Character Type

[Maze353]

What is your favorite character type: the dark hero? the noble white knight? the iron-willed heroine? Why?

(Posting something along the lines of "omg I luv edward cuz he's so hot !!!!!! " means you've just managed to answer an opinion question incorrectly. It also means you can't read and suck at life.  

[Maze353]

I like the scarred, broken characters: the ones who fell off the path, the ones who did terrible thing before finding the light. They're the most interesting and unpredictable.  

[NightIntent]

Good question! I'm not sure if there's a "type" that's my favorite. I know the ones I don't like. The cliche naive girl, the brooding, dark character, the creepy stalker boyfriend who watches his girlfriend sleep... wait what?

<.<

The characters that I like tend to vary widely, so yeah. I don't think I have a type. I'll think about this more, though, and see if I can come up with a better answer. XD  

[Maze353]

I hate the creepy stalker boyfriend! I've been getting all these free fantasy ebooks and they're all YA fantasy (even when they claim they aren't.... Just because your main character is 28, if she acts like she's 16 it's YA stare ) What is it with these super possessive stalker boyfriends who watch them all the time and can read their minds? What is so appealing about that?  

[NightIntent]

I have no idea. But yeah, it's really common in YA books. Way to try to spread healthy relationship values, writers.... "If your boyfriend doesn't stalk you, watch you in your sleep, or read your mind... he's not the right one."

I don't get it.  

[Maze353]

My brain can't comprehend the desire. I don't know about these authours but I've certainly had some thoughts that should never see the light of day.

That and YA vampires. You're 200+ years old and you find the best way to spend your time is reliving high school? Really? That and the cradle robbing. "I'm 200 years old, you're 16 and I find you to be the most amazing, compelling, intellectual person I've ever met. In all my years I've never met anyone with more maturity or depth...." This declaration usually comes after the chick breaks down over how her ex-boy friend dumped her or how the popular chick snubbed her. Seriously, why can't they be mature young adults?  

[NightIntent]

Maze353

Seriously, why can't they be mature young adults?

Because then 99% of people couldn't identify with the character....  

[Maze353]

NightIntent

Maze353

Seriously, why can't they be mature young adults?

Because then 99% of people couldn't identify with the character....

I find it rather depressing that that is a true statement.


My final pet peeve (since I'm on the topic) with YA is how these kids are just handed super powers. One minute they're whining about how they hate their 11 pm curfew. Then its "Happy Birthday you're 18! Which means you're now suddenly an adult in every sense of the word! You now have more power than Yoda and are destined to (insert grand destiny that come with a hot and sexy BF or GF who will go from wanting you to drop dead to trying to jump you in 2 chapters or less)"

In case you hadn't noticed I'm not a huge fan of YA.  

[NightIntent]

I really used to like YA novels. Admittedly, that was when I was still a young adult, but still. I still like Tamora Pierce. I haven't read them in a long time, but I would probably still enjoy the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, Cynthia Voigt, Lloyd Alexander, Brian Jacques, Sherwood Smith....

Man, now I wanna re-read whatever of the good childhood books I still have. rofl

There are so many bad YA books, though. The sad thing is, you don't realize it until way, way later. Like what's her name who started writing when she was 13. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. (Definitely had to Google that.) They were decent when I first read them, when I was like 13. Now, they're kind of Twilight level.

I mean, I guess anything that gets kids reading is sort of good. I just wish all the hype was about better books than, say, Twilight. Especially YA books. There are plenty out there with decently-adjusted teen characters--it's just taking more and more looking to find them.  

[Maze353]

I can still read Sherwood Smith, Atwater-Rhodes, Tamora Pierce, and Vivian Van Velde but that's about it.

I always felt that Atwater-Rhodes didn't get the recognition she deserved. Her books were extremely well written for a 13-year-old. Way better that Paloini (why can I never spell this name right?) or Meyers books' ever were. She even had things like originality, a plot, and character growth.

I still like Redwall and the sequel but that's it of Jacques. I never thought of C.S. Lewis' books as YA, though I did read them when I was a teen.  

[NightIntent]

That's true. I only read a handful of them--I loved the one about the shapeshifters, the hawks and the snakes, but damn me if I can remeber the name anymore--and the vampire/witch ones just didn't impress me much at all. They were a good, quick read, but the characters didn't grab me as much as the shapeshifter ones. And when I think of Atwater-Rhodes, I think of her vampire books.

Ohhh, I forgot about Vivian Vande Velde. Mannnnn, now there're more books that I wanna re-read. gonk  

[Maze353]

Her shifter series was: Hawksong, Snakecharm, Falcondance, Wolfcry, and Wyvernhail.

I thought the first 2 in the series were the best. I really liked the culture and all the subcultures of the different shifter clans. I'd like to have seen more about that.  

[NightIntent]

I think I only read the first two or something. I don't even remember, it seems like forever ago. They were really good, though.

And also I just started reading Sherwood Smith's new book and it's just so good. In between reading her books, I somehow forget what an amazing author she is. I'm always stoked when she releases a new book.  

[Maze353]

I didn't know she had a new book out! What is it about?  

[NightIntent]

Banner of the Damned. It just came out like last month or something like that? Maybe earlier. But I just bought it a few days ago. It's loooooong. Almost 700 pages! I'm only about halfway through, but it's in the same world as the Inda books but generations later. Inda comes up a little, as a legend in the time period for this book. Apparently a scribe is on trial for treason or something--the crime hasn't really been stated yet--and she's writing her story about how that came about and why she's innocent. It's mostly based around the trials and tribulations of the princess of Colend.