Whatās wrong with the Zamonia books
Ā Ā Many aspects have been pointed out before in the discourse here on tumblr but I thought Iād compile them in one post. Iāve just completed the Bluebear audiobook and stumbled across some points that left a sour taste in my mouthā¦ Please feel free to add what comes to your mind.
āŗĀ Bluebear is the typical Mary Sue/White Male Hero. If he was a woman written by a woman heād be mocked to no end.
Tragic backstory (mom and dad kill themselves to save him)? ā
Being naturally the best in most things? ā
If heās not the best, heās the luckiest in the world?ā
Wise mentor there to rescue him when a situation is on knifeās edge? āĀ
āŗĀ Ā Same goes for Rumo, maybe without the brain capacity Bluebear has but heās got people who do the thinking for him.
The blatant lack of women/non-male characters!
āŗĀ Ā In the 13 Ā½ lives, we have Fredda, who is the most emancipated in the book (not hard when thereās only two female characters). Still, she has to fall for the trope of love at first sight. Granted, Chemluth is cute (and Dirk Bachās impersonation of him is just the best). But I donāt really see why Fredda would be into him from the very beginning? It feels more than shoe-horned. Just because Freddaās leaving with the Invisible People and Chemluth is of no use for Bluebear anymore doesnāt mean they have to travel through space dating.Ā
āŗĀ Ā Now, donāt get me started on Avriel! Sheās not a real person, sheās exactly like Bluebear has seen her in his dream, for Godās sake! She has one (1!) sentence in the entire book which is also about Bluebear. She could be a walking stick for all I care.Ā
āŗĀ Ā We might read the Babbling Billows as female, considering that the grammatical gender for Wellen/billows is female and that babbling and gossiping is oftentimes assigned as one of womenās main hobbies. (See how desperate Iām getting?)
āŗĀ Ā I donāt remember much about Ensel & Krete, but from what I do, is that this is more about children overcoming obstacles. Need to reread at some point. At least we have our first female title character.
āŗĀ Ā In Rumo, we basically also only have two female characters. Rala is a badass chick, and so is Oga of Dullsgard, but they deserve much better. For example, being less just badass and more balanced as characters. Rala, for some reason, is besotted with Rumo in her own special way (heās the prey, sheās the hunter) even though thereās no discernible reason for that. She only becomes Wolpertingās swimming hero because she wants to get Rumoās attention (though at least she does something). In the Copper Maiden, she has to prove herself to General Tick-Tock (āI have nothing to prove to you!ā one might want to say and then blast Tick-Tock into oblivion like Brie Larson did to Jude Law.)
āŗĀ Ā The issue of the Silver Thread has been discussed here before, why it only flows from male to female, never opposite; what happens when one of the designated couple (or neither) doesnātĀ actually want this relationship. We get a glimpse into that with Ursā and Sinaās story but itās never explained. While I love Urs to bits, I would have also loved to hear Sina on that topic. Itās also been brought up in the fandom how interesting it would be when the Silver Thread suddenly leads to another male, or when a woman suddenly has one. Fic material, I reckon.
āŗĀ Ā Iām also still bitter of Oga of Dullsgardās name change. As nothed in another post, she goes by Oga von EisenstƤdt/Oga of Ingotville in the German original, which immediately evokes the image of a relentless, steely character. I like that, it fits her teaching role. Dullsgard is famous for its bogs, and that the inhabitants mummify anyone who enters the town. Which makes nearly no sense at all for a Wolperting who is clearly not undead.Ā ādullā in English also meansĀ āboringā or evenĀ āimbecileā; Oga is neither.Ā
āŗĀ Ā I think itās really telling that the other independent female characters stem from a species whose name is eitherĀ āuglyā (English) orĀ āterrible, appalingā (German). Only ugly women are emancipated because they cannot attract the male gaze and therefore need another purpose in life. Or if they try to appeal a man, against better judgement, they will fail, in the case of Izanuela.
āŗĀ Ā We only hear of Floria of Ingotville in Succubusā story of their love, sheās basically held hostage by her father in an impenetrable castle made of steel, and can only escape her fate by an arranged marriage (her fatherās plan). As we know, her try to outsmart her father goes wrong, and after she thinks Succubus is dead, she stays wrapped up in grief for a man her entire life.Ā
āŗĀ Ā The only true heroic woman in the novels is Dylia, and only because of illustrator Lydia Rohde, whose illness Moers turned into a Zamonian story. If Moers had never met Rohde we would probably still be waiting for a female main character who is not a child.Ā
