I am feeling ill today — sympathy please — so this Top 10 will be brief to the point of brusqueness!
1) Do you like tattoos?
Lurv a la Mode is getting really tired of the tattoos all over book covers right now! Is this one of your pet peeves? Are there any other cover conventions that you find difficult to take?
2) In celebration of authors
A couple of Wednesdays ago I introduced you to the Author Fan Letter blog crawl that was occurring — it has now all wrapped up and there is a handy summary post to show links to all the blogs who participated.
3) Why Sex and the City 2 is a science fiction movie
You’re getting this link because it amused me thoroughly — I watch Sex and the City, and have been to see the second movie (that public confession makes me squirm), so I found this an entertaining little foray into how it can be imagined as a science fiction movie!
4) The Price of Spring
A Dribble of Ink brings us the news that Daniel Abraham‘s book The Price of Spring is not receiving a paperback release. This is the final book in The Long Price Quartet, which is widely deemed to be criminally under-read, and Aidan bemoans the fact that quality does not always equal success. Read our reviews of this epic.
5) Reader Expectations
So, when you pick up a book, how much are your expectations governed by factors you know about the author and the way in which their book was sold. For instance, if you knew an author had received a seven figure advance for a book, would it affect the way you then read the book? Babbling About Books wants to know.
6) Limitations of Genre Coverage
In another of his ever-interesting blog posts, Larry (OF Blog of the Fallen) addresses the limitations of genre coverage in certain recent lists that have been produced of speculative fiction that *must* be read.
7) Legends of the Red Sun Interviews
I am a real sucker for unusual interviews, and, with the release of Mark Charan Newton’s City of Ruin, Dave Brendon showcases his interviews with three of the characters from Nights of Villjamur.
8) The Silence of the Dying
This particular link made me very tearful: Sara Douglass is incredibly ill with cancer and speaks out about her experiences with the silence of dying. It is poignant and powerful, and gives a lot of food for thought.
9) Send Diana Wynne Jones best wishes
This is more sad news — it feels like we’re losing so many of our best-loved authors. Diana Wynne Jones is extremely ill and it is asked that we all send her our best wishes. One of my very favourite books is The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and her YA fiction has led to many films such as Howl’s Moving Castle. She is incredibly talented and the world will lose a wonderful writer when she goes. Please go and say nice things.
10) Do you have to like the main character to enjoy a book?
This is an interesting topic: in many of the fantasy books we read these days, the main characters are not always the more likable, so Steve’s Fantasy Book Reviews poses the question: do you have to like the main character to enjoy the book?
Well, I’m off to spend some time on the sofa in front of Friends (always my viewing choice while ill!) Have fun this week, y’all!
Fell better.
That’s really sad about Sara Douglass and Diana Wynne Jones!
I know! So sad.
Best wishes for Diana and Sara.
Their sad news overshadowed your question about tattoos and pet peeves. Even as a self -confessed urban fantasy addict, I get pretty tired of the tattooed scantily clad woman with a snake or a sword or a snake and a sword or a tatoo of a snake wielding a sword… But then I don’t suppose I’d even pick up a novel with ponies and rainbows or pink bunnies on the cover… Makes me wonder, sometimes: what if the problem is me?
Well, I’ve learned to live with the Standard UF Cover just because, well, it tells me it’s urban fantasy, so when I’m in the mood for that, they’re easy to find in the B&N. I know the good UFs and the bad ones alike have cheesy covers, so I’ve just started chalking them up to “it helps me find them, if nothing else.”
Before I got to the part about Sara Douglass and Diana Wynne Jones, I was going to say that Daniel Abraham’s work not getting a paperback release was “tragic”. Obviously the other news puts things in perspective. So I’ll just say it’s near-criminal. I’m not naive and I’m not particularly young, but it’s still depressingly shocking (or shockingly depressing) how often quality doesn’t seem to matter. If one of the best-written works of the past 10 years or so can’t get support, it doesn’t bode well. I can only hope that the publicity about this (and there should be publicity about it) drives more sales his way.
If I saw an urban fantasy with ponies or rainbows or pink bunnies on the cover, I would totally pick it up. I would have to know what it’s about.
Haha Beth! Me, too. Maybe.
Heehee! Well, the closest I’ve seen to that is the cover for Nicole Peeler’s Tempest Rising. It’s sort of this crazy cross between the Moon tarot card, Dia de los Muertos type imagery, and…random cute seals? LOL.