Comments on: The Big Idea: Kaza Kingsley

By: shokoko

shokoko — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:23:02 +0000

the cover looks like Harry Potter without the glasses . this story is good too

By: xaaronx

xaaronx — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:27:21 +0000

Congratulations Kaza. And thanks, John, for pointing out these books. I’ll have to check them out once the semester’s over.

By: Kaza Kingsley

Kaza Kingsley — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:24:10 +0000

Wow – it’s so interesting to see people’s responses here!

The book is obviously marketed to look good to kids, but I hope that adults will give the series a chance too, as a lot of adults are fans now.

Personally I like both adult novels and kids fantasy. Absolutely love the Bartimaeus Trillogy by Jon Stroud (amazing art – also by Melvyn Grant, the Erec Rex artist) and Susan Cooper’s books (some versions of which have lousy art, but who cares?)

John – thanks again for having me on your site! It’s great to meet everyone here.

Kaza

By: hugh57

hugh57 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:36:35 +0000

DG Lewis @12: The term “Young Adult”, in this context, is a publishing term of art to refer, as you say, to young people between roughly 11 and 15. This is, I think, at least partly a matter of marketing. Publishers and librarians feel that kids in that age range will respond more positively to their product if you approach them as adults (albeit qualified) than if you call them “juveniles,” which is the term YA replaced. The word “juvenile” has taken on enough negative connotations over the past few decades that kids would bristle at being called that. “Juvenile” has fallen into such disuse in publishing that reviewers referring to the Heinlein “juveniles” of the 1950′s often put the word in quote marks, as I just have. I believe it is still used by some libraries, but refers to much younger children — those, say, 8-and-under.

Referring to college age folks (18 to 22) as “young adults” is usually used only outside of a publishing context; political polling, for example.

By: DG Lewis

DG Lewis — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:23:10 +0000

OK, a dumb question: If the target audience for YA books is, say, 11- to 15-year-olds, why are they called “Young Adult”?

Or is my thinking that “young adults” are those between, say, 18 and 22 just a sign of my lack of perspective due to old-fartdom?

Not that it matters or anything, I’m just wondering how the term came to be applied to that market.

By: Ana Stoica

Ana Stoica — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:02:08 +0000

Congrats to Ms.Kingsley for garnering this much interest in her novels. They sounds exactly like the sort of stories I would have been interested in as a kid. Granted, I’m 22 now and still interested in and love fantasy novels, so I may pick up the first installment and read it despite the young adult listing.

I’m glad there’s still a market for something other than Twilight and Gossip Girl in the YA world.

*shudder*

By: Pam Adams

Pam Adams — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:15:48 +0000

Sounds like fun, and I too loved Metamorphosis. [Adds to Buy Soon list]

By: tudza

tudza — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:46:36 +0000

Indeed, the cover art fills me with dread. The plot description fills me with apprehension.

Fortunate that I am not the target market.

I could be though, I purchased the audio books for all the Unfortunate Events books.

I waded through the first Artemis Fowl book and found its promising beginning horribly spoiled the further in I got.

I bought The Thief Lord and enjoyed it.

I bought Coraline and read in wonder as the movie version got raves since I thought the original story was only so-so, I suspect it’s the wonderful animation.

Harry Potter, well all the movies are better than the books, since the process involved the much needed editing of the original stories down to their proper size.

Shoot, I’ve got lots of Daniel Pinkwater.

By: MasterThief

MasterThief — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:17:41 +0000

@6 M.A.: To quote (I think) Dilbert , “the person who says something can’t be done should never interrupt the person doing it.”

It also sounds like a good book. My theory is that the YA market is opening up to people who wouldn’t be caught dead in the YA section of the bookstore, because they can simply go to Amazon and no one is the wiser.

By: John Scalzi

John Scalzi — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:29:55 +0000

Josh Jasper:

Eh. Athena, who is in the intended market for the book, likes the cover.

That said, let’s not have a discussion on the merits of the cover right now.