No Jewish Fantasy Writers?

Michael Weingrad has an interesting article in the Jewish Review of Books entitled "Why There is No Jewish Narnia." In the article, he discusses the reasons (social, historical, and religious) why he believes there are not a lot of Jewish fantasy (*not* sci-fi!) writers, particularly in the vein of Tolkein or Lewis. It's a pretty interesting article, although a lot of it seems to be impressionistic or opinionated rather than something that could really be proven. Weingrad mentions a couple of recent Jewish fantasy writers like Lev Grossman and Hagar Yani, and I started trying to think of other Jewish fantasy writers. The only one I came up with is Cassandra Clare, although her fantasy isn't precisely Tolkein-esque (it's definitely "modern" and urban as Weingrad describes -- although City of Glass was less so) . I remember once when I heard her speak, she mentioned how she knew she wanted Simon to become a vampire because as someone who is Jewish, she always wondered why Jews couldn't be vampires since crosses don't mean anything religious to them.

Any other Jewish fantasy writers?

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Fifteen year-old Clary Fray doesn't realize that she is the only one who can see the three teenagers killing the cute blue-haired boy in the storage closet of the Pandemonium Club in NYC. Although the incident doesn't spark the next sequence of events, it is closely tied to it. Clary's mother disappears, Clary barely survives an attack by a psycho killer centipede-alligator-thingy, and Clary soon realizes that she is gifted with the sight of otherworldly creatures because she is one herself (a Shadowhunter, to be exact). She joins up with the three Shadowhunter teenagers she saw killing at Pandemonium to try to find her mother. It turns out that she is in the middle of a conflict between the Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and members of the Shoadowhunter "Circle" that started just before she was born, and her mother knows where the vital Mortal Cup is located. Clary sets out to find the Mortal Cup so she can rescue her mother from the evil shadowhunter Valentine who has returned to the scene. The quote on the front of the book from Holly Black says the novel is "funny, dark, and sexy." I agree whole-heartedly with all of those adjectives and would add "suspenseful" as well. I can't wait for the next installment, which comes out in March.

It occurred to me in reading this book that the only thing that separates this from a paranormal romance novel is the teen-age of the characters and the lack of sex scenes. I don't say this negatively since, hey, I like romance novels. I am just noting it because I can see how people who liked this book and others like it as teens may grow up to like romance novels. Or I can see how adults who like romance novels would like this book. I never thought I liked sci-fi or fantasy, but apparently I now find myself liking "urban fantasy."

River Secrets

Title: River Secrets

Author: Shannon Hale

Rating: A+++

Continuing the Bayern Saga from her previous two novels (Goose Girl and Enna Burning), River Secrets picks up at the war's end with the main characters headed on a mission to ensure that peace is maintained. As with her past novels, old characters wrestle to control their powers (Wind Speech and Fire Speech), while new characters emerged with new and equally impressive powers.

Although the superhuman powers remain a key focus in this novel as in her past works, River Secrets follows Razo, whose lack of superhuman powers, make for a more believable and realistic tale which still manages to weave elements of the outrageous into an extraordinary adventure story.

Although Ms. Shannon's fantasy world is highly different from that of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, I find that many teens who enjoyed Twilight also love Hale's tales from Bayern! All I can say is write quickly, Ms. Hale...I expect a fourth installment soon!