Poppy D's comments (member since Jun 13, 2008)

Poppy D's comments from the Erec Rex group.

I think people will always compare the books which had set the 'trend' (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter) to the ones which have the teeniest similarities in them. Can't say I blame them. A hugely popular book will always be in the heads of the readers and (maybe even unconsciously) they will always compare it to the books that came after it.

But, if the books are well written, it doesn't matter (at least to me). Take Eragon. Paolini doesn't have anything new to offer, really. Alagaesia sounds like Middle-earth, the telepathic relationship between dragon and rider is similar to The Dragonriders of Pern, the essence of magic is similar to Earthsea, and the storyline reminds me so much of Star Wars. But the first two books are pretty well written that I couldn't put down my copies before reaching the last pages.

Heck, I even have a Snape-like character in my third book, except she's a woman. And a panther-guardian in my second book sounds like Mushu the dragon from Disney's Mulan. And people compare my first book to a TV series, "Charmed", even though it only has a single witch helped by three friends :) Since the last two books haven't been released, the readers' reactions are yet to be seen.

There will always be comparison. But as long as people see beyond the similarities and focus on the author's strongest point (characters or atmosphere or storyline) I think the book will stand on its own. And I think Erec Rex series is one of them.

Hi, my name is Poppy, and I'm going to translate Erec Rex series into Bahasa Indonesia. I met Kaza here at Goodreads and she told me about her books, thought I might like them since I'm also a fantasy writer.

I think our meeting was meant to be, because it turned out that the Indonesian publisher that has bought the rights for Erec Rex is the one I work for as a freelance translator/editor! And they gave me the job to translate all the series! I couldn't be happier :)

I'm in the middle of book #1 right now to give me a head start before actually translating. So I won't be reading some of the topics that have any spoilers in them :)

Good luck, Kaza, for your next books, looking forward to work with you with the translation :)