Demonized

[melissajm]

My "serpent-demon novel" has been getting a lot of feedback along the lines of "This is well written, but I'm just not warming to the main character." People either seem to love Malak or hate him, and so far all the agents have come down on the "No Love" side.

Wiser heads than mine have suggested 2 possible instant turnoffs:

1. Serpent-demons, including Malak, eat anything that moves, including people.

2. Readers see "seraphim" and "demon" and assume a religious framework that isn't there, which throws them off.

So, does anyone have a strong reaction to either of those issues? Or suggestions? Thanks!

Comments

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

I mean, what spcpthook said ... for some reason, it wouldn't thread well.


"Raised that way" only works to a certain extent. Have you read The Book Thief?

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Nope. Whose is it?

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Markus Zusak.
It's told from the POV of a little girl growing up in WWII Germany. And no, she's not Jewish. Nor a Gypsy, nor anything else but a regular German. She's in the Hitler Youth and everything. But the story, which is told by Death, is brilliant.

And you do sympathize with the girl, throughout. One of the ways Zusak accomplishes this is...


SPOILER!







she doesn't toe the line she's taught in school, or in the HY. Neither do her friends...


Point being that people can resist their programming.