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How do covers work if you publish through Amazon, anyways? I know that traditionally published authors don't have quite 100% creative control (if any) over what their covers look like. And it seems that UF with female leads definitely seems to have covers that lean towards showing off the hot brunette twenty something in a cleavage baring top over any kind of power or action pose. One thing that's always bugged me about the Kate Daniels series is that all of the covers show a (different) brunette co-ed model who I guess is supposed to be Kate, but none of them really display the kind of musculature you'd expect of a woman who regularly fights and kills stronger beings in melee combat.
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May 22, 2016 05:34
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Mars4523 posted:How do covers work if you publish through Amazon, anyways? I know that traditionally published authors don't have quite 100% creative control (if any) over what their covers look like. And it seems that UF with female leads definitely seems to have covers that lean towards showing off the hot brunette twenty something in a cleavage baring top over any kind of power or action pose. Yeah, you're right that you have little control over trad covers. Self-pubbing gives you full control, but you're still at the mercy of a standard. As much as I love truly unique covers, in order to sell you have to meet genre expectations. Just as zombie/prepper readers expect to see a guy (armed or not) in some kind of beat-up urban setting, readers expect to see a brunette female on most UF covers. Helps easily identify them when you're browsing through book lists, I guess. My protag isn't a physical fighter so showing her buff wasn't a concern, but I get you. If I ever wrote a series with a character who does combat like that, I'd try to show reasonable musculature or if that wasn't possible, give her a jacket or some other clothing to hide the fact that she's slim.
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May 22, 2016 05:44
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Aerdan posted:I don't see how this is inconsistent with "the Hunger rears its ugly head in teenagerhood", since it probably lies dormant from birth—kids don't generally develop an interest in sex 'til around puberty, after all. The White Court isn't only sex. They prey on human energy and emotions. Remember that the other White Court vampires feed on fear or despair or whatnot. House Wraith feeding on lust is just their particular quirk. Beyond that, immature White Court vampires apparently aren't vampires at all and need to make their first kill to make it actually happen. It doesn't really make sense that it would go from literally murdering their mother -> 14 years of no feeding -> suddenly feeding again. Maybe it gets better explained in the book. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 07:20 on May 22, 2016 |
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May 22, 2016 07:18
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^ Think it's the other way around, my understanding is that they all feed on the same life energy, and sex is just the most efficient and easiest way to get it. They all could get it by other ways but those who do are considered to be weird by the rest of them.
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May 22, 2016 12:23
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I might be remembering wrong (probably am), but I thought it was any strong emotion, and like was mentioned, Raith's just prefer lust. In theory, Thomas could go to a klan rally or a WBC picket and load up on hate/fear. Then again, there may be some sort of "You are what you eat" to the process, which might be why you don't hear more about that being a thing.
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May 22, 2016 12:44
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the_steve posted:I might be remembering wrong (probably am), but I thought it was any strong emotion, and like was mentioned, Raith's just prefer lust. According to the wiki: Their demon feeds upon specific emotions, which largly depends upon which family you come from: House Raith normally feeds on lust, for example; House Malvora feeds on fear; House Skavis feeds on despair, and so on. They can change the emotion that they feed on, such as with Madrigal Raith, but it is considered very taboo.
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May 22, 2016 13:10
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May 23, 2016 18:31
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drat it, I really need to get around to finishing The Rook. Maybe after my Pax Arcana reread. Also, going through Let's Reads of early Dresden Files books, I'd forgotten how sexist (in a fedora-tipping Nice Guy way that occasionally verges into outright hateful territory) Harry is. Female characters are either Madonnas or Whores and universally Damsels in Distress, sex objects, or both, even Murphy (who is Damseled because Harry actively sabotages her, the condescending rear end in a top hat).
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May 23, 2016 18:53
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EDIT: Actually, let's not start this again. Megazver fucked around with this message at 19:06 on May 23, 2016 |
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May 23, 2016 18:56
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Oh gently caress it's happening
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May 23, 2016 19:04
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Mars4523 posted:Also, going through Let's Reads of early Dresden Files books, I'd forgotten how sexist (in a fedora-tipping Nice Guy way that occasionally verges into outright hateful territory) Harry is. Female characters are either Madonnas or Whores and universally Damsels in Distress, sex objects, or both, even Murphy (who is Damseled because Harry actively sabotages her, the condescending rear end in a top hat). I'm just grateful that Jim's released short stories from other character's perspectives. It really highlights that a lot of Harry's male-gaze-issues are part of the character and not a hangup of Jim himself. Doesn't excuse some of the more egregious incidents, but it helps a bit (for me).
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May 23, 2016 19:11
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about loving time
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May 23, 2016 19:15
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Russad posted:According to the wiki: The non-Raith white court vampires felt kind of tacked on to me. It's easy to imagine how a bunch of Incubi/succubi could act behind the scenes to build power and influence and also keep a bunch of willing human foodsources hanging around their castles. Less so the vampires who feed on fear.
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May 23, 2016 23:55
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Subvisual Haze posted:The non-Raith white court vampires felt kind of tacked on to me. It's easy to imagine how a bunch of Incubi/succubi could act behind the scenes to build power and influence and also keep a bunch of willing human foodsources hanging around their castles. Less so the vampires who feed on fear. Fear has been a very successful method of rule for thousands of years. It's harder for all of the various supernaturals to stay hidden in modern times which is one of the core tensions for the genre. Yet the modern times are recent, it's not terribly difficult to imagine The Prince being written by a white court vampire for example.
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May 24, 2016 00:11
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I hate you so much right now.
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May 24, 2016 01:16
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jivjov posted:I'm just grateful that Jim's released short stories from other character's perspectives. It really highlights that a lot of Harry's male-gaze-issues are part of the character and not a hangup of Jim himself. Perhaps, but it mostly just makes me wish that somebody else was the main character.
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May 24, 2016 01:29
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Subvisual Haze posted:The non-Raith white court vampires felt kind of tacked on to me. It's easy to imagine how a bunch of Incubi/succubi could act behind the scenes to build power and influence and also keep a bunch of willing human foodsources hanging around their castles. Less so the vampires who feed on fear. They hang out at amusement parks with the wererollercoasters.
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May 24, 2016 09:31
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Tunicate posted:They hang out at amusement parks with the wererollercoasters.
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May 24, 2016 10:55
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Mars4523 posted:Perhaps, but it mostly just makes me wish that somebody else was the main character. At least with the latest Iron Druid books we're starting to get that. Atticus has been reduced to only taking up 1/3 of Staked now and I would love to read more stories from the viewpoint of Owen Kennedy.
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May 24, 2016 18:41
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Owen is good but whatsherface somehow manages to be even more boring than Atticus was.
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May 26, 2016 14:02
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That's why I didn't mention Granuaille at all. Also, side stories of the Sisters of the Three Auroras similar to some of the Dresden Files side-stories would also likely be interesting. Basically, it all comes back to Atticus being the least interesting character in the series, with Granuaille a close second. Give me a saga of Owen training new druids from various parts of the world and their adventures please. I don't give a poo poo about the Iron Druid himself.
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May 26, 2016 14:53
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I finished World of Trouble last night. The final book in The Last Policeman trilogy. Holy poo poo, that trilogy is amazing. I'm not sure if it's urban fantasy, per se, given that there's no magic/supernatural, but the main conceit of the series is that the world is about to end due to catastrophic meteor impact, and I think I heard about it in this thread, so I figured I'd mention it. One of the best book series I've ever read. I'll never forget it.
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May 26, 2016 16:50
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Blasphemeral posted:I finished World of Trouble last night. The final book in The Last Policeman trilogy. Holy poo poo, that trilogy is amazing. I think the last book is weak in some ways (largely the primary mystery) but the sense of impending dread throughout the series is really excellent and the last scene in the last book is tremendously haunting.
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May 26, 2016 17:30
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ImpAtom posted:I think the last book is weak in some ways (largely the primary mystery) but the sense of impending dread throughout the series is really excellent and the last scene in the last book is tremendously haunting. I found the first book the best, since it was still trying to do a criminal investigation in the face of the end of the world. The other two books weren't about being the Last Policeman still doing his job (especially the third one), which - while understandable - made them weaker in my eyes. Still really good books.
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May 27, 2016 05:49
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Decius posted:I found the first book the best, since it was still trying to do a criminal investigation in the face of the end of the world. The other two books weren't about being the Last Policeman still doing his job (especially the third one), which - while understandable - made them weaker in my eyes. Still really good books. The third one, I thought, was supposed to only use his investigation as a veneer to examine his own mind, and how it was breaking down in the shadow of the meteor; how he uses his determination and steadfastness to stand against it when everyone else he meets crumbles. And, in the end, I got the feeling that maybe he didn't crumble, not because of his strength, but because he was broken long ago and learned to live that way. Just my 2˘ though.
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May 27, 2016 15:09
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Yeah, to me, the mysteries were genuinely unimportant and mostly there as an examination of what the end of the world was doing to people, including the protagonist. I was a bit cold on the ~mystery~ plot running through the first two books but I thought the payoff in the third was (relatively) okay. I disliked the twist of cult leader + FBI false flag but I liked that it really was just people desperately seeking some miraculous out that never came and fooling themselves into believing something completely unbelievable.
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May 27, 2016 15:36
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ImpAtom posted:... Yeah, it was a really believable bit of melancholy realism. I can totally see people doing just what those people in Astronaut's group did.
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May 27, 2016 15:40
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I just read some plot summaries of The Last Policeman trilogy and just wow the idea of that last scene is absolutely brutal and completely terrifying.
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May 27, 2016 19:03
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Ornamented Death posted:So it looks like Paul Cornell's latest Shadow Police book got a title change and is out right now in the UK, and next week in the US. Read it a couple of days back now. Pretty good although I kind of feel it was a bit less bleak this time what with Lisa getting back her joy and Lofthouse getting back her memory/gaining sight, although the fact she had to live with her husband at any point being possessed was pretty awful.. Then again Sherlock becoming real only to die from the fall and go straight to hell isn't that nice, neither is Quill "summoning" hell when his depression kicked in. Also I think after Costain is kidnapped you don't get any parts from his perspective which is fitting. I wonder what are the ramifications the poisoning of the underground pool, is it just to stop others getting the sight? Also I guess there will be a magic gang war next book then.
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May 27, 2016 19:21
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I also finished it a couple days ago and I really liked it - actually I think I enjoyed this one more than the second book although like you said the 'Ross loses her happiness' plot was way more interesting on the second book, when it was introduced. Also, minor annoyance, I guess the editor missed the million times any character prepared some "strong, sweet tea". I swear at some point I thought it was going to be relevant to the plot, the writer insisted that much...
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May 27, 2016 19:36
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ImpAtom posted:The infertile thing I can buy, but the 'it's magically killing her' doesn't make sense to me unless it's an explicit twist which is pretty dumb forced drama. I can't believe I didn't notice this before, but "it's magically killing her" must just be a Thomas and Justine thing, because Thomas and Harry's mom didn't seem to have any problems with the pregnancy.
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May 29, 2016 08:32
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seaborgium posted:I can't believe I didn't notice this before, but "it's magically killing her" must just be a Thomas and Justine thing, because Thomas and Harry's mom didn't seem to have any problems with the pregnancy. She was also a powerful wizard who was intimately familiar with the weirder sides of magic, if there is some kind of danger to it I hope its just a plot device to push Thomas towards some tough choices and so when they come through it all Thomas and Dresden can be dad-bros
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May 29, 2016 09:57
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Wade Wilson posted:Give me a saga of Owen training new druids from various parts of the world and their adventures please. I don't give a poo poo about the Iron Druid himself. At this point I'm only reading the series because I hate myself. I don't enjoy any of the characters or stories they're telling, but I think Owen is the worst. I have a sailor's mouth, but even I still find a chapter that's 90% "feck"s grating. Especially when the other 10% is lazy fish out water stuff ("Greta spoke with him via something called a 'cell phone', I'm so out of touch it's wacky!")
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May 29, 2016 12:59
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420 Gank Mid posted:She was also a powerful wizard who was intimately familiar with the weirder sides of magic, if there is some kind of danger to it I hope its just a plot device to push Thomas towards some tough choices and so when they come through it all Thomas and Dresden can be dad-bros That and Maggie and Papa Raith weren't in "true love" with each other.
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May 29, 2016 17:13
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Russad posted:At this point I'm only reading the series because I hate myself. I don't enjoy any of the characters or stories they're telling, but I think Owen is the worst. I have a sailor's mouth, but even I still find a chapter that's 90% "feck"s grating. Especially when the other 10% is lazy fish out water stuff ("Greta spoke with him via something called a 'cell phone', I'm so out of touch it's wacky!") I haven't read the last one but kept up with the series until then and for the life of me can't explain why. I guess it's the trainwreck in slow motion thing.
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May 29, 2016 19:55
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anilEhilated posted:I honestly think it's because the competition is low. Atticus stopped being funny around book 2 and whatsherface never even started being interesting. Owen has some semblance of character, even if it's just a stereotypical grumpy old fart. Ah, see, I was baffled by you loving Owen too, and I think this might be why- in the latest book, he's in it A LOT- the book is pretty much even thirds- and so much of his chapters is just, "What! Banking? ONLINE? What's an internet? drat kids." Yeah, I read the latest because, I dunno, I probably hate myself, and each individual viewpoint was frustrating in its own unique ways.
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May 29, 2016 20:03
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I can appreciate anything that takes the focus away from meme dog. Sausages! Movie reference! Poodles! Geek Joke!  But yeah, I haven't been able to make myself read the last book either.
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May 29, 2016 20:16
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So I think I'm a bit under half way through book 5 of Alex Verus, Hidden. Throughout book 4, and poo poo tons of book 5, poo poo loads of time has been spent hand-wringing and (imo) wasting time discussing whether or not it was really necessary to kill the kids that were coming after him for his involvement in Catherine's death. Does this subject keep getting beaten to death for much longer? Is there ever a point to all of it? I'm getting really tired of people backseat-mage'ing him, like there was some magic (heh) way to have dealt with the situation that wouldn't have resulted in any deaths whatsoever.
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May 29, 2016 22:54
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It pops up from time to time, but it becomes a lot less prevalent in the later books, I think. It turns into more of a recognition of the fact that Verus is both willing and able to set up a cold-blooded execution if that's what it takes to keep himself safe. Some people are instantly okay with this and basically take a 'live by the sword' sort of attitude to it. Some people take some time to get their heads around it, but come to the conclusion that it was Verus' absolute last resort. And some people are never really comfortable with him again. But they do stop beating him with it.
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May 29, 2016 23:40
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OmniBeer posted:Ah, see, I was baffled by you loving Owen too, and I think this might be why- in the latest book, he's in it A LOT- the book is pretty much even thirds- and so much of his chapters is just, "What! Banking? ONLINE? What's an internet? drat kids." I'm reading the latest book now because I got it for cheap and am waiting on other books to arrive, and its fairly tedious... I'd tell myself "I'll stop reading these" but at some point I'll run out of books and see the next one on sale and probably grab it as well.
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May 29, 2016 23:48
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