Many opinions on this trilogy and author is welcome. Personally though I'm appalled at how low the standards of publishing has become.

Yeah before I get on to my actual school work I'm gonna have to comment on this, like I've been itching to ever since I skimmed through the first chapter on her website a few weeks ago. Some may or may not know, Cassandra Claire is apparantly big in HP fandom (which I try to stay away from because sorry, I think it's icky). She wrote some really big fanfics that were filled with lines she lifted from published books and television shows (anywhere from Pride and Prejudice to Buffy). Now she's got a book published.

The first chapter which I've linked above is very very poorly written. It isn't a good sign when the phrases of the book are so awkward that they actually take you out of the story itself. Worst lines were probably: It was always easy. He could already feel the power of her evaporating life coursing through his veins like fire. and Clary liked the lilt to his shoulders, the way he tossed his hair as he went. There was a word for him that her mother would have used - Insouciant. Those just actually made me mad. There were so many things wrong with them even beyond what this post and this post pointed out. Just wrong.

The book is so derivative and cliched. Of course, fictional literature is largely about reusing *basic* ideas and concepts: in fact JK Rowling is NOT the first person to think up the idea of sending a child to a school for witches and wizards. One can even follow that idea all the way back to The Worst Witch by British author Jill Murphy in the 70's. Even the basic idea of a child learning some special ability at school that he/she can't learn in a normal school has been done before. And yet, Harry Potter despite having these borrowed concepts is on whole quite unique and well-written.

A bad sign for a book is when you can literally erase the names, put in the names of different characters and have nearly the same story as something else that came before it and it's practically been done in the mst I linked above. Cassandra Clare, judging by the first book, has made it far too close to Buffy for comfort.

But you know what really gets me? Even if you just look at the writing, this book doesn't deserve to be published. And yet it is. Why? Well she's got a fanbase I suppose and to the publishers that instantly = $. Despite the quality of the book, if they can all make money who really cares, right?

Anyway I'd like to hear what others think. Fans are welcome too, I'd like to hear why people support her...

I'm not familiar with the HP fandom, but I know of CC from reading Fandom Wank.

I don't think this book would have got past Miss Snark, that's for sure. As one of the posts mentioned, the sentence structure is awkward, and as a result can be jarring, and it reminds me of one of those original Buffy The Vampire Slayer novels I used to read when I was younger, which isn't a terrible thing, it's just that she doesn't seem to me to have a distinctive narrative voice. Like, you wouldn't read this and pick up on anything that screams 'Cassie' about the narrative, the way you can with Jane Austen or Anne Rice, for example. Simon reminded me far too much of Xander from BtVS, and I wasn't overly fond of the descriptions either, maybe because I don't like the sort of writing where everything has to have a simile - 'her purple eyes glittered like chips of amethyst', 'his hair was almost the exact hue of black ink', e.t.c...

But then again, Laurell K. Hamilton is a published author, and the exerpts I've read from her books are utterly laughable, so I guess if you've got the fans, you can write at whatever quality you want. If I had to choose, I'd much rather read Cassie's book series than LKH's.

Bleagh, Cassandra. What a bloodsucking tick and spawner of the evil Fanon!Draco.

I'm just surprised she even has a book in the first place. It just decreases my faith in humanity.

I NEVER LIKED Cassandra Claire's work. I can tolerate ships I don't like if the writing's good, but her horrendous characterization of Hermione as an airhead- among other things- was what turned me off on that whole Draco Trilogy. I was also supremely pissed to see her being praised for being so witty, when all she did was rip quotes :whistle:

And yes, trust me on the Buffy cloning. I have amassed a huge collection of Buffy novels over the years, and that first chapter had a frightening similarity to how Buffy novels usually start: Buffy and Xander entering the Bronze, Buffy seeing a Mysterious Being, Mysterious Being wreaking havoc, Buffy stepping in on the scene. Only none of the Buffy books, not even the downright bad ones(there were lots of good ones too), were written so haphazardly. The writing style just screams "PLEASE notice me, I'm trying to sound KEWL!" :/

:lmao:

That was a great catch! I always thought it was against the unofficial rules of fanfic to name any character after yourself, especially the uber-cool heroine. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Unlike most who have posted here so far, I actually liked her VSDs, or Very Secret Diaries of the Fellowship of the Ring (haven't tried her HP fanfics, though), so I tried to hold off further judgement until I read the first chapter and.... eurgh!

Charcoaled and antifreeze eyes! Insouciant! Innocent, normal heroine suddenly thrust into a situation by fate meeting dangerous yet sexy guy! Phantom Sizzle of Death! Need I say more?

Oh wow. I just read the link nyrin posted on Cassie at fanhistory.com. I knew CC ripped quotes and passages from other books and TV shows...but I never knew she got money and gadgets out of it, that she had fans bribing her to write :winces:
That part just had me disgusted. Some fanfic writers are f***ing brilliant, don't even belong in the fanfic category anymore(AKA they should be published!) but still continue writing just for the love of it. They don't need cash or goodies; simple feedback from other fans is reward enough.

And who the hell uses 'insouciant' as an everyday word, anyway?

To tell you the truth, this whole thing is actually starting to give me a migraine. I've also been at amazon.com, and they've been cutting and snipping bad reviews at their leisures. This bullshit just makes me tired. What's the point of allowing customers to review if you only want the stellar ones? They're not deleting any more but one of my favourite in depth reviews has been snipped in places, and that just makes me mad.

Anyway you know what? I officially don't care anymore. Good for CC, being able to work this money driven system to peddle shit to youths just to garner some fame and a quick buck.

What's sad for me about all this is that she and I share the same name...*cries tears of agony*

And she's making 15 year olds have intercourse in her books? Or did I get that wrong when I was reading through those forum posts on Amazon?

*wince*Man, never knew all of this stuff happen while I'm in the Digimon fandom, from what I've read on fanhistory.com.

Okay, I generally limit it to at least 16 years for that stuff, but man, what kind of book was it!?

...And do I even want to know?

Anyway, well, she got her book publish, bad thing is, she shared the same first name of one of my dear friends. *pat Amanthala*

No, there were no sex scenes in the book. The two only shared one kiss. I'm not sure why Holly Black calls it sexy. But there are far more pressing issues with the book itself. This site will basically explain more. It's also got a chapter by chapter summary incase you were interested. It saves people from having to buy the book and supporting someone like Clare who literally steals other people's ideas, thinly disguises them as her own and then makes money off of her thirteen year old fans buy peddling them this crap. As a writer it just makes my blood boil.

I personally found Nine Men and a Little Lady funnier than Very Secret Diaries -_-
Ah well, something good has come out of this...I researched the series she stole of, Pamela Dean's Secret Country Trilogy, and am now on the hunt for copies, since everyone raves about how brilliant it's plot and prose are :D