Interesting new authors in the fantasy genre:
Many authors contribute nothing new to a genre. Their plot lines travel down comfortable, well-established paths, creating no significant ripples in the literature pool-wanted to use the world ripple now stuck with the word pool... maybe lake would have been a better word? Anyway……here are some authors who’ve tried to create new ways of doing, to a varying degree of success.
This book is probably one of the best I’ve read this year :) It won the first text novel competition in 2008-although I didn’t know this when I first read the book. The premise of the book is a new kid at a school in a small town…which admittedly is not the most original start off point. However, the central heroine Jessica differs in that she doesn’t react immediately and positively to this new guy-Pietr, and in fact is obsessing over a jock. Coupled with the fact that she’s clearly suffering trauma from an unexplained event which only gets revealed halfway through the book, and you’ve got an original twist on a conventional theme. Pietr and his family are first generation Russian-Americans, who’ve been brought to this town under shady circumstances, which is a useful segue into a debate of nationhood versus ethnic background, which was interesting without pulling down the story. Jess is a wannabe journalist whose burning desire is to get out of her small town the second she graduates. She manages to be feisty without being irritating and to be knowledgeable without coming across as a complete know-it-all. There are some things in the book which she describes without being fully aware of their implications-an example of this is the Sophia storyline although time will tell if my hunch is correct on this. Jessica has spent the entire year being a martyr while those around her wait for her to implode. Meanwhile her best friend/someone she feels incredibly ambivalent about starts crushing on Pietr despite the fact that he’s only got eyes for her. . . The positives of this book: Their relationship feels natural and unrushed, plus there’s quite a lot of background action. The downside of this book is that there are lots of unanswered questions but then again it is a trilogy.
Diana Peterfreund-presents a series starring unicorns as you’ve never seen them before. I tried giving them to my friend who’s obsessed with unicorns…but she refused to read them as they conflict with her world view of unicorns as pure and beautiful. Or in other words, gay horses with spikes on their heads. Anyway, this series features killer unicorns, and the girls who are pledged to destroy them. These books are interesting both because of the original stance taken on the role of unicorns, or the clear amounts of research the authors done into exploring different folk lore surrounding unicorns. Another positive is the amount of in-fighting within the organisation which felt realistic in a situation where no one is fully aware of their role yet. The downside is the loose link with the Catholic Church as well as a French pharmaceutical company. Neither of these organisations seemed to be either necessary or a logical affiliation for a unicorn company to be part of. In addition, it still seems unclear why unicorn hunting goes down through families when you have to be a virgin and many of the girls would die in battle. I also find the hierarchical system a bit off. Another downside is that the character development in these books is less strong than it should be-after 800 pages I should know these characters well, or at least care about them. Instead I mainly relate to the main character and many of the side characters remain two-dimensional, or like props. However, this series is enjoyable, has a very interesting plot line and represents an original interpretation of unicorns and their role in society.
Very good series! The premise is of a boy who’s been chucked out of every school he’s ever been too, because strange things always seem to befall him… Finally when he’s 12 it’s discovered that he’s the son of Poseidon with the role to play that will either destroy the world or save the world. It is slightly similar to Harry Potter (the Prophecy, Camp Halfblood versus Hogwarts, two friends, the fact that both of them have the physical appearance of black hair and green eyes) but there are important differences as well. The Gods play a larger role in these books than the senior teachers in Harry Potter which is a substantial improvement since one of my main gripes with the Harry Potter series is that most of the time they could have talked to someone with more knowledge instead of having to figure it out on their own. This along with the Time Turner was my main fault with the Harry Potter series. I would recommend this series because they’re light-hearted, fast-paced with a lot of witty dialogue. Plus he’s writing two more series, one still based in the Camp Half-Blood universe and the other one with the cast of Egyptian Gods, which look really fun.
Sort of similar to twilight except that the main character, Jacinda, is a draki. The draki are humans who can change into dragons. They've been hunted for centuries because of their abilities, which have been rapidly declining over the centuries. Until Jacinda, there hasn't been a firebreather in generations.
What was good about this book: The classification of dragons into different subspecies was good, and indicated that the author had actually thought about her world before putting it into a book. There was a backstory that played a role in subsequent events. The ending was interesting enough that it made you want to read the sequel.
What was wrong with it-it just felt like reading twilight again, with some subtle differences. He saves her life, he's wanted by everyone but only shows interest in her, he's a hunter and therefore the person she should be the most afraid of....etc. What saves it from being a complete knock-off of twilight is that at no point was there any mention of playing baseball, even though one of the final scenes of the book is going out to a family hangout spot. Meh.
Judgement: I like the dragon shapeshifting idea. I'll see if the sequel manages to avoid too many twilight overtones. However, it is a fun read, and fairly original in conception is not in execution.
Authors to avoid in the fantasy genre:
Sunny-tagline-if I wanted to read porn I would buy it-I’ve only read one short story by Sunny (part of the anthology, “On the Prowl” but since all that happens in 40 pages is her hooking up with two different guys in order to “acquire their powers”-sort of like Rogue after dark-I think this judgement can stand. There is no character development, no dialogue of any type and except for a long-winded chase in the forest and two extended sex scenes nothing else happens in this story. An author to avoid……unless you’re into werewolf porn, in which case I w
won’t judge you. Much.
