Full disclosure: I have not actually read anything by YA fiction author Maggie Stiefvater. However, I was tipped off to her existence earlier this week while reading Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and was instantly charmed. Watch this video, in which Stievfater predicts which mythological creature will usurp the vampire in YA romance popularity:
How funny was that? I love the animation and the cute, lo-fi cards. I also love that, while she is a fantasy writer herself, Stiefvater doesn’t seem to be taking the genre too seriously (you know, since it’s supposed to be fun). She could have just as easily released a video shoving her own work writing about werewolves and faeries as a vampire alternative in our faces instead of putting together a hilarious piece about The Kraken. (Which, by the way, I totally want to read about now. There is no love more forbidden than the love of a teenage girl and her Kraken.) This Stiefvater character really seems to know her stuff!
It seems that lately, what with the whole Twilight craze and all, YA fantasy has been getting a weird rep. Twilight is so serious, and some of the fans are so crazy, and the author is so sincere, that it’s hard not to be put off by the whole thing. That’s why someone like Stiefvater is so refreshing, because she can bring some humor and fun back into the YA fantasy world. Also, because so many trailers are so overblown and annoying, it’s nice to see this mostly silent one with the pleasant music be just as, if not more, compelling than something flashy like the New Moon trailer.
So yeah, like I disclosed earlier, I haven’t read any of Stiefvater’s work (except for her blog, which I have been browsing the past few days and think is pretty fun). Now that I can see how funny, smart, and charming she is, though, I might have to pick up a copy of one of her books and see what they’re all about. Have any of you read her stuff? What did you think?
10 Comments Have Been Posted
Kraken Love
SaraDee replied on
Oh no, Maggie - somebody already did it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6JIBqvUdrQ
I read SHIVER -- it is
Trisha replied on
I read SHIVER -- it is similar to the Twilight books in some ways, but with a much stronger heroine and a much tighter plot. Maybe I'll give her faerie series a try after seeing the video.
Yeah... The Kraken used to
Candelion replied on
Yeah... The Kraken used to be the translucent blanket over my eyes that followed me everywhere after reading Twilight. I'm pretty sure I quoted the books 5, 10 maybe more times than I care to admitt in one day. I was obsessed. However, my mindset has changed, and Stiefvater definitely said what it was better than I could. I now enjoy the books for their ideas and not their application to my life. This process came with time and my immense hatred of Twilight.. the poorest excuse for a book made into a movie that I have ever seen. I'm going to wait until I only have to waste a dollar to see Kristen Stewart make a fool of herself again in New Moon.
I will be checking out Stiefvater's blog (awesome name by the way)>
No! Faeries ARE the new
Ali replied on
No! Faeries ARE the new vampires! Just read Holly Black and Melissa Marr and you will see!
Oh, but that wasn't actually the point of this post, right...
So yes Maggie Stiefvater is awesome, and I will be buying her books just as soon as I can find them. ESPECIALLY if she writes one about sexual tension-filled, forbidden Kraken love.
(But seriously, other internally-tormented feminists who can't help kinda liking Twilight a little bit? Read Melissa Marr's books, they are the Antidote)
Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking....
Andrea replied on
From the wonderful DAR comic: http://art.wingnetwork.com/index.php?action=shows&cid=5
:)
As a side note,
BeetJuice replied on
thank you for spelling 'exist<b>e</b>nce' correctly. I've seen it spelled with an 'a' so many times on the Internet, even by erudite people who usually spell correctly, that I'm about 50% sure it might become the legitimate spelling one day.
LOVE love love her books!
Faith replied on
LOVE love love her books! and she's pretty awesome too. Her blog is funny and filled with writerly advice from someone going through the process. Shiver is wonderfully written and the characters are believable. I enjoyed Lament, her first novel and am looking forward to the sequel.
Someone else mentioned Melissa Marr and Holly Black as the anti-Twilight. I just wanted to say that I whole heartedly agree. Marr's blog (LJ really) is also wonderfully informative and just plain fun to read. Her characters are well formed and the writing is just wonderful.
2:40-2:46
Deb Jannerson replied on
is so cute/hilarious.
How do I compare thee to a summer's day?
Ellen Taraskiewicz replied on
Let's start with hot, Kraken-on-teen-girl sex and go from there.
I absolutely love this! I'd never heard of Maggie Stiefvater before I watched this video and now the only thing I dare ask myself is WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! Thanks so much for posting this and showing me the way out of this Twilight Saga hellscape. I'll admit that yes, I have read the Twilight series and yes I went googely eyes and stark rave mad whenever I heard the name Edward, but I am not a psychoTwilight fan. The book was just ok, nothing special and in my eyes not really that ground breaking. If you've ever read something that wasn't intentionally targeted at teen angst and lust (thank you John Irving) then you'll agree that this has gotten way out of hand.
Once again, thanks so much for this Bitch and I'll def make sure to check out her books from my local library.
I will admit, i did get
samuelle19 replied on
I will admit, i did get hooked into the twilight book series. I got the first 2 for my birthday a few years back and found them intriguing and entertaining. Not my favourite books by far (What Happened to lani Garver, Wicked, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest have all still got the vampire series by a longrun in my head) but, by the time i was finishing up the second book i HAD to get my hands on the third one, because there was so much suspense, and then after that had to get my hands on the 4th one. My interest actually decayed near the end of that one, and i had already lost the craze by the very last page.
A few weeks later i was sitting with a friend, jane, who had turned me onto the series in the first place and this bitch who had ranted on about how vampires were for gay, mythological freaks a few months before came up and asked Jane if she could lend her the first Twilight book because she heard it was so freakin' cool.
I went to see the movie with 2 other accquaintances when we had all read the books, and i came out of the theatre mildly content (though also thinking wtf was up with Edward in this film?), but the two slight friends were raving, almost foaming at the mouth. They spread the good word to everyone around, the books were evrywhere, pictures of Robert Pattinson were flooding lockers and notebooks and the soundtrack to the film became a best-seller.
And that, THAT is when i lost all interest completely, and actually began to turn against it. I started looking back to the 2 books i still own and questioning the material and appeal in there, and coming out with more profound thoughts then i did going through the series the first time, which i guess is the advantage i got from it turning into a fad with me developing a negative view on it.
This author in the video just might be an interesting read. Right now I'm in more of an Augusten Burroughs, blunt and satrical mood, but 'll look for one of her books when i next go to the library and am craving fantasy.
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