Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion
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City of Bones
City of Bones
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Does author's background cause you to not read this?
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As far as I know the rumors deal mostly with her time in fandom and not as a mainstream author.
I didn't know about it, but after looking at a couple articles it doesn't bother me. It seems appropriate in her fanfiction writing.
What seems appropriate the fact that she has been accused of plagarism? Or, that it's only fanfiction so it's okay?
Mod
Angie, My understanding of fanfiction is that fans of certain books, say the Harry Potter books, then write their own stories with those characters. They're alternative stories about those in the books but in their own words and making up their own situations. But there might be a clearer way to describe it which I'll leave to those members who read fan fiction. (There is a Harry Potter story by a Goodreads member that I noticed a while back that I do intend to read because it looked so interesting - if I can find it again.)
Basically fanfiction is a an internet term for derivative works. Fans use characters from their favorite stories and place them in new situations that may or may not be consistent with the original canon.
Guh, I was going to stay out of this (I've been in the HP fandom long enough to see this go down originally, and to be waiting for new Draco Trilogy chapters). But if you Google her fandom name, Cassandra Claire (note the different spelling of the last name), you should get enough hits to give you a pretty complete picture of the drama. Or if you have an LJ/Journalfen account, the community bad_penny on Journalfen has a full account of the accusations (bad_penny is great if you want to see some really crazy HP fen drama- Cassie's got nothing on Ms. Scribe). To be fair, HP fanfic was a newish thing when all of that went down, though, and the rules weren't clear-cut, and the Draco trilogy IS good (or at least, the second two parts are- you can very much tell that Cassie was an inexperienced writer when she first started). I also liked her Very Secret Diaries, which are LotR spoofs. I think all the fanfic has been taken down, though, now that she's published.Of course, I should point out that another reason that the fic may be down is that the scene with Jace, his father, and the bird, was lifted nearly word for word from Draco Veritas- just switching Draco for Jace.
I just have to really try to take CoB as a separate thing from the fanfiction, and not let my opinion of the actual story be colored by what I know about her time as a HP BNF.
Mod
If you go to the fandom wank wiki it has links to where you can find it. No directly but the trail is there.Personally, I never read her fan fiction because I was always afraid of getting to close to the crazy that is HP on the net :P but I had heard that some of the Draco Trilogy made it into the published stuffs.
Mod
If you have trouble finding it, let me know. I have PDFs of the first two floating around in my computer somewhere. It may take some digging to find them, as she officially took the DT down, along with her Harry/Draco short stories, and a short story called Mortal Instruments (which, if you don't care for the twist in Clary/Jace, do not go looking for this one).And yes, HP fandom can be crazy. It can be a lot of fun, too, though, if you're willing to ignore the drama.
ETA: Here is a torrent for the DT: http://www.mininova.org/tor/772393
Mod
A torrent: 1. A turbulent, swift-flowing stream. 2. A heavy downpour; a deluge. 3. A heavy, uncontrolled outpouring: a torrent of insults; torrents of mail.It just means a LOT of something.
Ah, Thanks HeyT. Learn something new all the time here.
Yes, like HeyT said, the torrent is just a download of the books. Sorry, I forget everyone is not as internet obsessed as I am!
Or just not as knowledgeable. ;-)
I think the more interesting question here is about the legitamacy of fan fiction. My sister is big into the Pride and Prejudice underground fanfic world and has even done some writing. She has forwarded some of the stories to me and it is a lot of fun. But, Pride and Prejudice is public domain and not covered by copyright laws, same with Lord of the Rings.But, Harry Potter is still covered by copyright, in fact, there is a lawsuit open right now against a fan who has tried to publish his fanfiction. If you are just a simple housewife at home writing a fun spoof on HP, it probably isn't that big of a deal. But, now that Clare is a published and popular author it is a big deal.
The verso page of City of Bones has a pretty standard copyright statement which says "Copyright 2007 by Cassandra Claire (notice it is the same spelling as her online pen-name), LLC All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY FORM." The copyright statement for Harry Potter is more extensive than most. So, now there is a published author who has broken copyright rules by using the characters and the fantastical world that was created and owned by another author. That is a huge taboo in the publishing world and illegal. It doesn't really matter that it was done before she was published.
The fanfic world is fun and entertaining, but it is plagiarism which isn't cool--I spend a huge portion of the school year teaching teens not to plagiarize and how to give credit for the ideas they use. It kind of irks me that this popular author has been involved in plagiarism.
However, when I read the book, I had not heard about any of this and I liked the book.
If the lawsuit is the one I'm thinking of, it's not fanfiction per se, but a lexicon of HP, that used largely copyrighted material, that attempted publication. Either way, not cool, and J. K. Rowling has every right to smack it down. I'm also reminded of the Star Wars fan who tried to get fanfiction published outside of the official novels that have been published. Fanfic can be fun, and I'd say the majority of authors don't mind or choose to ignore it. There are a handful who have issued a moratorium on fic (Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice come to mind), and fans tend to respect the wishes of those authors. I don't have an issue with fanfic on its own; it can be a fun way to play in a world that you love while still stretching and practicing your writing skills. I do not, however, buy into the notion that because something is "just fanfic" that proper citation doesn't need to be used or that rules regarding giving credit can be bent. Especially when the fanfic is incredibly popular, I find that the writer is doing the fans a disservice to leave them in the dark with regards to their source material.
That said, there are a number of published authors that have written/do write fanfic, and participate in role-playing games, which are really like collective fanfic, so I wouldn't write an author off just for having participated in fanfic in some way. But if I'm aware of an author being shady with their fanfic, it will certainly make me look at their published work with a more suspicious eye.
As I said in an earlier post, though, with CoB I really tried to look at it as its own thing, separate from Cassandra Claire/Clare's HP fic. She made it hard by including scenes lifted wholesale from her Draco trilogy, but I still tried ;).
Yeah, I agree with Elizabeth. Fanfic in general is generally a harmless pastime that enables a lot of people to "get their feet wet" in writing as a creative outlet.Ugh, Vander Dork and the Lexicon Wank >_< poor cleolinda! :P
Poor Cleolinda is right. Between the Lexicon and Sparkledammerung, she's had her hands full. It sure has been fun (and funny!) to read, though!
Agreed! At least someone else has taken over the Sparkledammerung for her though! (Imagine that I made the Sparkledammerung have the background sparklies!)
I was unaware of the rumors. I read the book because it sounded really interesting and fun to read.
I saw something mentioned, but ignored it. I'd wanted to give the book a try, so I did.I listen to music based on what it's about, not who makes it and the same (usually) goes for movies (not a fan of Adam Sandler), so I think the same should extend to books.
The author is not the book, the book is the characters and the story. And then of course the blurb and the cover have to attract me (yes, I do judge books by their cover).
Kae, you're much more forgiving than I am. There are some actors that completely prevent me from seeing a movie, Adam Sandler and Johnny Depp to name a few.
I didn't find out about the rumors until after I'd read the first three MI books. I guess I was surprised and a little disappointed in her, but I still read her books. As HeyT said, I think the plagiarism was just in her fanfiction - I think her novels are worth reading.
Actually, a little. I'd just heard vaguely of a lot of controversy surrounding the author, so I just kind of skipped over them.
Johnny Depp?! How dare you, Julie!I like him, he does good work, but then he goes and does something stupid and horrible like Alice in Wonderland and I'm disappointed.
Like I said, I'll try and if I don't like it, it's not the writer's personal background that is at fault.
EG. If Lewis Caroll killed a dog (I'd hate him to death) would you refuse to read Alice in Wonderland?
My ban on Johnny Depp came far before the Alice movie. It came when I saw what he did to the book
in that movie version. I thought he completely ruined the character of Willy Wonka.
Yeah... he didn't do that one very well either
I had never heard anything about it until just now reading what was written on here. I read the MI books and loved them, I dont think someones bad judgement call should effect the rest of thier lives, or thier fans. If she had killed someone then, yeah i could understand the turn off. She obviously isnt the only one who writes/wrote these fan-fiction things. She shouldnt have to pay for something she did years ago now.
I have no problems with it, from my point, I just think it as a different point of view. If people are going to be thinking like this, then all the books out right now are all plagiarized. Authors always get ideas from other books, so Casandra, just maybe wrote the same one or I think in her point of view, yeah. It doesn't stop me, because it is a freaking good series!
I have no problem at all, still is the best YA novel!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandr...
Personally I read her Lord of the Rings spoof and loved it!
Does this turn you off from this author to cause you to not read this book?