Destiny and the Reluctant Heroine

I just finished reading Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr, and now I'm one of those freakish book ladies who want to run around to everyone and thrust it into their hands and say, "You simply must read this book!" Unfortunately, I no longer work for mega bookstore chain and therefore don't have the opportunity to do so. This makes me sad. Because, really, unless you are someone dead set against reading smart urban fantasy with excellent writing, you will enjoy this book.

I notice an ongoing theme in the urban fantasy genre that I appreciate wholly: that of the smart female protagonist. In a world dominated by male heroes in both our fantasy (Harry Potter, LoTR, Heroes, most comic books written by men) and "reality" (anything else, most specifically crime shows which may contain strong female characters, but always have a male in the lead - CSI, Without a Trace, Law & Order, I'm lookin' at you!), I have long been one of those pop culture fans waiting for producers to get it - that women can lead the way and viewers will follow. There is a reason The Closer is the #1 cable drama on TV, people. And while I appreciate things are much much better than they used to be, I do get tired of watching the female lead play second fiddle to her charismatic, brilliant male lead co-star (even when that charismatic co-star is someone I admire greatly!).

The same trend has been weaving its way through the young adult publishing industry. In the past few years, an uproar has been raised about the sad state of boys and their reading habits. Apparently, boys don't read. Actually, they do read, just not what the book industry wants them to. So to pull these "reluctant readers" away from their video game guides, the Internet, comics books, and manga, the publishing industry is greenlighting books hoping to pull them to novels. And of course, these novels must feature a male protagonist. The guiding philosophy here is that girls will read books about boys wherein boys won't read books about girls. So instead of addressing why we've created a society in which boys won't read books with female lead characters, publishers are churning out mass produced formulaic crap. And any girl who wishes to read new fantasy or adventure will finish her Kiki Strike and dutifully pick up the newest Artemis Fowl for lack of anything else. And the world can retain its balance of power with a new generation of young women expecting young men to always be the charismatic brilliant hero of the tale.

Enter into this arena a cache of amazing and dedicated writers who think this is a load of crap. From Charles de Lint to Holly Black, to Emma Bull and many others (most listed under the original Urban Fantasy entry), contemporary young adult fantasy writers have figured out what most of us have known all along, male and female readers want and need to see women in the lead. And while, sadly, the entertainment industry has only Joss Whedon doing the same for movies and TV, at least he is doing so while flying his feminist freak flag proudly.

I have noticed a beautiful and realistic trend in these offerings that you don't normally see in your male-dominated counterparts, reluctance. Not so much out of fear (though that may play a part), but because these young women have plans for their lives and truly don't want some destiny laid upon them by The Powers That Be to interfere. One of my favorite aspects of most of these novels is the creative ways in which our heroines fight to keep their lives as normal as possible - high school, friends, boyfriends, college. These young women have goals for themselves that don't always involve drinking fairy wine at an endless faire and dancing their newly immortal lives away. And in the case of Aislinn, our protagonist from Wicked Lovely, these future plans are so important as to be the crux upon which helping is even considered. And that, I believe is as important as having a female lead at all. If your heroine is going to give up her mortal life to save fairy-verse and not even bother to secure her own growth and future, she may as well marry the proverbial prince and live happily ever after in Disney-esque security.

If you haven't delved into the world of which I speak, I heartily recommend the Holly Black Trilogy (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside), Emma Bull's War for the Oaks (a tad dated, but still a new classic), de Lint's Jack of Kinrowan, and the book that started this whole blog.

PS, Also watched the King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters this weekend. Please please please do yourself a favor and see this movie. In the wake of a movie-going year in which we've had to endure countless hours of how cruel, empty, and hopeless the world truly is, seeing the absolute decency of (real human being and not movie character) Steve Wiebe in his quest to become the best at something- in spite of the oddly menacing strong arm tactics of his cult of personality obsessed adversaries- will fill you with joy and hope. I kid you not.