Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A plethora of tastes and other things

The BLUE ZONE factor!
Stating the obvious: everyone has a different taste in what they like to read. Men and women's tastes are like this Venn diagram (I like visuals on my blog).



Table A= women
Table B= men

The literary tastes of the two sexes are clearly displayed in childhood. Boy's fight with pretend swords while girls bake cookies in the make believe castle.

Now, as the above diagram shows, there is a BLUE ZONE. Some of Table A meshes with Table B, and some of Table B meshes with Table A. Thus, there is no way one can pinpoint all men's/women's tastes. Most girls prefer a romantic movie over something like Braveheart or Gladiator--but not all! I've met a girl who claims Braveheart as her favorite movie.

The question was posed, "Can men ever like 'chick fantasy'?"

Well, I wouldn't label DragonLight chick fantasy, because that would take it completely out of the BLUE ZONE. What I do think is that DragonLight is more geared for women by its lighthearted nature, but there is still the BLUE ZONE, and some men will enjoy it.

In my last blog entry, I was honored to have Donita K. Paul leave me a comment. She had excellent examples of men who really enjoyed the book.

So to conclude this line of thought, I, Brandon, don't fall into the BLUE ZONE. So read the previous posts with that in mind.

The Positive in DragonLight

I also want to finish by saying, I regret that I didn't earlier give the postive side of what I read. I was definitely too focused on what I didn't like. The world of DragonLight, with Wulder representing God, and the relationship he has with the dwellers of that world, is a fascinating approach. A unique way to show how God interacts with his creation. This is a world with morals, and right and wrong, a thing too many books are lacking these days.

Also, Donita's prose and language were well crafted/ well chosen. She's clearly a good writer. The fact that I didn't like the lightness of the story and a few of the characters personalities is just my thing. I could give a list of books I've read that I really didn't like for one reason or another, yet some of them are considered classics, or have won Hugo/Nebula awards, or are New York Times bestsellers!

Conan and the Princess Bride


The Princess Bride is a light fantasy movie that I thouroughly enjoyed! However, I haven't read the book, and I've found that I'd much rather watch a funny, comic-fantasy movie than read a book about it. There like two different realms for me.


As far as my refrencing Conan for a heroic/epic fantasy, I indeed used it as an extreme. I find several things about the Conan stories in poor taste.
1) Treatment of females as sex objects
2) Racist undertones
3) Unnecessary gore
4) A main character who's often a scumbag

If Conan were written without issues 1-3, and then for issue 4, give Conan a moral compass, and a desire to do good, then you'd have one incredibly daring and fun adventure story.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this tour as much as I have.

Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
* Beth Goddard
Mark Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Terri Main
Magma
Margaret
* Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
* Rebecca LuElla Miller
John W. Otte
Deena Peterson
Steve Rice
* Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Robert Treskillard
* Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Laura Williams
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Monday, July 21, 2008

DragonLight Day 2

I thought I'd provide some cute dragons

I was going to discuss the topic of characterization and dialogue, but having read the other blogs, and those who commented to my first post, I realize the the overwhelming majority really loved DragonLight, and thus love the characterization and dialogue. So I find myself in a small minority and have decided to do a different topic. I think my being a male steeped in traditional epic/heroic fantasy created a chasm between my tastes and the tastes of so many others who enjoyed this book.

Keeping Tension

Recognizing DragonLight was a light, perhaps young adult fantasy best suited for females, I still feel the potential for high drama was repeatedly defeated by the continual imputation of the ordinary. But even more, when the action is on, the reader has to feel the main characters are in danger. If the author is clearly allowing them to jump over hurdles without stumbling and falling, then the reader will not feel the necessary fear that drives him to keep reading. It must appear as if the heroes might be defeated. They must work hard to stay alive.

Chapter 16 lends a perfect example:

In a scene where Kale and Bardon battle some rouges called bisonbecks one feels the entire time a confidence that the author will keep the husband and wife team safe and sound. Here's an extreme example when Reddig, an angry bisonbeck goes after Kale while her husband Bardon looks on.
Reddig turned and rushed toward Kale. She took one step back, and where she had been standing, a broad column shimmered. But the bisonbeck did not have time to stop. He ran into the barrier and stuck as if he had been a fly swatted onto a windowpane. His face pressed against the invisible surface, distorted his features. He struggled to get free but could not back up.
The two remaining bisonbecks growled low in their throats, and they circled Kale. Bardon leaned against a tree and crossed his arms.
"Bad idea, fellas," he said as he examined his fingernails.

The above scene reads like a Mel Brooke's film, but this book isn't a slap-stick comedy. We have no fear for the hero and heroine. It's clear from how the action is told that we don't need to take the threats seriously. The husband leans against a tree, inspects his fingernails and says, "Bad Idea, fellas." From here on out, the message is clear that the reader need not be in suspense when something dangerous is looming.

Picture the first Matrix movie and its sequel. When Neo is learning his ability to fight the computer, its an incredible challenge and we fear for his safety the entire time, but then there is the scene in the second movie when thousands of agents attack him, and he defeats them with out breaking a sweat (he almost looks bored). At that point, you loose your audience. Either that is the end of the story, or you've just down-played every possible action scene that follows it.

Again, this is just my opinion. I know what you all are thinking...Brandon, why don't you go read your dumb Conan books and stop being so nit-picky! Well fine--by Crom--I'll do just that.

Please! Stop by tomorrow for a discussion on Male/Female tastes in literature!

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Donita K. Paul's DragonLight


DragonLight, by Donita K. Paul is the last book in her DragonKeeper series.


Picking up the last book is always hard without reading any of the prior books. So my review should be taken with a grain of salt. However, as one who has enjoyed fantasy fiction all his life, I found DragonLight quite unsatisfying.

Epic Fantasy, Heroic Fantasy (part 1)

What do Lord of the Rings, Anne McAffery's Pern series, Conan the Barbarian, have (in my opinion) that DragonLight doesn't. In my opinion, DragonLight didn't have an epic/heroic feel.

-Grand Ambiance
Though there were great stakes and an evil cult that were threatening to wreak havoc in the land, the chapter by chapter telling of the story was what I would describe as anti-epic. Too much focus on hiccuping dragons, picking dress styles to wear to the ball, and a whiny wife (Kale). The first 70 pages were unbearable. As the plot begins to solidify, and the stakes rise, these type of petty details fade slightly, but not nearly enough.
A fantasy story needs a heroine the opposite of Kale. Heroes and heroine don't whine and giggle, nit-pick and manipulate there husbands, they are supposed to be supermen and superwomen. Sure they need to have a flaw, but the flaw should not be an annoying personality. It was this focus on the cute and petty that really turned of the epic/heroic potential of the story.

Perhaps I haven't read enough modern fantasy, and this type of cutesy fantasy has become popular. Give me heroes that are tough, brave, and don't gripe and fret about every little thing. Give me heroes that focus on the grand scale, not on the little details that we have in our own world. If I want to read about that, I'll go to a different isle in the books store!

--Return tomorrow for my blog on characterization and dialogue in epic fantasy, and an short analysis of these two in regards to DragonLight.

And do check out these other bloggers writing about DragonLight, often what one person dislikes, another loves. We all have different tastes.

Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
* Beth Goddard
Mark Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Terri Main
Magma
Margaret
* Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
* Rebecca LuElla Miller
John W. Otte
Deena Peterson
Steve Rice
* Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Robert Treskillard
* Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Laura Williams
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