I just read Guardian of the Dead, and I keep shivering with glee. An asexual character! (glee) A fat heroine who kicks ass but isn't made out to be uber-attractive or fond of leather pants! (glee) Characters of Color (GLEE!) This is one YA that will be getting lots of review love from me, that's for sure.
Rachel Hawkin's Hex Hall, another new YA, has a secondary character who identifies as lesbian - and the main character barely bats an eye, accepting her as a friend right off the bat.
I would love, so very much, to see more non-standard heroes in urban fantasy. When I see the GLBT characters, I cheer. (There's a gay couple in Jenna Black's Morgan Kingsley series that makes it worth reading for me. Jes Battis has an assortment of GLBT characters fleshing out his Night Child series.) When I see the CoC... I -notice- them now. Especially if they're the main characers or at the very least important to the story. When I see the overweight characters, I'm downright thrilled.
I guess I've read enough urban fantasy that so much of it's become a blur, and anything that stands out as different actually stands out. And I want to see more of the different ... even if I have to write it myself. I want heroes of color, of different orientations, of different body sizes, of different faiths.
(No wonder I've been in a reviewing slump lately. I read urban fantasy but it's become increasingly hard to talk about them when they start to blend together. Sigh.)
Oh... as far as heroines who never get scarred or maimed: you might think of checking out Lucy Snyder's Spellbound, where the heroine sustains some nasty, lasting injuries early on and doesn't get magically cured.
I may have to bookmark this post as an example of what not to do when I get around to writing novel-length urban fantasy.
no subject
Rachel Hawkin's Hex Hall, another new YA, has a secondary character who identifies as lesbian - and the main character barely bats an eye, accepting her as a friend right off the bat.
I would love, so very much, to see more non-standard heroes in urban fantasy. When I see the GLBT characters, I cheer. (There's a gay couple in Jenna Black's Morgan Kingsley series that makes it worth reading for me. Jes Battis has an assortment of GLBT characters fleshing out his Night Child series.) When I see the CoC... I -notice- them now. Especially if they're the main characers or at the very least important to the story. When I see the overweight characters, I'm downright thrilled.
I guess I've read enough urban fantasy that so much of it's become a blur, and anything that stands out as different actually stands out.
And I want to see more of the different ... even if I have to write it myself. I want heroes of color, of different orientations, of different body sizes, of different faiths.
(No wonder I've been in a reviewing slump lately. I read urban fantasy but it's become increasingly hard to talk about them when they start to blend together. Sigh.)
Oh... as far as heroines who never get scarred or maimed: you might think of checking out Lucy Snyder's Spellbound, where the heroine sustains some nasty, lasting injuries early on and doesn't get magically cured.
I may have to bookmark this post as an example of what not to do when I get around to writing novel-length urban fantasy.