swim through the fires to stay in this world

So, I just finished The Fiery Heart. I know it would end as it did, but still, that ending was brutal. Someone hold me.

About a week ago, during a very slow shift, I had terenewen  and nimblnymph  email me ideas for potential lj posts, so the next couple of entries where I'm meta-ing about something random? You can thank those two.

One of the questions was tropes in urban fantasy that you'd like to see more/less of in urban fantasy.

My answer: If I never ever come across another goddamn, motherfucking love triangle, it will be too soon.

What I'd like to see more of, though? Female vampires. Especially as the main character.* Think about it. When was the last time there was a vampire as the female lead? For me, it was Christopher Moore's "Bite Me," which I read about a decade ago. More recently, it was Cassandra in Kelly Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series.

*I'm specifically talking about books here. Fantasy television is doing a lot better with female vampires, although I find that they skew towards baby!vamps a lot.

In other news, I cannot wait until Inception dies. Seriously, I read the second-to-last post on meta fandom, and it was chock-full of Arthur/Eames. So much Arthur/Eames. I do not care about Arthur/Eames. I do not care about them on a train, I do not care about them on a plane.

To be honest, I do not care about them with extreme prejudice.

So I briefly touched on this in my last post about True Blood, but I wanted to discuss aging and vampires in more detail.

( α to Ω )

enderxenocide  and I went shopping today, and we kicked ass. I found three bras, two shirts, and part of pants ALL of which both a.) fit and b.) were on sale. Plus, I had gift cards for half of it. (Hello, there, awesome new shisedo lipstick in a red 1930s harlots would wear.) Plus I knocked off half my Christmas list. (Shut up, I know that it's not even thanksgiving. In my defense, I come back from Turkey Day and have Dead week and then finals and know I won't want to shop then.) As a result of this, I got to go home and throw away two bras that were old and needed to be taken out to the back forty.

Get your lulz for the day: 28 Reasons That ‘Twilight’ the Movie Is Better Than ‘Twilight’ the Book

I would totally be seeing this movie, because the movie would be better than the book and I'm a sucker (heh) for vampire stories, except that the author is a Morman, and a certain percentage of her earnings go to the Church.... the same Church that helped get same-sex declared illegal in California.

The Church of Latter-Day Saints is not seeing one fucking dime of my money.

And nimble? About writing a good vampire novel since no one else is? You totally should and I think I will. I've been looking for a nice project for winter break and I'm a little burned out on my Reiketsukan-verse at the moment.

Since I've been thinking of good vampire novels (and been shocked by how hard it is - especially since they are my favorite) I've decided to post a rec list of damn good vampire novels.

(Some of these are stand alones and some are the first of a series.)

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klaus

This is how you do a romance between a vampire and a teenage girl. Zoe has a life of her own, problems of her own, and so does Simon. The vampire lore is classic and has consequences and Zoe is the furtherest thing from passive. The ending is bittersweet and this is one of the few books when I can honestly say I'd have it no other way.

Covenant with the Vampire (Diaries of the Family Dracul) by Jeanne Kalogridis

I was probably too young to read this when I did. I'm still not sure if I liked it but the author doesn't shy away from either the horrific nature of the vampires or the sex=death metaphor. (In fact, there is a sex scene in the first book that is pretty much burned in my mind. I could probably quote a couple lines word for word. Considering I read this about ten years ago....)

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

The teenagers in this book feel real - mature and young and all trying there best. Also, there's Eve. A barista who grew up in a town ruled by vampires and so dresses Goth as a 'fuck you' to people who could kill her for being too uppity.

Life Sucks by Jessica Abel

A graphic novel this time, Life Sucks, is a screamingly creative retelling of vampire mythology in modern times, and what immortality would really look like in our capitalist world. I'm praying this will be the beginning of a series but this works as a stand-alone. While it will leave you wanting more, stands very well on its own merits.

You Suck by Christopher Moore

Imagine if Carl Hiaasen wrote about vampires instead of Flordia. Yeah.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 1) by Charlaine Harris

Everyone and their best friend's mother has read this but I feel it's good enough to deserve a place on the list, even if I do feel that is and has teetered dangerously close to succumbing to Anita Blake-itis.

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Her latest book made me think I'd made a grave mistake in buying it in hardcover and I spent a hundred pages cursing her editor and LKH. And then Harrison pulled out a fantastically interesting plot that has nothing whatsoever to do with the main characters love life and her next book regained will-be-pre-ordering status. That said, her first book (linked) is fantastically interesting, has a great, original mythology, and gave me my first femmeslash OTP.

Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

"I am Tersa the weaver, Tersa the liar, Tersa the fool."

While not strictly a vampire novel, there is a hot, scary, bad ass dead guy who I want to adopt me. I say it qualifies. As you can see, I've read this series so many times I have chucks of it memorized and the spine has a tendency to fall open to my favorite passages.

Blood Price by Tanya Huff

Scary romantic vampire love interest writes historical romance novels to pay the bills. Heroine is an ex-cop who quit the force because she got a degenerative eye condition that means she's effectively blind at night. Which is not going to stop her from being an awesome P.I.

Edited To Add:

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

"Talk to me. Remind me that you are a rational creature."

In in one line, McKinely gives us an ominously hungry vampire who is nonetheless that kind of vampire you'd want to be chained next to. Also, McKinley gives us a deliciously interesting world and a protagonist with a deliciously mundane day job (she's a baker).