So Diana Peterfreund of Fangs, Fur & Fey posted a really interested rant/discussion/musing about an article that was posted up at Pharyngula. She found it via Smart Bitches, Trashy Books where Candy has a rant as well.
Here’s a snippet of the article that I found to be a little amusing.
It’s as if Laurell Hamilton and Anne Rice have recently had an unholy tryst and have spawned a scampering horde of little horror-romance novelists who have all skittered off and scrawled out series after series of stories about vampiresses, vampire huntresses, vampire princesses, vampire trailer park queens, and vampire lovers…
…I can’t judge the contents, and maybe they’re all wonderfully creative and entertaining, although I suspect Sturgeon’s Law will still apply. I’m just a little baffled about where this sudden surge in one narrow genre has come from.
Personally, the guy writing this is a scientist and I’m assuming he’s trying to put logic into an area where it doesn’t belong. Vampire fiction isn’t based off logic. If it was, then there would be vampires, werewolves, and witches in society. There would be magic and ley lines to gain access to; but the thing is, they don’t exist. Not yet at least. That’s where logic is lost. If something doesn’t exist, then there is no logic behind it. If there was, then where would the fun be? The paranormal world is a place where anything can happen and the laws of physics don’t always apply. It’s the perfect way to escape reality. Hence the reason I love to read it. If I wanted to read about murder and mayhem, then all I would have to do is turn on the nightly news. There’s enough of that already in the world, clogging up all forms of media, that it’s almost surreal.
After almost a decade of reading nothing but romances, I got to a point where it felt like I had already read everything. It didn’t matter if there was a new author, it was still a romance novel and the same things always happened – girl meets guy, trouble pops up due to either girl or guy, they solve the problem, and everyone is happy and in love. There are always happy ever afters with romances, and while at times I do like that sort of thing, it was starting to get old and I was getting bored.
Then I found LK Hamilton. Her novel, Guilty Pleasures, introduced me to a whole new world where everyone doesn’t end up with a HEA. Instead, conflicts are resolved but relationships continue on. Not all of them are good or bad, and some of them are even grudgelying accepted; but the one thing they all have in common is they are all connected in some way. There is more character development and we’re given a chance to know and understand the characters. We get to see them survive in more than just one novel and we can have an invested interest in their welfare. I had never gone out and bought an entire series within a few short weeks and then started looking for other authors like her. Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong, JR Ward, they all give their own unique perspective on the supernatural, yet none of their worlds are the same.
Honestly, I could probably go on and on regarding this topic, plus it seems like I’ve said this all before, and I’m curious. Why do you read urban fantasy? Is there a reason or do you have a fetish for vampires, werewolves, etc? Why do you think this genre has exploded the way it has? I am honestly curious.
