Promise in Merry Gentry?

[raging-muse.livejournal.com]

Hi guys!

The recent posts I've seen about the new Merry book Swallowing Darkness has got me thinking on an old disappointment.  I remember when i first read the first Merry book. I admit somewhat embaressingly now that I liked the first book, it had promise and I liked it alot better then the Anita series which I'd been reading through at the time.  I remember thinking that more then the ANita series, the Merry one had alot of promise and looked to be a really good series.

Back when I first read it there weren't any other books around about Faeries, bar a few young adult/teen aimed ones.  Not sure if any of you can remember any Faerie based books out at the same time but please advise me if you know of any. SO to me Laurell was the first author i got to to do Faeries in the way she's done them - the 2 courts and all. I keep thinking ot myself that under the hands of a different author that whole series could be been really well done. The idea of the 2 seperate courts  of Unseelie and Seelie wasn't new but 2 mad monarchs at the helm and the problem of a dying race due ot infertility was interesting. But alas like the Anita series it bombed and died a horrible death as all the sex and bad writing got in the way. Does anyone else think under a different author or if Laurell had done it right it could ahve gone on to be quite good? And does anyone know of any really good Faerie books? The ones i find these days are all the awful paranormal type ones and i find myself insulted to see powerful Faeries treated as sex toys.