Very typical Steven Brust work, especially if you enjoyed Brokedown Palace, or To Reign in Hell. Well written, as always. ( )

Literary Metafiction, Lite: All books are unique, but this one is a little more unique than most. It's one of my favorites, but what it is -- and what it isn't -- takes a little explaining.

It's written by an author best known for his swashbuckling fantasy stories, but this book bears little resemblance to Brust's other fictions. There is a hint of Vlad's cockiness and introspection, a bit of the philosophical debate found in Freedom and Necessity. But it is not speculative fiction of any sort -- science fiction, high fantasy, urban fantasy, historical fantasy, etc. If that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere.

It was first published in a series of modern retellings of classic fairy tales, but the fairy tale element is minimal here, so again, if that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed.

On the surface this is a story about painters and the visual arts, young artists struggling to make a living post-college, but that, too, is deceptive. Some knowledge of and interest in painting will certainly add to your enjoyment of this book -- particularly some of the clever section headings, which are titles of well-known paintings. On the other hand, the book does not require such knowledge, which may make the very broad level of treatment given to art history and visual theory frustrating for people who come to the novel expecting these to be the focus.

What the book is, as the main character Greg says explicitly, is an attempt to understand something of the process of artistic creation. And while it's ostensibly about painting, the book is written by a writer, so it's no great leap to understand much of the content as about writing. It's a metafiction, a writing about writing. But because the story is about a somewhat similar artistic pursuit, painting, it's an easier to understand metafiction than, say, Borges or the like. When we see how Greg's painting develops -- from his moods, from past works and influences, from the story he tells, from his surroundings and situation -- it's easy to understand how these things may be true for any artistic pursuit.

Two more things need to be said. First, in addition to the above, the story itself is quite entertaining. There are a number of fully realized characters that have different, often conflicting, opinions, and the way the story plays out has a level of drama that is not at all in keeping with the dry and intellectual tone one might expect when words like "metafiction" are tossed around. Yes, some of the characters aren't perfect, but we're talking about artists here: people with both the arrogance to believe their work is good enough to be thrust on society, and yet the sensitivity to need support and acclaim for their work. They are not perfect, yet they are thoroughly real.

Second, this book can be quite inspirational. The central story revolves around Greg's attempt to paint on the biggest canvas he yet has attempted: to conquer what he thinks of as The Monster. While on a literal level this book is about painting and as mentioned can more properly be understood to be about writing, really as a reader it has applicability to any large creative project we may choose to undertake. It's a book that can be appreciated on many levels: intellectually for the metafiction, inter-relationships and references; as entertainment for the drama; and as inspiration for the inner artist in us all. For all these reasons it's among my most beloved and most often re-read books.

This is not Brust's best work. ( )

This story mirrors typical Hungarian fairy tales in that there are several sub-stories going on at once. We learn what is happening to Greg (the main character) and his friends at their studio, we learn Greg's ideas about art, we watch Greg's painting, and we are told a Hungarian fairy tale in between. It is never too much, and it stays interesting, even as Greg rants. Greg does come to some realizations, and things do come to a point, even though we're not entirely certain if they will or what it will be until we're there. The story was definitely not, however, a re-enactment or retelling of the fairy tale. ( )

Well, count me in as at least one other who thought this one should've remained unpublished. Certainly the "fairy tale" portion seemed tacked on merely to merit inclusion in a book series. As a male and an artist, I wasn't impressed, either, with this story. Perhaps if there had been a hint that the author was writing tongue in cheek...or just a bit of a wink to the reader, like, "yes, I know, I was a snuffling little boor back then, wasn't I?" But it seems the man really does believe he has important things to say about Art, sad to say. It's an adolescent-era novel written by someone who had obviously still not grown up at the time of the novel's writing. Rather embarrassing to read, actually. ( )