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.

 

Comments

Holly Black

[ladyairy.livejournal.com]

On the subject of good faerie books, have you read Holly Black, by any chance? (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside) She is aimed at YA, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially since it results in more plot and less sex.

[merchendiver.livejournal.com]

Charles De Lint is an awesome writer. I adored Moonheart. He is one of the best Urban fantasy writers out there in MHO.

[shanrina.livejournal.com]

Raymond E Feist's Faerie Tale is fairly old, but IMO it's really good. If you're looking for faeries as good guys, though, it's not the book for you.

[bluemoonbaby.livejournal.com]

I really liked Emma Bull's War for the Oaks. It was written in the late 80's I think?

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

You might try The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Faeries (the book spelling) show up in various degrees in the books (sometimes just visits from dewdrop faeries). However, in the third book, Grave Peril, Harry Dresden's faerie godmother figures prominently. (She's the Leanansidhe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leanan_s%C3%ADdhe). Think "vampiric fae who gives poets and artists inspiration in exchange for a short lifespan." Definitely NOT a fairy godmother as seen by Disney.) The fourth book, Summer Knight deals extensively with the politics and battles between the Summer and Winter Court. Oh, and there are three queens in each Court. The eighth book, Proven Guilty focuses on Faerie--a battle to get there and back--for the final third of the book. And in book ten, Small Favor, it's psychotics-possessed-by-fallen-angels vs. faeries vs. Harry and his friends/allies. There's also a short story called "Something Borrowed," which deals with a stolen bride.

Read all of them--and every book and story in between. You'll be glad that you did.

[angylinni.livejournal.com]

I really liked the Fae Series by Karen Marie Moning. They are less sexually oriented than LKH and the writing is really good. Her other series, the Highlanders has some Fae mixed in as well. I would buy her books over almost any other paranormal author save Jim Butcher.

[kynekh-amagire.livejournal.com]

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams is an interesting take on the "fairy realm" idea. I liked it quite a lot, although it's definitely modernized throughout, and owes only a little to actual mythological figures.

[moonsinger.livejournal.com]

I'll second Charles de Lint and Jim Butcher. I'd also add Mercedes Lackey's Serrated Edge and Bedlam's Bard series as well as her prequel series about elves in Tudor England.

[easol.livejournal.com]

If you like high fantasy, you might enjoy Tad Williams' Memory Sorrow and Thorn series, which has this truly awesome species of elves. Kind of derivative of Tolkien's, but given a lot of unique quirks and tendencies that make them seem really like another species.

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke I thought was very good. The fae that show up in that are very strange and creepy. It's set against the backdrop of England during the Napoleonic Wars. I feel that the faeries in that story more were based on legends and stories of faeries than on any set court system.

[canadianevil.livejournal.com]

Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire/cadhla) has the first in a trilogy of books about a changeling private investigator in San Francisco coming out next year. I'm very excited for it because her LJ is one of the most entertaining things I've ever read. I don't remember what it's called off-hand but I'm sure you can find it at one of her journals.