Complaining about Lightlark by Alex Aster for 2,5 hours | Little Duck Book Club Episode 4

[@j.j.knight6932]

I also feel sorry for all the great authors out there that never get published.

[@littleduckbookclub]

It really is frustrating how many actually good books get passed over in favour of something like Lightlark T-T

[@Lakstoties]

@@littleduckbookclub It's a strange experience for amateur writers. I mean, I came to the conclusion that nothing I wrote would ever be traditionally publishable, and honestly not worth the usual self-publishing process. But, then stuff like Lightlark gets green lit all the way... And I'm just sitting pure disbelief, thinking, "REALLY? THIS you let through your doors? Now, I don't want anything to do with you publishers, out of principle alone."

[@littleduckbookclub]

@@Lakstoties Yeah, I'm also an amateur writer and it just feels. Disheartening to see this get published? because ultimately what it tells you is that no matter whether what you're writing is good, if it just hits the right buzzwords and you're able to manufacture social media hype, anything goes. Which should be good, because it means in theory anyone could make it, but then you see what kind of books get tiktok hype and it's an incredibly narrow set of tropes and genres. And that kind of makes it feel like some stories just don't have much of a chance at all...

[@Lakstoties]

@@littleduckbookclub Well, as disheartening as it can be... I take some comfort in knowing these big companies days of "safe" money are numbered. Most companies have gotten to enamored with the short-term profit from cashing in on fads of someone else's creation. A lot of money to be had, but... it's a short burst. That's often a one time thing. There's diminishing returns on such tactics. You can only hit the the current fad button for cash before you just burn everyone out on it. (Just ask Marvel.) And with their short-term, safe money only mindsets being their only operating tactic for so long... They aren't geared for the long haul of taking risks on new smaller things. This is starting to show up in many media companies. You got companies dumping tons of money in big projects and MAYBE making a little over the expenditures. It's not sustainable and the slow grind down is happening. There's plenty of back alley writers out there that are writing for the pure fun of it on different places. There's a lot to sort through, but... There's good stuff out there. And if you are an hobbyist or starting writer, there are some good places that'll keep you encouraged. I got a good deal of support through Reddit's HFY to get me through the 4+ years of writing a web serial. Probably would not have pursued it otherwise for that long. A few have made the jump to independent support through Patreon and even self-publishing from those platforms. Over the years, I've learned to not look to the traditional publishers anymore. You have to keep in mind the current people heading these companies aren't the ones that built it, or were even trained by those that did. It's a "From Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves in Three Generations" situation, and this is the third generation. Yes, they still have nice quarterly reports, but I doubt the long-term overall is looking that great at this point. A little creative accounting can make anything look good for the quarter. There's hope for all us to be found around the perimeter.

[@evapreu3011]

Okay but then why does everyone keep on talking about the bad books instead of making a two and a half hour video video on a good one for a change? Everyone laments that there are so many good books out there that would deserve the hype but don't even try to get them into the spotlight. I get it, it's fun to complain about bad books, I'm guilty of that as well. But you could at least add a few recommendations of authors and books who did it way better.

[@kandibug5303]

Isla to me also represent this weird trend of advertising in trad pub books (especially in some Romance with a sprinkle of Fantasy books *cough* 4th Wing *cough*) where they'll hype us that our lady protag will or is a ruthless person or is morally flexible or will have to do harsh things to survive, but in truth they are either just good people who in the story don't anything even marginally messed up things or are just a little bit selfish, but not all that bad in consideration of other factors. The Shadow Boo Love Interest however is allowed that morally flexibility and be morally right and be better than the lady protag in all talents. It's like the authors are scared of making a lady protag who does messed up things sometimes because they need the lady protag to be "innocent and likable" in comparison to the Shadow Boo Love Interest. This makes it that Isla cannot be a ruthless person who Lies, Cheats, and Betrays. Those are things that happen to her...

[@littleduckbookclub]

Oh yeah, this trend of advertising some absolutely normal female MC as cold and ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes it so bad. I want a girlboss that does some actually fucked up shit!! But no, we only get male characters that get to do horrible shit and still remain an audience favourite.

[@kandibug5303]

Also Isla had better chemistry, interactions, and an actual emotional reactions with Celeste/Aurora than the two random dudes she barely knew for a few 100 days (even with the 1 year memory loss). But no, Celeste/Aurora had to die so we can't have accidental sapphic interactions and vibes in this series...

[@ribbonquest]

That first feast should have had a 24-year-old starling present themselves to Isla, she thinks they're a server, and then an active server comes out with a fresh heart on a platter. Off-screen murder but fully conveys how screwed up both starling and wildling curses are.

[@littleduckbookclub]

This would make such an effective scene, it's a shame Aster is allergic to good storytelling T-T

[@kandibug5303]

The best way I can describe Lightlark and the later books' writing is basically like when you where a teenage writer who just threw in you elements liked from other works in a blender, not caring if it made sense, were good together, or those elements directly opposed each other. I will also stand in saying the agent who left Alex Aster was right to do so if this was the quality Lightlark was in. The only way to salvage this would to do a total rewrite especially since, I would bet my bumcheeks, she wrote Lightlark piece-by-piece over the course of 10 years by just adding things she liked from whatever she was currently reading from that 10 year journey and I feel like it shows in the haphazard writing.

[@littleduckbookclub]

It's still kind of crazy that this book was in the works for 10 years and somehow still reads like it was thrown together in a month....

[@kandibug5303]

Oh yeah, Oro's flare of truth and lie detecting... doesn't seem to work on Aurora's centuries long lies and illusions for some reason... I think Alex Aster forgot about that...

[@stormystohelit6256]

I absolutely love the subtle change of lighting over the course of the video 💜💜💜

[@holly-vg1iz]

This got randomly recommended to me, and I know it's bad practice, but I instantly subscribed when I saw the channel name and the ducks without listening to the episode first. This better be good!! (I'm sure it will be.)

[@littleduckbookclub]

Glad to know the cute ducks are doing their job succesfully :3

[@carolinesch.]

Also isla basically feeling like a self insert amd alex being latina and native as far as I know, then having the wildlings being savages eating hearts and being a temptress, aka spicy latina steriotype and what not.... a choice

[@littleduckbookclub]

Lightlark is honestly so full of choices that make you wonder why anyone would make them. The wildlings and Isla being the most obvious example

[@romulusnuma116]

If I remember correctly that was one of the things she advertised on her tiktok that it would be an exploration of the Latina temptress but really I think she meant she was just gonna play it straight.

[@xRaiofSunshine]

And of course Aster-I mean Isla isn't like the Other Girls 🫤

[@diaria3724]

Danke für diese Folge! Sie hat wirklich die langweilige Nachtschicht gerettet! Ichbwerde mir auch noch mehr von euch ansehen :) Grüße aus Deutschland!

[@CazuhLynn]

Your succinct analysis, humour and of course the lovely duck picture made me subscribe instantly. I love how it changes from day time to night time. For being such a young channel, the quality of your work is absolutely astounding. I can't wait to watch your earlier videos. And did I get correctly that at least one of you is or speaks German?

[@littleduckbookclub]

Thank you so much!! I hope you enjoy our earlier videos just as much :3 Also good catch, we are in fact both German lol

[@kandibug5303]

Cleo is 👑Queen👑 because like SJM, Alex Aster makes it obvious Cleo it the "older woman" who is meant to be hated so it props up Isla, the "Young and Sexy One," and so very evil for having the gall to have (*check notes*) an army in a game that forcibly pits the different -ling groups in a life or death of an island situation! Like this world never had any wars! NOPE! Not like there was a whole war between the Sunny people and the Nightly people that caused them to live on separate islands now! Only Cleo is the "bad one" and warmonger! It would have been funnier if Cleo begrudgingly adopted Isla to show her how to be a ruler then at the end she becomes Isla's parental figure, and oh look, I'm making Lightlark fanfics again... I have a rule if a creator is making it obvious that we are supposed to hate a character not by observation and consistent character actions, but by moving the goal post, double standards, refusing have arguments that should argued in good faith, and inconsistent characterizations (like suddenly their hobby is slapping orphans and baby animals) the I'm inclined to like them out of spite. And yes, I hate in Nightbane Alex Aster's idea of explaining and "humanizing" Cleo's hate of Isla is cause Isla reminded Cleo of some dead kid no one talked about in book 1 and suddenly her motivation is tied to only her being a mother rather than a ruthless queen who will do anything to protect her people because that is less interesting than Cleo just being a sad grumpy mom.

[@littleduckbookclub]

The fucked up part about Lightlark is that if you spend any time thinking about it you start to try and fix it because there are interesting elements here, elements that could make a genuinely compelling story! But then practically all of them are compelling ideas she took from some infinitely better piece of writing and crammed into her strange romantasy book and then blended it into a truly strange smoothie. I share your tendency to have a soft spot for characters the author has some sort of vendetta against. I also experience the opposite, if an author is trying to beat the reader over the head with how much we ought to like some character I'm inclined to dislike them out of spite lol

[@minbyc]

I’m so late commenting on this but your discussion at the end - I always say to my book friends that there’s a DISTINCT difference between a book that’s trashy and KNOWS it’s trashy, and a terrible book trying to be something it’s not. I am so unbelievably picky about books, but I absolutely adore a good trashy read on occasion. But the only good trashy books are ones that are honest about what they are. For example, the Perilous Courts series by Tavia Lark is so deeply unserious with fanfic level smut in it but i hold it so close to my heart because the author knows what she’s writing and leans into it. Plus it’s better written than half of the slop on booktok atm that’s pretending to be high fantasy. For me it just depends on how honest the author is, and how honest the writing is

[@minbyc]

And to be honest I respect lightlark a lot more than a lot of other booktok books because whilst yes it is absolutely AWFUL, it’s earnest and I can respect that. SJM on the other hand? No respect, absolutely atrocious and lazy

[@nobodynoone4]

Thanks so much for this video. I just read a really bad book (not Lightlark, I haven't read that one and am not planning to), and this video absolutely saved my day. I loved listening to you talk about Lightlark and analysing stuff and telling us what you thought. This was really nice! :)

[@littleduckbookclub]

I'm so glad we could brighten your day! Also hope you have some better books around to cheer you up after whatever you read

[@lanterns_glow]

I feel like Lightlark could be a truly epic post apocalyptic fantasy but it's just. So undercooked. The curses are what gets me the most. So I have been supporting a 5e Kickstarter for something called The Broken Weave (not a plug). In this world's settings Magic Is Broken, the Gods are Dead, and everything is Fucked and Decaying. Every race has a curse to the Decay that seeps into them based on what they are: Humans, beings of utter ambition, slowly rot and decay into soul and mind devouring zombies, losing who they are as the roots set in, unable to truly Die; Elves, once graceful and proud, slowly harden and crystalize into sharp stones and crystal, losing themselves as they start to slow but become monstrous structures that become pillars lost to the earth; Halfling become water and malleable slime, but this leads to a loss of the self until all is left is a mindless ooze; Dwarves blaze from inside out, inured to the cold and the forge... But they slowly lose themselves to the flames and no longer have the power to create- as if stuck- thought with the flames comes inspiration damned by their fading minds; The rest are damned to oblivion - those born of the old magics are cursed to Oblivion, fading as the decay sets in until they ultimately cease existing. THESE are messed up curses- the elements that embody the races turn on them, and those who don't fit the molds steadily fade from existence all together. Not being able to go in the day or nights heart eating and lethal loved a killer moon, and not being able to fly are weak considering. At least the Starling curse is FUCKED. But then Alex does NOTHING. This is not a fantasy world. This is a Tumblr shit post collection. I have been on Tumblr too long to recognize shitposting and lazy world building.

[@littleduckbookclub]

Undercooked is probably the best summary of Lightlark. None of the ideas in it are fundamentally bad but the end product certianly is T-T

[@carolinesch.]

Shane dawson is a nightshade, ich bin gestorben😂

[@ViolettaSachra]

I've not read Lightlark myself, but watched several videos about this book, and no one seems to understand the water-maze, which is astonishing to me 😮😂 how do you write so vaguely no one knows what's going on. i am also very confused about how the Newlands work. Like, the rulers are all on Lightlark, with their libraries, which is why Celeste and Isla couldn't get to them before the centennial? then who is ruling the newlands, since Lightlark is inaccessable for 100 years...? shouldn't the culture change so much between e.g. Sky-Isle and Sky-Newland? Idk maybe i misunderstood something 🙈 Thanks for your thoughts, you managed to bring up points I hadn't heard before. Looking forward to the Nightbane vid, but that has to wait til tomorrow 🥱

[@littleduckbookclub]

Perhaps that water maze was a trial for the readers and we all failed lol I think the rulers were on the newlands, but everyone apparently left behind their libraries and precious artifacts on Lightlark, an island that is inaccessible for a century. Which is kind of crazy if you think about it. I wouldn't leave my precious books somewhere I couldn't reach...

[@oliviaruk1248]

Naw love this vid! Can’t believe you guys have only just wound up on my feed!

[@littleduckbookclub]

Glad you enjoyed it! We actually haven't been around on youtube for that long so in the scope of things we wound up on your feed pretty early lol

[@cheruphim]

This is such a cute podcast aesthetic! 've listened to a lot of take downs about Lightlark/Nightbane when I happened to stumble upon this one.

[@littleduckbookclub]

Thank you

[@sbu_englishclub]

Love you guys’s stuff! Are you guys on any other socials? Would love to collaborate one day!

[@apoorvasastry7073]

I would love that! I watch sbu's channel and love them!

[@kandibug5303]

I'm also getting very tired of creators making "powerless" characters who somehow become the "master of all of the elements." Isla could have just been powerless and because she has no magic she is unaffected by the curse as there is no magic for the curse to attach to and she is a master alchemist who uses a lot of drugs and potions to stack on a lot of buffs. Ya know, Power Druggie Isla.

[@littleduckbookclub]

It's one of those plot twists that actually makes a character less interesting. It's on the same level as a character with cool powers turning out to have been royalty/related to other powerful characters all along. Because you know those average peasants can't make meaningful contributions to history.

[@santiagoacosta3372]

I love ducks and I hate this book, this video was made for me specifically

[@littleduckbookclub]

Always glad to be of service!