fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2669 ]

[ SECRET POST #2669 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2669 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 017 secrets from Secret Submission Post #381.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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What sort of characters or plots or story conventions do you want to see, that you haven't found yet (or haven't found much of)? If there was a book that hit all the right buttons for you, what kind of book would it be? Be as specific as you like! Or not. I'm just curious.

Alternatively, is there a book that DOES exist that you consider the "perfect" book? Have you read something and just thought "yes, yes, this has all the things I love!"? Share the title if you like!

For me I love epic worldbuilding. I can forgive a lot in a book/book series where the world is fully fleshed out. Also characterization. I like complex characterization with characters that aren't one-note or flat.

Basically those two things. If a book has one or the other or especially both, I'll probably like it.

That sounds like my kinda books. (and hopefully the book I'm trying to work on at the moment I'd like to think.)

Space, people on spaceships, aliens, homoeroticism, sentient computers, strict codes of conduct modeled after the 17th century Royal Navy ... oh. That's The Seafort Saga (or, at least the first 2 books).

Oh my god. Are you me?

Oh my god. Am I? Do you know of other books that fit that description?

Re: What is your ideal book?

(Anonymous) - 2014-04-25 00:56 (UTC) - Expand

Re: What is your ideal book?

fingalsanteater - 2014-04-25 02:42 (UTC) - Expand

Well it's a bit short on homoeroticism and sentient computers, but if you like a space navy that acts like a navy, give Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series a try! His prose is a little rough in places but I found them to be cracking good adventures and help-it's-am-why'm-I-still-reading books.

TY! Space navies are wonderful.

(reply from suspended user)

Thank you! I will look for this!

Edited 2014-04-25 02:43 (UTC)

Mona Lisa Overdrive and/or Neuromancer and/or Count Zero. I love cyberpunk, i love all the different characters and events from one book having an effect in the next, i love the way the world works, how the characters are....

Something like those books but with some damn m/m thrown in would be *awesome*. Also, cyberpunk in spaaaaaaaace with some m/m would pretty much make my reading life. :)

Uh.... set in America during the early/mid 20th century, especially American cities. Family dynamics, romance, beautiful prose, supernatural elements (preferably ghosts) and magic, baseball, history, old antique things and houses, prolonged descriptions of food and drink, eccentric characters, alternate histories

So basically if Little, Big had more baseball it would be the perfect book

(reply from suspended user)

I like Tennessee Williams, and should read more things by him (although I don't think anything I've read of his has any supernatural elements).

A lot of Southern writing seems to fall into those categories, actually, which is a little weird.

Have you read Ironweed by William Kennedy? Except for the alternate history, it's basically the thing you just described. It's sad, though.

Re: What is your ideal book?

cushlamochree - 2014-04-25 06:25 (UTC) - Expand

You want Michael Chabon! Summerland is set in the modern day, but it's a baseball fantasy with a lot of those elements.

A bunch of badass female characters having amazing fantasy and/or scifi adventures together. Veeery few stories have this - it's easy to find one female protagonist surrounded by guys saving the world, but a bunch of complex ladies with different motivations and relationships with each other doing their thing, and guys are only present on the sidelines? It's like searching for the Holy Grail. So far the only thing I've read that was perfect is When Women Were Warriors, and it was like "holy shit this is amazing why isn't all fantasy like this"? I think the only other fantasy that came close was The Silver Wolf, and it had werewolves, but no lesbians and too much dude focus.

So I guess my perfect book would be high fantasy lesbian shapeshifters who go on an epic adventure to save the world. Yeah, sounds about right.

A+ would read.

Have you tried Jim C. Hines Princess series? It's about a trio of fairytale characters (Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty) who wind up working as a sort of Charlie's Angels troubleshooting group for the queen of their realm after their stories wrap up. The guest heroes and antagonists for the books are also primarily female (and usually other fairytale characters), and the men are usually either playing support roles, or are the ones in need of rescue. Sleeping Beauty is also a lesbian, though it's not apparent until midway through the first book, and she doesn't get into a relationship until the third (though the second does have some flirtation with a dryad).

Re: What is your ideal book?

darkmanifest - 2014-04-25 20:03 (UTC) - Expand

Idk something that was kind of interactive. Like left you clues in a story and let you apply real life knowledge so you could guess at the ending. Maybe have it be serial too with like an online community. I love guessing games and theories and figuring things out okay.

And you know diverse characters, cool world building, and science.

This is a manga and not a book but duuude I was literally raving to my friend last night about how Basara (by Yumi Tamura) was everything I ever could've asked for. Female protagonist in post-apocalyptic Japan on a quest for revenge against an oppressive monarchy. The characters are amazing, the plot is amazing, and it has just the right amount of deliciously angsty romance. It's also the perfect length (25 volumes + 2 volumes for side stories). I just love it so much. I should re-read it soon.

(reply from suspended user)

Just, well written lady lead in a post aopcalyptic world, preferably a small series.

There's a few around and thanks to Hunger Games it seems to be becoming a thing but so far the tailfeather stories are not written in a writing style that appeals to me :(

But to answer your question, both THG and Partials Sequence (Dan Wells) hit my YES buttons.

Something about the main character overcoming difficulties. Witty banter, not too descriptive, a few characters with unknown motivation which comes to light as the story progresses. A lot of drama where you think it couldn't get worse, some h/c. Set in a fantasy world or in 19th - first half of 20th century. Many feelings and talks about friendship and what's the right thing to do.
Not too mainstream but with some devoted fans. Preferably a series of three or four books.

Generally characters and relationships I can identify with and care about matter to me way more than specific plots (or even genres) and I'll read pretty much anything as long as those criteria are met but as far as preferences...

- Well-written mystery/suspense that doesn't have any stupid "twists" that don't make any sense (I'm fine with twists as far as 'things I didn't see coming', but they have to make sense within the story)
- Maybe some supernatural/fantasy elements?
- Epic adventures/missions, saving the world, rescuing some important ancient artifact, whatever
- Found family with characters from differing backgrounds
- The romances aren't just traditional hetero (and I'd like something where for once the two main dudes don't just have a "bromance", they actually end up together, but it isn't specifically a "gay" book where that's the entire story)
- At the same time the non-romantic relationships are just as important as the romantic ones (and maybe every now and then the central "epic love story" can be a non-romantic relationship or at least not a conventional one?)

Listing specific time periods, settings, and background elements would take forever, but some combination of the those things (or even all of them, which I don't think I've found yet) would be awesome.

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