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brightlotusmoonhttp://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/05/mass_market_genre_surprise.php
I'll admit, I enjoy a good vampire urban fantasy with romance as much as the next woman who enjoys vampire urban fantasy with romance. I have read many great books of that kind. But it's wearing kind of thin. It's everywhere. I go into a bookstore and I can't swing an undead cat without hitting a shelf of books featuring vampire urban fantasy with romance -- specifically vampires loving humans. Vampires loving other vampires is something I would much rather see. But I guess there is that whole forbidden love thing that really attracts readers. What better kind is there?
(Besides, how creative can you get when explaining blood flow and bodily fluids in someone who's supposed to be undead?)
Maybe I just feel over-saturated as a reader. No offense to writers and fans of the genre.
Vampires have fascinated us for centuries; they are the ultimate legend. But I think they're getting overwritten in fantasy. I'd love to see a surge in books where vampires are secondary, or not so undead, or have extraordinary powers other than the fact that they're vampires. This is why I find Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" YA series so refreshing. The vampires are mortal, and have magical abilities, and only become undead if they kill during feeding. It's also why I love Kim Harrison's "Rachel Morgan" series. Living vampires alongside dead vampires, with a vampire virus that can be inherited.
The vampires in both these series are beautifully complex and practically human, and are explained wonderfully. That's what I'm looking for.
I'll admit, I enjoy a good vampire urban fantasy with romance as much as the next woman who enjoys vampire urban fantasy with romance. I have read many great books of that kind. But it's wearing kind of thin. It's everywhere. I go into a bookstore and I can't swing an undead cat without hitting a shelf of books featuring vampire urban fantasy with romance -- specifically vampires loving humans. Vampires loving other vampires is something I would much rather see. But I guess there is that whole forbidden love thing that really attracts readers. What better kind is there?
(Besides, how creative can you get when explaining blood flow and bodily fluids in someone who's supposed to be undead?)
Maybe I just feel over-saturated as a reader. No offense to writers and fans of the genre.
Vampires have fascinated us for centuries; they are the ultimate legend. But I think they're getting overwritten in fantasy. I'd love to see a surge in books where vampires are secondary, or not so undead, or have extraordinary powers other than the fact that they're vampires. This is why I find Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" YA series so refreshing. The vampires are mortal, and have magical abilities, and only become undead if they kill during feeding. It's also why I love Kim Harrison's "Rachel Morgan" series. Living vampires alongside dead vampires, with a vampire virus that can be inherited.
The vampires in both these series are beautifully complex and practically human, and are explained wonderfully. That's what I'm looking for.
