Dragaera

An unspoiled perspective on _Agyar_

Sun Jan 26 14:04:24 PST 2003

On Sun, 26 Jan 2003 12:49:28 -0800, you wrote:

>At 11:00 AM 1/26/2003 -0800, lazarus wrote:
>>
>> >> >At 04:44 PM 1/25/2003 -0800, David Goldfarb wrote:
>> >> >>not to risk damaging them.  So, he read _Agyar_ without
>> >> being spoiled
>> >> >>by the blurb.  He reports that he got about halfway through
>> >> the book
>> >> >>before the penny dropped -- he'd had clues before then, but it took
>> >> >>the hero taking a shotgun blast before he was sure what was
>> >> going on.
>> >> >
>> >> >Interesting.  But...I can't figure out how that dust jacket
>> >> blurb could
>> >> >have given anything away that wasn't evident by about page 6.
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> I didn't get it until halfway through, either, but then, I went into
>> >> knowing exactly one thing, it was a Steve Brust novel.  That's it.
>> >
>> >Never underestimate readers' obtuseness.
>>
>>I think it could also be due to the subtlety of Steve's writing.
>
>This is all very flattering (and it is, really...and I do not mind in the 
>least being flattered) but misses my point.
>
>When I said I couldn't see what the hardcover dustjacket might have given 
>away, I meant just that.  It seems to me that that jacket copy was a really 
>lovely piece of work, that gave the tone and feel of the book, but didn't 
>give away anything at all.  Certainly the "V" word was never used, and I 
>don't think the hints from the jacket are any broader or clearer than the 
>hints in the first chapter or two of the book.
>
>
>

Ah, that.  We had wandered from the point, hadn't we?  To be honest, I
can't recall the blurb off-hand, as I'm very Away-from-book right now
(across the continent).



-- 

lazarus

 "Therefore, my Harry, Be it thy course to busy giddy minds with
 foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out, may waste the memory
 of the former days." -- King Henry IV, Part ii Act 4, Scene 5