The Fantasy Section in the Book Store (And Why Most of it Bores Me)

[Ravana]

Hmm. Lest you be disappointed, I suppose I ought to mention that it's a vampire western set in the late 20th century. And, no, I'm still not joking.

 

[Mdnight Falling]

LMAO! that doesn't surprise me... I think I'll have to go poke around and look for it now >^.^<

 

[Mindfire]

While we're on the subject of b-movies. Check out The Warrior's Way. Ninjas vs. Cowboys. I am not even kidding. It's brilliant. Either so goofy it's awesome or just plain awesome. I'm not sure which.

Also, I too have noticed that the fantasy section of the bookstore is full of that archetypal, generic "D&D-ish" fantasy. Although every so often you'll find something worthwhile. I stumbled onto the Codex Alera while sifting through the schlock at my local Books-A-Million.

 

[Philip Overby]

I just went back and read my initial post in this thread. While I was being honest at the time, I think my outlook on writing has changed in the past year. It's cool seeing old Phil and new Phil.

Old Phil-I don't want to give these books a chance.

New Phil-Sure, I'll read a bit of it.

I wonder how many great books I've missed out on because I had a prejudice towards "judging a book by its cover." Sometimes just picking up a random book and giving it a read can be sort of liberating. With no pre-conceived notion of its reputation.

Anyway, Old Phil...lighten up.

 

[Mindfire]

I just now realized how old this thread is. My bad on the necropost.

 

[Philip Overby]

That's OK, I was a bit surprised to see this. I've been around here for a while.

Maybe it will get other people discussing things in any case. I don't think the same way I did when I posted this initially, so I wonder if other people's opinions have changed as well.

 

[Penpilot]

I'll participate in some Necro-threadia...

I generally don't pick up books cold anymore. I browse the fantasy section and I give books the three page test drive. I rarely find anything that's gripping enough to make me want to buy right then. I rely on recommendations from friends, and I hate to admit it but a good plug for or from an author will get me to check give something a serious look.

I've also developed two reading styles depending on what type of book I'm reading. Some books you just want to savor and take your time with because everything from the prose down to the story is just soooo good. Other books are just pop-corn books. I try to speed read through those because it's more about devouring the plot and learning what happened rather than enjoying every page.

 

[shangrila]

I don't buy "cold" anymore either, but that's just because of how cheap book depository is. Combined with the free worldwide postage and I really don't see any reason to buy books anywhere else.

 

[Kit]

Short story anthologies can be a good way to find authors that you like... without paying for (and wasting your time on) a full-length book that you aren't enjoying.

 

[Devor]

Go to any bookstore, any shelf, any genre. It's all dribble, I find, except for the book I like. I think it's that way for everyone but with different books.

 

[Steerpike]

I may be the odd one out, to some degree. I buy random books by people I have never heard of all the time, across various genres. I love doing that with books and with music, and it often leads to some great finds. Also, any of us starting out as writers, and particularly as self-published writers but also as traditionally-published ones, are asking potential readers to take a chance by even giving our work a second look. If we can't even do that for other authors, then we have no right to expect readers to do it for us.

 

[Philip Overby]

That's one of the reasons I've changed my view on this. I'm much more likely to take a chance on a new author than I was even a year ago. I've learned a lot about writing and publishing in the past year (even though I haven't published anything) and have learned that sometimes making a random choice pays off. I picked up The Last Wish on a whim and now Sapkowski is one of my favorite writers. So, yeah, I pick up random books now more than I would have a year ago.

 

[TWErvin2]

I still like going into bookstores and seeing what's on the shelf. It's a different experience than looking online. Also, used bookstores are an unusual treat. There, you never know what you might stumble across.

As far as vampire novels, Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night is a pretty good read. Set in the early 1900s, with a detectivey/Sherlock Holmes' feel. And the vampires do not mix well with sunlight. The sequel, I think it was called Travelling with the Dead, wasn't so good.

For an offbeat vampireish novel, I enjoyed Knight of Black Rose by James Lowder, which is a Ravenloft novel, but kind of blends in Lord Soth, which I think was from some other similar series. Again, the sequel Spectre of the Black Rose wasn't nearly as good of a read.

 

[Ankari]

I'll try new authors, but I use the "Judge a Book By Its Cover" method. If a nee author didn't gain the trust if his publishing company to earn a decent cover, then I won't invest in the book. That's one of the reasons why I don't buy self-published books.

 

[Steerpike]

I picked up Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold," never having heard of the guy. I'm glad I did. And since I don't read the back of books and the cover didn't have much on it, it was a leap of faith

 

[Anders Ämting]

I like to visit book stores. Just something I like to do. I always make a bee-line for the fantasy section as soon as I get there. Usually, I am faced with a monumental task. Staring blank faced at a bunch of names I don't know, with a bunch of titles that sound droll, with a bunch of synopses that bore me to tears.

Why is it that the fantasy section (of all the sections) seems to be full of so many generic books? Seriously. Go into a book store. Pick a random author you don't know. Does the book sound interesting?

I have to say, Amazon (as much as I hate to admit it) has saved me probably thousands of dollars on books. Why? Because of their recommendations. It's sad to say that I trust readers' reviews from Amazon much more than I trust a blurb from some random author who I've also never heard of or a professional book reviewer.

It's sad, because I really love fantasy. But this is something I've just always noticed. I'd say in any given book store, that only about 1 percent of the fantasy books they have on the shelf are books I'd read. I'm an extremely picky reader. It takes a lot to impress me. Who are reading these books? And why are they on the shelves? I swear, I must see the exact same books that no one is buying in the same places everywhere I go.

Does anyone else feel this way sometimes? Am I having too high of expectations?

Oh, I'm the same way. Hard to find anything I consider interesting these days.

Mind, this probably has a lot to do with how old you are. When I was a teenager, I'd read almost anything fantasy-related, or at least give it a try. Now that I'm closing in on thirty, everything just looks kinda bland and similar.

You're a guy most guys DON'T like Twilight and it has nothing to do with sparkly vampires LMAO! It's because there's very little action in it and it's more the life of a teenage girl's love life even if it's with a vampire.. albeit a strange vampire...

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I didn't get through Twilight wasn't because it's a sappy romance without action, or because I didn't like the vampires. I didn't get throught Twilight because it is a genuinly poorly writted book, like, in the technical aspect. I seriously have never seen worse prose printed in a real novel someone actually put to the printers.

 

[Steerpike]

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I didn't get through Twilight wasn't because it's a sappy romance without action, or because I didn't like the vampires. I didn't get throught Twilight because it is a genuinly poorly writted book, like, in the technical aspect. I seriously have never seen worse prose printed in a real novel someone actually put to the printers.

This simply isn't true. It is mediocre in terms of technical proficiency, at worst. Eragon is about a million times worse, and I've seen any number of books on the shelves that are of a lower quality of writing.

 

[Anders Ämting]

This simply isn't true. It is mediocre in terms of technical proficiency, at worst. Eragon is about a million times worse, and I've seen any number of books on the shelves that are of a lower quality of writing.

I only said it's the worst I have personally read. I never claimed it's the worst one in existance.

 

[shangrila]

Twilight is poorly written. There's worse out there, sure, but it doesn't redeem that pile of crap either.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Twilight is differently written from science fiction and fantasy, but I'm not convinced the romance-novel style is inherently "poor." Certainly, I like some books that are arguably in Twilight's style (e.g. The Battle Sylph.)

On-topic, I seldom read a series unless it's complete, but when a series is complete, I usually find the first book boring and the later books interminable. My best luck has been with standalones.