-The Story Siren: http://www.thestorysiren.com/2011/04/exile-by-anne-osterlund.html
-The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews: http://harstan.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/exile-anne-osterlund/-And check out Karen's (one of my favorites) & Courtney's on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142417394/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=yarr-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0142417394
Now Moving On . . . At last
I promised in an earlier blog post, to tackle the topic of why there is no magic in Aurelia. Or her entire series, for that matter.
You see, it isn’t that I don’t love magic.
We are talking a huge Neverland-Fantasia-Tortall-Oz fan here.
It’s just that, in this case, magic would be cheating.
It is very important that Aurelia deals with her problems herself. (OK, I’m leaving out someone pretty important here, but ultimately you see what I mean, right?)
And that the danger she deals with is real.
She can’t just . . . use a sword.
Which, again, is not to say that I don’t love female warriors.
To me, Aurelia is totally a warrior.
But not in a masculine or magical sense.
She was raised as a young woman. And she has to deal with all the implications that come with that. And all the limits.
Her gifts are the kinds of gifts anyone could have. Intelligence. Passion. An open mind.
And stubbornness.
Which isn’t just a weakness. It’s something she needs.
Aurelia isn’t “superior” just because she was born a princess. The danger she faces is real. And no matter how “good” she is, she can’t defeat overwhelming odds just because I would like her to. She has to face that danger head-on. And she has to grow and learn and fight.
And sometimes lose.
Because that’s why there’s a story.
And it's not the kind of story that changes with pixie dust.
I totally understand. I just wish i could connect with these characters by just reading your books now. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog: http://diaryofacambridgestudent.wordpress.com
I too, am a major lover of fantasy, and that was my original project, a fantasy sequence. But now I'm turning my attention to a "realistic" fiction story, and I find that this is paradoxically harder and easier to write. Easier because I don't have make anything new up! Harder because I have to try to figure out how my plot would work in the "real world." But I'm pretty flexible when it comes to writing...I just need to finish the ideas!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there's no magic in your books because I'm not a huge fantasy fan. I prefer when the heroine has to figure out how to solve her problems on her own (with the help of a dreamy boy).
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