Knitless Friday

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

It's an off week for While She Knits, but here's a question for you all, some of it taken directly from a discussion I had recently.

filkferengi posted about a site for book reviews of books written by women.  And there was a recent blog post about the disproportion of  male vs female Caldecott winners.  So, a question.

Do you select books by the sex of the author?  Often?  Rarely?  Ever?  I've never read for women-authors in my science fiction or fantasy.  How about you?  Do you pick something off the shelf saying to yourself, "Oh cool, a woman-written book about rockets, war, faeries, witches"?

Do you notice who the illustrator of a book is, much less what sex? 

Comments

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

I actually define epic by tone; there has to be Drama and Destiny heavily involved, to a point that characters aren't so much choosing their actions as doing what Destiny has laid out for them. I do admit, though, that listing Narnia was a bit premature of me. It's been too long since I've read them, but from what I remember, the tone felt epic to me. I could be completely wrong, of course. ^_^

But epic doesn't mean flat characters, either. The best epics have great characters; they just aren't character driven.

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

That's a much better definition of epic than either of the ones I was working with. And a definite yes to the epics can have good characters bit. As for the Narnia books being epic in tone as regards individual choice versus destiny, I think it depends on the book, actually. The Last Battle is very much about what was Meant to happen, as is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair are heavily involved with mistakes people make and the consequences those have. I guess you could argue that that's an example of working against what you were meant to do, but I wouldn't say they lend themselves to being classed as epic in tone. And then to finish out the Chronicles, The Horse and His Boy is mostly just about people and their choices, and The Magician's Nephew deals with both destiny and fatal mistakes.

Going through all of them like that was pretty fun.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

My definition of an epic has always been a 900-page book that gives every minor character a name and describes what everyone is wearing. If I have to make a character list (and sometimes I do) I want no part of it.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

That sounds like my definition of an epic as well, with the notable difference being that I love them :)