So who does it for you ladies? Mr. Immortal who has seen centuries of loneliness until he meets the heroine, or Mr. Mortal who is scary & monstrous, but has only one life-time for redemption and true love?
World-building in paranormal romances involves many decisions on the part of an author. One aspect of that “world” that has far-reaching consequences is deciding if the paranormal characters live for centuries or do they pass through the story, aging more or less the same as humans.
As authors we get to have lots of fun with this whole spectrum of lifespan. We play “god” and decide if silver kills the werewolf, or if Count Hotpants witnessed the fall of the Roman Empire standing in the sun. I have read (and written) variations on those two extremes. Most immortal characters have a weakness that can lead to their death. Mortal paranormal characters are not mere humans. These characters commonly have strengths that make them hard to kill and age slower.
But how does the mortality of the character affect the reader’s experience of the romance?
World-building in paranormal romances involves many decisions on the part of an author. One aspect of that “world” that has far-reaching consequences is deciding if the paranormal characters live for centuries or do they pass through the story, aging more or less the same as humans.
As authors we get to have lots of fun with this whole spectrum of lifespan. We play “god” and decide if silver kills the werewolf, or if Count Hotpants witnessed the fall of the Roman Empire standing in the sun. I have read (and written) variations on those two extremes. Most immortal characters have a weakness that can lead to their death. Mortal paranormal characters are not mere humans. These characters commonly have strengths that make them hard to kill and age slower.
But how does the mortality of the character affect the reader’s experience of the romance?
An immortal character can bring a darkness and depth to a romance that surpasses the human experience. This character is “larger than life” and exciting for the reader. Elements from historicals can be tied into the plot creating a bigger story. And let’s not forget the practice an immortal hero has in the bedroom department! But remember the scene in Highlander when Conner Macleod is holding his elderly love as she dies? Downer!
Can there be a true, resounding happy-ever-after with an immortal? If the author has to “match” the destinies of the two love leads, how do you like it to come out? Should they both become immortal and live outside the typical human experience, or should the immortal fall to earth and become mortal to complete the romance experience?
What about the mortal paranormal characters? Are their supernatural abilities enough to make them special and interesting? With mortality comes messy problems like family and death. Do these more “real” issues take away from the escapism of paranormal romance? Do mortal paranormal characters have what it takes to satisfy?
But with mortal pairings the flip side of death is birth. In this happy-ever-after, the implication of a secure future with a normal life span and probable babies (and supernatural babies, to boot) creates a satisfying fulfillment of the romance story arc.
Let us know what you think. How does the immortality, or lack of immortality, affect your romance reading pleasure?
What about the mortal paranormal characters? Are their supernatural abilities enough to make them special and interesting? With mortality comes messy problems like family and death. Do these more “real” issues take away from the escapism of paranormal romance? Do mortal paranormal characters have what it takes to satisfy?
But with mortal pairings the flip side of death is birth. In this happy-ever-after, the implication of a secure future with a normal life span and probable babies (and supernatural babies, to boot) creates a satisfying fulfillment of the romance story arc.
Let us know what you think. How does the immortality, or lack of immortality, affect your romance reading pleasure?
12 comments:
Good question, Margo. I have to admit that often when I'm reading I don't end up buying into the idea that the hero or heroine are really immortal. In that they seem pretty 30-something to me. Whereas I think being centuries-old would change one's personality and perspective and there'd be an "alien" aspect to them.
HMMM... I think I'll go with the mortal. For me, what greater thing to lose is there than LIFE? I know that paranormal is way more complex than that but bottom line, I like a man with his life on the line.
oh and btw... mmmmMMMMmmmm.
HOT.
Jorrie-The whole "30-something" mindset always pulls me out of a story, too. I've been around people who have lived more than 3 or 4 decades. They're very stubborn and set in their ways (not talking about MY PARENTS, LOL)
Morgan- First, glad you liked my hottie. Second, "life on the line"--yep, certainly ups the tension in a story.
I like the mortal hero better, because the immortal... Well, you'd have to find a way for the heroine to also be turned into an immortal or given immortality OR for the hero to become mortal himself.
Otherwise, it's NOT a happily ever after, it's a happily... for now.
And that's no bueno in my romance.
I've read books with immortal heroes who've found love and their heroine stays mortal. Like the question of The Highlander, I couldn't find myself content at the end of the story, because I knew the hero would be tortured when his heroine died on him after a few decades... That's not a true happy ending.
Mortals for me. :)
~~Becka
As one book that deals with immortality says, "How can one know if one is immortal unless one sees the end of time?"
I've only written one 'immortal' character so far, a vampire. But he's still very human. Like humans he's riven between his light side, the part that cares, and his dark side, the sadistic monster that he gained with vampirism. OK, humans don't have a monster, but they are capable of being monsters.
That battle is a big part of what makes him interesting, both to write and to read.
I don't believe a true immortal could fall in love. Their mindset, in which they're the only constant thing, pretty much excludes it. It's hard to care about something that flashes through your life for just an instant. And an instant could be a person or a city.
So, in my opinion, even the 'immortal' characters work best if they are a reflection of mortality, of being human
I've written several stories involving immortals of different types. I have to say it's all in how you play those characters. Yes, I "turned" my heroines so they could be with the hero for eternity, but for most of the book they realized they only had a "for now" not a "forever." It's what help puts some of the tension and angst into the book. I think I have abandonment issues..hehehehe...so I like a lover or hero in a book who is going to stay around for the long haul. There's just something sexy about a guy who says he will love you forever...and reaaaalllyyy mean it. I also don't think my immortals are stuck in "30-something" mode. I tried to tie them down with the weight of their experiences.
That being said, I have read and written my fair share of mortal heroes that were probably a bit hotter than those tasty immortals. Matter of fact the mortals are definately in the majority in my files.
-Kat
hmmm...
It sure meant a lot when Angel told Buffy that he was more than 200 years old and loved a woman exactly once in his lifetime. You know?
And knowing that you are special enough to catch the interest of someone who has seen it all...that is heartening.
Loving an immortal is bittersweet for sure. Plus, nobody knows what is around the next corner. Just because he has lived for a century doesn't mean he won't be on the receiving end of a stake tomorrow. I think if anything, immortal fear death more than mortals would.
Becka - I can see you're a HAE purist like me...at least in my romances. Yeah, if the immortal will eventually see the mortal mate die it makes me too sad.
rgraham666 - Cool ideas on the place of the immortal character in a story. "And an instant could be a person or a city." What a cool, dark way of thinking of their experience. I think it was that type of character construction that made me like "Interview with a Vampire" so much. I knew it wasn't a romance, so I could accept the immortals easily.
MK - "I tried to tie them down with the weight of their experiences." The mark of a skillful author :) I also like your point that the "for now" versus "forever" was part of the plot's tension and that you resolved it in the end for the reader's satisfaction. For romances, I think that is so important in making readers happy.
Gwen - "And knowing that you are special enough to catch the interest of someone who has seen it all...that is heartening." Very, very true. That is definitely something with paranormal romances that makes the immortal characters so special. Their love is of the most intense level.
I'm loving everyone's comments. This immortal vs. mortal is just something I've always thought about when reading paranormal romances and its fun to get to have a conversation about it!
I view immortals a bit differently than most. Rather than age, and the weight of experience leaving them unable to love or to feel the passion of life, I see it as something that intensifies their perspective.
Who better to fight each and every day to live in the moment, than one who has seen how preciously short those moments are when measured in mortal lives?
My immortals are fiercely joyful, and will fight for every scrap of happiness because they've learned in their lifetimes that sixty or seventy years together can go by so very fast. There is no day (or night) to waste on pointless struggle.
Rather than just an extention of the typical mortal crumudgen who grows set in their ways in their fifties and sixties, Immortals would be the equivalent of the vibrant, retiree set, still dating and looking for love in those last years because they've got nothing to lose.
If you live long enough you begin to think you've seen it all, done it all, and know it all, which is where in human terms we get people who are stuck in their own perspective. But if you live a little longer still, with your eyes wide open, you grow past that, and I think immortals, of all preternatural creatures, would learn the value of being happy over being right.
With that in mind, my immortals are less broody and when it comes to love, almost adolescent in their intensity and exuberance to soak up every moment before it's gone. That in and of itself can be something that makes the immortal mindset alien to a human looking in.
While I like knowing that the main characters go on to have a long, happy, future, and like the mortal to become immortal, I can yield on it if I know that every day of the sixty or seventy years they had together the mortal knew they were loved beyond anything they could have hoped for.
Also, when I read or write, I don't necessarily see the immortal lover as any different than a mortal lover, in that there are no guarantees of long life. Immortals die as often as mortals in most paranomral worlds. So the tension and desire to be together holds just as much, if not more significance since one has lived long enough to lose so many.
And wow, this went from a comment to a blog entry all its own. LOL
~X
xakara - Great comment/blog post :) I'm just so happy that I got a converstion going. I think this is an important aspect of paranormals because people have such storng, primal responses to life and death issues.
Thanks to everyone who lurked and those who jumped in with their comments. It was fun for me.
I've done one vamp. Though he was technically immortal, he'd been asleep for over a hundred years. He didn't care for modern times, except for his computer and his daughter. As for making the heroine immortal, I'm not sure, I guess so, but not always, because after a while it becomes trite.
Post a Comment