(no subject)

[spoke]

Back when I first started in livejournal, and was too chicken to friend half the people I found interesting, and was generally lame... Well. Moreso than I am now? ;p

I used to read this one journal supacatfairly regularly, although as with most journals, I never really commented. Until a subject came up that I could not resist. It was about feminism and the lack of strong female characters in quest fantasies, and it just immediately brought to mind the Coldfire Trilogy and how much I love the women in those books. This triggered a moment of massive squee that almost completely over-rode the shyness of talking to someone who is a total stranger for all practical purposes. Almost, mind. I was still crossing my fingers that she wouldn't think I was a total dork, and then there was the bouncing squee when I got a reply... #^^#


Eventually, I got so caught up in other things that I lost track of the journals that I didn't have friended, but I never completely forgot that there was this really cool person whose journal I wanted to find again someday, and that entry in particular.

So, since I am feeling nostalgic, and have been reccing Coldfire to people - you know who you are! ;p - I present to you:

Go get that thing, Gawain

Comments

[lrodell.livejournal.com]

long read, but worth it...think I started off with Andre Norton and Ray Bradbury--more SF than fantasy?--and Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. Also lots of mysteries, fairy tales, and encyclopedias^^

[spoke.livejournal.com]

^_^

I remember reading Andre Norton, but mostly it was fantasy? And then there was starting with Tolkien, thus early on demonstrating my ability to bite off more than I could chew. ^^

And horse - books... is there a name for that? Because it seems to me it ought to be in its own category, I read enough of them? ^^; And science fiction. Lots and lots of science fiction - although. Now that I think about it? I think my favorites might be the ones that mix science fiction and fantasy, and probably a little bit of horror. I never did think I liked horror, but some of the things I remember, I think were supposed to scare me.

Ha! If I can get through Tolkien and his evil spider-infested woods and not be freaked out enough to stop reading, silly kiddie-book attempts at horror weren't going to sratch me anyway. >:) ! *brandishes fire at demon!spiders*

[limina.livejournal.com]

S'why you need Lois. ;p Strong women a-plenty.

I think my first major novel attempt (junior-highish through college) was a reaction to this. Cyn was a mother, a hacker, a leader. But she struggled -- her husband didn't understand, she didn't want her son to become a hacker, and at the same time there was this Cause she had to champion.

On the practical level, fantasy generally does ring truer with male-dominated societies. Medieval-level have an economic *lack* of something: strength. Magic-rich fantasies overcome that economy, but on the whole the cheapest way to do it is throw some able-bodied sons at the problem. Going past that starts treading into crossover sorts of waters -- or science fiction.

I guess that's why I preferred SF. ;)