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walkitoutWriting about abandoning authors, I'll mention here that Kim Harrison may well be next on the list of series allowed to continue without me. Rachel Morgan has, by this point in The Hollows series, accomplished the following:
survived (with illegal assistance from an elf and others) an always fatal disease
given a ghost a body-for-a-night and helped rescue a child from a vamp-pedophile
got out from under a death threat from the I.S. for quitting her job with them
killed the Master Vampire who was causing all kinds of trouble for her and her friends
become part of a Were-pack without being Were (for the health insurance, IIRC)
given the Weres an object that significantly increases their power after stealing it from a particularly troublesome Were
solved the elven breeding problem, after discovering that (a) elves still existed and (b) she knew some of them
rescued an elf from a demon
become a student of a demon
become a demon (sort of)
survived an attack by a baby banshee
survived an attack by an adult banshee
lives with a living vampire she has shared blood with but isn't any more
lives with a pixy, his wife and their 4 dozen children
given the pixy a full-size body for a period of time
been summoned (she has the demon's summoning name)
Among other things.
It may or may not be apparent from this sum-up, but Rachel Morgan is acquiring major new powers at a steady and world-imbalancing clip. I've complained about this series before, in that people keep talking about her as if she's some kind of high-maintenance bimbo, without recognizing the huge risks she's taking and the huge successes she has had. If the book is "code", the way Buffy was "code" for high school, then that makes sense. But it does not make sense within the world of the books.
I'm having trouble finding the source of feminism isn't about the amazing women getting to do stuff, it's about mediocre women doing as well as mediocre men. Currently, google is returning a lot of Palin articles, every time I frame the search. In any event, there are a _ton_ of novels and series out now written by women, with female protagonists, who are physically strong, skilled fighters with and without weapons, leaders in significant battles/wars with far-reaching impacts, etc. 10 years ago, you couldn't say that. 10 years ago, if I could find a movie or a book with a main character who was a woman and who literally kicked butt, I'd watch it and be happy, even if that meant sitting through that weird remake of _Casablanca_ with Pamela Anderson. I'd read it and be happy, even if it meant LKH.
But I don't read LKH any more. The TV adaptation of True Blood is well on its way to curing me of Sookie Stackhouse. _Acheron_ has pretty much done in Kenyon for me. I'm thinking the real issue is very simple: in a world inundated with books in which women fight and kill and have Mad Skillz, I can actually be picky about whether it's well-executed. I no longer have to read it, just because it satisfies the basic criteria.
survived (with illegal assistance from an elf and others) an always fatal disease
given a ghost a body-for-a-night and helped rescue a child from a vamp-pedophile
got out from under a death threat from the I.S. for quitting her job with them
killed the Master Vampire who was causing all kinds of trouble for her and her friends
become part of a Were-pack without being Were (for the health insurance, IIRC)
given the Weres an object that significantly increases their power after stealing it from a particularly troublesome Were
solved the elven breeding problem, after discovering that (a) elves still existed and (b) she knew some of them
rescued an elf from a demon
become a student of a demon
become a demon (sort of)
survived an attack by a baby banshee
survived an attack by an adult banshee
lives with a living vampire she has shared blood with but isn't any more
lives with a pixy, his wife and their 4 dozen children
given the pixy a full-size body for a period of time
been summoned (she has the demon's summoning name)
Among other things.
It may or may not be apparent from this sum-up, but Rachel Morgan is acquiring major new powers at a steady and world-imbalancing clip. I've complained about this series before, in that people keep talking about her as if she's some kind of high-maintenance bimbo, without recognizing the huge risks she's taking and the huge successes she has had. If the book is "code", the way Buffy was "code" for high school, then that makes sense. But it does not make sense within the world of the books.
I'm having trouble finding the source of feminism isn't about the amazing women getting to do stuff, it's about mediocre women doing as well as mediocre men. Currently, google is returning a lot of Palin articles, every time I frame the search. In any event, there are a _ton_ of novels and series out now written by women, with female protagonists, who are physically strong, skilled fighters with and without weapons, leaders in significant battles/wars with far-reaching impacts, etc. 10 years ago, you couldn't say that. 10 years ago, if I could find a movie or a book with a main character who was a woman and who literally kicked butt, I'd watch it and be happy, even if that meant sitting through that weird remake of _Casablanca_ with Pamela Anderson. I'd read it and be happy, even if it meant LKH.
But I don't read LKH any more. The TV adaptation of True Blood is well on its way to curing me of Sookie Stackhouse. _Acheron_ has pretty much done in Kenyon for me. I'm thinking the real issue is very simple: in a world inundated with books in which women fight and kill and have Mad Skillz, I can actually be picky about whether it's well-executed. I no longer have to read it, just because it satisfies the basic criteria.
quote?
Date: 2009-03-12 04:45 pm (UTC)IM
Re: quote?
Date: 2009-03-12 10:03 pm (UTC)