Vampires, werewolves and witches, oh my

Let me preface by saying that most of my friends can attest that while having a great love for science fiction and fairy tales, it does not follow that I am enamored with the current trend of paranormal, urban fantasy.  I don't question the economies of it all for they are staggering the banks.  It is just that I cannot fathom picking up and reading the back jacket of one more teen romance-vampire-werewolf extravaganza or female detective who sees dead people while she is fighting crime.  Perhaps a warning sticker on the front jacket saying this is another paranormal - urban fantasy book, so I don't strain my wrist.

Really something new please.  I say it with great sympathy.  I suppose it is inevitable that most authors have one or two ideas that easily fit into this uber trend.  Perhaps the success of it is rooted in the need to escape and explain the darkness in the world.  Sadly, the evils in many of these books pale when compared to the local evening news, making all these books some how vanilla for all their teeth bearing and hungry looks.

To illustrate what I would like to find, simply look consider Picasso's Guernica and you know what I mean.  I do not even like Picasso, yet I cannot deny the power of this one work.  Has anyone other than the Russian authors of previous centuries, written that book.  Could it be a trend in whole or part?  It is powerful in its pathos, its eerie in imagery harkens a frightening moment in time.  That is what fantasy should do.  It should be allegory at it's best, a mirror to reality.  Truth is at the root of most fairy tales a and hence why they have endured through the centuries.  I don't blame Stephen Meyer or Charlaine Harris or even Anne Rice.  I am just weary of it all.  It's like hearing Michael Jackson in the nineties.

While I do not mean begrudge everyone their fun or deny them their favorite safe flavor.  I do however wish to walk into a book store and find something a little more interesting that rows and rows of vanilla ice cream in the stacks.  I was never fond of vanilla ice cream in the first place.  Nor do I want too much of the next trend, whatever that may be.  I simply want a choice.

As the industry suffers the shock of E-readers and Indy publishing, I hope they learn when not to listen to the marketing analysts and take a chance on something new.  Or a few somethings new, anything-just a new trend please.