Befuddled

[ksmith]

So, a few nights ago I started reading the first in a series by an author I've never before read. Older though it is, the book is doing quite well, as is the entire series. Bestseller-quite well. It is to envy.

There are times when I read such books, and yeah, I understand even when I don't fall under the spell. Whether it's the characters, the undercurrents/atmosphere, or the twisty-turny plots, I can see why this work has engaged so many people and why it's doing well. More power to the author in question. As a storyteller, you don't need to nail it all. You just need to nail enough, and they succeeded.

But then there are times when I just don't get it. Characters, situations, descriptions, plot. Atmosphere. I know there has to be a pony in there somewhere, but damned if I can find it. And I've enjoyed this type of book before, so it's not a case of genre gap. It's just...zippo engagement. No moment, scene, or phrase that hooked me.

Read a few more chapters last night. Skipped to the end to see who did what. I don't know if I'll go back to read the rest. Not as long as there's Pratchett to reread.

What concerns me a little about this, though, is that I don't get why it works. I like to know why various books work because, well, it's good to know what works, especially in genres you'd like to explore yourself sometime.

Comments

[sauscony.livejournal.com]

"So, is S & M in mainstream SF/Fantasy the big thing right now?"

I've been wondering the same thing lately. I also wonder if the word "erotic" is code for S&M because every book I see described as erotic lately has S&M in it. I gave up on one popular book when I saw the word "pincers" in a sex scene.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I gave up on one popular book when I saw the word "pincers" in a sex scene.

Yes. I know "different strokes" and such, but this is SO not erotic, in my book....

[merlinpole.livejournal.com]

I also wonder if the word "erotic" is code for S&M because every book I see described as erotic lately has S&M in it.

I don't think so, unless the expansion of things like the LoveSpell line and Luna line and Tor's fantasy romances etc. has subsumed the "erotic" as it had been and encroached on the old varieties of Trashy Romance Novels and the edge went over to BDSM... but things like Circlet Press which focuses on various varieties of kinky have been around for years.

Hmm, maybe it's that the term "erotic" has been getting co-opted....