Agyar (original 1993; edition 1993)

I'll try to make this a spoilerless review. Hum, that's not easy. The book is written as though Agyar typed the manuscript as a kind of diary, with its Prologue and Epilogue added by another person. It's a successful and enjoyable framing technique. You should work out what's going on pretty fast, but the book remains engaging until the end. In fact, this is the first book I've read for a while without thinking that I must hurry through to get to the rest of the to-read pile. That's a big deal. Recommended for dark fantasy and horror readers. ( )

I'll try to make this a spoilerless review. Hum, that's not easy. The book is written as though Agyar typed the manuscript as a kind of diary, with its Prologue and Epilogue added by another person. It's a successful and enjoyable framing technique. You should work out what's going on pretty fast, but the book remains engaging until the end. In fact, this is the first book I've read for a while without thinking that I must hurry through to get to the rest of the to-read pile. That's a big deal. Recommended for dark fantasy and horror readers. ( )

Wow, this took a little getting into but it sneaks up on you and grabs the back of your neck. If you're going to read this, DO NOT READ ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT IT. It wouldn't be as fun without the slow realization of what is really going on. ( )

*note to self. Copy from A.

This is one of those odd books that when I started it I realized right off the bat it would be really different than anything I've read recently and thought I would like it, only to get a bit further in and start to have a bit of trouble pushing through. This lasted a bit until the last part of the story where I became used to the writing style and the plot as a whole picked up to where I can ultimately say this was an enjoyable book.

In this we get a man by the name of ____ Agyar (he uses a variety of first names). We learn almost immediately there is something unusual about him, he seems young on the outside but thinks old. Agyar as a character provides an interesting dichotomy as an anti-hero. We see him both as a monster, as he does monstrous things but also as a sympathetic creature as he loves, regrets and struggles against unnatural bonds. I felt like I wanted to root for him but often times his dreadful deeds made me feel that he should get what he deserves. In addition to the odd first person POV there is much which we must extrapolate from between the lines to get a full view of what is going on. Agyar does not tell us what he is or even precisely about the act that is what makes him what he is. We watch and consider and ultimately it does become clear. Certainly a different way of going about telling a tale. Although not overwhelmingly violent or particularly romantic it did contain elements of each plot device despite not exploring them in any sort of a traditional way.

Although I don't often talk about the cover, this particular one (the one with the roses) struck me at first as rather ridiculous until we learn about the pivotal role of this particular imagery later in the story. It made it a much more interesting picture to me.

On the whole this was a pretty unusual book, but it is also probably one that will stick out in my memory because of it. I'd recommend it to those who like monster tales that break the mold of what we're used to. ( )