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Call me Pretzel. Last week at Bookflurries we discussed how even when we willingly suspend our disbelief, there still has to be a sense of reality. Even in fantasy. I like happy endings for the most part and yet, sometimes I just can’t believe in them.
If a story is so sappy that no one is really ever in danger even though the author keeps saying so and no one loses anyone except some poor lady who died a generation ago and even the deadliest of enemies are friends now…even I get cranky.
Some people dismiss all fiction as a lie and that hurts my heart because fiction that is careful and well-researched can illuminate history. But I have to say this week that I am in a tizzy about a story I spent a lot of time reading. Even if the ending was happy, it didn’t have to be quite so sappy, did it?
On the other hand, a series that I like is getting bloodier and that worries me. I don’t need constant gore to find a story full of suspense. If someone is getting too badly beat up that also turns me off. If your boss and everyone around you hates you and your friend is gone and your wife snaps at you all the time, where is the relief? Any day I expect his dog to bite him.
So is this the midwinter blues striking again and making every book seem impossible to enjoy? Maybe. Seeing all the grandbabies this week may help.
Still, I need to ask authors, especially the ones I enjoy reading the most, could you please not bend reality too much out of shape? Could we be just a little less sappy in the happy ever after stories? Even the one bad boy is all fixed up in just a few words. Didn’t see that coming…oh, wait.
Some people have always blamed fantasy for doing things that are unfair. I admit that I wanted Gandalf to come back after the Balrog. I really did. I am glad that Rosie and Sam got together. That was only a little sappy. It is balanced by other losses.
But I do have limits. Sigh.
For a more upbeat thought, I do have some favorite authors and new authors on my TBR pile:
River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
Protector by C. J. Cherryh
Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb
Don’t Go by Lisa Scottoline
Safe House by Chris Ewan
The Cyberskunk Files by Joel Naftali
Black Count by Tom Reiss
Elegy for Eddie and Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs)
So what is making you cranky this week?
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! A few more thoughts about serieses
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Riverbend is back!
by litho
http://www.dailykos.com/...
You Can't Read That!
by pwoodford
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Kos Katalogue: Gifts for Weddings and New Babies
by Sara R
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Hill Country Ride for AIDS why YOU should help
by anotherdemocrat
http://www.dailykos.com/...
UPDATE: Robert Fuller says in a comment below:
The Rowan Tree Online
The second chapter of my novel The Rowan Tree has been posted here.
http://www.rowantreenovel.com/...
Feel free to leave a comment!
The first Goodreads Giveaway has been wrapped up. I wonder if anyone from DKos won...? I will look into doing a second Giveaway after I finish recording the audio version.
Continue the conversation at http://www.breakingranks.net.
NOTE:
plf515 has book talk on
Wednesday mornings early