James Barclay Forum Index James Barclay
Welcome to the forum for the author James Barclay.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Sex in books
Goto page Previous  1, 2
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    James Barclay Forum Index -> Books
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
melvish



Joined: 09 Jul 2007
Posts: 10
Location: Where subject of the Queen speak french

PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:12 am    Post subject: Re: Sex in books Reply with quote

Sex in book must serve a purpose, else it's just porn.

Lizzy wrote:
What do other people think about sex in books?
The sex scenes in James's books serve a purpose and also tend to be tastefully done imo.


"Tend" interesting choice of word Lizzy. Something you don't like?

I noticed that sex in Dawnthief is more present (Denser&Erienne) and more brutal (Selyn death). It also lenthly described.

In Noonshade sex is amlost not present. Only one place where D&E make it out near the river.Two sentence and "hop" next scene.

I like both approach.

----

Don't think sex and nudity in fantasy book is new: Howard did it all (and far worst) in the 30's with Conan novels.


Last edited by melvish on Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:37 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Drizzt



Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 1081
Location: Easington, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indeed he did, but readers are more demanding now in what they read. Howard wouldn't get published nowadays, nor would Tolkien. The days of simple 'innocent farmboy makes good and kills bad guys with big sword' are long gone, methinks. The fantasy genre has become more sophisticated and, as I say, the readers are now more demanding so anything superfluous, gratuitous, or overdone will either not get published or just be ignored.

Of course, there are exceptions - just look at Eragon. Awful, awful book and not a great film, yet still massively popular... Rolling Eyes

As for sex... it needs to have a purpose in the narrative, else it's just going to (probably) put some people off. I don't know anyone who reads fantasy for the sex. So long as the scenes have a a point (developing plot, characters, relationships, et al), then so be it. If they're just there for the sake of the characters getting some nookie, I tend to just skim over it and move on.
_________________
Pagan Music
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Lizzy



Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 674
Location: the wilds of the West

PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Sex in books Reply with quote

melvish wrote:
"Tend" interesting choice of word Lizzy. Something you don't like?

Hello melvish and welcome.
It was just used as a figure of speech, James writes good sex scenes
_________________

Listen to Lizzy, she's always right! Laughing as said by Jovial
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
girdhar



Joined: 28 Dec 2007
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi, I don't mind the sex in the book unless it is forcefully induce .
If the sex in the book is along the flow and to express the emotion I don't object such type writing.
_________________
coffee shop,electric smokers,cooking sets


Last edited by girdhar on Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:10 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's part of the story then fair enough. Depending on the tone/content of the story then I'd say that how sex is portrayed has to fit in with the book itself. I'm guessing that a rape scene (for example) would have to written in a certain way otherwise the impact would be lost.

But then there's writers like Laurell K. Hamilton who just go way overboard with the whole sex thing Rolling Eyes I think there's a big difference between a story about sex and four hundred pages where nothing happens apart from sex...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Wulfa_Coldheart



Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sex often pops up in novels aimed at adults... I think it works if it is well written and serves the story. Sometimes it seems to be thrown in for the hell of it and sometimes it's really, really cheesy. I don't really have a problem with it.

I have had the joy of reading or at least reading part of an erotic novel that was written and publishing by a friend of a friend. I couldn't finish it as it was rather silly and gets pretty boring after a while and only persisted with it for as long as I did out of interest because it is set in the city I live in.
_________________
"You know what Jack Burton always says... what the hell?"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
molossus



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tuval wrote:
Very Happy
Now I remember what it was called!!
The Books were parts one and two of the War of Powers....
Not bad... but way too much sex in there for my taste :S


The second one (Istu Awakened - Ithink!) is even worse.

Regards
Rich
_________________
They're happy because they eat lard!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Selik



Joined: 20 Jan 2005
Posts: 1524
Location: South Shields

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that so long as there's a point to the individual sex scene it's okay. If it's just there for the sake of it, then there's no point to it.
If there's no point to any particular scene then why bother having it?
_________________
"I sit on my arse, not my head." - Baron Gresse.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
masrock



Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 14
Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tuval wrote:
Very Happy
Now I remember what it was called!!
The Books were parts one and two of the War of Powers....
Not bad... but way too much sex in there for my taste :S


I've read the War of Powers - had me in stitches when the psychic female genie got stoned on an aphrodisiac drug then put into the same bottle with a male genie- they found that they could touch each other and since both had 'died' virgins before becoming genies and then sat in bottles for a millennia with little to occupy the minds, there was an over abundance of sexual tension. The resulting psychic wave of horniness engulfed the city resulting in dogs humping cats, guards on the wall hiding in the corner to self pleasure, married people actually doing it.....very funny to a 14 year old, must read it again.

Sex in books can be just text porn - fine and has a place in life or can be used to forward a plot - it's a natural part of life as anything else. Excluding for prudish reasons it can often leave a gap in the plot.

Masrock
_________________
"Time flies like an arrow.Fruit flies like a banana."

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    James Barclay Forum Index -> Books All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group