I Need. More. Humour

[erastes]

 

So I’m reading Tangled Web by Lee Rowan.

As I’ve said before on this blog, I’ve been accused in more than one place of showing favouritism to “my friends” when it comes to reviews (which isn’t true, as I’ve said before, I just am a suck-up who makes friends with good writers) – and when it came to reviewing this book (seeing as how it’s the same publisher as Transgressions TOO) I resisted reviewing it and gave it to someone else to do. 

And I didn’t get around to reading it till this week.

Granted I haven’t finished it yet, so expect a fuller review in time, but OMG – if you enjoy Georgette Heyer but get irritated over her over-use of slang then you are going to LOVE THIS so go and BUY IT.  It’s edge of the seaty, funny, touching, sweet, the characterisation is terrific and you’ll be rooting for the relationship throughout. Bloody excellent so far.

How can I not be friends with someone so nice and so very talented? 

It makes me want to put a bit more humour in my books, though. The last few books since Hard & Fast have been so very serious with hardly a light moment to be seen, Junction X is dark, Mere Mortals is gothic, Tributary is not exactly a laugh a minute and Happy Horny Hussars (AKA Muffled Drum) won’t have ‘em rolling in the aisles. Hopefully Fleury will bring a little levity to my writing this year…

Comments

[beckyblack]

I second the rec, I just finished this yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hey, I like Georgette Heyer's slang, even if it gives me a WTF? reaction sometimes.

Humour is a weird thing. I think it's one of those aspects of writing that even if you're good at it, it's hard to explain how you do it. It either comes naturally or it doesn't. Dialogue can be similar. Some people sweat blood over it, others find it comes easy, but couldn't say why. It's all a bit magical.

But definitely worth trying. You might be a comic genius waiting to be unleased!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I've done touches - Fleury had his moments, and Hard & Fast was sort of sarcastic irony, so I'm holding out hope that Fleury will come out of the mope he's in right now and cheer up soon. :)

I don't mind Heyer's cant - but she does it too universally - whether its the highest duchess or the lowest stablehand they all use the same language which is daft (from the very few I've read, at least) and she doesn't make any effort to make the cant easy to understand by explaining in context--Lee manages to do her cant so well that she explains in context without seeming to try, which is quite skilful.

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

I'm currently waiting for Tangled Web to plop through my letterbox - still two weeks until my expected delivery date though!

[beckyblack]

Fleury should definitely be a useful character to bring the funny. He seems like someone it will suit. The worst thing is thinking of a good one liner or whatever and realising you have to cut it because the only character who can say it just isn't that funny a person and it would be out of character. Annoying.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I shouldn't have been surprised that it was so good - I know that. But this is the first non-seafaring book that I've read of Lee's and somehow I wasn't expecting it to be as good (stupid of me, I know, good writers generally get better, after all) but the research she's done (without making it obvious) is so bloody amazing, that I can help but be so impressed - the horse stuff in particular is very well done. I'm sure you'll love it.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I love Tangled Web. I think of the four books in the RP series, it's the most romantic, in the sense of being like a traditional regency romance, but simply m/m instead of m/f. And yes, I loved both characters and felt the relationship was so obviously right that it gave me a warm glow to see it succeed.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think it's definitely the most "traditional regency romance" i've ever read in the m/m genre, definitely. Finished it this morning and it was a hugely enjoyable read.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad the humor worked--by the time I was finished with the thing, I couldn't tell if anything was funny or not.