#melanie rawn

[sixth-light]

I've been thinking a lot lately* about how artistic works are so intimately products of their moment and in conversation with it, and how easy this is to overlook both in terms of discussing a work and in terms of anticipating or considering new additions to an older work.

The first is important because so many judgements that can be made about a work are only meaningful when you know what their context was. What readers need or want to see, particularly in terms of representation, is hugely mediated by what else is available to them at the time. Yeah this is about stuff like "Rocky Horror was progressive when it was created" but also it's about stuff like "the John Carter movie bombed because it was regarded as derivative", when in fact the source material originated a bunch of the 'derivative' scenes and tropes that were then used by better-known movies before a John Carter movie ever got made.

The second is important because...even if you come back to a work, as a creator, you can only make new parts of it as the person you are now, in conversation with the world and genre as it is now, not as it was when you started. Taking a mildly-infamous-among-fantasy-fans example, Melanie Rawn's unfinished Ambrai trilogy; she's often said that she can't finish it because her life has moved on and...as sad as I am it was never finished, I think that's probably smart! She could write a third book one day, maybe, but it never could or would be the third book she would have written in the 1990s. And even if she did manage that somehow, the genre has moved on in such a way that it would feel weird and probably quite offputting to read a book doing with gender and feminism what the Ambrai books were doing in the '90s, because they are/were inherently in conversation with an era of fantasy that is now past.

All of which is to say that:

as a reader (or watcher) I think it's good to hold in mind, when engaging with a work from a time and/or place unfamiliar to you, the extent of what you don't know about the context of the work

as a creator, I think it's good to be very realistic about what you're going to actually achieve when you are making something over a long time period or coming back to something you left unfinished. You can totally do that! It can be incredibly rewarding! But the thing you make now is not the thing you would have made then, probably not even the thing you imagined you were going to make then, and that's just the nature of art.

*The reason I have been thinking about this is partly books I have been reading (Mara of the Acoma, you are my blorbo) and partly a very fun podcast I have been listening to which has re-read The Ruins of Ambrai and done a lot of discussion about its context, finishing up with a great interview with Kate Elliott about writing fantasy in the '90s (and writing it now, as she is still writing great but different books!). Anyway go listen to the Hot Nuance Book Club, it's a good time.

[kvalenagle]

I was searching the upstairs closet for a lightbulb and I came across what is basically the "lgbtqia+ Millennial who likes to read starter pack." Gotta say, I didn't realize I still had any Silver Gryphon t-shirts left. Takes me back to being a teenager =]

[bylightofdawn]

God damn, I got to thinking tonight about two books I've been legitimately waiting to get published since the late 90's.

First was Strange Fate which is the last book of LJ Smith's Nightworld series. She's known for her Vampire Diaries series which got made into a couple of shows which I never watched because i never really cared for the books. But fuck me I've been waiting since 1998 for this book to be published.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS I HAVE BEEN WAITING

And the other one, (the one that really cuts more deeply) is the Captal's Tower by Melanie Rawn. That's been since 1999.

And I'm looking online, hoping to find updates and the amount of bitching, wailing and generally entitled attitude of fans everywhere on say goodreads and Amazon is kinda...gross. Yes, I'm frustrated, yes I get frustrated every time they put out a book for a different series but you know what is NOT going to make them write faster?

Grown-ass adults throwing tantrums and generally acting like children decrying the author for being 'cruel' and depriving them of THEIR conclusion of the series. Uhhhh ya'll do know it's their book right?

I mean I've been through the entire cycle when it comes to these books and I'm sure when I was younger I prolly had similar opinions but I didn't post them online and now I look at this behavior and I just shake my head.

NGL a salty part of me that knows LJ Smith has been employing ghostwriters for years just wishes she'd give it over to a ghostwriter so we could get some conclusion. But eh it is what it is.

As for Melanie Rawn? I've kinda accepted that this series will never be completed and it hurts because it had such a huge impact on me growing up. It's very much fantasy Star Wars inspired in a lot of ways. LOL Which is prolly why I liked them as much as I did.

But you're not gonna see me throwing a hissy fit online and generally being a self-entitled twat about it.

I also get a little ironic schadenfreude every time someone complains about how long it takes GRRM to write his GoT book.

[obscuredilfoff]

Propaganda below the cut!

Ostvel

#1 dilf of my heart more people need to appreciate him

Mr. Bombolony

principal of his sons school. number 1 embarrassing dad

[drowninginabactatank]

Today I took Window Wall by Melanie Rawn out for some photos~☘️

This copy is an ex-library book that Dezmin got me at our local library sale purely based on the gorgeous cover art! I found out it's the 4th book in a 5 book series. I shall have to hunt down the rest now!

[roseunspindle]

March 2023 TBR

[first-and-last-neocount]

Okay I swear I'm not looking to start yet another Coldfire AU but I'm a couple chapters into Dragon Prince and just got reminded that faradh'im all get violently and incapacitatingly seasick anytime they're over water, and I cannot stop giggling because can you imagine Damien getting reincarnated in this world. He doesn't have to worry about the fae or volcanic activity anymore but he's got That to deal with.

[gwydionmisha]

If you have any last Lucian's library suggestions, I'd love them.

Lucian's Library 6

Feel free to suggest never written books you wish you could read.

Some items suggested by impatient readers for still living authors.

[lobothebuilder]

[roostercrowned]

I'm almost done with the first book of the Dragon Prince trilogy by Melanie Rawn (which I'd been curious about FOR DECADES because one of the covers features a favorite Michael Whelan painting that I had in tasseled bookmark form as a kid) and I'm having some Same Hat moments with RotE

WE GOT 1. magic that involves psychic communication over long distances 2. Fantasy Drugs 3. Evil Seduction Scene that ends in attempted throttling 4. out of control breeding kink stuff in the guise of royal succession plotting 5. enjoyable supporting characters (I really like Tobin and Chay) 6. stronger-than-expected sense of character interiority for the time and genre (Hobb is still the best but I've been pleasantly surprised here) I didn't care for the protagonists much at first but now that she's really put them through the blender I'm like yes! yes!! Sweet suffering! Writhe, children!!!!!

[ghostoftheyear]

going through some super old art and found this lineart I did of an OC from 2004, was just going to color it in for finality but instead I re-inked her because I wanted her face to be cuter. wip.

if anyone remembers the Dragon Star books by Melanie Rawn, Jezhrai here was a first-ring sunrunner in a forum-type RP on *Prodigy (jesus I'm old), sweet and innocent and young. I also recycled her for CrystalMUSH, where she was more mature but still cute as a button. I'm still sad I lost most of my RP logs from that (and everything from *Prodigy).

[drconstellation]

Oh my sweet summer children. I've endured longer waits than this, and harder fictional hits.

A part of dealing with grief is accepting change. This was a change that had to happen for the greater good of their relationship. It will get easier. At least we are promised a happy ending.

so good omens fandom.

how.

how we doing.

[obscuredilfoff]

Propaganda below the cut!

Ostvel

#1 dilf of my heart more people need to appreciate him

Sesshu Akisato

No propaganda was submitted for this character.

[drowninginabactatank]

Took my copy of Window Wall by Melanie Rawn out for some photos~

This copy is an ex-library book that Dezmin got me at our local library sale purely based on the gorgeous cover art! I found out it's the 4th book in a 5 book series. I shall have to hunt down the rest now!

[dangermousie]

On "upscaling" of covers ie why are we so boring now?

So, my recent desire to reread some Robin Hood retellings I used to love led me to Jennifer Roberson's Lady of the Forest. Roberson wrote a LOT of fantasy (Tiger and Del series is amazing) but she also wrote period novels now and then, and LotF is a historical take on the Robin Hood legend with focus on Marian.

I adored that novel back when I first read it many years ago and every time I've reread it since. My paperback copy is somewhere it's a pain to get to and is probably falling apart, so I went on amazon to get a kindle edition. It's there, I own it, yay but it also made me discover the new cover for it.

This is the original cover. This is the edition I first read as a young Mousie back in the 1990s:

And this is the current cover:

Notice the difference?

The first cover would definitely make me pause and check the book out a bit in a book store. It has a gorgeous old tale vibe that actually does convey a lot - it's heavy on romance (which it is), it has our protagonists (no wonder it's one of my favorite versions - I am a total sucker for blond with PTSD MLs.) The new cover is so depersonalized and generic I'd never pause twice.

This cover, like so many others, has gone respectable. No pretty people (no people at all), no romance no nothing. Some medieval weapon or two, a bland pattern and color. WHY?

The first cover you may like or not but it conveys a story! It catches attention. The second I wouldn't even pause in front of.

I know that romance novels have (sadly) moved from those gonzo covers with shirtless dudes clutching busty ladies but this is not even that. This is just boring.

Two corollaries.

One: I miss 1990s fascination with blond dudes holding their OTPs. Here is Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince (a delightful old school fantasy read I totally recommend.)

Two: I can't say I get the romance novel cover switch either. This is the old cover for Justine Davis' Lord of the Storm:

This is the new cover:

It's not any less eye popping but it's kinda odd to leave off the heroine (though as someone who's read this novel more than once (it hits some VERY specific kinks; if you read it you know which ones. This is my judgment free zone :P) I am still not sure where she was clutching the dude's leg while wearing a nightie and 1980s hair.)

There are some amazing relatively recent covers that fight the bland and photoshop:

I mean look at this beauty! I checked out this trilogy because of that cover! It's just as gloriously pulpy as the cover promises (side note if you like fucked up x fucked up battle couple, dude finding meaning of life and learning to trust because of one deadly woman, and hot blond guys with supernatural powers and hot dark haired ladies with a huge kill count, boy do I have a series for you.)

Anyway, I don't even know where this is going any more except you should read all the novels I mentioned.

[first-and-last-neocount]

I think I have New Material Burnout.

I haven't produced any meaningful writing in weeks and I haven't managed to finish several books and shows I've picked up, and I think my brain just wants something familiar. In an attempt to change tack and get out of this mental sinkhole that I appear to have found myself in, I've decided it's time for a reread of Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince/Dragon Star trilogies, which I will be starting later today.

I'm going to be tagging any posts about the books with Sunrunner Saga as a catch-all for the two trilogies as well, so if anyone gets sick of my rambling then that's the tag to block, lol