Cassandra Clare

[rune]

Her first book City of Bones is quite good. A dark, urban fantasy, that I really enjoyed

[Mary Hoffman]

But a bit showing its origins in her fanfiction past, didn't you think? i.e. not very original and even re-using some of her fanon work?

Mary

[rune]

I didnt realise she wrote fanfiction, Im not really into fanfiction either, so have no experience on how that works

[Mark Robson]

I've not come across Cassandra Clare before. What fanfiction did she write, Mary?

[speakmoretti]

She came out of the Harry Potter Fandom - I don't know the full story, because she was there before I really discovered that these things called "fandoms" existed
Basically there was a large scandal over plagarism.

I was going to give you a link, but since I joined about half an hour ago I don't have enough posts. Google her name, and look for her in reference to Harry Potter - you'll find it!

[Mary Hoffman]

Sorry, Mark, I missed your October post on this thread. She is responsible for the hilarious LOTR diaries - "still not king" (Aragorn) "still the prettiest" (Legolas) - but made her name as Meg says in Harry Potter fandom, where she spells her name with an "i" I believe.

There was an article in issue 9.2 of Armadillo on fanfiction and Cassandra Clare in particular but I see that issue has not yet been archived - I'll try to fix it. There is a long review of City of Bones in the Current Issue (teenage) 9.3. You can find it on Armadillo Magazine Online

Mary

[Mark Robson]

Thanks, Mary. It's an interesting route into becoming published. I'm not sure I'd ever feel inspired to write fan fiction as such, but I frequently doff my hat at other authors through the medium of stories set in my own worlds.

[Lith]

She wrote the Draco Trilogy (Draco Dormiens, Draco Tremens, and Draco Sinistre, or something like that), probably the most well-known HP fanfics ever. A year or two ago she went around the internet trying to get ALL copies of it off various websites, because of the scandal and the fact that sh e was getting published.

I read the first Draco story; it wasn't bad for FF but it doesn't make me want to read any more of her work.

[Twilight Cat]

I love Cassandra Clare, but I have to say I prefer her fanfiction to her published work.

[rune]

I ended up reading quite a few of this authors books

Ive got to re-read the books from her Mortal Instruments series to review, I got up to book 3

Mortal Instruments
1. City of Bones (2007)
2. City of Ashes (2008)
3. City of Glass (2009)
4. City of Fallen Angels (2011)
5. City of Lost Souls (2012)
The Mortal Instruments (omnibus) (2009)
The Mortal Instruments Gift Set (omnibus) (2011)

And last year I tried Clockwork Angel - thought one of the characters was very similar to a main character in her first series, but otherwise quite good read

Infernal Devices
1. Clockwork Angel (2010)
2. Clockwork Prince (2011)

[Cherrybear13]

I am currently reading one of the books, its a prequel to the City of Bones. I can't get into this book at all. It is slow moving compared to her other books.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I really like Cassandra Clare's books. I haven't read any of her fanfiction (and won't, because I don't read fanfiction), so I can't judge whether her other work resembles it, but I don't find any influences of J. K. Rowling in The Mortal Instruments. And I think her writing is very good. The young characters, aside from their supernatural traits of course, are well-drawn and realistic. I feel like I've known some of these kids, and as they make rather amusing company I enjoy reading about them.

I liked The Clockwork Angel, which is the first book of the prequel trilogy. It wasn't as entertaining as TMI, but then I liked the first trilogy better and better as it went along and I came to know the characters, and I am hoping that the same will be true for this one.

[Cherrybear13]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

I liked The Clockwork Angel, which is the first book of the prequel trilogy. It wasn't as entertaining as TMI, but then I liked the first trilogy better and better as it went along and I came to know the characters, and I am hoping that the same will be true for this one.

I am not far enough into this book to judge it. Maybe I should keep reading, and hope that it grows on me!

[Teresa Edgerton]

The pace does pick up. Whether the characters will grow on you as they grew on me will, of course, be a matter of personal taste. And you'll meet one familiar character if you stick with it.

[rune]

I think The Clockwork Angel is a little slow to start off to be honest, took me a while to get into it