Readings and Writings and What Not

[kriadydragon]

Heh, don't ask me why but I was thinking of all the classical authors who could be considered whumpers.

Charles Dickens whose Smike from Nicholas Nickleby was the inspiration not only for my character Amrin but also for what I put Amrin through (which I actually feel bad about, actually).

Alexander Dumas

Robert Louis Stevenson (I only read Kidnapped but it had some nice whump).

Tolkein, of course.

And that's all I could really think of though I know I'm probably forgetting a few. I would add Poe but I think he was more into angst than H/C ;P

I think I'm starting to lose interest in reading Young Adult novels. As much as I love the variety YA fantasy offers, the writing style often leaves me wanting. The problem is, YA novels I can trust not to break out with random sex scenes. It's not so much the sex itself that bothers me but you can never say if it'll be fade-to-black or so explicit the first sentence alone has be reaching for the brain bleach, and that makes me wary with adult novels.

And it's so hard to find adult novels that take fantasy beyond elves, dwarves and wizards. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Tolkein-esque type worlds and love urban fantasy, but these days I've been craving books that go crazy with the fantasy. Books like the Alchemaster's Apprentice - not blow-you-away-awesome but wonderfully quirky, or Domino Men, or Neverwhere, or Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero. Stories that don't just think out of the box but blow the box up and put it back together as something else entirely.

Which has a lot to do with my own writing preferences. I adore taking fantasy to new and strange places and really want to read stories that do the same, but finding it is tricky (because I'm also a very character-oriented reader who loves action/adventure, and more often than not seem to find only stories more interested in world-building and politics than character-development).

So after much struggling with my WC fic exchange fic that just kept going and going with no end in sight... I finally scrapped it for a much better idea, one that isn't trying to be a chapter story, and I'm really enjoying writing it. Why it took me so long to come up with this idea after wracking my brain for months, I have no idea

Comments

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling - I used to read a lot of books intended for youth, but it has been a long time since I found something convinving.

My Stevenson Book was always treasure island. I must have read this one hundrets of times. Dumas - never ever read Dumas in the "not cut down for teenager" version, unless you can appreciate long windeness and a very sexist description of woman.

Have you ever read the Neverending Story? I know that people know the movie, but that's only a shadow of the original book. For that matter, all books by Michael Ende are epic! They might be technical for young adults, but there is a reason they are considered good material for university.

Artemis Fowl was also a pleasant surprise, at least the first three books - I'm not too crazy about the ones after.

CJ Cherryh is an all time favourite of mine, although, yes, there tend to be sex in the books, but it's never random, and her world building and character development is outstanding. I recommend the foreigner series (nothing graphic in there, and the best world she ever build). It's science fiction, though - the only sience fiction I read because the aliens she desripes are actual aliens and not basicall humans who look strange.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Yes, the long-windedness of Dumas. It's why I had a hard time finishing Count of Monte Cristo, though I love his Man in the Iron Mask.

I keep meaning to give The Neverending Story a try since I loved the movie but I keep forgetting to. I really need to compose that list of "Books to read," but keep forgetting to do that as well. Can you tell I'm easily distracted ;)

Artemis Fowl is always on-again, off-again for me. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't.

CJ Cherryh, I love her writing style but am wary of her books. I'd tried reading Cloud's Rider but it was just so bleak I couldn't continue. There is a book series of hers I want to try but can't find it anywhere.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

I bet you read the abridged Version of "Man in the Iron Mask". The complete version annoyed me to no end, because there were all those court ladies, loosing concious at every opportunity (especially whenever the king walked by). But I love the move with Leonardo DiCaprio.

You have to read Neverending Story! You just have to! The movie (the first one, not the american made sequels) is very good, but it can't really capture all the layers in this book. If you want to read about unusual creatures, the one in the movie are the least interesting of them. The book has very impressive ones.

Yeah, it's difficult to get CJ Cherryh complete works, they always seemed to be not available, but I have a nice little collection by now. And really, the foreigner series (Starting with "Foreigner") is her best work. It's a trilogy which became four trilogies (still waiting for the paperback of last part of the fourth trilogy). And no Sex at all until the sixth book, and there it's handled very, very tasteful. Well, the first trilogy is save for you for sure.