Let me preface this by saying I’ve only read the first ACOTAR book, so no spoilers please. I’m also very aware that the two series are different genres, which contributes significantly to the sense of whiplash I’m describing.
I am a mid-30s woman who grew up reading lots of high fantasy. Wheel of Time is one of my favourite series and as a teenager I read it multiple times. I haven’t read it since the last book came out but after watching the TV series (which I loved) I started listening to the audiobooks and now I’m deep in the slog.
At the same time, my husband gave me the ACOTAR box set for my birthday last month on the advice of a friend. It’s not quite what I usually read but I read the first book and enjoyed it.
What I wanted to comment on was the absolute whiplash of going back and forth between those two. I might upset some people here, but as a teenager I never quite grasped how misogynistic the characterisation of the women in WoT is. Women basically fall into 3 archetypes: “fun police”, “basically a man” or “slut”. And all the women hate each other and constantly want to slap, kick or scratch each other. I know it’s a product of its time, and you could argue that there are some overall feminist themes (for example the heavy featuring of strong and powerful women) but oh man they are not fun characters to read. On top of that they are quite prudish, particularly for a book where the protagonist has three girlfriends sharing him (but in a sister wives kind of way, rather than a polyamorous kind of way). Any time any character even thinks about being attracted to another character it’s painted as shameful and disgusting, and any woman who gives the slightest indication of enjoying the company of men is a fool and a harlot and is hated by every female character she encounters.
Cut to ACOTAR (which, again, I appreciate is a different genre) and it is quite the gear shift. A high fantasy book with a female protagonist and a sex positive attitude is a very different vibe. And I know it’s a romance novel so that’s to be expected, but tbh I was quite surprised at home much plot there was (and how dark it ended up going) having not read much in this genre before.
I don’t really know what the point of this was except to comment on the reading experience I’m currently having but I guess as a female fantasy reader it is quite nice to see more female driven fantasy books coming into the mainstream after so many years of “16 country/peasant/orphan/etc boy discovers he’s the chosen one and goes off to find his destiny”.
by friggin_pippin