Oh the ironing!
Oct. 3rd, 2011 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megwritesIn my ever optimistic quest for a perfect, or at least better paranormal romance/urban fantasy I ran across a short story that was the beginning point for a paranormal romance series.
Being the naive little optimist I am, I dived in. And what did I discover? The heroine of the piece was the Goddess of Oppression, Kadence. (I'm not making a single bit of this up).
Kadence is a gorgeous white woman with long flowing blonde locks, more beautiful than Aphrodite herself (this is literally said), who has the power to take people's free will away from them and make them do what she wants but never seems to think that maybe this power is something she ought to work on CONTROLLING rather than feeling sad that she's stuck in the underworld where she can't suck the life out of people. And her great heroic act is to buy the love of her life from the devil. Yes. Because buying people without their consent and not telling them about it until 3/4ths through the story is a completely an okay thing to do that should make the reader think you're an inherently angelic person.
The Goddess of Oppression, y'all. *nods*.
I read the entire thing, but I did not keep a straight face at all. Because there's just too much unintentional truthiness and irony (in the layman's sense) and all the rest. I just wanted to ask if someone, somewhere was even aware that but for a change in the tone of the piece and a few edits here and there, it could've been the most brilliant satire ever and a scathing, hilarious commentary on the genre.
I think I've officially been broken of my optimism. Anybody have any paranormal romance recs that will restore my faith? Anyone?
Being the naive little optimist I am, I dived in. And what did I discover? The heroine of the piece was the Goddess of Oppression, Kadence. (I'm not making a single bit of this up).
Kadence is a gorgeous white woman with long flowing blonde locks, more beautiful than Aphrodite herself (this is literally said), who has the power to take people's free will away from them and make them do what she wants but never seems to think that maybe this power is something she ought to work on CONTROLLING rather than feeling sad that she's stuck in the underworld where she can't suck the life out of people. And her great heroic act is to buy the love of her life from the devil. Yes. Because buying people without their consent and not telling them about it until 3/4ths through the story is a completely an okay thing to do that should make the reader think you're an inherently angelic person.
The Goddess of Oppression, y'all. *nods*.
I read the entire thing, but I did not keep a straight face at all. Because there's just too much unintentional truthiness and irony (in the layman's sense) and all the rest. I just wanted to ask if someone, somewhere was even aware that but for a change in the tone of the piece and a few edits here and there, it could've been the most brilliant satire ever and a scathing, hilarious commentary on the genre.
I think I've officially been broken of my optimism. Anybody have any paranormal romance recs that will restore my faith? Anyone?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-03 11:28 pm (UTC)Heh. I tend to feel the same way about the Twilight series.
I don't think I've read any paranormal romances lately that I'd rec. But Alaya Johnson is publishing a sequel to Moonshine next April; it's called Wicked City.
Have you read Gail Carriger's parasol protectorate series? Those are more steampunk than paranormal, though (and the ending of the second book leaves something to be desired).
no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 03:06 pm (UTC)Yeah, me neither. It's a good thing this isn't the only genre I like or else I'd be in despair right now. I know that there could be some really awesome stories, it's just that right now it seems like a grand total of four companies here in the U.S. are putting out EVERYTHING that's on shelves and they're all invested in retelling the same Perfect Muscled Bad Boy meets Gorgeous Blonde 25-year-old Heroine story as though after the fiftieth time it'll get better or something. [/rant]
Have you read Gail Carriger's parasol protectorate series? Those are more steampunk than paranormal, though (and the ending of the second book leaves something to be desired).
It is actually in my TBR stack as we speak! I'm steadily plowing through it. I've heard some good things about the series, so I'm interested to see how it is.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-03 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 03:08 pm (UTC)Aside from that facet, the story itself was below average even for this genre. But at least I got to save myself having to slog through an ENTIRE NOVEL'S worth of it.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 02:47 am (UTC)*pretends there is no entire novel*