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Wow, what a comprehensive list! There are a couple there I haven't read. I agree with you about the Jenna Black series. I didn't like much for L.A. Banks books, either. A few more that you might look at, if you haven't already, are:Vampire Files by P.N. Elrod. The vampire is a 1920-30 reporter who turns into one & lives in Chicago.
The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris or her 3 books about Harper Connelly.
Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series is OK, but too much sex for me. The last couple of books were mostly sex, little story. Very interesting world, though.
Barb Hendee's Damphir series is good. Fantasy world, swords & all, but vampires & the heroine is half vampire.
There's a series by Jennifer Rardin, Jaz Parks, that you may like. It was a little to 'chick flick' for me, but if you like the Twilight series, it may appeal. It looks like our tastes are similar, but I didn't like Twilight & do like the 'Witchling' series, so far. It's on the line, I guess.
There is a 'Queen Betsy' series. The author escapes me. I didn't care for it. Kind of a valley girl, Buffy (the movie) character who will make life & death decisions based on bribes of designer shoes. Not my cup of tea.
Jeanne Stein has a fair series, but Tanya Huff's 'Blood' series didn't thrill me.
That's all I can come up with this morning. Again, thanks for the good list. My daughter & I both love the genre & are always looking for new reads.
May I humbly recommend my new book, Weird Horror Tales.
The "Queen Betsy" Jim is referring to, is the Undead & Unwed series by MaryJanice Davidson.....Ms. Davidson is 1 of the few female writers out there who I believe to be Very Good, (which is an understatement)
Also, I could recommend "The California Demon Series" or "Carpe Demon Series" by Julie Kenner... It's sort of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, grows up
I've also read the Blood series by Tanya Huff, and the Jaz parks series by Jennifer Rardin. I found both mediocre at best which is probably why I forgot to mention them. I haven't read the Gentry series because I had a lot of the same issues with the Anita Blake series. I'm just so hooked on the characters at this point that I keep reading.
I'll check out the other books mentioned here! Thanks!
Try the Nightwatch series by Sergei Lukyanenko. And as for a single book, go with Dracula by Bram Stoker. Both authors are very good, and the books are different/better than the movies.
Nikka, it seems we have similar tastes. My daughter, Erin, agrees with you about Blake/Gentry & hasn't wanted to read the latter series either, even though I have it all. Unfortunately, I got hooked on the world, so spent more money than I should have hoping the story would get better.Nena, thanks for the heads up about the Nightwatch series. That sounds familiar. I may have read the first book before...
I was surprised at how few reviews there were on some of the books listed here. That's one thing I love about GR, being able to read reviews, especially of those who I meet in topics like this.
I'm getting Carpe Demon, even though it's fairly obvious that what tickles Always funny bone is quite what I like. I agree that Davidson wrote well. Humor isn't easy to write, but she did a good job of it. Enough that I read the entire book. That sort of heroine isn't the type to make me want to read a second, though. Thanks, Always.
Maryjanice does write well compared to some of the female writers out there... However Jim, 'Unwed & Unemployed" was the only 1 I read as well. I still have a prejudice against "good guy/girl" vampires... LOL
As for 'Carpe Demon' I hope you like it. She's a bit too cheery for me but I do read the series 'cause,,,, IDK
Always :)
As for 'Carpe Demon' I hope you like it. She's a bit too cheery for me but I do read the series 'cause,,,, IDK
Always :)
A few more;Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
Holder of Lightning by SL Farrell
Crimson Heir by DP Lawson
Nocturne by Elaine Bergstrom
Angel Cafe by Jill Morrow
Nightlife by Rob Thurman
Twisted Branch, Dark Whispers & Drowned Night by Chris Blaine
WOW Brett,
I think I got my reading list for 2010.
I think I got my reading list for 2010.
Another favorite of mine with the same title as the Rob Thurman novel, but Nightlife by Brian Hodge...from the early to mid 90's Dell Abyss line...an excellent book!Brett wrote: "A few more;
Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
Holder of Lightning by SL Farrell
Crimson Heir by DP Lawson
Nocturne by Elaine Bergstrom
Angel Cafe by Jill Morrow
Nightlife by Rob Thurman
Twisted ..."
I'm finding that my biggest issue is that I'm SOOO done with the police officer/special forces agent/private investigator/law enforcement officer protagonists. So many books in this genre feature this kind of main character, and while it works well for a continuing story line, it gets repetitive and makes it easy to confuse story lines in different series.
Nikka, I'm beginning to feel confused about tough lady PI vampire/hunter/witches. I'm reading White Witch, Black Curse now & found I had to do a lot of thinking to recall this particular world & separate out pieces that had drifted from others. The similarities are too striking. I really enjoy them, though.I finally sat down next to the book shelf we created just for such books - paranormal romance/vampire - & looked through the series, remembering each book. Now I'm on track.
I work in the retail bookselling industry and I'm constantly amazed at how many of those books are being published (female heroine/hunter who battles vampires/demons/werewolves et al) to the point where this new sub-genre needs its own section instead of being lumped in with sci-fi/fantasy. Certain authors DO sell these books but it beginning to look like serious overkill, in my opinion. The same big-name bestsellers (Laurell Hamilton and co.) will continue to sell but it seems like there's a new "series" every month.
I personally lost interest in vampires a long, long, time ago. Of course, that might be that I was around when Dracula was written!!
Agreed. They haven't been scary to me...hell, since 'Salem's Lot. Of course, there is a book called Vamphyrric by Simon Clark that was pretty gruesome. And probably a few others...
Gruesome is not the same as frightening to me, I'm afraid. Gore is easy to write.
Well, I meant that a femme Euro-vamp isn't very frightening...to me, anyway.
They're paranormal romances, I believe. A lot of the writers were romance writers, I've heard. I'm not much on the romance part, don't find any of it particularly scary, but love the intricate worlds, the various takes on mythological creatures & their powers. In a lot of ways, they remind me of spagetti westerns - good shoot-em-up bang-bangs, as my kids call them. Lots of action & adventure, no thought required. Great way to escape the world & mellow out.
I really liked Hamilton's first two books before she started writing porn. Not that I have anything against porn but that's not what I'm looking for in everyday reading.
I agree about the difference between scary and grusome. I love to be really scared but I'm not too fond of gratuitous blood and gore.
Twoina wrote: "I really liked Hamilton's first two books before she started writing porn. Not that I have anything against porn but that's not what I'm looking for in everyday reading."I've been feeling ripped off by Hamilton's latest books. Really cool worlds & characters, but the only action lately has been sex & it's not my preferred reading either. I tend to skip through it. Unfortunately, that means there isn't much to read in either her latest Anita Blake or Merry Gentry books.
I read one of LKH's novels yers ago and was surprised by the amount of gratuitous sex...it didn't bother me as much as I didn't expect it. She was certainly the originator of that subgenre and it has become huge. Whether or not she has taken it too far is a matter of taste, individually...and the other books like it that have come out by different authors, that continue to sell (again, I'm a bookseller and these books are huge!).
I agree with Twoina, I like fun scary not blood & gore.
I tend to decry these kind of books with all the vampires, ghosts, goblins...but when I saw the 'Let The Right In' movie, I realize that horror and monsters/ghost stories could be reinvented. Also I think vampires with erections in Hamilton series and in (roll eyes) Twilight are ridiculous because they already had a mean of transfuring body fluids via blood and if you considered yourself damned and the walking undead, you should be dead 'down there' to be considered a vampire.
I think vampires can achieve erections. After all blood is what makes that happen, However, vampires having children the normal way isn't possible IMHO. If a man is of the walking dead persuasion his sperm is dead, too.
How about reading some of the more popular supernatural/horror writers older books? And what I mean by that is like Early Stephen King,(I'm enjoying his short story collections right now) Dean Koontz, Bentley Little, Richard Laymon, (2 name a few) before the mass market seemed to take all the great Ideas & enlist any 1 out there w/half an idea and barely any talent to churn out the crap that we're stuck w/now.
Do I get an AMEN?
Do I get an AMEN?
You are definetely preaching to the choir...
Amen, Always! Nice to give a shout out to the Old Masters. Don't forget McCammon and Straub, too. And Rob, I think Koontz is brilliant. So there. :P
Rob wrote: "Eh. Dean Koontz is no genius."Gotta stand up for my man. I love Dean Koontz like I used to love King but SK got too mean for me. I didn't enjoy his books anymore.
Koontz writes fast paced, page turning, don't-want-to-put-it-down books and as a real person, he's really, really funny.
Yeah...but it seemed that he churns em out like once a week, and his books take over the bookstand in the horror section. I think he is a compulsive writer because of his family alcoholic background, and maybe it is Black's philosophy but that tends to irritate me to no end.
Patrick wrote: "Yeah...but it seemed that he churns em out like once a week, and his books take over the bookstand in the horror section. I think he is a compulsive writer because of his family alcoholic backgroun..."As if King isn't? He's one of the most prolific writer's in the known universe. What's behind his compulsion?
They're both best sellers and the bookstores are going to put the best seller authors front and center. It's the nature of the beast and Koontz shouldn't be blamed. He doesn't tell the sellers what to do.
Rob wrote: "I just don't like Koontz. End of story."As is your right. :)
Or it could be because he likes what he does. What, two books a year is TOO much? Hell, James Patterson has a new friggin' book out every month practically...Patrick wrote: "Yeah...but it seemed that he churns em out like once a week, and his books take over the bookstand in the horror section. I think he is a compulsive writer because of his family alcoholic backgroun..."
Chris wrote: "Hell, James Patterson has a new friggin' book out every month practically..."Patterson's become a book mill. He hires ghost writers to write books that are published under his name.
Tim
www.DocWilde.com
Heck, now I know why I never Liked James Patterson.. What a Hack!
Rob wrote: "I just don't like Koontz. End of story."
I agree w/Rob about Koontz but there's not too much Good Horror in the Mainstream these days. Most of it is 1 idea, written by like 20 writers, who really must know someone in the Publishing company to have gotten published...
And I say Mainstream because it seems the really good writers out there, (IMO) end up w/independent companies that you really have to just FORTUNATELY stumble across or find out about , here in GOODREADS
I agree w/Rob about Koontz but there's not too much Good Horror in the Mainstream these days. Most of it is 1 idea, written by like 20 writers, who really must know someone in the Publishing company to have gotten published...
And I say Mainstream because it seems the really good writers out there, (IMO) end up w/independent companies that you really have to just FORTUNATELY stumble across or find out about , here in GOODREADS
Twoina wrote: "Patrick wrote: "Yeah...but it seemed that he churns em out like once a week, and his books take over the bookstand in the horror section. I think he is a compulsive writer because of his family alc..."It just when I read Kootnz, his books are usually formula of boy meet girl, both slay monster, boy and girl live happily ever after with a great sex life.
With Stephen King, I feel his characters are more realistic in terms of disappointment and low expectations, and flaws showing up occasionally. He does spend more time developing his characters than Kootnz.
I don't agree about the character developent. I don't want to let go of Koontz's people. I know them and I want to keep reading about them. I like the people in DK's books. I don't like the people in King's books or the things he does to them. That's pretty much why I quit reading him years ago.
Both King and Koontz have their faults...but where King has a tendency to gloss over details sometimes, Koontz does his research. I admit a lot of his stories tend to be a bit formulaic but not all of them. And quite frankly--and I may be a bit romantic--I don't have an issue with boy-meets-girl, boy-slays-monster. None of his novels have ever bored me and made me want to stop reading. Guess I'm easy!
Let's all agree that WE have very different tastes in writing styles. And I have found 1 Koontz book so far that I really believed was worth 3 stars. And there's a couple of King's out there that I wish I had just passed up...
Now, I just look for the thing I might like about the book in the summary BUT even that can be Misleading at times.....
Anyone Agree?
Now, I just look for the thing I might like about the book in the summary BUT even that can be Misleading at times.....
Anyone Agree?
Yes, Always, if I'm going to buy a book or check one out from the library, I'm personally much more influenced by the summary on the cover or jacket of the particular book than just by the author's name. Some authors that I generally like have written books that I didn't get into at all; and I've found examples of good fiction occasionally produced by writers I normally don't like. (And some authors are about half and half. :-)) Of course, as you said, even summaries can be misleading --since they're written by someone who wants to persuade you to read the book. It's probably best to just look for the factual information about the premise and plot, and ignore all the complimentary adjectives!
RE: A book's summary as misleading...I'm speaking as an author. Often the author will write the summary and then it is doctored in-house at the publisher's request to 'spice it up' for promo reasons. A few years ago, I backed away from a contract when this request was made of me through my agent!
Writing books and selling books is an area where the author and publisher often butt heads.
Another apsect that I have run into is that the summary is not misleading so much as it is mis-read by a reader. Case in point is that the second book in my cozy paranormal mystery series received complaints from 'romance readers' because there wasn't enough romance in it! The fact that my books very clearly are labeled 'mystery' and not romance, had no bearing on one particular reader's very out-spoken opinion. She mis-read book 2's summary based on her experience (and expectations)from reading book 1, she wanted a heavier romantic feel/subtext in the book. I have never touted my series as romantic and in fact have explained that what little romance there is, is very much just one of the subtexts running through the series that helps to continue the personal life/adventures of the lead character. Regardless of the fact I explained that my book series is categorized and advertised as a cozy mystery...this particular reader wanted the focus in my books to be romance, based on her expectations that she purchased my book at a romance specialty book store...which by the way, this store advertises that they sell and review books outside the romance genre and names cozy mystery as one of the genre categories they stock.
So far with my Shannon Delaney series, the publisher has left alone the summary I wrote for the back of the books, an aspect of working with this particular publisher the pleases me to no end.
As to the reviews/blurbs placed up front in a book's Front Matter or on book covers... Once again, the publisher/PR dept goes after and gets these from various sources (authors and professional reviewers) that they have determined would be helpful to selling the book. I have found that when a source is of the romantic genre...they give a romantic POV in the the blurb they write. And since I write paranormal mystery, sometimes the source of the blurb is in the horror genre, hence their take on my story/plot and the blurb they write is from a horror POV.
I have been asked to write these types of blurbs and I will agree to do so only if the novel is in a genre I actually read and relate to so that when I write the blurb I can do so from inside the novel's genre POV...and not from my personal book/genre POV. I recently did this for a crime fiction novel in the genre of a classic "Spenser-style" crime/fiction novel. I was happy to do it... it is a genre I have read and am a fan of.
www.ElizabethEaganCox.net
Thank You Elizabeth for opening my inexperienced eyes regarding the Dog Eat Dog World of Writing & Publishing. As just a reader myself, I know very little of the publishing game, other that it seems some people seem to get published that must know someone in the Company...
Is that True?
And as for the blurbs, I've given up on reading those. I usually try & read the side of the book, that gives me the genre (paranormal fiction, mystery, etc) Then I read the first chapter of the book & see if it's what my tastes are into....
Really, Thank You for the insight... Because as a layman I only know what I see.... :)
Is that True?
And as for the blurbs, I've given up on reading those. I usually try & read the side of the book, that gives me the genre (paranormal fiction, mystery, etc) Then I read the first chapter of the book & see if it's what my tastes are into....
Really, Thank You for the insight... Because as a layman I only know what I see.... :)
I'm in So. Calif... not exactlly the book publishing capital in the U.S. ;-) I have never known anyone as an 'in' to getting published. The publisher of my novel series is on the East Coast and when I was published for nonficiton books, that publisher is up near San Francisco... only communication is a rare phone call and mostly be e-mail... otherwise it is old-fashioned snail mail.When my nonfiction books got published, it was the 4th publisher that I sent the propsoal to who offered me a contract...that took two years. With my fiction series (my web site: www.ElizabethEaganCox.net for info), it took less time,about 6 months, the 2nd publisher I sent a propsal to offered a contract.
Getting published is a matter of talent (first and has priority) then shopping wisely for either an agent or a publisher. And be it fiction or non-fiction, an author must learn how to write a professional proposal...the best marketing tool out there is knowing how to write a proposal and be it an agent or a publisher...they will want a proposal before reading a manuscript. I tell aspiring authors that while you will not learn how to write for the publishing industry in college, what you learn in college will help you research and write a proposal.
Also, any writer who wants to be a published book author should build up a professional clip file of articles or other substantial writing... I wrote for magazines and was a columnist long before I decided to jump into the waters of book publishing.
Good stuff, Elizabeth. I'm published--short stories so far--but I'm good fiends with a few who've published novels and I've heard similar stories. The blurb thing is always interesting...I don't pay much attention to them, however. One of my friends actually caught a fellow author who blurbed his book but didn't read it. I think that probably happens more often than not...
Supernatural Fiction Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
White Witch, Black Curse (other topics)Carpe Demon (other topics)
A quick list of what I've already read and a quick rating on the overall series:
Anita Blake - Laurell K Hamilton ****
Women of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong *****
Weather Wardens/Outcast - Rachel Caine *****
Rachel Morgan (Hollows) - Kim Harrison *****
Dresden Files - Jim Butcher *****
Zodiac Series - Vicki Petterson *****
Werecat Series - Rachel Vincent ****
Blood Ties series - Jennifer Armintrout ****
Mercy Thompson / Alpha & Omega - Patricia Briggs ****
Kitty the Werewolf - Carrie Vaughan ***
Cassie Palmer/Midnights Daughter - Karen Chance *****
Magic Series - Ilona Andrews ****
Dante Valentine - Lilith Saintcrow ****
Night Huntress - Jeaniene Frost *****
Rogue Mage - FAith Hunter ***
Cal Leandros - Rob Thurman ***
Twilight series - Stephanie Meyer ***
Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice ***
Nightside Series - Simon R. Green ***
Witchling - YAsmine Galnorm * (didn't bother with the rest)
Devil Inside - Jenna Black ** (currently reading, and not enjoying at all.)
I'm probably missing a couple, but that should be more then enough to get an idea of what I'm into. Any suggestions are appreciated.