State of the Fandom
Can someone please tell me why all the good books these days seem to fall into the Young Adult section? Seriously. In the past eighteen months or so, I’ve read eight new series (Twilight, Southern Vampire Mysteries, Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, Black Dagger Brotherhood, Mortal Instruments, House of Night, Blue Bloods, plus I read Covet – which is the first in a new series by BDB genius JR Ward). Of those fifty or so books, only two series (and Covet) are not young adult. And that’s not counting all the miscellaneous books that aren’t part of a series. Or the ones that aren’t paranormal.
I’m pretty easy to please as far as books are concerned. I have a vivid imagination; I can pretty easily fill in any blanks that authors leave and it doesn’t bother me. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 books on my shelf. And in a box next to it.
So what’s with the sudden influx of young adult paranormal books? I spent a lot of time perusing the shelves at Target the other day, searching desperately for something new to read. And I’ve come to a realization. There is no influx of new books. They’ve all been around for years (at least a few) but Twilight’s explosive popularity has brought with it a new group of rabid readers. These new readers are spreading the spotlight to some much-underappreciated authors, stories and series.
Many, but clearly not all, of these new readers are teens and tweens, hence the focus on the Young Adult section. Here’s my beef with Young Adult. It feels pervy enough mentally leering at a 109-year-old vampire masquerading as a seventeen-year-old. In most of these other series, the lead characters ACTUALLY ARE between fifteen and seventeen years old. It just feels gross to root for some smut.
But honestly? That’s half the reason I read these days. What’s a good love story with no lovin’? What’s a girl to do? I read and loved each and every book of each of the series I mentioned above. I think I’ve written fanfic for most of them (except Black Dagger Brotherhood, out of respect for JR Ward). What do I write every time? The smut. I age the characters, set the story in the future somewhere, and write the smut that was missing from the books. I’m not good with AH or AU, unless you consider my post-series-ending fics AU. But smut? I write lots of that.
I know there are tons of good books out there. But paranormal ones? It seems like everything new is Young Adult. I read several new books by well-known authors in the paranormal/vampire genre and they were all good, but they were all missing something. They were all single books – not part of a series – which seems to make up a good portion of the non Young Adult paranormal section right now.
I like the slow burn you get from a series. I like the depth of character you get when you have four, five or even ten books to fall in love with your characters. I like the anticipation of wondering which of the potential males the heroine is going to wind up with. I like the opportunity to start wondering what’s going to happen in the next book, or even after the series ends. You keep the books forever so you can read and reread every time a new book in the series comes out.
In a single book, you don’t have as much opportunity for the anticipation to build. You know it’s probably going o have a happy ending, because, let’s face it, otherwise no one would read it. It’s no less good, but it’s hard to fall in love with the characters inside 200 or 300 pages. It doesn’t detract from the book itself, but from your attachment to the book. When you finish the book, you put it aside and think, I might read that again someday.
So, I guess my real question is, ‘Why are the Young Adult authors writing series, but not nearly as many of the adult authors?’ So, I want to know. What are you reading right now that you can’t live without? Paranormal, biography, romance, I don’t care. TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE READING!
♥SB
If you are looking for something different, I suggest trying out some Haruki Murakami. I would start with his book Norwegian Wood or Sputnik Sweetheart. While he doesn’t write series, his books are adult in nature (maybe not to the satisfying level of smuttery you are looking for) and they allow for a lot of imagination. They have a definite paranormal edge but it’s more subtle and nowhere near defined. I would be curious what an avid reader like yourself would think of his work! They are quick reads (the former I couldn’t put down).
I will also suggest to you a Tom Robbins Novel I suggested to Heather. It’s called Jitterbug Perfume. Again, there is a paranormal-ness to it, but not in the way of vampires. It will always be one of my most prized reads. Of course it isn’t new per say, but to me, it’s timeless.
Haha, I’m only reading BDB right now, but I’ve heard that Karolyn Kennyon(sp?) is good in the paranormal romance genre. In fact, we’ve been discussing “adult” paranormal romance series in my thread at the Twilighted forums, & lots of recs in that genre have come up…
You need to read the Midnight Kiss series by Lara Adrian and the Dead Witch Walking books by Kim Harrison. The Midnight Kiss series reminds me of BDB: big, strong warrior vamps and smexy good times in between the sheets. The DWW series is a little tamer, but still not a YA series IMO.
I’ll check both of those out Heather, THANKS!!
So, this series is not new, but it is also definately *not* Young Adult. It is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It is one of the best written series that I’ve ever read. Like you, I’m an avid reader. This series (now seven books) held me captivated and keeps me coming back for more. The characters are older (between 24-28 in the first books and in their late 40s in the later books) but the love affair between the two main characters is absolutely unlike anything you’ve ever read before. It is paranormal in the sense that it deals with time travel, but it doesn’t have any vamps or ghosts or anything in it. Seriously, it is worth your time. Get the first book and if you aren’t hooked by the middle, I’ll eat my words. :) Let me know if you like it!
I’ll go get the first one tomorrow!! I’ll let you know!