So it made me think, so scary when I am sleep deprived, about what single paranormal title would I deem required reading. Not to change the world or anything, but maybe to entice a reader to the genre. Would I choose Urban Fantasy? Horror? Or Romance? How would I ever be able to choose just one? I was going to narrow my initial search just to books I read in the last year, since it's well after midnight and I really do need to sleep someday, but I can't. Maybe because the books are too fresh in my mind or because last year really had some amazing titles (The President's Vampire, Kill the Dead, Hard Spell, Den of Thieves, Dead Mann Walking, Snuff~just to name a few).
So I changed my tactics to a book that has sentimental value for me and immediately came up with an answer...
Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro!! This was the book that started it all for me. My mother gave me a copy almost 25 years ago and I can still read it on that same emotional level to this day, and I do quite often. Yarbro's novels offer so much more than a romance because each book provides a detailed history of times gone past, so vivid that you become part of it. Saint Germain struggles to find his place in the world, much like we do in our own time. The books touch you on an intellectual level as well as on the romantic level, and I will always have a special place in my heart for the relationship between Madelaine and Le Comte Saint Germain. I love the entire series!
So tell me, what would your one paranormal book be? Leave a comment and you might just win a new book for your trouble. I've been cleaning the office area and the book box is plenty full.
4 comments:
Everyone has there own tastes when it comes to reading. My Grandmother gave me The Black Stallion by Walter Farley when I was nine. I read that book over and over again. I wanted to be on that island taming that black horse. For me it was the adventure of far off places. So to pick just one book...yea drawing a blank.
Boy, what a question. Mine would be a toss up between Laurell K Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures for showing me a new spin on paranormal characters with a kick-ass heroine or CL Wilson's Lord of the Fading Lands fantasy romance for the wonderful world-building and epic battle between good and evil.
The one that always seems to come to mind is THE DESCENT - Jeff Long. It's the discovery that Hell actually exists. I had to set it aside for a few months when I started reading it. I sent it to my sister for a friend of hers to read. My sister read it, her husband read it, my sister's friend read it and then Seester sent it back and said to drop everything and get back to this book. Okie doke. It is excellent and on the keeper shelf. I rarely keep unsigned books on the keeper shelf.
Anna, I'm so glad you chose Hotel Transylvania! Saint-Germain has been a favorite hero of mine since I first discovered him sometime after high school.
I don't know if this really counts as paranormal or not, but one of my very favorite books is The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The retelling of the Arthurian legend from the point of view of the women in the story is such an eye opener! I especially love that the character of Morgaine is presented as having substance and motivations for her actions, instead of being defined as an evil witch who just wants to cause trouble.
Post a Comment