This post isn't spoilery at all, but if you haven't the foggiest idea what the Iron Fey series is about, I highly suggest you look it up and give it a shot.
ETA: IQ review HERE
I'm not sure if Julie had any intentions of this, but her Fey series has a deeper meaning of the world we live in.
It's mentioned in, I believe, Book One, that the Nevernever will soon be taken over by the Iron Fey totally, as mortals forget the magic. Iron glamour works, not with magic, but with science. As our world turns to technology, the "old-bloods" are forgotten.
It's a thought that terrifies me. And even if you don't believe in global warming and you don't mind breathing in smog and advancing like we are, think of one thing.
Do you love cracking the binding of a new book?
Do you love sticking your nose in it and breathing in paper-smell?
Do you love running your fingers along the bindings of books?
Do you love being in the stacks of a bookstore, all alone with that lovely paper?
Do you love tearing open a package and pulling out your pretty glowy shiny new book?
How about when you get the first ARCs of your OWN book?
Or seeing your book baby sitting on a shelf in your local indie?
Your mouth is watering, I just know it.
Now imagine if all that was replaced by wires.
Would you love it if instead of cracking the binding, you pressed "Read"?
Would you love getting electrocuted while trying to take a sniff?
Would you love running your fingers along the side of your e-reader, or memory chip?
Would you love staring at an e-book store online?
Would you love seeing lots of disks on a rack, for you to put in your computer to read?
Would you love the luster of a new ereader quite like a book's?
How would you feel if your first ARC looked no different than the final draft you sent to your editor?
And what about never hugging your book-baby?
Think of losing real books to e-books.
I'm terrified.
You'll be saying, "Oh, don't worry. It's not happening yet. There are still plenty of books." Now imagine in ten years, twenty. I plan on still reading when I'm 40. But do I want my children to say, "Ma, books are sooo old-fashioned!"
E-readers are cool, but to an extent.
Now, back to the iron fey. Technology is taking over, slowly. And the old-bloods are going to die, eventually.
Are you absolutely terrified, too?
Riv
Ereaders are definitely becoming more popular because it's so much cheaper for everyone and it's environment-friendly. I have an ereader, but I still love my "real" books. I hope we never lose actual, tangible books. That would be a travesty! Like you mentioned, there's just nothing better than hearing a hardback crack when you open it for the first time. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, there! I'm a brand new follower! What definitely attracted me to your blog, besides the VERY beautiful header, was this post.
ReplyDeleteI'M TERRIFIED, TOO... I mentally answered "yes" to every one of the questions in the first group in your post, and "no" to all the ones in the second group. And YES, I LOVE hugging my book-babies!!!!
I absolutely REFUSE to buy a Kindle, or a Nook, or whatever other e-readers are out there for sale. I don't intend to EVER buy one, either! I can't stand the stupid things!!
If you visit my blog (which I hope you do), you will see a small icon (in my sidebar) of a boy sitting with a book in his hands. Slightly above his book, there's a motto that reads, "I pledge to read the printed word." If you click on this icon, you will automatically go to a website dedicated to spreading the word, and you can then cut and paste the same icon for your blog, if you want.
I am keeping to my word! I do NOT read e-books. I do NOT buy them! (Well, duh, I don't even own an e-reader.) Therefore, I REFUSE to review them!!
I remember watching a classic "Star Trek" movie years ago, in which Captain Kirk is in his quarters, on the good ship "Enterprise". He puts on his reading glasses, approaches a shelf, and selects a beloved, leather-bound, "old-fashioned" book... In the 23rd century, there are no printed books, and they are only owned by passionate book lovers like Kirk....
I hope we NEVER come to such a sad scenario!
Thank you for loving books as objects in themselves! KEEP SPREADING THE WORD!! : )
Maria Behar @ http://twilightandotherdreams.blogspot.com/
Oh gosh! I'm scared of the extinction of books too. I for one will be buying books forever though, I know that for sure. And seeing all these people online in the book blogging community gives me hope that books will be kept alive.
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