Centrist Simon Steele Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Hmmm...I refrained from pointing it out the last time someone posted a recommendation for a south american author, but since there is a pattern, I'll just come out and say straight out that what I meant with my sarcastic remark was that I think assigning people to groups and then discussing whether or not that group sucks at a particular task is kind of a fruitless exercise without making some kind of case that there would be something about women, for instance, that would make them less capable fantasy authors. Otherwise, I might as well ask whether fantasy writers with beards are better than those without, or whether people who are lactose-intolerant develop better characters. My bf and I refer to this as "brown shoes" in reference to a study of pilots who found that those with brown shoes were better pilots than those with black shoes. As with that particular instance, one should also look to intervening variables. First, it seems that our sample size of one has since been well-outnumbered by a number of other posters, I would say that it has not even been shown that women write worse fantasy, but that it might be true that Greyman doesn't like female fantasy writers. If there were a case that could be made about the difference between male and female authors, I would say that it's more likely (for what are likely social reasons) that male authors had some experience (read: obsession) with millitary history, and that this greatly informs and enriches the number and quality of battle scenes in books written by those authors. Oh... I still recommend Marquez!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Where do you think I found the first book? Our library never got the later ones though. Well, you could always try getting it thought an interlibrary loan. I personally think it's worth hunting down; it is one of my favourite fantasy series and it features some of the most beautiful and mythically resonant world building around and some really complex and original characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanMrMustard Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I distrust female fantasy message board authors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seventh Pup Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Well I assumed Hobb was a man, and I truly disliked that series... Perhaps it is simply that I have not read as much fantasy as many here have, but I have yet to read a series by a female author other then Harry Potter, that I have enjoyed. (Though I had not thought of it that way until I saw this thread). Rawn bored me, McCaffery's style I did not enjoy, and Hobb... It is hard to explain what I did not like about Hobb, but the closest I can think of is that her books where like reading having an itch in the middle of my back that I couldn't reach. It just annoyed me. Still it was a male author (Goodkind) that made me give up fantasy for a long while. In all I agree with Happy Ent gender as irrelevant hair color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Maid Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I distrust female fantasy message board authors. You do? why? just wondering.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centrist Simon Steele Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 You do? why? just wondering.... Psch, look at your avatar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Maid Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Psch, look at your avatar *laughs* I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodymN Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I dont know, on some days I think Kelly Link is the most gifted fantasist on the planet. I recently read Justina Robson's Living Next Door to the God of Love, and if I would have read it last year I would have considered one of the 5-6 best boosk of last year. I think Catherynne M. Valente has perhaps the most beautiful prose in the genre at the moment. Susanna Clarke wrote one of better fantasy books I have read in years. Nalo Hopkinson is among the most relevant writers in fiction, and Sarah Monette had a wonderful debut last year with Melusine and I loved Tamar Yellin's Genizah at the Hosue of Shepher Then when you think of authors like Mary Gentle, Le Guin, Carol Emshcwiller, Steph Swainston, Jo Walton, KJ Bishop, Margo Lanagan, Maureen Mchugh, Theodora Goss, Kiernan, Atwood, that's a lot of talent - and Patricia Mnckillip has written one of the best epic fantasy series period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colder Hands Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 i distrust all females. i hate to boil it down to one segment of the female population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Well I assumed Hobb was a man, and I truly disliked that series... Perhaps it is simply that I have not read as much fantasy as many here have, but I have yet to read a series by a female author other then Harry Potter, that I have enjoyed. (Though I had not thought of it that way until I saw this thread). Rawn bored me, McCaffery's style I did not enjoy, and Hobb... It is hard to explain what I did not like about Hobb, but the closest I can think of is that her books where like reading having an itch in the middle of my back that I couldn't reach. It just annoyed me. Still it was a male author (Goodkind) that made me give up fantasy for a long while. In all I agree with Happy Ent gender as irrelevant hair color. Hobb is extremely talented but about 40% of the way into her series she decides to stop writing properly, introduce a couple of dragons whether the story needs it or not, and decides to make the second and third books in her trilogy twice the length of the first one when it is definitely not necessary. She can write, certainly, she just needs to find greater discipline. JV Jones and Kate Eliott are much better female epic fantasy authors. Even the average Juliet E. McKenna isn't that much worse than Hobb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Minute Timer Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Hobb is extremely talented but about 40% of the way into her series she decides to stop writing properly, introduce a couple of dragons whether the story needs it or not, and decides to make the second and third books in her trilogy twice the length of the first one when it is definitely not necessary. She can write, certainly, she just needs to find greater discipline. Oddly enough, Hobb's tendancy to 'go on a bit' is one of the things I like about her stories. Characters are definitely the single most major factor in getting me into a story so when somebody writes them as well as Hobb I could quite happily read about them all day, even if that loses the sharpness you would expect from a top writer. Actually, one of my major complaints about fantasy and sci-fi currently is that there is too much expectation of how they should be written. There are too few one off stories - everbody is writing epic series, books have to be long but can't spend too much time philophisising or not following the action. Personally I'd like to see more people writing what they want to write, the way they want to write it, without publishers/editors telling them how to do it. I'm not saying Hobb is perfect, but I like it for what it was, and for the way she wrote it. If it had been done 'better', I'm not sure I'd have liked it as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodymN Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 i distrust all females. I can't disagree with you there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Raidne Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 i distrust all females. i hate to boil it down to one segment of the female population. Even lesbians, or just the ones who won't sleep with you for more personal reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 i distrust all females. i hate to boil it down to one segment of the female population. It must be tough growing up distrusting your own mother. "Watch it woman, I don't trust you to put food on my plate because I don't know if you're going to poison me or not!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirjj Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 As a rule, I generally do not read Fantasy written by women. Why? One word. . . . action. There is no action in Fantasy written by woman. How often are there major battles or wars in books written by woman. Rarely if at all, and usually when it is, it's "off-screen" I've ready Robin Hobb. I gave up in the middle of the Second Fitz series. Boooorrrring. The only reason I read Hobb in the first place was because the SFBC sent me her book . . . Ship of Magic. Now, while I enjoyed the Liveship Traders trilogy, you will note that there was no Action. How excited can you get about a backwoods town, at the end of the last book, going to war against a backwoods Kingdom ( Chalced). What was it. 50 against 75? Whoopdeedoo. Say what you will about Terry Brooks, but his first three Shannara books had some kick-ass battles. Science Fiction is a different matter . . .the only sci-fi I really read is fantasy in space. When it comes to hard Sci-Fi, woman are just as good ( not much action in hard sci-fi ). ab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agulla Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you want action writen by a woman try Keeping It Real, by Justina Robson. There is plenty of action there even though I find it difficult to decide if I would classify this book under a sci-fi or under a fantasy label. This must be the reason why calling the genre speculative fiction is so useful in these times of confusion. In a more classical "Sword and Sorcery" setting you have Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer. There all the fast moving action you want there. Do not expect a master piece of fantasy but it's an entertaining book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabloblanco18 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 As a rule, I generally do not read Fantasy written by women. Why? One word. . . . action. There is no action in Fantasy written by woman. How often are there major battles or wars in books written by woman. Rarely if at all, and usually when it is, it's "off-screen" She's already been mentioned several times in this thread, but J.V. Jones wrote a great deal of action into her Sword of Shadows series. The second book is boring, and the third isn't out yet, but the first one is quite good, and has lots of killing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirjj Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Thanks. I'll look into both authors. ab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dornishman Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hell, yes, I hear you brother! Historic and Fantasy novels of female authors automatically raise my suspicious. Mostly the former, but also the latter. They tend to be so... dunno, I guess, just different focused. I guess, what wed call "emo" nowadays, too much based on emotions and "woe is me" instead of actual plot.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolf Maid Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 i distrust all females. i hate to boil it down to one segment of the female population. And I'm sure some of them distrust you too. Hm. A friend of mine once said he didn't like Polgara the Sorceress, because the book was just all about Polgara's 'lovelife'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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