Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Alphas in Paranormals

I think that's why readers have fallen in love with paranormals. Vampires and werewolves, after all, are not expected to be politically correct. They get to bite people, grow hair, and run wild in the woods. They don't have to wear bows, paint their toenails pink and sit in your lap gazing at you adoringly. You have to chase them -- or maybe run from them -- and that makes them a lot more interesting to be around.
From Angela Knight's blog post on "Where have all the balls gone?"

Agree? Disagree? Think AK is plain awesome? (I do!)

I also think she's right on the money about the alphaness of the men being part of the appeal of paranormals. If the world is done right, then we, as readers, are willing to accept a lot more from these men than we would from men in contemporaries, for example.

(p.s. JR Ward fans - make sure to read the comments under the linked post for a very interesting back and forth discussion)

5 comments :

Anonymous said...

That's really interesting, thanks for posting the link.

Never thought about it in any depth but yeah definitely accept more from paranormal-alphas. It's also only in para's that the 'pyscho' characters appeal. For example JR's Zsadist is a great character one of my favs even but misplace him into RL and OMG scary run for the hills..so to speak.

Don't like it when female characters are subjucated though; the tantamount to rape scenes always make me want to throw down and stamp on the book regardless of genre.

Alpha males are great in fiction but are all the better for being partnered with a strong female, not necessarily in a kick-arse sense.

Casee said...

Thanks for the link, Nalini. It's a very interesting post. And too true, in my opinion.

I don't really read historicals anymore because they are so boring. I miss the days of Judith McNaught and Julie Garwood where the heroes were jerks, but we loved them anyway.

I also agree about the reason paranormals are becoming more popular. The first paranormal I ever read was Dark Prince by Christine Feehan. The hero almost killed the heroine before Chapter 4.

Nalini Singh said...

LOL about the psycho characters, Clare. One of my faves is Zarek from Sherrilyn Kenyon's books and yep, he'd be verrrrrry scary outside of a paranormal.

But I have to agree - I don't like violence in alphas, when that violence is directed at the heroine. To me, a true alpha has a core of protectiveness that shines through no matter what.

Casee - I adore JG. Have you heard she's writing a new historical? Dark Prince is one of my keepers!

Anonymous said...

Definitely agree both on the protective core and Zarek :)

Barbarita V said...

I like Zarek and Zsadist they both have a very special place on my shelf