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[Harvester]

It is also hard to do first person well in a book, since you are restricted to the one character's viewpoint

That is a very good point and one that probably explains my disdain even further. I'm from the "a hero is only as good as the villain" school of thought. I want to know Moriarty's view point just as much as I do Holmes.

 

[Harvester]

That rules out about 90% of all zombie novels.

Yeah. It would be like me asking you to read one of my archaeological/conspiracy thrillers knowing you despised ex-cia/special ops & professor/historian characters.

 

[OrbWeaver]

but i actually love the ones that are porn
Laurell K Hamilton does porn really really well

Then read on. Because they become less and less plot-oriented and more and more vampire/werewolf/Anita orgies.

 

[Justin G]

Yeah. It would be like me asking you to read one of my archaeological/conspiracy thrillers knowing you despised ex-cia/special ops & professor/historian characters.

It seems to be a ready crutch in the urban fantasy genre as well. Dresden et al.

 

[monoxide_child]

After reading 1-2 novels/week over the past 30 years, I think I have a handle on what it is. Citing Herman Melville instead of referencing Sookie wouldn't make a difference. It doesn't matter if the narrator is Shakespeare himself. Seeing the word "I" a gazillion times grates on my nerves much like sandpaper on my ass.

i didn't mention Melville because i cited books written in the last 20 years

It is also hard to do first person well in a book, since you are restricted to the one character's viewpoint and there are various writing techniques you can't really use because of it.

It is one of the criticisms I've read about "The Hunger Games", for example.

not all of fiction books are 1st person, not even most of fiction books, 3rd person is necessary for "epic world-building" like LOTR, the Dune series, The Forgotten Realms books, the books that got turned into the HBO series Game of Thrones, etc etc etc
and i agree with the statement about the book-form of the Hunger Games, i loved the Hunger Games movie so much because of the movie showing all those things that Katniss couldn't have known about, it really helped with the epic world-building

That rules out about 90% of all zombie novels.

are you saying that 90% of all zombie novels are 1st person, or are you saying that 90% of all zombie novels are 3rd person???

That is a very good point and one that probably explains my disdain even further. I'm from the "a hero is only as good as the villain" school of thought. I want to know Moriarty's view point just as much as I do Holmes.

also, the narrators don't always have to be "knight in shining armor" archetypes, if that's what you're bitching about
there's been fan-fiction from Moriarty's point of view, and star trek fan-fic from the points of view of the people that are trying to kill James T Kirk
female narrators frequently look like Bella Swan
and frequently the male narrators are "anti-heroes" like Deadpool Punisher Batman and Dexter Morgan

Then read on. Because they become less and less plot-oriented and more and more vampire/werewolf/Anita orgies.

the vampire/werewolf/Anita orgies are awesome

 

[monoxide_child]

It seems to be a ready crutch in the urban fantasy genre as well. Dresden et al.

the phrase "urban fantasy genre" makes me think of superheros Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake, not Jason Bourne/Davinci Code/Indiana Jones

 

[Justin G]

the phrase "urban fantasy genre" makes me think of superheros Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake, not Jason Bourne/Davinci Code/Indiana Jones

That's why I mentioned (Harry) Dresden, and not any of those others.

 

[Harvester]

also, the narrators don't always have to be "knight in shining armor" archetypes, if that's what you're bitching about

Have I specifically insulted you or someone close to you that writes in first person? Is that why you are coming off as sensitive & condescending when many of your rebuttals go without saying to anyone with a literary background/higher education?

I truly appreciate the skill it takes to write well in first person. However, that doesn't mean I still don't think it sucks for my personal tastes.

 

[monoxide_child]

Have I specifically insulted you or someone close to you that writes in first person? Is that why you are coming off as sensitive & condescending when many of your rebuttals go without saying to anyone with a literary background/higher education?

I truly appreciate the skill it takes to write well in first person. However, that doesn't mean I still don't think it sucks for my personal tastes.

i'm saying that 1st person has both good and bad just like 3rd person has both good and bad

saying you get annoyed with 1st person, seems like you're making a lame cop-out broad sweeping generalization

you can't say all 1st person sucks just because you'd have rather read a sherlock holmes story from moriarty's point of view
just the same as i can't say all 1st person is awesome just because i love Anita Blake

 

[monoxide_child]

That's why I mentioned (Harry) Dresden, and not any of those others.

sorry
i got too lazy to googlesearch

 

[ashaman7122]

Looks like I'm not the only one that started drinking early today...sheesh...

Everybody has their buggaboos...makes the world go 'round.

I'll just slink back into my world of crime novels.....and everytime I encounter a 1st person narrative now I'm gonna have a mental image of sandpaper and Glenn's ass. Thanks, Glenn...!

 

[monoxide_child]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_testament

 

[ashaman7122]

Gallows View by Peter Robinson (Inspector Banks #1).

I've had this one waiting in queue for quite a while. Though I would see what the fuss was all about. Series comes with a lot of acclaim.

 

[monoxide_child]

anyone else here reading any books with vampires in them??

 

[OrbWeaver]

Not at the moment. I'm still on a dragon kick.

Anyway, I prefer werewolves over vampires.

 

[guardian26]

 

[monoxide_child]

Not at the moment. I'm still on a dragon kick.

Anyway, I prefer werewolves over vampires.

you reading the "DragonLance" novels?

it's hard to find books with werewolves that don't also have vampires in them

 

[Justin G]

 

[OrbWeaver]

you reading the "DragonLance" novels?

it's hard to find books with werewolves that don't also have vampires in them

No, still reading the first three Dragonriders of Pern novels. I'm on the third one. Got 'em all in an omnibus edition.

 

[espz]

Came out TODAY! Had to be right before the fest. Grr. The guy with the kindle reading between sets...yeah, that'll be me. Sigh.