less imaginative talents. (San Francisco Chronicle )

Compact, understated, and highly persuasive...Brust accomplishes with a wry turn of phrase or a small flourish what others never achieve despite hundreds of gory spatters. (Kirkus Reviews )

About the Author

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in a family of 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.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00342VFLE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orb Books (August 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.3 x 5.56 x 0.67 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.1 77 ratings

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Steven Brust

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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.

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4.1 out of 5

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morvoren

A unique vampire novel, but not very satisfying

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2011

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This is a very unsatisfying novel, written in the first person by a vampire about his life. It is unique and original in concept; but the writing is uneven, although very spare. There is no mention of the word vampire in the whole book which is one of its best features, and yet, in the end you know that is what he is; there is no mention of feeding off the blood of others, though it clearly happens throughout the novel. Agyar Janus, or Jack Agyar, as he calls himself, is living in the town of Lakota, Ohio. He only drinks coffee, and later you learn that food sickens him. There is no mention of problems with sunlight until late in the book as well. If you pick up the clues, he needs to be invited in. By the end we learn he sleeps on the ground, and so forth.

Jack Agyar is living as a human, associating with university types, but he is dominated and totally controlled by a woman named Laura who is clearly his maker and who decides to destroy him in a plot to implicate him for the people she, herself, has killed. He attempts to fight back. He dominates a woman named Jill Quarier, and falls in love with her roommate Susan. He feeds on prostitutes. He usually allows them to live. He clearly is feeding on Jill as well, and later on Susan. He lives in a haunted abandoned house, and his main confidant is a ghost, an African American named Jim. He spends most of his time typing this story on an old typewriter, and also writing poems. In the end, it is as boring as a meaningless life. Clearly this is a book where immortality is seen as a curse, and Agyar's only respite is trying to live and be with humans. He is harsh, yet occasionally tender. The end of the book seems unclear. It is a sorry sad read in the end. Agyar is not a nice creature and the life described is dull, dull, dull.

3 people found this helpful

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Scott Robbins

Another great Steven Brust book

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2014

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As has been said, this isn't like the Dragaera books. Mr. Brust is an extremely talented writer, and I've never read anything by him that I didn't like. Like others, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I would agree with those who say read it, then go back and reread the prologue after having read the epilogue.

There is some humor and some sadness, and as is typical in at least some of Mr. Brust's books, the hero is somewhat of a villain and the villain has some reasons for being villainous.

As several others said, you're best off reading the book without having too much idea of the story. More character than plot driven, and worth the read. I should point out that I'm a huge Brust fan, but I think just about anyone will enjoy this book--it's a quick and fairly light read.

As so many others have mentioned it's a vampire story, I will add my assurances to the others--it is not the vampire story you're expecting, and I say that regardless of whatever you're expecting--of the various vampires I've run across in fiction, this one is as unique as most of Mr. Brust's characters.

2 people found this helpful

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vampire novel reads unlike any other vampire novel

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2003

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I was drawn to this book primarily because of the author, who is an exceptional writer of fantasy, and it is always interesting to see how a master of one style does when writing in another. Often the cross-over result is lackluster.
So I was more than pleasantly surprised by this volume, which is quite different than Brust's other works. And unlike many vampire novels, it is not clear at first that our protagonist is a vampire, nor do we linger on the gory details. Since the writing is the first person perspective of the vampire, much is not spelled out because it is "obvious". In some prose, this might result in a confusing meander through a stream of consciousness, but in "Agyar", this results in a smooth, flowing tale of the life of Jack Agyar. It is a short, compelling read.
Highly recommended for both fans of vampire novels, and those who normally don't like them.

4 people found this helpful

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Robert

My personal favorite book of all-time!

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2020

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I would say what I love about this book, but most of that would be considered spoilers. You have the ghost from a Mark Twain novel, you have an author who writes a novel the complete opposite of most in the genre. In such a relatively short novel, Brust packs as much into AGYAR as Stephen King does in his average tree-killing tomes.

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2011

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I was quite surprised by the content of the book because I believed it was a continuation of series by Brust that I have been following and it was instead a story about a vampire. It was a decent story but not what I'm used to from him. Also the delivery took one full month to reach me and that did not make me happy at all. I didn't mark down the company so I don't know who not to order from in the future but I certainly don't want it to be from them. Can you tell me who they were?

One person found this helpful

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Jennifer

Not your average monster novel

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2013

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Steven Brust has a talent for taking familiar stories--in this case, a gothic-style monster/vampire novel--and envisioning them in a delightfully subversive way that evokes profound notions of good and evil while at the same time reveling in a strange sort of amorality. A stand-alone book about the life and love of an unrepentant vampire, Agyar is a great introduction to the work of the unconventional Brust.

One person found this helpful

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Alexandria Wolf

One of the better vampire books

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2011

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Drowning in the flood of pathetic vampire romance that gluts the market these days, it's sometimes necessary to return to some of the older, and far better, vampire fiction out there. Agyar is an excellent read and shows that the brilliant Steven Brust has a far better grasp on portraying the undead than the current crop of romance novelists looking to cash in on the supernatural trend will ever have. Do yourself a favor. Put down Twilight and the Anita Blake books. Sink your teeth into this instead.

One person found this helpful

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Dentavo

Enthralling!

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2013

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Brust has done an amazing job of pulling the reader into the dark world of John Agyar - perhaps casting a spell over their senses - and we find human emotion at the center of the intrigue, manipulation, and deceit. As we join minds with this unsavory character, he takes us to the verge of annihilation, where the stench of death and unending torment await our arrival. With nothing left to lose, his greatest gamble may be on love itself.
Ultimately, vengeance or freedom hang in the balance, but can he truly achieve them both?

One person found this helpful

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Ser Moomba

Depressing

Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 2015

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Good story, but I found it kind of depressing.

Tanja T.

Klasse!

Reviewed in Germany on February 17, 2014

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Ein absolut phantastisches Buch. Toller Stil, bleibt bis zum Schluss spannend. Für Freunde der besseren Vampir-Literatur wirklich ein absolutes Muss!

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Dave

Characters with great potential go nowhere

Reviewed in Australia on July 21, 2015

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I remember liking some of his Vlad novels. So gave this a try. An interesting premise but not much happens really. Characters with great potential go nowhere.

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Agyar Paperback – Bargain Price, August 1, 2004

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Steven Brust

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