I was having a bleh day yesterday so I ended up at the bookstore breaking my own rule of only buying one novel at a time (unless they're part of a series I'm currently gulping up real quick; then I can buy multiple in that series) and I must be willing to drop whatever I'm currently reading in order to read the new purchase. Yesterday I bought three novels (initially I only bought 2, which still broke my rule, but after getting a third of the way though Moon Called in the coffee shop, I figured I needed to buy the sequel too. :-)) I picked up Moon Called, simply because of all the controversy over the third book (and 'cause the cover art is cool - yes, I'm shallow). Seems people either love it or hate it, due to some rather traumatic scenes and the main character's reaction to the trauma. But I haven't got that far in the series yet - I only finished the Moon Called last night and started Blood Bound (the second one) over breakfast this morning (breaking yet another personal rule about reading novels before going to work...)
Previously, I would've said I don't particularly like the vampire genre (because I despised Interview with a Vampire), but I seem to be reading an awful lot of vampire books lately, and I am a huge Buffy fan... I'm not even sure if the vampires-in-modern-america genre is quite the same sub-genre as the fae-in-modern-america sub-genre, despite both being classified as "Urban Fantasy" (which has been discussed quite a bit on a number of different forums this past week...) Anyway, there are four series that, imo, are inarguably in the same sub-genre (whatever that is ;-) ):
Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson series (Moon Called, etc.)
Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (Guilty Pleasures, etc.)
Charline Haris' Sookie Stackhouse series (Dead Until Dark, etc.)
Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series (Dead Witch Walking, etc.)
All four of these series feel like they're riffing on the same thing for world-creation, "what would happen to modern society if vampires/werewolves/witches/fae/etc. became publicly known to exist?". I enjoy all 4 series (well, for Hamilton's only the early to mid novels in the series - I don't know why I keep buying the recent stuff... as it's sucked pretty hard...but I keep hoping :-s). They're actually even more similar then just dealing with the same initial question, as all 4 tend towards action-mystery with a huge dose of "complected love life". The online peeps say that the complected love life is even written into Patricia Brigg's contract for the Mercedes Thompson books... Oh, and all have pretty kick-ass chicks as point-of-view characters. Aaaaanyway - I actually find their riffs on what might happen very interesting, if unfortunately cynical - though since I'm not sure they take it far enough,which probably means that I am very cynical on the topic of humanities' open-mindedness in the face of fear :-S. Anyway, some of my favorite answers to the "what if" question:
- The Church of Eternal Life in Hamilton's Anita Blake series. (Paraphrasing here) "The church that can demonstrably deliver on the promise that you'll live forever." You just have to be willing to become a vampire to do it... It's the fastest growing religion in Anita's world, headed by a Jim Bakker style televangelist vampire.
- It's depressing, but I could see the fae reservations (รก la the Indian reservations in the current US) that Patricia Briggs' world has. It might stop mass murder of possibly dangerous paranormals. maybe. (told you I was cynical...)
- Both Patricia Brigg and Laurel Hamilton use the AIDS metaphor when talking about job discrimination - especially in police work and teaching. "We don't want that kind teaching our kids!" A bit too apropos. But, discussions of racism/discrimination without the trappings of a particular racial bias is one of the things this type of setting allows. I'm actually surprised that none of these authors handle it in a more nuanced way then these types of references. It's not something the heroines themselves seem to face much, though Sookie is a bit paranoid about it.
- The IS (essentially the paranormal version of the CIA plus police force) vs. the FIB (the human-run version of the CIA plus police force) rivalry in Kim Harrison's world - two parallel organizations with similar mandates to keep humanity safe from the paranormals that have deeply differing priorities and agendas.
- The veneer of modernity that the boss vampires put on in Charlene Harris' series - it crumbles at the slightest touch, but the boss-vampires have "business" conferences at hotels with special "vampire friendly" accommodations. Oh, and the fact that there are hotels and bars that cater to the vampire community - what a niche market for a courageous entrepreneur! :-)
- In Charlene Haris's books, the "Fellowship of the Sun" - a right-wing evangelical anti-vampire group/movement that claim "all vampires and their hangers-on are evil and should die" and work towards that end. If vamps ever got accepted, I'm sure there would be such splinter groups. I just have trouble with the question of why the paranormals come out of the closet in the first place.
Therefore, in the spirit of compare-and-contrast, I think it's interesting to look at how these books propose that humanity-at-large learns about paranormal existance.:
- In the Anita Blake series, there is no special event that causes the paranormals to come out of hiding - they were always known and feared. Instead it's the vampires being legally recognized as people that is the big shift in the recent past that is causing all sorts of social unrest. This means that Rachel's talent as a necromancer has real significance in a court of law - much of her work raising the undead is to clarify inheritance issues.
- In the Rachel Morgan books, the big event (called "The Turn") happened in the main character's parents' generation; a genetically engineered virus wipes out most of humanity, but doesn't affect the non-humans at the same rate, causing them to feel safe enough (due to equal population numbers) to come out of the closet. One of the fall-outs of this is that genetic engineering and many medicines for genetic diseases are illegal. One must hit the black market for insulin shots. And tomato sauce (since the virus was spread by a particular strain of tomato). Because of the devastating loss of life, government organizations fall apart, and it is the paranormals that rebuild society (and rewrite the laws - occasionally Rachel refers to the importance of certain rights that are true in her society but not in ous - like the absolute confidentiality of insurance claims!)
- In the Mercedes Thompson books the "event" is determined by the advances in forensic science making it impossible to hide all paranormals. Therefore the higher-ups in the fairy courts (called The Gray Lords) determine to out the cute-and-safe lesser fae during a O.J. Simpson-style celebrity murder trial. In the first book (the one I finished last night ;-) ) the werewolves are considering following suit. Vampires have not "outted" themselves yet. Nor other non-fae paranormals, like Mercedes herself.
- In the Sookie Stackhouse books the "event" is the creation of a fake-blood substitute that can nourish vampires, which only happened "a few" years ago. This allows them to "out" themselves. Society is still adapting. Other paranormals like weres, and Sookie the telepathic barmaid, are still in hiding.
I guess I really find this what-if question an interesting one; plus the genre allows a more direct commentary on modern society then most fantasy novels. Who am I kidding, action-mystery-soap-opera is FUN - that's what Buffy was after all ;-)
- Mood:
nerdy
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mabesty : (no subject) [+1] - ebullientjenn : (no subject) [+3]
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Comments
Robin McKinley's "Sunshine"
Strongly recommend you work through your current three quickly, and get to this one! It's with the awesome.
I didn't include _Sunshine_ in my list, 'cause it doesn't feel to me like a riff on "what would happen if vampires were to become publicly known?" It's world is more of an alternate history where magic and dragons and vampires etc. are real and society has roughly evolved along the same lines as ours to something we'd recognize as "modern". I think it's "magic as a technology" that makes it feel so different to me. I didn't get the impression that the Wars in Sunshine's world were due to paranormals coming out of the closet as much as some sort of power games between opposing factions (although this could be my excuse to go read it again to double check ;-) ). Also, it behooves the vampires to remain non-public, which is the most salient difference between the urban fantasy I list above and the urban-set fantasies I left out of my discussion like:
- Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregard books (warning, they're no better written then anything else she's written...)
- Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles
- Holly Black's novels (I highly recommend _Tithe_!)
- Delia Sherman's recent _Changeling_
umm... there were a couple more, but I can't remember them now :-S
Also I'd recommend the series by Kelley Armstrong.
I'll look into the Charlene Harris and the Mercedes Thompson
I'll have to look into the Kelley Armstrong books. :-)
I'm such a dork, I didn't even pick up on the fact that she was taking off on Movie titles.
I think it's "The Outlaw Josie Wales" which is a Clint Eastwood movie. Now I'm going to have to go look this up to figure out the others!
*squeeeee*
I've never heard of "Outlaw Josey Wails", which would be why I didn't recognize the title :-) I'm not a big western fan, but Justin loves the spagetti westerns which is why I grocked the titles :-)
One of my writing workshop buddies is working on a beautiful series about re-animated dead (scientific advance makes it possible to re-animate recently dead. They come back not-quite-right and there's much icky emotional trauma and legal questions... with its own sub-cultures. The Dead, the pre-dead, and the Slain. People trying to pass and people who can't. etc.)
It's possible, though - urban fantasy is getting a lot of cross over from horror and romance right now (thanks I think to Laurel Hamilton... though I wasn't been able to stomach the one I picked up from the romance section)
Your writting buddy's concept sounds new and different (to me, anyway) :-)
Edited at 2008-03-13 02:46 pm (UTC)
Charlaine Harris
Kim Harrison
Kelley Armstrong (havent read very many books, could be the other series are better)
Laurel Hamilton
But my personal favorite in this genre is Carrie Vaughn (Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes to Washington, Kitty takes a Vacation and Kitty and the Silver Bullet)
I would also like to recommend Jim Butcher, with his Harry Dresden series. There are several kinds of vampires, but Harry himself is wizard. (Notice how incredibly rare male protagonists, let alone wizards, are in the genre.)
Another series about urban vampires is the one from Tanya Huff. I do not remember how many there were but it starts with Blood Price. These are from before the urban fantasy boom. Blood Price is from 1991.
I also have seen that Elisabeth Bear seems to have an urban fantasy series now, but I have not read it. It is called 'Blood and Iron' and I have read the first chapters online. It is definitely on my 'to do' list.
I haven't read any Kelley Armstrong yet... the order I listed the books in isn't my order of preferece, it's by author's last name ;-) I'm not sure what preference-order I'd list them in, except that Hamilton is last. I think it's more on a book by book basis; I generally really like Charlene Harris, but I didn't care for the last one. Also the last Kim Harrison was much too depressing for me. :-S and I did really love _Lunatic Cafe_ so Hamilton isn't all awful imo :-S
The Dresden files were already on my too read list, but I'll check out Carrie Vaughn too :-) and Tanya Huff ;-)... I've been hestiant about her work - the first series I read by her I didn't like (but the covers were oh-so-pretty!) but I _adored_ _Silver Metal Lover_ so I'll look into _Blood Price_.
Also, if you're just looking for some good paranormal romance fun, you MUST check out Jackie Kessler's "Hell" series...the first two feature Jezebel, a succubus that becomes a mortal stripper in the first book. The third book (due out this August) will feature a male protagonist who is met in the first two books. Jackie is a great writer and a wonderful person, you should check her out.
As for LKH's books becoming horrid the more they come out...she's actually said in an interview that she's no longer interested in putting her characters into any real danger or peril because she's 'too close' to them. She talks about how she has constant dialogues with them and even thinks about buying them gifts. Hence the crappening of her work (which wasn't all that great to begin with).
I haven't read any of Elizabeth Bear's urban fantasy series, but her Scardown series was relatively decent.
But I liked the detail of your post, thanks for it.
I will definitely have to look up Jackie Kessler - just because the protag is a succubus; 'cause my current favorite RPG character is a succubus :-D - just in case you thought being a teenager was bad, try being a teenage succubus!
re LKH - It's not like she _can_ push the danger thing much farther - in one of the books after _Obsidian Butterfly_ Anita started brushing up against "The Mother of Darkness" e.g. she who created all vampires. If that conflict continued, then either Anita et al die, or they become gods and there's no story left. After I read that one, I thought LKH was winding up the series, but it keeps going on and on... :-S
Glad you enjoyed the post :-)
Which - despite a good friend loving her books because of the paranormal nookie - leaves her stories flat and cold. If you already know the author won't imperil her main characters, then there's no danger.
check out Jackie Kessler here:
http://jackiekessler.com
Try the 'Cat and Muse' (or is it called blog...to lazy to check). it's interviews with other characters from other series. Lots of good information there on the genre.
OH!!! I forgot to mention that Elaine Cunningham (who normally writes a lot of TSR novels) is starting a new series with a half-elf heroine...wasn't all that bad for the first novel...
I dunno, imperiling the heroes is one thing... actually killing them is something different. I dunno if I can forgive Kim Harrison for Kisten. She's got one book to prove there was a point and it wasn't gratuitous. It's actually the paranormal nookie I hold against LKH these days - I want the the individuals engaged in sex to actually _like_ each other. Otherwise it's too icky for me. And at this point, half the dudes Anita sleeps with neither she nor I care about. :-S
I'm in the midst of writing a six book series (not published or sold yet, unfortunately) and am stuck on book four. Book three saw the death of a major character from books one to three.
Of course, nobody was more suprised than I when I realized that the character was going to have to die to make the story work. So basically the six books are actually two three book arcs. And I already know that another major character from books 4-6 will wind up dying at the end of book six. Which may never really become apparent as to why that had to happen other than through the character's actions/statements.
In another series I'm writing, a major minor character from book one bites the big one in book two (first chapter even...he gets all blowed up!)
My point regarding 'no peril for the characters' is that the author *tries* to create the tension of peril for major characters...then leads the readers on a breathless journey to see how the character survives (no one ever believes that a major character will die off!). but if the author tells you before hand they won't kill off the character, then the peril never really matters and the story goes nowhere.
((oh and I get your point about the 'like each other' nookie. That does help. But outside of Richard(?)(the werewolf character?) did she EVER like anyone she slept with?
Unfortunately I found Kisten's death particularly pointless. We-the-audience already knew that Piscary (big-bad-vamp-leader) was vile and mean) and yes, killing Kisten might be a reasonable response for him to get back at Ivy for Rachel (assuming he has no value for Kisten, which is an odd assumption for him). But unless some serious character growth/change results from his death for Rachel and/or Ivy in the next book, then I will give up.
One can traumatize characters without killing them, or even endangering them. Imagine how awful it would be for one of these action heroine's or their male side-kicks to be permanently disabled (physically or magically). Dealing with that's pretty traumatic. I thought LKH had an interesting idea when Anita thought she was pregnant - as that would throw a seriously big monkey wrench into her life, but the ball was dropped (I was extremely disappointed). I'm interested to see how Mercy's rape plays out in the next Briggs book - I thought Briggs handled it beautifully in _Iron Kissed_, but it's the kind of emotional trauma that takes _time_ to recover from, so it can continue to make all kinds of trouble for Adam and Mercy et. al. Nasty things can happen without death; for many characters death is easier then coping with some things (like being forced - by whatever means - to act on the antagonist's behalf - or various other traumas depending on the character's personality.) For me, peril doesn't create nearly as much tension as the character's world/basic assumptions being assaulted. But then, I read the ends of books first and have no problem with spoilers ;-). For me, it's the journey, not the end that matters.
Re Anita and her partners - I did think that Anita liked Micah in _Narcissus in Chains_ - the circle of werelepords sharing memories was highly romantic/personal. Made me feel that they'd really started to know/like each other (and yep, it was a group experience, but as they were both responsible leaders of their respective pards/packs that seemed appropriate to me). In one of the books (late in the series, like 8 or 11) I actually thought (finally) that Anita actually liked Jean-Claude - a scene in the police station, where she leans up against him and is so pleased 'cause he knows how to keep himself and his safe, unlike Richard, who's encumbered by (1) morals and (2) disliking the fact he's a werewolf. Not sure _where_ all Anita's own morals have disappeared too at this point... she used to have 'em... but it was a believable (to me, anyway) step-by-step process from being pretty rigidly anti-monster, to becoming a monster herself.
As to the rest of the men - Nathaniel, Asher, and especially Damian I am not at all sure about. :-S
But I wholeheartedly agree with your point about a major character's death having meaning. If there is no meaning or growth coming out of it, then there is no real reason for it. Next books really need to deal with it and deal with it in a major way.
Which is something I don't think LKH is capable of doing because I don't think she is letting the story serve itself but is trying to make the story serve her and her needs. When I killed off that major character (and the ramifications of that death affect all of the fourth book and is the major subplot for it) I didn't *want* to kill the character but I knew if I forced the ending any other way, the story simply wouldn't be served, but I would be serving myself.
My limited circle of first readers all hated me for killing that character, but also agreed it was the way the story simply *had* to go.
But with your continued insight into all this makes me find you rather fascinating and I'm tempted to add you to my friends simply to keep reading your blog and see what else you come up with.
Authors talk about "serving the story" (you're not my only writer friend that's used that phrase - actually I think they all have at one time or another...). What does it mean? Aren't stories crafted? Maybe I'm making a completely incorrect analogy, but when I'm desinging/creating a costume I have a "vision" in my head of what I'm going for (parts of it are always fuzzy, but the overall effect and the main elements are usually very clear). Is that not the same for an author?
But, sometimes how the story really goes does come out of nowhere. It's like - you're going to make this gorgeous Elizabethan gown and you're pretty sure you're going to do a brocade, but not sure what. So you're out shopping and you find a gorgeous light blue damask on sale for really cheap! So you decide it would make a much better Elizabethan gown (okay, maybe I'm not up on my fabrics here, if I'm not forgive). But, because you had decided on the brocade which is a heavier fabric, now your petticoats will have to be of a lighter material because the damask is lighter.
This doesn't change the overall costume design just the elements of it. For writers, we know what the main story is (most even plot them out in advance) but then as we're writing, things happen and bits and pieces of the story we didn't know about from before just happen to fall into place and it's a "WHOA!" moment while we sit back and adjust and awe at how the story was *always* going there, whether we knew it or not. But sometimes authors get that phantom drop from the sky...look at it and go "Nope, not what I plotted at all" and discard it and force the story into what they had preconcieved it to be. The first is 'serving the story' while the second is 'forcing the story'.
Better stories are the ones where authors go "Yeah, I was writing it and then suddenly it struck me - the butler wasn't the killer but the gardner was! So I had to rewrite the whole first half to flesh out the details of the nefarious gardner but it really did make for a better story."
Or, to put it another way. It's like raising kids (and really, writing novels is a process like that) where you try to bring them up to be doctors or lawyers or such - but they turn out to be cowboys and you look back on their life and realize - yep...that's the way it was always going to go for them. right back to when they kept trying to steal the wooden rocking horse from the other kids at nursery school. So you have to choose - make them go to medical school and become something they don't want to be and be miserable but successful...or to be a cowboy and struggle but be happy. yep...this is 'serving the story'.
Thank you for the explanation! :-)