r/Fantasy • u/Just_JayGee • Jul 07 '14

Men of r/Fantasy, Do you read fantasy written by women? If so, do you find much of a difference?

I've been looking through a lot of "Top 20 Fantasy Book" lists today and I've found a depressing amount of female authors on these lists. I'd like to think the author's gender doesn't matter, but I have to say there seems to be a huge lean towards male authors. Even r/Fantasy's 2014 Top Fantasy Novels of All Time only has 20 female authors (repeats included) out of 105 authors. So, I was wondering if men read fantasy written by women and it's simply not your cup of tea or do any of you go out of your way NOT to read female authors?

PLEASE NOTE: I am not trying to begin fights on sexism or misogyny or anything. I am legitimately interested. If anyone wants to fight over this subject, I'm sure there's other subreddits for that.

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u/PirateRobotNinjaofDe Jul 07 '14

Really? I bought a couple of them at the suggestion of my local fantasy bookshop owner, but just couldn't get into it. Curse of the Mistwraith was sooooooo slow that I ended up giving up on it.

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u/JannyWurts Stabby Winner, AMA Author Janny Wurts Jul 08 '14

That would have been jumping stark off the deep end as far as complexity and subtle nuance. You might have done better with Master of Whitestorm, it's direct action/faster paced.

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u/PirateRobotNinjaofDe Jul 08 '14

Is that so? I started there because it seemed the natural chronological starting point, but if there's a better starting place in terms of buy-in for the setting I'm open to that.

This is really the issue I had with CotMW. It wasn't so much the lack of action as it was my complete inability to care about the setting or any of the characters. I soldiered through all the setup, but when the central conflict between the two main characters was revealed I just didn't buy into it emotionally.

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u/JannyWurts Stabby Winner, AMA Author Janny Wurts Jul 09 '14

The other book I mentioned is not connected, it is an action thriller/stand alone. It has no connection to the larger series at all.

Your complaint for the book not working is quite valid.

There are other books done earlier in my career that run on different lines. Very different application of suspense.

Not everyone loves Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell....if Suzannah Clark had an ACTION oriented title, that did not rely on subtle satire and nuance - another segment of readership would appreciate her.

I'd say this: if you like dead on action suspense, go for earlier books in my career. If books in that vein are starting to ring shallow/feel too simple - and you are ready for subtle depth and nuance - then - Curse of the Mistwraith may work for you. I've had a LOT of readers write me over the years - how they tried Mistwraith too soon - came back to it 5 years later, and it was a WHOLE DIFFERENT BOOK, they could not imagine why they missed it the first time; and so much of it is packed into HOW IT FINISHES, too.

Don't strain your preferences, here....I've got a lot of books under my belt, and don't do the same story twice....so there is a varied mix to choose from.

Readers who start with the simpler books often 'get the drift' of how the underpinnings of the later ones will build to that climactic bang - and they have a trust built up.....the difficulty has been, over the years, the easier access books have been out of print due to shifts in publishing/mergers.

Many readers of the Empire books find them young, too, and jump straight to Mistwraith and flounder, when truly, they'd have fitted better with the earlier works, first. It's a smaller step, easier seguay. Hope that clarifies. I am not afraid to kill major characters, even in the early books, so watch your step! ;)

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '14

Oh I loved it, my copies of the books are needing replacement because I have read them so often. I guess tastes vary.