As you can see from my list, I have already read 5 books in 2012, and am working through my sixth. I do not mean to say that these novels are headed for literature classes everywhere, however, some are so engaging that it is impossible to break away. I think what I have found most fascinating is that while reading different authors, the characteristics of Fae and such fantasy creatures seem to be the same. There must be a course on this somewhere, and I think I need to take it. These are fairy stories I have never heard, but that apparently exist somewhere considering how often I have come across them in the fantasy books I have been reading.
As a general rule, I do not read fantasy. I much prefer fiction set in this world, especially if set before 19th century. I feel as though I can relate to the characters and perhaps have gone through some of the same changes in life that they have and enjoy the romance we have come to associate with anything set before modern times. However, one of the girls in my book club loves fantasy, and at her recommendation, I have read more fantasy than I thought possible. Patrick Rothfuss tells a brilliant story in his series The Kingkiller Chronicle. Each of the first two books is more than 500 pages (the second being twice as long as the first), and in them we are only given a few short years of the main character's life. However, the story is told in such a way that you as a reader will be swept away into this fantasy world and when you pull away form the book, you find that you don't recognize the one you live in. It is truly magical.
In Chima's The Seven Realms Series, some of this magic and wizardry is familiar as well. The typical evil wizard is present and he takes control of the beautiful queen. Yes, it sounds childish. It is childish. It is a Young Adult novel centered around a 16 year old princess. That's the point. But again, what draws me in is this fantasy world with different cultures and the relationships and struggles each culture has to deal with, not only with the other groups, but within their own as well.
The point of this is, I've been busy in these realms. I cannot be blamed for my absence from the world of blogging. It's difficult to break away when the hero has been stabbed, kidnapped, or poisoned. Believe me, I would rather be churning out my own stories and giving them a life and breath all their own, but I can always say this is research. You know, even if I'm not writing a Young Adult fantasy novel...
