I know that an old plot worked over in an original way will get interest, but I was so glad when I read the top 10 most annoying teen fiction trends: http://clpteens.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-10-most-annoying-teen-fiction.html and discovered I am not alone in wishing the vampire/werewolf craze was over already. I just cannot believe that publishers are still wanting manuscripts with human falls for werewolf/vampire plot. No doubt all you vampire lovers out there will disagree with me.
I agree, yet disagree. Agree: There are way too many CHEESY vampire stories and movies. Disagree: I think that if someone would come up with something new, and interesting, it could still be good.
I disagree. Fact One: Twilight was written. And now everyone tries to rip it off (Which probably isn't the best idea to begin with considering it's quality). Fact Two: Just because it's about vampires and werewolves doesn't mean it's bad. The Vampire Academy series of novel's aren't great literature, but they're worthwhile reads that will entertain you. And they're actually moderately well written with interesting characters. I recently decided to do something with vampires just for the heck of it XD. And Normally I hate vampires. I'm a werewolf man. Of course, I tried vampires... it didn't last long. Somehow it became a scifi novel where the vampires aren't actually vampires they're just insane psychics who suck away your mind XD. The main character stopped being a vampire and is instead a vampire hunter with a hint of sociopath in him... I have no idea how my brain works the stuff anymore. I jsut roll with it. Anyway Vampires aren't automatically bad. They've just got a new cliche to them that a bunch of boring books have decided to use. EDIT: Though, just cause I find them boring doesnt mean everyone does XD. The publishers publish what can sell and vamp romances seem to sell awefully well these days. It's like movies. A hit movie comes out and five or six similar ones follow it over the next few years. I also disagree about YA fiction. I actually prefer YA to the stuff written for adults. The writting is just so much more simple and easy to follow, and not built with weird words or wacky sentence structures I find unnecessary. I'll read some of the more mature stuff sure, but I tend to hang out in the Young Adult section of Borders more than any other.
Yeah this genre actually used to be pretty cool. Old vampire books were pretty sweet, but now they are ridiculous love stories that really lack in any substance. It's kind of disheartening and extremely dissappointing. I'm fairly certain that about twenty years after this vampire/werewolf craze is done and the next generation has moved on to another god-awful destruction of literary base, this genre will come back in full stride. Until this moment in time though, God help us all. - The Steve
Most vampire fiction panders to teen obseessions - gothic chic, death and immortality, forbidden lust, power, estrangement. The undead may endure forever, but a well-worn rut gets very old very quickly. Yes, good writing can overcome the tedium, but with so much odious cruft extant, who wants to wallow through it to find an occasional gem?
I agree, but disagree too. Yes, there are waaaaaay too many cheesy vampire stories out there, all mainly spawning off of the Twilight craze. (And Twilight isn't even that good, sadly. I went back and re-read it about a week ago... and couldn't get through the first book before I felt like I lost some brain cells and IQ points) But there are some good ones out there, too. Very, very few, but still some. Personally, I love the Jaz Parks Series. Even though the vamps in there a little underrated, the plot's nice and it involves some CIA stuff.
As long as they throw something truly different like that in there, it helps out slightly. As I said there used to be some real cool vampire books, but now they mostly fail.
I'm in love with that last sentence, Dave. Mellifluously crafted. And yes, I have to agree that these novels/movies pander to, and make heavy use of pressing the teen/YA angst button, which is kinda' cheap as far as writing is concerned. It's like comedy that consists of nothing other than scatological jokes and sexual jibes. It's a sure bet to get a laugh, but there is rarely any artwork there.
I like the fact that this pointed out how annoying it is to see teen authors who don't know what they are doing yet. The only book I know of that was written by a teen and published that would have been accepted had an adult submitted it is The Outsiders. Considering the quality of Twilight, I may be wrong, but I find it very hard to believe that most of those books by teens would have been accepted had an adult written it. It would take away the gimmick.
Yeah but the whole vampire thing wont be going anywhere soon. Its been a fashion victim (and whatever else) for decades already....It will change form though.
Fact Three: Twilight is terrible. I'm sorry, but the characters are two dimensional and unoriginal. It's written slightly better than a Livejournal post - ie, badly. Taste is subjective, but claiming that Twilight is decent writing is simply untrue. It's bad writing. Bad writing can be enjoyable - I read terrible fanfiction so that I can laugh at it* - but it shouldn't be mistaken for decent writing. *Go look up "My Immortal" on fanfiction.net. Awesome stuff.
[FONT="]I just hate having to fight over 20 teenage girls to get into the fantasy isle. Its wrong, and we all know what their after, the stupid.... %^$#%. There always with there mothers too, like it makes a difference.[/FONT]
Id go a flamethrower. Burn the nasty books while your at it (making sure you have brought what you needed first).
What happened to the good old days when the fantasy & Sci-Fi section was the bastion of the nerdy boys?? *heavy sigh*
Well, now over half the books in the S/F and fantasy sections are frachised pieces based on video games or TV/movies. Over half of what's left was written more than 25 years ago. So unless you count those addicted to videos and first person shooters as nerds...
Ah, I'm glad I live in an area where no one really knows what a bookshop or library is. Makes the whole, search and retrieving much easier.
Fantasy. From geek to sheek. Good lord. Time to hook up with crime/trhriller again! Mind you all the good fantasy stuff i find in the library. Bookshops for Fantasy/Sci fi cater teens these days (though im not sure if thats really new). Im getting old.
*raises hand meekly* I liked Twilight. I liked all the history with all the characters (even though Bella was annoying) The writing wasn't the best, but it was easy enough just to meld into the story. Not to mention, it's gotten some people that I thought would *never* read a book on their own to read. I even liked the movie. Have I gotten obsessive over it? Nope.
Halo book = decent read. (The fall of reach)The first one was anyway. But they need a fanfiction area in my opinion. Would it be okay to bad rep someone for liking Twilight?
This trend is going to be here a while because of the movies. I agree it's annoying at this point just because the popularity is so huge. Our downtown library had a great debate last weekend - Twilight vs. Harry Potter. You can see the video of it here: http://blog.spl.org/yablog/2009/03/23/harry-potter-vs-twilight-watch-video-of-the-debate/#comments
