Widening the Scope Pt. 1: The Strength in Our Characters.

"The problem with strong women is..."

There isn't one. Obviously.

And yet, isn't it strange that this keeps on being something that people ask? Why do people write such strong female characters. You don't hear a lot of people wandering around asking themselves why do people write strong men. Or just... strong "characters".

I can't even believe that it was seven years ago that Joss Whedon got up to accept an award from Equality Now (but YouTube assures me it is so) wherein he made one of his most famous, and one of my favourite, speeches on why he keeps on writing strong women characters.

(You have to skip to about 2 minutes in to get to Joss' appearance.)

It's still a subject that's raised today. From online polls on the "Best Strong Female Fantasy Novels" to writer's panels in the Melbourne Writer's Festival that analyse the same subject. It's pervasive. 

I was going to write up a blog post that listed my favourite books with strong women from the titles I have read this year, but I decided... no. Instead, I want to dedicate a quick post on the top bunch of novels I've read recently with strong characters of both genders.

Strength comes in a lot of different forms. Physical strength, of course, is often given over to men, but there are a couple of books I would like to point out where mental aptitude is shown to be as important. 

In these three novels, we see characters Harry Dresden, Atticus O'Sullivan and Emma Brannon tested with magical skills and mental fortitude that often taxes them. These are the heroes of fantasy novels, the good that fights against evil. 

But not all novels are fantasy. 

Both main characters in The Fault in Our Stars show remarkable strengths of characters against the hands that were dealt to them. Both dealing with cancer and also dealing with a loved one who has cancer, these characters are strong, often humorous and continually in search of their dreams. 

I read the conclusion to Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices a couple of months ago and what struck me and stayed with me was the strength of integrity and love that the two main male characters of this series showed not only towards the female love interest, but to each other. A lot of the time, women in teen fiction get slammed for their doe eyed responses to the men in their lives, but what I think made the love triangle in these novels so compelling was the fact that Jem and Will loved each other. They had a pre-existing bond that they would not lightly place anyone else above, for all that they came to esteem and love Tessa highly. 

New Book Release: 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' by Neil Gaiman

Several years ago, I decided I wanted to be one of these people who love being a Neil Gaiman fan. I'd heard stories about the kinds of things he wrote and thought I liked the sound of them. Most of all, I thought I liked the sound of the novel American Gods.

I started American Gods. I haven't finished it yet. Don't get me wrong. This isn't a criticism of the work. This is more a criticism of my ability to take in and understand it at the time. Just like his wife Amanda Palmer has said, this novel flew right past my soul.

It was one of the reasons why I was so excited to see Kevin Hearne's book Hounded earlier on this year being described as the best parts of American Gods and Dresden Files. And, also to my pleasure, it was a significantly easier read.

So now I'm entering into a one-book-per-month read-a-thon of Neil Gaiman's works (retweeted by @neilhimself), starting with The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Early on, before any of us had started this reading, one of the girls in the group linked us all to this blog post written by Amanda Palmer:

"he started working on a short story, something he’d had in the works but wasn’t quite certain of. it wasn’t a memoir, per se, but a purée on a lower blender speed. some part of what pushed him to work on this (instead of the other four projects he had deadlines for) was to give the story to me, like some kind of olive branch, maybe….the story that never got shared that day in surrey hills...

neil started crafting a string of words that was like a long hand reaching out of his heart and across the void that i’d put between us. i didn’t understand that, then. i only see it now."

(read more)

So, I've just finished reading this latest book by Neil Gaiman. The Ocean at the End of the Lane came out three months ago.

It was... It was the kind of book that made me want to bash my head against a wall for taking so many years to actually *get* Neil's writing. The layers that this book took you through were utterly astounding. On the surface, this is a book about a seven year old child who goes through what you think is a memorable experience, only to find that there is so much more than the story of a seven year old to be taken in.

For those who are fans of Gaiman and realise this is his most autobiographical work, you will enjoy stepping into the story and finding out the difference between metaphor and imagination, appreciating the layers as you go deeper and deeper. For those who aren't, this book is easily read on its own without any prior knowledge outside of its pages just for the characters and the wonderfully crafted language.

I rated this highly. I thought it was amazing.

May 2013 Reading List

Okay, okay, I have learned my lesson from too many books in last month's list.

This month will be different!

Well of Shades.

4/5 - Fun and full world.
I had a hard time figuring out which book of Juliet Marillier's I was going to read this month, since I picked up both this and Son of Shadows in an op shop last month. I know I certainly don't have time for two Juliet Marillier novels in a month! And this one has such a whimsical cover. How could I not read it? This one won out also because, well, because the end of last book left me feeling so bereft for the main character of this book. And so I have to see him happy. And, for that, I have to read the book.

Hexed.

4/5 - Enjoyable, but not as fast paced as the first one.
After the amazing success with reading and loving Kevin's first book Hounded, I can't even believe it's taken me a month to get to the next book in the series, I estimate this will take me about two days to read cover to cover.

Fire with Fire.

DNF - There's one in every month.
Another book that has been picked up because of my love and need for more books following my reading list of March 2013. No idea if this will be as good as I thought Promiscuities was, but I'm about to find out!

The Little Stranger.

4/5 - I surprised myself with how much I liked this since it was set in the war.
I realised it had been too long since I read a new Sarah Waters novel. Plus, this was another part of my recent op shop grab. There's really not much to it than that.

Bone Crossed.

5/5 - Love, love, love Patricia's urban fantasy and this was no exception.
This book was originally meant to be Cry Wolf; another series in the same world as her Mercy Thompson books but with different characters. Unfortunately, I do not yet have this book, and the only copy listed in my library ended up being a lost copy. And so, I have my heart set on Patricia Briggs this month, so I guess I'll have to finish Bone Crossed this month. *staples hand to forehead* Oh, woe.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

3/5 - Sadly, this just wasn't as good as the movie.
This was a last minute add on for me, and is directly contributing to a piece of writing that I am hoping to progress on this coming month. Also, it looks as funny as hell. If it's anything like the movie of it, I'm sure I'll be in for a couple of laughs.

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Only five books this month. I can do it :D For anyone interested in following my pursuits, feel free to follow me on Goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson