Follow-up: Polls series no.3

I know you've all been waiting for the follow-up post with impatience :P so here it is! I started this post at 8.07AM this morning, but am now only finishing it... (well yeah, I had to wait till the polls officially closed down + I was working + making the graphs). So here it is :D

First poll: Favorite book of the Women of the Otherworld series?

Are you surprised that Bitten came up on top? I'm not, although I thought it would be a closer fight, considering all the great books. From the start, Bitten took the lead and never looked back :P

I voted for Industrial Magic. I just love that book, mainly because it's one of the few where most characters appear... i.e. the werewolves, the witches and sorcerers, the vampires, Jaime, Eve and a bit of Kristof. My second choice would have been Stolen, again, same reasons - we are introduced to the other characters in the series.

I can understand though why Bitten would be most people's favorite. Elena is a great narrator and heroine and the storyline was great. I like how Elena is already a werewolf, part of a pack. There's no "oh, werewolf exists?!?" and she's not an outsider who's introduced to a great secret. Ms Armstrong was also gutsy to start the series as she did - i.e., focus on Elena and the werewolves instead of introducing all the other supernatural beings and too much of world building... Another factor that made Bitten the winner is probably because it's the first book in the series. First book usually has the greatest impact and is often the one people like the best, because that's where everything starts.

Oh, another factor might have been that most voters did not read the whole series yet. I wonder if they did, would the race have been closer?


Second poll: Favorite couple?



Well talk about a landslide :P 17 votes total and 16 went to the same couple. With no surprise, Elena and Clay came on top, but I didn't expect with such an overwhelming majority. I actually expected a fight between Elena&Clay and Paige&Lucas... guess not :P Personally, I voted for Elena&Clay... my second choice was Jaime&Jeremy. I almost voted for them, but their long-distance relationship is why I didn't. Although it made a lot of sense in the novel and storyline, I'd have preferred them to be together, together.

So why Elena & Clay? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with Clay. He's much more charismatic than Lucas in my opinion. It also comes down to his personality... he might be rude, possessive and grumpy, but all this make him charming. Next to Paige & Lucas, I think that people find Paige & Lucas' relationship more normal and common; they don't stand out that much. Also, Ms Armstrong focused less on their relationship. Paige and Lucas met in Dime Store Magic, were a couple in Industrial Magic and next thing you knew, they got married in a short story. I guess readers didn't get to connect as much with them as a couple compared to Elena & Clay with whom interaction and relationship is one of the main issues :P I also wonder if perhaps it's because readers prefer Elena over Paige... I know that many didn't enjoy Paige's books, so that's probably another reason.

As for the other couples, it's unfortunate, but I guess they never had a chance... mainly, I guess, because, again, readers didn't get to connect with them... However, if I removed Elena & Clay, I wonder if Paige & Lucas would come on top or not...


Third Poll: Favorite Supernatural Being


When I put this poll up, I meant supernatural being in the series... however, I wasn't very clear and I think people just voted for their favorite ones ^_^; Ah well, no biggy. See, one of the reasons why I enjoy the Women of the Otherworld series so much is Ms Armstrong's world building, but also her different take on certain supernatural beings such as vampires... That's why I was interested to see what others preferred.

Interestingly enough, Elena and Paige's races came on top, werewolf and witch respectively. Is it because that's what the readers had most exposure with? Werewolves appear in almost all the books in the series and we got to see a lot of witches too.

I voted for werewolf, because I think they got the best deal... Increased strength and speed, prolonged life and best of all, very high metabolism that allow them to eat tons. Being a witch or sorcerer can be cool too; however, it seems to demand a lot more work and studies :P Vampires aren't bad either since they have increased strength and speed too and they do live way longer, although their life span is finite; but yeah, the whole blood thing? Not very attractive. Half-demon is not bad either, but it's risky, since the power and degree is pre-determined by the demon that fathers you. I wouldn't like to be attraced to chaos like Hope, but I wouldn't mind being able to control fire like Adam... As for being a necromancer or a clairvoyant, well the powers are not bad... however, having ghosts asking your help or being exploited by the Cabals -both definitively have cons... and biggest con is that most necromancers and clairvoyants become mad at they grow older. Definitively not attractive. Finally, shaman is the race we know the least about and I wonder if Ms Armstrong will ever develop that one... So yep, werewolves definitively have the best deal :P


Fourth poll: Whose book are you anticipating most?



This was the poll with the least votes; however, the ones who voted seem to be anticipating Savannah's book the most... and it makes the most sense. We've seen Savannah grow up throughout the series and we know that she's a powerful witch who's a lot like her mother. It'll be interesting to see her story. On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to Cassandra's book as much. I mean, it's been hinted in many books that Cassandra's time is ending soon :( I can't see anyone really looking forward to reading the book of a character who's about to die... One person has voted for Elena. I wouldn't mind to have another book with Elena as a narrator; however, I have a requirement. I want the children to be still kids... I don't want to see Elena and Clay deal with teenagers... However, it'll be interesting to see what the future has in store for Elena as an alpha :P


Fifth Poll: Will you give a try to Darkest Powers, the YA trilogy?



More than half who voted said yes and the others, maybe. The good news is that nobody came out and said no :P I think it's going to be interesting, but I can understand why many are so wary. Although I'm sure that if there's good reviews, then people will pick it up :D


So that was it for the polls series no.3 :D However, while I was writing this follow-up post, I came up with a question... It seems to me that many have not read the series... Most seem stuck after the fourth or fifth book... and many have the first 2 books in their TBR pile. Why is it that so many are not up-to-date with this series? I mean, for most series such as Psy-Changelings by Nalini Singh, the Guardians by Meljean Brooks, the Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian, when a new installment is released, people rush to the bookstore to buy it. So why not with the Women of the Otherworld? Is it because this is more urban fantasy than romance? Or perhaps there was too much of a gap between the first two books and the rest of the series? Just curious...


Oh, I still haven't come up for the next poll series theme... any idea?