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[THX1138]

@Snicklefritz I enjoyed matching up the various movie scenes to Toby's dialog and revisiting it in my imagination.
Kind of like Mystery Science Theater 3000, but done with more class!
(still waiting for Captain Smith book 2 to arrive. Week 3 and counting ...)

@Toby Frost I am intrigued with Up To The Throne, will have to get that one in a few months.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Slightly weird random question for anyone who's read it: what is Up To The Throne like in terms of genre and similar authors?

I'd say YA fantasy - however, there are some "trad" fantasy books I'd also call YA, such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Mark Lawrence Prince of Thorns, as to me they read just like other books I've read marketed specifically as YA - focused on a single young protagonist finding their place in the world with a love interest to boot - such as Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes and Mark Robson's Assassin's Apprentice.

That's just my opinion - though some writers recoil at the suggestion that they've written YA, but it's a far bigger market to pitch at than trad epic fantasy so they should take it as a compliment.

 

[Toby Frost]

I am now deep into Captain Smith and having a rip-roaring good time. I haven't laughed out loud as much while reading since Terry Pratchett. Well done, my friend.

Well I'm very pleased to hear that! I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! Thanks!

 

[Snicklefritz]

Well I'm very pleased to hear that! I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! Thanks!

just ordered the next two. Now I'll never get my "serious" reading done.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'd say YA fantasy - however, there are some "trad" fantasy books I'd also call YA, such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Mark Lawrence Prince of Thorns, as to me they read just like other books I've read marketed specifically as YA

I'm not sure about this. Of course it depends how you define YA, but I always saw Giulia as older than that and not in a state where she was still "becoming herself". One thing I don't really want to write is coming of age stories, purely because that's not really my thing: Up To The Throne starts with everyone skilled and experienced, and the only unfinished thing is Giulia's revenge. But maybe that doesn't matter in terms of definition.

just ordered the next two. Now I'll never get my "serious" reading done.

Don't expect anything serious from them!

 

[HareBrain]

I'm not sure about this. Of course it depends how you define YA, but I always saw Giulia as older than that and not in a state where she was still "becoming herself".

Yes, I wouldn't have said YA. For one thing, the political intrigue (from what I recall) is definitely at an adult level -- it's one of the things I liked most about it. Also, the overall tone doesn't feel YA to me.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'd agree, not YA

 

[nixie]

I don't think of it as YA.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yeah, I suspected other members wouldn't agree - I also suspect that I have it stuck in my head that adult fantasy requires a huge cast of characters spread across a wide geographical area, which probably isn't very representative.

I do remember really liking the world-building details Toby put into this series - little touches that showed a lot of thought.

 

[Toby Frost]

The closest fantasy I can think of (that I've read) to Up To The Throne is probably The Lies of Locke Lamora, but that's more of a caper story and it's both more gory and more lightweight somehow. I'm glad you like the details - I find that it's the details that make the setting more convincing.

 

[The Judge]

There ought to be a genre of Revenge Fantasy, like Elizabethan/Jacobean Revenge Tragedy!

Along The Lies of Locke Lamora line, there's Douglas Hulick's Tales of the Kin series which again concerns thieves and the like, but is a good bit darker, less caper-y and more trying-to-stay-alive with lots of twists and turns in the plots, and has been variously described as "action-packed epic fantasy," "action-adventure," "urban fantasy" (that one's by SFX and the least applicable to my mind, though admittedly the action does mostly take place in a city), "fantasy-adventure" (the blurb on Goodreads, presumably by him or his publishers so might be most helpful), a "seamless blend of street-level Sword and Sorcery and Mafia fiction" (sffworld.com) and Wikipedia's page on him also calls it sword and sorcery (misleading to my mind).

I'm useless at things like comparators, so I hesitate to suggest you use the series as such, though it might be worth your while having a look at the first book to check for yourself, but I certainly think some of the labels could apply to UTTT. Personally, I'd suggest you push it as "action-adventure fantasy". (With a touch of revenge tragedy...)

 

[Toby Frost]

There ought to be a genre of Revenge Fantasy, like Elizabethan/Jacobean Revenge Tragedy!

I agree! Given how prevalent the "rogue" stereotype is, I'm really surprised that there isn't a genre of noir or crime fantasy. "Urban fantasy" to me means something more like "Buffy-style magical stuff in the modern world" rather than fantasy set in a city.

It's nearly time for Newsletter 2. I could write hundreds of newsletters because they're interesting - I just need to figure out how to make Mailerlite work. Story of my self-publishing life, really...

 

[Toby Frost]

It's nearly newsletter time! I'm starting to quite enjoy writing it.