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ariadnes_stringSo I'm about to dive into my shiny new copy of Corambis, the last of the four books of Sarah Monette's Doctrine of the Labyrinths series, and I'm wondering, not for the first time, whether there is some overlap between readers of these novels, and SPN fans. Because you'd think if you like one, you'd like the other.
They are written in quite different genres--high fantasy vs. urban legend/horror--and different mediums--single-author book series vs. episodic TV (on the CW no less). But here's the thing: both are centrally, and almost exclusively, about the intense, and not entirely peaceable, relationship between two brothers: a relationship whose intensity derives, in both cases from the deprivations of their childhoods. Moreover, both fraternal relationships are slashy, not in the primary definition of slash as M/M sex, but in the para-definition of slashy-ness, as representations of men driven by circumstance beyond the conventionally masculine expressions of emotions, particularly love. Both stories, then, unconventionally place a love story that is not about romance, sex or marriage at their center, and explore characters whose primary emotional attachment is not, finally, sexual.
In addition, there are some funny, incidental, similarities: both pairs of brothers spend a lot of time in the hyper-intimacy of hotel/motel rooms; in both brother pairs, the taller one possess freaky powers, along with freaky intelligence, while the shorter one has bright green eyes and a tendency to slur his words. Both stories seem to have been conceived by their creators long ago, so there's no chance that these shared details result from mutual pillaging--which makes the connections all the more enjoyable!
Finally, since this in part a plug for the Monette books, I'll say that if you shy away from fantasy literature because of its faux-archaic characters or language, or adherence to utterly conventional plot lines, as I usually do, don't worry! The Doctrine of the Labyrinth books do none of those things, and are beautifully written in engaging, funny voices. You can read excerpts from them here: www.sarahmonette.com/ ; Monette has also been talking about them a lot on her very active LJ page (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
truepenny ).
They are written in quite different genres--high fantasy vs. urban legend/horror--and different mediums--single-author book series vs. episodic TV (on the CW no less). But here's the thing: both are centrally, and almost exclusively, about the intense, and not entirely peaceable, relationship between two brothers: a relationship whose intensity derives, in both cases from the deprivations of their childhoods. Moreover, both fraternal relationships are slashy, not in the primary definition of slash as M/M sex, but in the para-definition of slashy-ness, as representations of men driven by circumstance beyond the conventionally masculine expressions of emotions, particularly love. Both stories, then, unconventionally place a love story that is not about romance, sex or marriage at their center, and explore characters whose primary emotional attachment is not, finally, sexual.
In addition, there are some funny, incidental, similarities: both pairs of brothers spend a lot of time in the hyper-intimacy of hotel/motel rooms; in both brother pairs, the taller one possess freaky powers, along with freaky intelligence, while the shorter one has bright green eyes and a tendency to slur his words. Both stories seem to have been conceived by their creators long ago, so there's no chance that these shared details result from mutual pillaging--which makes the connections all the more enjoyable!
Finally, since this in part a plug for the Monette books, I'll say that if you shy away from fantasy literature because of its faux-archaic characters or language, or adherence to utterly conventional plot lines, as I usually do, don't worry! The Doctrine of the Labyrinth books do none of those things, and are beautifully written in engaging, funny voices. You can read excerpts from them here: www.sarahmonette.com/ ; Monette has also been talking about them a lot on her very active LJ page (
truepenny ). 
