Quote:
Originally Posted by Little.Egret
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/...occult-history
"While I expect Ash would be called Grimdark if it was written by a man, it does not fit for other reasons beyond the author being female. True grimdark glorifies violence, is unreflectively, unrepentantly sexist and should at every opportunity revel in the idea that all possible decisions inevitably must produce misery, degradation and corruption1. Ash fails on most of those, even regarding violence. Ash is a mercenary because that’s what she knows how to do . . ."
|
I like his reviews. But... I don't think grimdark is necessarily sexist. While there are a lot of guys writing grimdark, that doesn't mean the books are sexist. Also, some of the recent authors getting a lot of praise are Anna Spark Smith and Anna Stephens, and they have scored high in votes for grimdark content according to an ongoing vote
on Mark Lawrence's blog.
The term "grimdark" started out as a pejorative, and then fans reclaimed it. However, it's hard to tell what is grimdark and what is not. Even the writers and fans don't agree. On top of that, many fans complain that people publish standard military fantasy novels and now call them "grimdark" even when they are not.
It's a weird term that is hard to define. But so is
hopepunk. Let alone
noblebright. (I'm not making those terms up!)