***SPOILERS AHEAD!*** For everything, but mostly the Christopher's Diary/ Secret Brother stuff! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay- So I wanted to start a discussion about a very specific piece of more recent "VCA" works- when Neiderman (the ghostwriter, for those who don't know) started adding new books onto already completed series.
Specifically, I'm talking about: -Christopher's Diary 1, 2 and Secret Brother (Attached to Dollangangers) -Whitefern (Attached to My Sweet Audrina) -Newly Announced: The Swan (Also attached to the Dollangangers, about the original Corinne-Malcolm's mother).
I don't even really know where to start. First, I want to say- I don't hate the ghostwriter, or at least I USED to not hate the ghostwriter. I didn't even know there was a ghostwriter for the first few series I read (the ones that were the most like the originals- Landry, Logan, Cutler and so on). The real problem for me doesn't come into play until we reach the more recent (and noticeably worse) modern books like the Vampire Ones, Into the Darkness and so on.....
So when they first announced the Christophers Diary Series, my gut reaction was- NO. NOPE. NAH. CAN'T. EVEN. PROCESS. THAT. Granted that was mostly because I maintain that Christopher is a creep and the idea of two whole books dedicated to his Cathy obsession is a bit more than I could handle. But also, this was in the height of the terrible books. And it was one thing when you used to be good and then slowly became terrible- it's quite another when you take something that is established as good and then proceeds to drag it down to your current level of suck. Does that make sense?
The books came out- of course, I bought them- either out of sheer curiosity or self-punishment I'll never understand. They weren't awful. There was mercifully very little Christopher's Diary- just more bland modern Neiderman characters and cringeworthy dialouge. Nothing I am not used to by this point.
And then 'Secret Brother' happened. And........I just.....I can't. Here's where the actual spoilers start-
WTF Neiderman? Cory is alive? And had amnesia? And is some sort of oil Barron (that last part maybe exaggeration- It's been a while since I've read it and I REFUSE to go back.) Through eeeeeevverything that happened in the books- we're supposed to just buy that Cory 'just happened' to be in the same hospital as some lonely, rich grandfather who lost his beloved grandson who 'just happened' to die on the same day Corinne left him there? Wha? No. No. NO.
I can handle- but not that. This is what makes me angry- is that you can't go back and ret-con new revealings into the established cannon. I know we never got a clear picture of what exactly happened to Cory- but I'm pretty sure it wasn't THAT. No one asked for this, no one would have even guessed for that to have happened. Obviously VCA is not around for us to ask her- but I think that the whereabouts of Cory/ his body was meant to be vauge.
Okay- i'll stop now. I have way more to say about that, but I don't want to keep going.
The Whitefern novel was fine. My Sweet Audrina is actually my favorite VCA book and I didn't hate the sequel. At least when he's working with an established character- Neiderman's bland 'teen girl' persona and awful modern dialoge is less obvious.
As for the new Novel- 'The Swan' about Corinne 1.0- I'm approaching that with caution. The thing about Corinne (unlike Cory) is that there really is no established Cannon to ruin- we know she existed, she looked exactly like Corinne 2.0 and supposedly ran off with a lover when Malcolm was a small child. She was supposedly either a vain slut or a loving mother, depending on who you ask. Also- she's the route of all Odepidal complexes. And even that information is given to us second hand by other characters. She's essentially a blank slate, so we'll see where Neiderman goes with that.
So here's my question to you- what are your thoughts on the Ghostwriter adding his own cannon to established VCA works? Hate it? Didn't mind it? Indifferent? Or did you find something to enjoy?
What are your thoughts on the new "Swan" novel?
One last thing- I'm calling it now- the big 'twist' is that she never ran away and was actually murdered. Either Neiderman completely changes Garland's character and makes him the murderer, or it was actually Malcolm who murdered her- Omen style- and Garland covered it up. TAKING ALL BETS!
For everything, but mostly the Christopher's Diary/ Secret Brother stuff!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay- So I wanted to start a discussion about a very specific piece of more recent "VCA" works- when Neiderman (the ghostwriter, for those who don't know) started adding new books onto already completed series.
Specifically, I'm talking about:
-Christopher's Diary 1, 2 and Secret Brother (Attached to Dollangangers)
-Whitefern (Attached to My Sweet Audrina)
-Newly Announced: The Swan (Also attached to the Dollangangers, about the original Corinne-Malcolm's mother).
I don't even really know where to start. First, I want to say- I don't hate the ghostwriter, or at least I USED to not hate the ghostwriter. I didn't even know there was a ghostwriter for the first few series I read (the ones that were the most like the originals- Landry, Logan, Cutler and so on). The real problem for me doesn't come into play until we reach the more recent (and noticeably worse) modern books like the Vampire Ones, Into the Darkness and so on.....
So when they first announced the Christophers Diary Series, my gut reaction was- NO. NOPE. NAH. CAN'T. EVEN. PROCESS. THAT.
Granted that was mostly because I maintain that Christopher is a creep and the idea of two whole books dedicated to his Cathy obsession is a bit more than I could handle. But also, this was in the height of the terrible books. And it was one thing when you used to be good and then slowly became terrible- it's quite another when you take something that is established as good and then proceeds to drag it down to your current level of suck. Does that make sense?
The books came out- of course, I bought them- either out of sheer curiosity or self-punishment I'll never understand. They weren't awful. There was mercifully very little Christopher's Diary- just more bland modern Neiderman characters and cringeworthy dialouge. Nothing I am not used to by this point.
And then 'Secret Brother' happened. And........I just.....I can't. Here's where the actual spoilers start-
WTF Neiderman? Cory is alive? And had amnesia? And is some sort of oil Barron (that last part maybe exaggeration- It's been a while since I've read it and I REFUSE to go back.) Through eeeeeevverything that happened in the books- we're supposed to just buy that Cory 'just happened' to be in the same hospital as some lonely, rich grandfather who lost his beloved grandson who 'just happened' to die on the same day Corinne left him there? Wha? No. No. NO.
I can handle- but not that. This is what makes me angry- is that you can't go back and ret-con new revealings into the established cannon. I know we never got a clear picture of what exactly happened to Cory- but I'm pretty sure it wasn't THAT. No one asked for this, no one would have even guessed for that to have happened. Obviously VCA is not around for us to ask her- but I think that the whereabouts of Cory/ his body was meant to be vauge.
Okay- i'll stop now. I have way more to say about that, but I don't want to keep going.
The Whitefern novel was fine. My Sweet Audrina is actually my favorite VCA book and I didn't hate the sequel. At least when he's working with an established character- Neiderman's bland 'teen girl' persona and awful modern dialoge is less obvious.
As for the new Novel- 'The Swan' about Corinne 1.0- I'm approaching that with caution. The thing about Corinne (unlike Cory) is that there really is no established Cannon to ruin- we know she existed, she looked exactly like Corinne 2.0 and supposedly ran off with a lover when Malcolm was a small child. She was supposedly either a vain slut or a loving mother, depending on who you ask. Also- she's the route of all Odepidal complexes. And even that information is given to us second hand by other characters. She's essentially a blank slate, so we'll see where Neiderman goes with that.
So here's my question to you- what are your thoughts on the Ghostwriter adding his own cannon to established VCA works? Hate it? Didn't mind it? Indifferent? Or did you find something to enjoy?
What are your thoughts on the new "Swan" novel?
One last thing- I'm calling it now- the big 'twist' is that she never ran away and was actually murdered. Either Neiderman completely changes Garland's character and makes him the murderer, or it was actually Malcolm who murdered her- Omen style- and Garland covered it up.
TAKING ALL BETS!