Garage Sale tomorrow

[pegkerr]

Am exhausted and covered with dust; have been hauling stuff up from the basement for our two-day garage sale which starts tomorrow. This has been a traumatic experience as Rob and I have vastly different opinions about what we should keep versus what we should pitch or sell. If I wasn't married to this man, I'd probably own about a third to a quarter of what I own now.

Started reading another novel today, a first novel. Unfortunately, it starts with a trope that I've really come to hate. So many fantasy novels starring a female protagonist open with 1) a group of thugs rapes the heroine and/or destroys her home and kills her family, and she spends the rest of the novel acquiring magic so she can get revenge or 2) a group of thugs almost rapes the heroine and/or destroys her home and kills her family, but she fights them off with her superior magical powers.

In this one, she fought 'em off. Well, the hero helped. I rolled my eyes when I got to the part about his silver wolf-like stare.

I want to read more novels that get the female protagonist moving without a sexual threat. Please: think of other reasons for women to go out and have adventures.



heidi8 pointed me to this article about the world of fan fiction. Quite interesting.

Peg

Comments

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

I want to read more novels that get the female protagonist moving without a sexual threat. Please: think of other reasons for women to go out and have adventures.

I know writers are told to begin by placing the protagonist in difficult situations, rife with conflict... but it does seem that it's always that particular situation? (And isn't that situation, sans rape, straight from Conan the Barbarian? Come to think of it, why is the big threat for men "I'll kill you", and the big threat for women "I'll rape you"?) There must be a million and one other ways (at least) to get a quest-plot moving.

I do think that the female-quest plot idea (AKA coming-of-age) deserves to be explored -- but the writer doesn't have to kick off the plot by immediately threatening the protagonist sexually. If that's inherent to the rest of the plot (for example, Robin McKinley's excellent and scary Deerskin), okay -- but just to have rape thrown into the mix as a garden-variety threat is dirty pool. Even if it was historically common, and all that.

*grrrr* power.

[morganmalfoy.livejournal.com]

I think Star Wars does a good job with Mara Jade as a tough female protagonist, and she is pretty awesome...my favorite character in fact. I really don't read enough fantasy to really help, but I love Mara, so I thought I would plug her if you're a SW fan. Of course, the only SW novels worth reading IMHO opinion are Zahn's, Stackpole's, and Allston's. So maybe I'm biased...

-M

[luned.livejournal.com]

This must be the season for the garage sale, and the object sell-off. (Had to drive through Woodbury during last week's citywide sale. Never again...unless I stop and am not on the way to work.) I'm getting rid of books! Horrors!

I'd have thought the rape-and-revenge scenario would have died out by now. Wish you had mentioned title of book, so I can avoid it in future.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I think "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" and later Dreamsnake fit the bill you're describing.

I don't read much fantasy, either, so I don't have other titles right to hand. I'll ask around and see what comes up.

[aome.livejournal.com]

Huh. Never thought about it before. Mirror of her Dreams/A Man Rides Through (Stephen Donaldson) doesn't start with that premise. By the Sword (Lackey) does start with Kerowyn's home and family being attacked, and she does exact revenge, but that's all in the first couple of chapters, and then she moves on to her own goals, her own story, so I'm not sure how you'd qualify that. Tiger Burning Bright (Lackey/Norton/Bradley) involves losing her home, and all the royal women going into hiding to reclaim their land from underneath, but there's no "gaining magic" or "having superior magical powers" aspect.

Hmmmm.... Interesting thing to think about. And good luck with the garage sale -- I'd have a lot less stuff if it weren't for my husband, too.

[ex-mahoney365.livejournal.com]

>>>I want to read more novels that get the female protagonist moving without a sexual threat. Please: think of other reasons for women to go
out and have adventures. <<<

This is sort of why I've fallen off the fantasy genre, myself. I hope you'll post if you run across a fantasy novel with a strong heroine who takes initiative to be the heroine, rather than simply reacting (if that makes any sense). Actually, the only fantasy heroine I really love any more is Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax. :P

Do you enjoy mystery novels? Elizabeth Peters has crafted a couple of wonderful heroines. Peters studied archeology, and has written non-fiction texts on ancient Egypt, and her mystery protagonists reflect Peters' frame of knowledge. I prefer her Vicky Bliss novels; Kathleen Turner reads them on audio books, and I only mention that because Kathleen Turner is perfect as art historian Vicky Bliss. Don't be misled by her name; Vicky rocks. Peters has also written a very long series starring Englishwoman/archeologist Amelia Peabody. That series begins in the mid-1800's, is written in a sort of tongue-in-cheek style harkening to pulp fiction of that era, and is set mainly in Egypt.

Jan Burke's Irene is also a nifty heroine. And of all of Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey mysteries, my favorite is Gaudy Night, in which Wimsey's eventual wife, Harriet Vane, takes center stage (the story is told from her perspective, and she solves it with minimal help from Wimsey who is mostly absent).

Mahoney
also in search of good female protagonist

Emma's

[fletchman.livejournal.com]

To tell the truth and shame the devil, I've was for the longest time fairly chauvinistic in my reading.. choosing as a man only to read men feeling I related better to their point of view. I've grown to realise that was silly and have begun to read more and more female authors. As of yet tho, I haven't read many. I count yours and Emma Bull's among a short list of ones I have and greatily enjoyed.

Emma's War for the Oaks starts with the menace of faery in the form of a black dog & mysterious man. Also, a destablized ex.. but no rape or destruction of home. Also, Eddi, the heroine is playing guitar in the first scene in a college bar. This to me establishes her immediately as an independent strong person - a rock musician - up in front - face out to the world = full on expression of self. boom. no tragedy required. This woman is self possessed and ready to kick some butt at the get go. I admired her from page one.

[lcohen]

> Mirror of her Dreams/A Man Rides Through (Stephen Donaldson) doesn't start with that premise.

they didn't start with that premise, no, but my (possibly too dim?) recollection is that both books were rife with scenes of the heroine being under sexual threat or close to being seduced because of magical influence--to the point where, if the books hadn't been heavy enough that something might have broken, i might have hurled them across the room.

[cliosfolly.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of Lackey's novels use "abused heroine" (if not "raped heroine") trope as a method for disconnecting a girl from her family and position her to go out and have Adventures. Arrows of the Queen, By the Sword as you noted, Magic's Pawn, and several others of hers all use this method (though the last has a male main char, not a female--in fact, Lackey uses abuse/misunderstandings as a tool to separate chars from unwanted initial settings fairly frequently, gender-equally). McCaffrey does it, too, with Lessa and Menolly.

Jo Walton's The King's Peace starts out with a rape, as well, but one that is very well handled; it has after-effects and consequences not only later in that book itself, but in its sequel: political and social consequences (as opposed to what I'd consder the primarily personal and emotional consequences of the rape in Deerskin).

Haven't read Deerskin

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Although I've read other books of hers. Love her Beauty and Rose Daughter in particular.

I love Elizabeth Peters!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Although I haven't read too much of her work, only a few of the Amelia Peabody's--but I will always appreciate her for writing Die for Love.

Re: Emma's

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you enjoyed War for the Oaks as much as I did--and thank you for reminding me of it. For those of you who have never experienced the delight of reading this book, Edie McCandry is a rock and roll singer who is essentially drafted by the Seelie Court for their battle of control over Minneapolis-St. Paul. I love the line "So we're not doing this just for us, we're doing for the greater seven-county metro area. Couldn't we just let them [the forces of darkness] have St. Paul?"

Re: Haven't read Deerskin

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Beauty. It's one of my favorite books. I liked Rose Daughter, too, but I just loved Beauty's (written) voice and her whole no-nonsense approach. :)

Deerskin is good, but very emotionally difficult to read; I read it, pondered it, and then couldn't re-read it for nearly five years. But it's definitely worthwhile.

Re: I love Elizabeth Peters!

[ex-mahoney365.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, Die for Love is good!

You should give the Vicky Bliss novels a try. I'm partial to those in which John Smythe appears (my favorites are Trojan Gold & Night Train to Memphis), but in order:

Borrower of the Night
Street of the Five Moons
Silhouette in Scarlet
Trojan Gold
Night Train to Memphis

I'd wax appreciative about what a wonderful character (and heroine) Vicky is, but Netscape keeps shutting down, and now that I'm trying to post this darn comment for the fourth time, it's almost time for me to leave for the day...

Re: Emma's

[fletchman.livejournal.com]

War for the Oaks is in print again! Yay!! :)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765300346/qid=1022789720/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2077896-7667861