Sime~Gen Inc. Presents

Recommended Books

March 2004

"Superman's Problem Part II"

So what is Superman’s Problem? It’s Power, the power to destroy any threat or avoid it, to obtain anything he wants by just taking it, to learn secrets by overhearing, or x-ray vision. Maybe the real problem is that he has nothing to fear?

But we saw in the last column how being raised as a human by really good human parents has left Clark Kent prey to all the usual adolescent human male fears, a lot of them sex and love based. So Clark Kent has plenty to fear, and like any adolescent has to learn to assess the magnitude of any threat and put the possible gains and losses into a life-time perspective.

But what if Clark Kent were a woman – not "Supergirl" but a real, ordinary woman you and I could identify with.

What if, at your 25^th birthday, the odd little talents you had learned to take for granted suddenly blossomed into hyper-keen senses, x-ray vision, and assorted odd powers? Suppose then a governing council of super-heroes offered you the chance to sign their articles and dedicate yourself to helping people or, if you didn’t sign on, you would have to become wholly mortal, or worse, an outcast?

And then along comes a guy you want as much as Clark Kent want(s)(ed) Chloe or Lana. Would you be afraid that you might abuse your newly blooming powers to get him? Or to protect him? Or would you be truly terrified that he would reject you because you have super-powers and a vastly extended lifespan, as Clark fears rejection by Chloe or Lana?

Would you accept mortalization, the amputation of your abilities and your memory of them so he would love you?

This is the premise of Aphrodite’s Kiss. Zoe Smith is a halfbreed mortal-Protector, perhaps descendents of Aphrodite. The mixed genetics leaves her facing a time in her mid-twenties when her powers burgeon out of control. Worse yet, she must – all by herself – inform her mortal parent of her half-breed status and powers, risking loss of that love she had based her whole personality upon.

If you examine the better written super-villains in high camp films such as Superman, – you may be able to discern how fear of the loss of love, or fear of rejection, or bitter-rage at being "excluded" motivates their actions just as it does your own. The only difference is you don’t have the kind of powers they do. What would you do if you did?

What if, the next time your spouse picks a fight at bedtime you could raise a finger and change that behavior? Would you? You see? Superheroes and love-stories do indeed mix well thematically.

As I have been pointing out in recent columns, the publishing world seems to be discovering that mixed-genre books really appeal to more people. Many distributors sales forces still believe that mixing genres makes a book appeal only to those interested in all the included genres. But I have never believed that.

Aphrodite’s Kiss is marketed as romance, but really it’s a contemporary urban fantasy – except that it’s also the beginning of a Mystery series. That’s right, the guy our new superhero wants is a P. I. and they first meet when he’s on a case.

And that of course is what’s so good about Aphrodite’s Kiss – the author pays little or no attention to genre restrictions and simply writes the book the way it ought to be written. So even if you dislike Romance as a genre – read this book and watch how fears are confronted from a position of love.

This novel is followed by Aphrodite’s Secret and Aphrodite’s Passion. I haven’t read either of those, but if the light humor and situation comedy of this first book in the Aphrodite series is any indication, they will be "must-read" novels.

Even better, these books are part of a trend, so there’s more to come from other authors – a friend I met through Buffy The Vampire Slayer fandom introduced me to a professional writer who has written one of these wildly mixed genre novels that hasn’t been published yet, and a friend of mine has produced another. Trust me, there is more coming and I expect to review them!

I found The Dresden Files series, which is Urban Fantasy Action genre, on amazon and acquired books 4 and 5 out of 5 (but I expect there have to be more coming as there are loose ends dangling.) Harry Dresden’s business card reads:

"Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment"

The series is a modern urban fantasy billed to be like the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series which I’ve been reviewing in this column since 1994. But I don’t think it’s anything like Anita Blake, not even remotely.

The Anita Blake Series is Intimate Adventure. The Dresden Files books are not.

The Anita Blake books are the story of a young woman with "attitude" – and the attitude starts out immature, overly hostile, chip-on-the-shoulder, and founded on a much too high opinion of herself. Gradually, through the course of 11 novels, Anita Blake’s self-image and attitude have matured exactly as foreshadowed (somewhat similar to the psychologically predictable changes in Cordelia’s character in the TV show Angel.) Trauma after trauma, facing terror after nightmare after high-stakes gamble, Anita has become a totally different person with different values and a more realistic attitude toward the world she lives in and those who are trying to assassinate her. .

Jim Butcher’s hero, Dresden, the only professional Wizard in the Chicago phone book, faces just as many personally overwhelming supernatural perils as Anita does. But his attitude and self-image don’t change.

He suffers love and the loss of love due to tragedy that results from his own actions. He identifies enemies and allies, and compulsively, thoughtlessly defends the weak and helpless just as Anita does. If anyone asks him for help, no matter what else is going on, (and there’s always a laundry list of perils pending) he says "Yes, of course." He’s a good guy. I like him. I want to read the other books. But Anita Blake, he isn’t. He doesn’t learn from experience.

Dresden doesn’t boil over with indignation at what the nasties do. He doesn’t take it personally. He’s a Professional Wizard. Anita is a professional Necromancer, and in that bailiwick, she doesn’t take it personally either. Most of the action in the Anita Blake novels comes from something other than necromancy, and gets very personal indeed.

Both series though pivot around the nasty deeds of a community of vampires. Anita Blake has problems because the vampires have civil rights and citizenship. Dresden has no such problem with his secret community – but his vampire politics problems are complicated by dealings with the Faery Courts and travel among dimensions.

The Dresden Files books are nearly 400 pages, and with fairly small print. The pacing is excruciatingly fast, and the combat, battle scenes, assassination attempts, official duels, otherworldly creatures and primal terrors hurl themselves at Harry Dresden from every direction. He takes injuries, sweats it out and comes back swinging.

Really, there is little in these books except facing fears and summoning what courage and power is left after the last attack to deal with the current one. In each book, Harry Dresden has been hired – sometimes by more than one group – to accomplish a goal. His honor as a Professional Wizard never lets him quit after he’s given his word.

The Dresden file books have grand characterization but lack any Relationship to drive the plot. What happens between Dresden and his lover does not change Dresden at all.

Anita’s story is driven by her intense relationship to Jean Claude (the Master Vampire of the City) and everything that happens between them changes her self-image.

Harry Dresden has a woman he loves beyond life itself, who is halfway to becoming a vampire, and he spares no effort to save her. However, when he obtains a magical object that could save her – he uses it to save the world instead. In the early books, Anita might not have done that. In the later books, she would have.

I have watched Anita grow. I have not read the early Dresden Files books, but the Harry Dresden of books 4 & 5 faces his fears and doesn’t learn from them. He seems as mature as he’ll ever get, which makes him a less satisfying main point of view character than Anita.