Editing Steven Brust (section)

==== 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" />