Editing Steven Brust (section)

===Style and literary theory===
Brust was a founding member of a Minnesota-based writers' group called [[The Scribblies]], which included [[Emma Bull]], [[Pamela Dean]], [[Will Shetterly]], Nate Bucklin, [[Kara Dalkey]], and [[Patricia Wrede]]. He also was a founding member of the [[Pre-Joycean Fellowship]].

He has rejected a distinction between science fiction and fantasy, stating that no belief in such a distinction can withstand an encounter with the writing of [[Roger Zelazny]].<ref name="brust20160229">{{Cite web |last=Brust |first=Steven |date=February 29, 2016 |title=No belief in a distinction between science fiction and fantasy can withstand an encounter with Zelazny. #justsaying |url=https://twitter.com/StevenBrust/status/704353038060752896 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309164141/https://twitter.com/StevenBrust/status/704353038060752896 |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |website=Steven Brust on Twitter |publisher=Twitter.com}}</ref>

==== Writing style ====
There is a certain amount of variation in the writing style amongst the Taltos novels, as well as between Brust's various series. Brust uses a different narrative approach in almost every novel in the Taltos series. Some of these approaches are more purely stylistic and have minor effects on the actual story-telling; some are profound and involve the point of view of characters whom the reader never expected to get to know so well.

Further, as the writing of the Taltos novels has spanned over four decades, they have been influenced by events in Brust's own life. A fascination with the Mafia&nbsp;– subsequently brought into a somewhat shocking perspective by the murder of a friend&nbsp;– profoundly influenced his storylines, as did the breakup of his marriage. The events and arguments of his books, especially ''Teckla'', are acknowledged by Brust to be influenced by his lifelong interest in Marxist theory and practice. Brust's parents were activists in the Workers League, the predecessor to the [[Socialist Equality Party (United States)|Socialist Equality Party]], and he continues to identify as a "[[Trotskyist]] sympathizer," linking to the SEP-affiliated [[World Socialist Web Site]] on his personal website.<ref name="SHInterview">{{Cite web |last=Olson |first=Chris |date=February 3, 2003 |title=Interview: Steven Brust |url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030203/brust.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008045518/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030203/brust.shtml |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |access-date=December 29, 2012 |publisher=Strange Horizons }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brust |first=Steven |date=August 30, 2012 |title=About |url=http://dreamcafe.com/about/ |website=Dream Cafe}}</ref> He endorsed the SEP's presidential candidates in the 2016 US elections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Author Steven Brust replies to petition of writers against Trump |date=May 30, 2016 |url=http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/05/30/brus-m30.html}}</ref>

==== Literary theory ====
In contrast to contemporary academic studies in literature, Brust has put forward what he called "The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature":

<blockquote>All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what's cool. And that works all the way from the external trappings to the level of metaphor, subtext, and the way one uses words. In other words, I happen not to think that full-plate armor and great big honking greatswords are cool. I don't like 'em. I like cloaks and rapiers. So I write stories with a lot of cloaks and rapiers in 'em, 'cause that's cool. Guys who like military hardware, who think advanced military hardware is cool, are not gonna jump all over my books, because they have other ideas about what's cool.<ref name="walton">{{Cite web |last=Walton |first=Jo |date=January 20, 2010 |title=A conversation with Steven Brust about writing the Dragaera books |url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/01/a-conversation-with-steven-brust-about-writing-the-dragaera-books |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824123948/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/01/a-conversation-with-steven-brust-about-writing-the-dragaera-books |archive-date=August 24, 2013 |website=Tor.com |publisher=Tor Books}}</ref></blockquote>

Brust elaborated, "The novel should be understood as a structure built to accommodate the greatest possible amount of cool stuff."<ref name="SHInterview" />

==== Motifs ====
The character Devera, usually a cute brown-eyed girl of about nine, appears as a [[motif (literature)|motif]] in all of Brust's novels.  In the Dragaeran books, her name is Devera. She is the (future) daughter of another character and seems to be able to appear anywhere in time and space. In Brust's non-Dragaeran books her appearances are usually brief and not always obvious.