Where are the otherworldly POV characters in fantasy? I don’t mean dwarfs, elves, vampires and werewolves/shifters. I don’t have a problem with those beings. I just prefer characters like the Blood in Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series and the Others from Sergei Lukyanenko’s Watch series. Otherworldly characters are fascinating.
I can’t find books I can get excited about. It’s kinda frustrating. I read mostly manga now. Don’t know when was the last time I actually finished a novel.
I love dark fantasy because the creatures might not be the bad guy. They may be vicious, but they’re unapologetic about. They have powers that’s an important part of their daily lives. Well, that’s the kind of book I want to read. Can’t find any. The Watch series has the typical mythic creatures (vampire, shifters), but it also has the “Others” as the main characters. I think I’ll reread that series.
In the dark fantasy I’ve read, “monster” is more regular people with some psychotic tendencies. I want some powers. I like fantasy where the otherworldlyness is integral to the story, not as a “darkness” they have to overcome, but as something they’ve always embraced.
Psychotic tendencies, unique otherworldly beings, a new power system. The world building for that beast of a novel is a nightmare. It’s murder making these monsters relatable. It’s possible though.
The Sciell’s caused me some trouble. The characters eat raw meat (preferring flesh), they’re violent and mean, powerful and they really don’t like humans. The main characters, male and female, hit each other, hard, when they’re annoyed or bored. While writing that novel, I stepped back to figure out how to makes these demons likable.
The cast for most of my stories aren’t human. I went into Devdan Manor wanting to write a regular haunted house story. Instead, my characters turned out to be demons living in an alternate world. The story turned into demons haunting demons.
With Visible Through Darkness, the POV character started out as humans. As the story went on, she found out she was an “other.” She was shocked, but she embraced that side of her without hesitation.
I don’t know if magic and non-human characters was ever big in fantasy. Well, maybe after Harry Potter we got a crap-ton of boy wizard books and wizarding schools. If any book was marketed as the next Harry Potter (or even sounded like my favorite series), I wanted nothing to do with it.
The only non-human characters I come across are vampires or faeries (fae). I wouldn’t mind a demon if it’s done in a different way. Urban fantasy is famous for their otherworldly characters but the female protagonists tend to annoy me for some reason.
Why aren’t there more books with otherworldly beings as main characters who have powers they embrace? Recommendations welcome!
