If You Don't Think, You Shouldn't Speak
So I just read the most lovely first chapter of a new serial web-novel entitled The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. The title is most definitely indicative of the writing style and I would recommend it for fans of Carrol or Pullman. Fanciful but not twee. It can be found here:
http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/
I was led there by a link from the site of one Ms. Alexandra Erin, the transgendered web-novel author who pens Tales of MU. Tales of MU is a kind of alternate-universe fantasy set at Magisterius University, following the life of one Mackenzie Blaise, a student who is less human than she appears at first glance. Imagine our world, only every piece of technology or science runs on magic, and there are textbooks to explain it all!
How the author's gender in any way relevant to mentioning her novel, you might ask? The author's gender and (I assume) struggles with her own sexuality inform every part of Tales of MU. An astounding number of principle characters engage in homosexual sex, sex-play, and romantic relationships and there are multiple transvestite and transgender characters in the story and its spinoffs. This sex is almost always described in graphic detail, a major warning I'd give to anyone who might want to track the story down. It is without a doubt not YA fiction, NSFW.
The sex stuff kind of squicks me out so I tend to skip it, but there is still plenty to interest a reader (I don't read any kind of romance/sex novels really, not my bag). Erin beautifully fleshes out the history, mythology, social constructs, race relations, and magical principles that define the world in which MU exists. Mackenzie's struggles with self discovery unfold alongside a stunningly large cast of characters, many experiencing the same thing, drawn from every imaginable mythology. Many parallels can be drawn between the world of MU and our own, and it often causes less discomfort to think of the same issues of race and gender when it's goblin vs. human rather than black vs. white.
While I disagree with the execution of Erin's core agenda, that including sex does not have to come at the expense of plot, she is an otherwise capable author and worth a read if you aren't overly sensitive.
Tales of MU can be found here:
http://www.talesofmu.com/
I found Tales of MU via a link on a webcomic I read called Anders Loves Maria, which I was linked to from Questionable Content, which was linked on XKCD which was recommended to me by an ex boyfriend.
Sometimes I like to follow my train of thought back and back until I find the beginning. Yes, I am already quite aware that I am weird.
I am currently reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I have always heard good things about Gaiman so I wanted to give him a try, and I have been a mythology nut since 6th grade GATE which is how I selected this particular work. Thus far I find him to be a somewhat more intellectual Stephen King. I don't know if I'd spend $15 for another one of his books, I'll tell you when I'm done.
It is jarring to include a taste of "adult literature" in my otherwise steady diet of YA though. I don't really find that coarse descriptions of sex and senseless deaths add much to my enjoyment of a written work. No, I am not a child, I am a fully grown married woman who has made her own money and paid her own bills. I'm just a bit of an idealist, and I guess I'd like to think we're all better than cheap thrills and violence.
http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/
I was led there by a link from the site of one Ms. Alexandra Erin, the transgendered web-novel author who pens Tales of MU. Tales of MU is a kind of alternate-universe fantasy set at Magisterius University, following the life of one Mackenzie Blaise, a student who is less human than she appears at first glance. Imagine our world, only every piece of technology or science runs on magic, and there are textbooks to explain it all!
How the author's gender in any way relevant to mentioning her novel, you might ask? The author's gender and (I assume) struggles with her own sexuality inform every part of Tales of MU. An astounding number of principle characters engage in homosexual sex, sex-play, and romantic relationships and there are multiple transvestite and transgender characters in the story and its spinoffs. This sex is almost always described in graphic detail, a major warning I'd give to anyone who might want to track the story down. It is without a doubt not YA fiction, NSFW.
The sex stuff kind of squicks me out so I tend to skip it, but there is still plenty to interest a reader (I don't read any kind of romance/sex novels really, not my bag). Erin beautifully fleshes out the history, mythology, social constructs, race relations, and magical principles that define the world in which MU exists. Mackenzie's struggles with self discovery unfold alongside a stunningly large cast of characters, many experiencing the same thing, drawn from every imaginable mythology. Many parallels can be drawn between the world of MU and our own, and it often causes less discomfort to think of the same issues of race and gender when it's goblin vs. human rather than black vs. white.
While I disagree with the execution of Erin's core agenda, that including sex does not have to come at the expense of plot, she is an otherwise capable author and worth a read if you aren't overly sensitive.
Tales of MU can be found here:
http://www.talesofmu.com/
I found Tales of MU via a link on a webcomic I read called Anders Loves Maria, which I was linked to from Questionable Content, which was linked on XKCD which was recommended to me by an ex boyfriend.
Sometimes I like to follow my train of thought back and back until I find the beginning. Yes, I am already quite aware that I am weird.
I am currently reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I have always heard good things about Gaiman so I wanted to give him a try, and I have been a mythology nut since 6th grade GATE which is how I selected this particular work. Thus far I find him to be a somewhat more intellectual Stephen King. I don't know if I'd spend $15 for another one of his books, I'll tell you when I'm done.
It is jarring to include a taste of "adult literature" in my otherwise steady diet of YA though. I don't really find that coarse descriptions of sex and senseless deaths add much to my enjoyment of a written work. No, I am not a child, I am a fully grown married woman who has made her own money and paid her own bills. I'm just a bit of an idealist, and I guess I'd like to think we're all better than cheap thrills and violence.