It has dawned on me precisely what isn’t sitting right about the Meredith Gentry novels.
I read a couple of them a few years back and was both amused and irritated by the inordinate use of the word “spill”. As the series progresses, however, it appears Hamilton has got the “spilling” more under control.
I don’t really do erotic fantasy, as a whole. I recently read the Twilight series, and have to say I prefer the rather more chaste and romantic approach to the limitless sexual adventure of the Meredith Gentry books. Having said that, I have always maintained that sex in a film or novel is gratuitous and annoying unless it advances the plot, and I would be wrong to complain about Hamilton’s use of sex in this series on this criterion, as it is an essential part of the world she has created. Woot, go her.
I can complain, however, about the endless explanations of Unseelie and Seelie court etiquette; about the non-stop reminders of Sidhe prejudices; about the frequent discovery of how great Merry is at playing the political game; about how what is considered attractive among the goblins and how they think nothing of having sex in the middle of business meetings; et cetera, et al, ad nauseum…
What happened to the golden rule, “Show, don’t tell”?
How many times was it drummed into me that it is more effective to show a character’s anger than to just say, “He was angry”?
How stupid do these writers believe their audience to be if they insist upon explaining everything instead of showing how the Sidhe behave towards each other, and the lesser fey; if we have to experience a running commentary of how great Merry’s doing at manipulating her aunt in this particular encounter?
I know, it’s considered clever to be able to show the reader the narrator’s success when the narrator is unaware of it, but not if it breaks the rules of normal interaction. People just don’t comment as much about the effect other people have upon them as Hamilton has her characters doing.
“How do you do that, Meredith?
“Do what, Aunt Andais?”
“Say everything you’re supposed to in the correct tone of voice and still sound as though you’re bored to death?”
(Paraphrasing mine, as roughly the same conversation occurs at least once per novel.)
I do wonder if part of the problem is the first person perspective, but I like that point of view. How do these observations translate for me into my own writing? Should I be wary of using the first person altogether? Is it too easy to make these mistakes?
Is it that much of an issue when it took me so long to identify it?
I don’t know, but I’m beginning to wonder if this is part of my dislike for the modern fantasy genre. How long has this been annoying me?
This isn’t a review. I would recommend the Merry Gentry novels if you like fantasy romance with plenty of sex. Some sex scenes take chapters and chapters to conclude. But that’s not all that’s in there. There is some excellent characterisation, a warm and vibrant approach to myth and legend and intelligent interpretation thereof, and some very clever writing techniques that are quite unexpected.
Read them if you like. I don’t care. Just don’t complain to me that the writer is treating you like an idiot.
