So upon writing this post, I have a feeling I will raise someone's bibliophile rage (its like nerd rage, but over books). We all have authors we adore, and conversely, we all have novels we hate. Some of us just have broad sweeping hatreds of genres, and for some its simply specific authors or series.
I love most books, and I attempt to give every book a fair shot. I've read my fair share of everything: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Mystery, Romance, Horror, and so far I haven't found a genre I hate, and I've found many authors that I either love, like or can categorize under " need to be in mood for".
There are very few books and even fewer authors I can honestly say I hate. However, when I do hate a book, it does not come in the form of garden variety "not my taste". What I mean when I say hate is the feeling one has when something makes you want to become a head injury patient so you might forget ever reading a specific book. When I say hate, I mean the sensation of feeling so utterly disgusted, repulsed or insulted that you would gladly set fire to to the source, and then burn the ashes just to be certain. For me, that is what I feel towards books I loathe.
The first book that I ever truly despised was "A Separate Piece" by John Knowles. While I realize the novel is considered classic literature and featured in many high school classes, I also believe that those that chose books for an academic curriculum occasionally suffer from poor taste. In the case of "A Separate Peace", perhaps I should blame my high school teacher for my hatred and not Knowles. That said, after the unit on this particular book past, it took me an entire summer vacation to not froth at the mouth when someone mentioned " Christ figures".
I could mention the "Twilight" series, but that seems to be too easy of a target. Everyone who actually appreciates individuals with writing talent and despise those that just can sell trash hates "Twilight". That said, I think we are well past it. I am sure it will not be too long before Meyer cooks up another series that will need to be tested for aerodynamics (because bad books deserve being thrown) , but at this point, I'm not going to waste much time on that.
No, the next series I will mention that raises my ire is one that I admit to feeling ambivalent about. It also illustrates why I prefer to not know too much about an author when deciding my feelings about a series because I hate when an author seems like a really nice person, but I absolutely hate their writing. This is the case I have with Laurell K. Hamilton.
My problem with Laurell K. Hamilton is this: first, I love her setting. Her ideas behind how a society where monsters are real and how it would react are spot on. I like her ideas of people who can animate the dead. I even liked her ideas about fae in "Merry Gentry Series". I also have a feeling she would be a great person to have over for dinner.
That said, I still find myself unable to read any of her books. I have tried, I managed my way through "Guilty Pleasures", " The Laughing Corpse" and a few of the graphic novels. I also tried to read "A Kiss of Shadows" but I was unable to finish it. Why? Let me give you the main reasons chronologically:
1. I cannot get over her style of writing and how dialogue occurs. She can be quite descriptive, however I've seen passages where literally the paragraph reads something akin to " I wanted to tell him all that had happened. He asked what happened. I told him". Okay, Succinct yes, but not really skillful. Its frustrating when you have a setting that is so awesome, but the writing is so poor it just detracts constantly from the setting and plot.
2. Maybe its just me but in the two series I've read, the main character is always vertically challenged, sexy, and everyone in creation wants to ride her like a kinky amusement park ride. The other characters of the book are either allies you see briefly and yet might make far more interesting main characters, are villains, or are the individuals who want to be the riders on the main characters vaginal park ride. I realize sex sells, but one book "Incubus Dreams" features the most bizarre rape/voyeur/half orgy I've ever seen, and worse yet, it was boring and I just wanted to get past it as quickly as possible. That does not speak well for sex scenes.
3. Beyond the aforementioned, the characters also seem to be impossibly dumb. The side kicks, or side characters, seem reasonable, but I swear everyone in the main plot seems to have the IQ of a sack of potatoes that have become sentient and lascivious.
4. Lastly,what bothers me the most is how good these series could be if the sex and love plots were just cut down a notch. I feel like if the fatty romance and cheese bits of these works could be cut down just a bit, and the writing was tightened up just a tad, then these series could be far superior. Instead, I just feel like they are quite mediocre.
So, with that said, I wish Laurell K.Hamilton the best, I am quite sure she is a sweet woman, and I am glad she has made her fans happy. However, if anyone out there decides to gift me with any of Hamilton's books, please include lighter fluid and matches for me.
Until next time folks when I get back to more serious book reviews and writing!
Chao.
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