Literary Horoscopy

[mrissa]

So I have this theory. (Anybody ever wonder why I have a tag for "full of theories"? Nobody? Good.)

Quizzes are popular on The Internets, right? Which Food Mixing Device Are You, What Is Your Thread Count, all those things. I never take them, but people seem to like finding out which fantasy author they are. (I know which fantasy author I am. I checked.)

What I think, though, is that with long series of books it should work in reverse. Rather than "Which Vorkosigan Novel Are You?", where you tell it you like hard sharp cheeses and things that are pale lavender and it tells you you're Diplomatic Immunity, you say you like Diplomatic Immunity best and it tells you that you should watch for falling objects and job opportunities this week, or take a chance on love, or do not forget to turn off the oven when you leave the house. Sure, people who were born roughly the same time of year have some things in common, but people who like Pigeon Post best probably have several more things in common. (Among other things, they're nothing like those Coot Club losers, honestly.) And you can imagine the conversations: "My kids just don't get along. Well, my son is a Nine Tailors and my daughter is an Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club." "Oh, yes, I have a cousin who's a Nine, and once they get a notion in their head, hoo boy!" And then you'd read down the column in the morning and go, "Honey, you're a Yendi, right? You're supposed to take some time to yourself this week. And drink plenty of water."

(This is why they don't let me write horoscopes or advice columns. Like every third thing would be, "Make sure you're getting good protein. If you're not allergic, toasted hazelnuts are nice." Which does not appear to be the sort of thing people want.)

Also this would be great for still-living, still-writing authors: "I thought I was a Taltos, but now I know I'm an Issola! It's so much more accurate now!"

What I can't figure out is how many books a series really needs for this to work. The Narnia books, for example, do not seem quite numerous enough to me, although maybe it's that I'm incapable of conceiving that anybody might like The Last Battle best and so I'm only counting six.

The other problem with this theory is that it's giving me the urge to go reread all the Aubrey & Maturin novels to figure out what my O'Brian sign is.

And the other other problem is that some authors seem clear to me that they do not require a series for this to work--Diana Wynne Jones, for example--and others really do seem like it'd be best with a series. Possibly this is just because I want to exclude The Documents in the Case and am not sure anything is clearer if you have both Perelandra and Prince Caspian as options.

If you like, you can tell me which one in a series is your favorite, and I will give you your literary horoscope for the week. It might involve hazelnuts, though. I can't promise anything on that front.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, I think MURDER MUST ADVERTISE is the best of the lot . . .

[jenett]

Ooooh! I think you should explore this idea.

Of course, there's the question of picking the series, but here's some options, and pick whatever amuses you. (Which you were going to do anyway, I'm sure...)

Memory (Bujold, as the Chalion books seem to need a few more options first. Maybe. Anyway, there, I prefer Curse of Chalion)

Busman's Honeymoon for Sayers, though Murder Must Advertise is a close second.

The Silver Chair for Narnia.

(Erm. That's probably enough to give you scope. Or I'll be here all evening, and I really should go make bread and clean the house.)

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Honey, you're a Yendi, right? You're supposed to take some time to yourself this week. And drink plenty of water.

Not that this was aimed at anybody, or anything.

[panjianlien.livejournal.com]

I love this so very much.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Apparently this post is mainly serving to remind me that I haven't been reading very many series lately.

Anyway, my favorite Chrestomanci is Conrad's Fate but my favorite Diana Wynne Jones is Deep Secret. (And I am allergic to hazelnuts, I think.)

[skzbrust.livejournal.com]

You might well be an Issola, but I rather suspect you're a Lyorn.

[pameladean]

But -- but -- but -- total orderings! Aieeeee!

I could tell you the story arc for the O'Brians. Or I could list three for some other series.

P.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yay for Busman's Honeymoon! My life is woefully full of people who disavow it; I adore it...

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I am, most definitely, a These Old Shades (how can no one have mentioned Heyer yet?).

And also, as mentioned above, Busman's Honeymoon - how they make it work afterwards being so much more interesting than watching it happen - and I am fascinated to know whether your system will produce similar horoscopes for both these personality types, or if I'm going to end up all Gemini, twins swimming in opposite directions...

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Chaz beat me to it. I am also a These Old Shades. And a Phoenix Guards. Also, though I don't often admit it, a Ballet Shoes.

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

There's also the question of which series you have read enough of to form an opinion. I couldn't work with an obrianologist because I didn't get past the first volume. A brustomancer or lewispex would suite me well, as I've read pretty much everything they've published, including the nonfiction. Still, to expand the field a bit, if you're willing to play the cabellist, I'll choose Figures of Earth.

[wldhrsjen3.livejournal.com]

I'm a Ballet Shoes too! :)

[wldhrsjen3.livejournal.com]

I *love* this idea.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I did not like that "what fantasy author are you" because one, the narrow range offered, and two, they asked what I would do in a situation, not what my characters would do. BIG difference there.

[aedifica]

Oh, fun! Hmm. I like jenett's idea of giving a favorite from various series or authors, so that you can pick one that works for you:

Gaudy Night

Paladin of Souls over anything else of hers in any series, but probably Komarr if we're restricting it to the Miles series

I'm not sure I could pick a Vlad book, because I always read them all in a clump and so I forget which is which. (OK, I can remember some of them because of the House involvement, but that doesn't help me with all of them.) Though maybe Issola.

Deep Secret, followed closely by Fire and Hemlock

Tam Lin (to bring in an author not mentioned yet, but I know you're familiar with). Speaking of, I think the Secret Country trilogy would work best for this if considered as a single book--what do you think?

I am not allergic to hazelnuts.

[aedifica]

How could one not like Busman's Honeymoon? It's not my very favorite of hers, but it's in my top five!

Eeeee, yes, Heyer

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I am absolutely The Unknown Ajax. In C J Cherryh's stuff I'm Downbelow Station. In Sayers I'm Gaudy Night.

I find your ideas fascinating and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

This is a fantabulous concept. My only problem now is to pick just one DWJ book.

<ponders>

Will you pick for me? Because I feel like I ought to say I'm a Fire and Hemlock, since that's the book that turned me into a writer, but I have such a deep and abiding love for Howl's Moving Castle and The Lives of Christopher Chant and The Homeward Bounders. I really don't know which one is my "sign."

[jenett]

I am not sure either, but there you are.

If I had to take a stab in the dark about it, I'd say that it might have to do with the relationship stability: one of the things that fascinates me about Sayers is about how the central relationships shift slowly, and yet there are all sorts of other more fleeting, but yet very important relationships going on that come in and out of the picture.

Which, when I think about it, is a lot of why I like series so much: it gets all my character urges in one place. (Good thing about brand new book that's all alone by itself: all new people to get to know. Bad thing about brand new standalone or first book in a series: no one I already know.)

But Busman's Honeymoon is this giant leap across a particular gap, and I can see how that doesn't work for people, or for whom the romantic tension is a lot more interesting than the romantic 'getting on with our lives' parts. Or something like that. [insert handwaving here]

[jenett]

Skating Shoes for me. For reasons I still haven't quite figured out, though I'm quite fond of Ballet Shoes

[redbird]

There is a certain temptation to lie, of course. In addition to any weird horoscope-stereotyping stuff, while most people who believe in astrology will at least claim that they don't think any sign is inferior, people are used to being judged for the books, music, etc. that we do or don't like.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I'm a Skylark Duquesne.

And I'm a Busman's Honeymoon, and an A Civil Campaign.

Since Dune is a single book, with no sequels, this meme cannot be applied to it.

So, what's my literary horoscope?

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I spent most of my life believing I was a Gaudy Night, but I think I'm really more of a Murder Must Advertise. I would love to be The Grand Sophy or Faro's Daughter, but I'm content as The Toll Gate. I'm also Paladin of Souls, The Blue Castle, and Ysabel.

This is heaps of fun.

The only series I read are kids' books ... almost

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix
Anne of Green Gables: Windy Poplars
Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
LHOTP: By the Shores of Silver Lake

Donna Leon mysteries: Hell, I don't know ... each one is more amazing than the last.

Tell me why you don't like The Last Battle. That's my either second- or third-favorite one.

[redbird]

Two thoughts. One is that it's a love story with detective interruptions, and someone primarily looking for a detective story would be happier with almost any of Sayers's other fiction. The other is that the conventional narrative ends at "reader, I married him," rather than going off to show a honeymoon as an ordinary part of life, with arranging to have milk delivered and hiring a chimney-sweep.