from the department of random observations

[edenfalling]

I spent the past couple days rereading some old school Anne McCaffrey, which is completely and utterly the fault of that SF/F book list meme. And then THINGS occured to me in the wee hours of the morning, such as the following.

Considering only their writing (and ignoring such petty physical details such as, you know, age and appearance)...

Nora Roberts and Anne McCaffrey: long lost twin sisters separated at birth, or just a subconscious psychic link?

Discuss.

ETA: Okay, since people don't seem to know who Nora Roberts is, she's a very popular US romance novelist, who tends to write reasonably likeable characters in extremely formulaic books. (Like McCaffrey.) Most of her books are 'present-day' and relatively realistic (for soupies), but she does often venture into more fantastic premises, like time travel and witches. She also writes sci-fi murder mysteries (with side romance) under the name J. D. Robb.

I guess the soupy romance book market is more regionalized than I'd thought.

Comments

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

i havent' read either of thoem.meh. *pouts* as for that accursed time list, the only oens i've read there are lord oftherigns and hary potter. adno nthe beach. and was lord ofthe lfies on it? of the latter towi actuall ywent' huh? is that scifi?" before I slapped myself.

[edenfalling]

Don't worry -- you aren't missing anything particularly important by not reading McCaffrey or Roberts.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

oh i'm sure its' nto mustreads. inthe case of pern it's moe a thing with me of 'ok, everyoen knows this, so what's it liek then?" we'll see. i'm bus ywith ahgue toread list tryign to make it somewhatsizable (and laughign at msyelf and thinking of the wa yI preparedreadign lists for school...) adn i think I have a lot fo the stuff on that books list. I guess I'd jsut liekto expand horizons beyodn hap and lord of the rings.

[arkeus.livejournal.com]

I have nooo idea who is Nora Roberts.
Care to enlighten me on that?

[edenfalling]

See above; I edited the post to add an explanation.

[redwolfoz.livejournal.com]

A couple of years back I reread a heap of Anne McCaffrey books. I loved them when I first read tham, but they didn't stand up to the more recent reading.

[edenfalling]

I liked McCaffrey very much when I was 10-16. By the end of high school, I was getting disillusioned... most of that is because I got older and more discriminating, but I think her writing quality has also gone down as she's aged.

[redwolfoz.livejournal.com]

I actually don't know if her writing quality has dropped or I just outgrew it. There are a couple of her non-Pern books and short stories (that I've yet to reread) that had brilliant concepts that still stick with me.

I guess some stories just don't hold up to repeat readings.

[drich.livejournal.com]

Okay I had a spit-take moment on your Roberts/McCaffrey comparison line.

I couldn't read the latest trilogy in paperback by Roberts; wizards, time travel, vampires, ???!!!. I think she sold it based on the strength of her name and past commercial winners.

McCaffrey I gave up reading a while back. She jumped the shark on the Pern series and pretty much everything else does not even pique my interest.

[edenfalling]

Someday I really have to rant about McCaffrey's animals rights vegetarianism stuff as portrayed in several of her SF series, but to do that properly, I need to collect evidence and a couple days of free time to work up an essay explaining why she is full of shit and totally self-contradictory.

It's on my list of 'things I'd kinda like to do at some point, if nothing more interesting demands my attention.' :-)

[tjalorak.livejournal.com]

Eh. Well -- Like others above, I liked her books when I was younger but I haven't liked them when I reread them a couple years later. I don't know -- after awhile, I just didn't emphasize with them.

I've seen Nora's books on shelves but never looked at them.

[edenfalling]

McCaffrey just seems to be one of those writers whose work resonates best when you're 8 to 18 years old, or the kind of person who really like formulaic romance on its own merits instead of as a way to turn your brain off and vegetate.