Welcome to Bookie Brunch
Come join the discussion!
Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)
* Every Sunday*
Today's host: Songs and Stories
My Wonderful Guests:
Amanda Lee of StoryWings (@StoryWings)
Christina The Book Addict (@Christina_622)
Lucia of iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books (@Leecheeeee_3LB)
Velvet of vvb32 reads (@vvb32reads)
On the Menu:
What is your favorite kind of magical/mythical/supernatural creature to read about?
Related topics: Is there any kind of mythical creature you would like to see more of? Or less?
Related topics: Is there any kind of mythical creature you would like to see more of? Or less?
Hello! Please help me in giving a warm welcome to the four lovely ladies we have with us today and let's get started!
Amanda Lee takes a sip of her Gloria Jean's Lemon and Lychee Iced Tea and begins with:
This is a really hard one to answer for me! Prolifically I read mostly vampires, and many people incorrectly think that they must be my favourite mythical creatures because I read so much of it, but I think my favourite mythical creature would have to be a tie between witches and elementals. Or alternatively elemental witches! I think this is due mainly to what I would love the chance to become if given the opportunity. The main thing I want to be is immortal, the second thing I most want to be is a water elemental, so although I am insanely jealous of people like Katara from Avatar or Dumbledore from Harry Potter or Jane True from Tempest Rising (all able to manipulate water with relative ease) they are the people I dream about when I think who I want to be and who I most look forward to reading about. (this also may be influenced by the fact that astrologically I am a water elemental too ;) )
Related Topic: I would like to see more elementals, and more witches. But I want the old fashioned eye of newt witches not the new wiccan ones. As much as I enjoy reading wiccan witches I really want to immerse myself in a more adult version of Harry Potter...maybe it's just my current spiral of books that are leading me in the direction of constant vampire novels and the paranormal rather than fantasy.
Lucia tastes her honey tapioca milk tea and replies with:
I've always loved every type of magical creature. They're all special in their own way. It's like asking me to choose my favorite animal to read about. With me, I've always have difficulties choosing. This is why multiple choice tests make me so nervous. Not that I'm saying the supernaturals are animals- they're way more intelligent. Each author does different research and writes his/her story with their own take on the mythology, so each book and the mythology within is different. Of course, the usual rules apply (vampires drink blood, werewolves turn into wolves, witches do magic), but there are exceptions. For instance, who ever thought that vampires would sparkle? I can't choose my favorite creature if there are different interpretations. And frankly, I don't care. If the book's good, I'll read it.
Related Topic: There is one creature I would like to see less of, and that is, well, vampires. I mean, seriously? After all the Twilight rage, it seems like vampires are all we can talk about. They're getting boring and cliche, and I'm really looking out for new stuff. For instance, can't there be more books about unicorns? They're awesome.
Velvet makes herself a mexican mochaccino and answers with:
My favorite creature would be zombies - so much so that I've created an annual virtual book blog event September Zombies on my site. All is welcome to join in the event. This year the zombie madness takes place between September 20-30 and will include zombie book giveaways and guest post flash fiction pieces from zombie authors and fellow book bloggers. Details are here.
Why zombie stories? The draw for me is finding the hero amongst all the horror.
However, I find it fun to read about the frou-frou and campy zombie stories.
Related Topic: We hear a lot of mermaid stories. On the flip side, I would like to hear some about the mermen. I wonder what life is like for them under the sea.
I set my coconut bubble tea down and say:
My favorite mythological creatures are the classics. Fairies, winged horses, dragons…especially dragons. I think I can blame my dragon obsession on the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. That is the series that showed me how very versatile dragons are. They can be the monsters of legend or the best of friends. Since then, I have devoured book after book with dragons. I have read books where they are natural creatures (Temeraire), genetically engineered protectors (Dragonriders of Pern), or elemental companions (Eon). I never get tired of reading different author’s perceptions of them.
Related Topic: I would love to see less vampires in fiction. The simplest reason for this would be that my mom banned them from the house and she would burn any book about them that I tried to read (Yes, laugh if you like. You do not know my mom). The other reason would be that I am simply not interested in reading about sparkly bloodsuckers who turn their girlfriends into the undead.
A creature I would love to see more of would be elementals. I don’t really care what element, but I love stories where the characters have an affinity with or control over nature. It can make things so very interesting.
Goodies:
Since the giveaway from the last Brunch I hosted is still open, any thoughtful comment you leave on this discussion will act as a second chance to win the Sense and Sensibility book/movie set. If you comment on both posts, you will get two entries. Go here to find that discussion. :)
All thoughtful comments will be considered and probably get a response from fellow bloggers. In fact, you’re encouraged to talk about it and share viewpoints or include links to relevant materials. We’d like everyone to have a nice time. Differing viewpoints are just fine, even if strongly expressed, but inflammatory or off-topic comments will be removed.
Contact Bookie Brunch:
If you would like to be a host, contact: @StoryWings
If you want to bring goodies for a giveaway: @StoryWings
If you want to suggest a topic or question for discussion, you can reach me at @LiederMadchen
To see an archive of past brunches go here: Fluidity of Time
What do you think of mythical creatures? And, since they came up in four out of five replies, what do you think of vampires?
Thank you so much for visiting!
Lieder Madchen
Loved these answers! Right now I've got my salted caramel mocha with an extra shot of espresso -- yum!
ReplyDeleteAmanda Lee, I appreciated your answers and I wonder if you've read Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which is described as an adult version of Harry Potter. I wasn't wild about it (I found it a bit problematic when it came to women, and the boy!hero a bit too pathetic) but lots of other people thought it was sharp and marvelous and fun, and, it features elemental magic. If you're into general, non-vampiric immortals, you might want to read Alma Katsu's The Taker, which is about generally malevolent living-forever-y people and their misadventures. Both books, needless to say, are quite adult (and even Adult, as they contain unabashed sex).
Lucia: I'm with you one million percent on the less-vampires-please and more-unicorns-please! Frankly, all horse-based mythological creatures are fine by me, because I'm still 12 on the inside! ;)
Velvet: I heart you times infinity, but sadly, zombies are too gooey/dead/people eating for me. Gross! But I appreciate and love your love for them and you always find the most fascinating zombie books to feature. So I have to give props where props are due! ;) Also, I'm with you on calling for some merman representation -- I'm always open to a new supernatural infatuation! ;)
Lieder Madchen: The classics are always delightful! I, too, cut my teeth on Wrede's books (so good!) but never got beyond that with dragons -- even though I pretty much loved any kind of book featuring an animal, dragons didn't catch my fancy the horses/unicorns/flying horses did.
I've got to agree with the majority and ask (beg, plead) for less vampires moving forward. I didn't get them when Anne Rice took 'em on, and I *really* don't get them now! I myself have a soft spot for werewolves, mostly because I wouldn't mind turning into a furry thing myself now and then.
I'd love to see more multicultural supernatural representations -- let's move away from Western European paranormal creatures and expand. I remember a great short story from Kiss Me Deadly that featured a djinn! It was awesome: unique and interesting and compelling and inventive -- love.
Wow -- sorry about the small novel I just wrote!
I'm going to stick with the vampires for now as my favorite supernatural creatures. But who knows, I may change my mind soon, as I love to read about all kinds of supernatural/magical/mythical creatures. It all depends on the kind whether I like them in a particular book/series or not. For example, I like werewolves in Twilight and in Immortals After Dark series, but Sookie Stackhouse series werewolves don't appeal to me. I also love to read about faeries and angels.
ReplyDeleteThe only supernatural creatures I really don't want to read about are zombies. I have to agree with Audra, they are just gross, creepy dead people for me.
I can't really say which kind of supernatural creatures would I like to have less or more in books. I think there are plenty of books already out there about all kinds of supernatural creatures I have yet to read and there are more on the way so everybody can find something to their taste.
I like to drink Irish Breakfast tea, with cream and lots of Splenda. It's almost as good as chocolate.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the discussion. A view point of Mermen sounds interesting and I agree is underrepresented.
Dragons dragons dragons! I love dragons! I read anything with dragons in! They are just so awesome and epic! <3
ReplyDeleteI like elves too! They have something interesting! And then there are vampire and werewolves :)
I worked yesterday, so just now getting around to Brunch.
ReplyDeleteI will try just about anything with a supernatural creature in it, although I admit I don't read many dragon books. What I would like to see is less of the known things, like vampires, and more of the more obscure things. There's a YA series about a banshee, so that's a start. I know I've seen mermaids start to show up, so maybe something focusing on a selkie would be nice. And, I wouldn't mind a story where the main character is some kind of shapeshifter, but they shift into something... inconvenient -- like a raccoon, or a possum, or even a mouse. I think it would be interesting to read about someone who turns into something that isn't completely fierce all the time (I'm making a bit of an exception for the raccoon, seeing as they can be quite ferocious when cornered).
Sipping my hazelnut coffee with caramel macchiato creamer and saying I'm about sick of vampires! (Except for the Black Dagger Brotherhood!) I'm partial to werewolves and dragons, myself!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE mermaids, I want to see more Mermaids and more ghosts. I'm getting tired of vampires, but I have to say I love Die for Me and I am going to be reading Dracula in October, but the classic vmapires (I am meaning the vampires before Twilight.) I enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenny I love me some BDB!
Thanks for making this a second entry! Another chance to win for my sister!
Fewer angels, And nothing really icky or slimy. T
ReplyDeleteNespresso double lungo. non-fat milk and a sugar cube.
LOL - my poor zombies ;-(
ReplyDeleteoh, oh, what if the zombies, sparkled!
ReplyDelete