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an article in issue 9.2 of Armadillo on fanfiction and Cassandra Clare in particular but I see that issue has not yet been archived - I'll try to fix it.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]

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

 

[rune]

Ive finally managed to get some reviews written for this authors books, a few from her first series and book one of the Clockwork Angel series

http://croftfantasyreads.blogspot.com/search/label/Cassandra Clare

 

[rune]

I used a book token for christmas to get Clockwork Prince - the collectors addition

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I used a gift certificate to preorder Clockwork Prince. I didn't know that because I had done so I would receive the collectors' edition, but I did.

I'm not altogether certain I was pleased about that, because I don't usually treat my books like the world will end if I leave a teeny tiny smudge on one page, and that's how I felt when I was reading it ... until I realized there must be hundreds of thousands of copies of the collectors' edition, and it would never be rare and valuable. Then I went back to my usual, "I'm going to treat this well because it's a hardcover but I'm not going to be fanatic about it" mode.

 

[rune]

Ive just finished reading Clockwork Prince. Strange title for this book since there is no prince in it
Not a bad read though, my thoughts are here - http://croftfantasyreads.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/clockwork-prince-by-cassandra-clare.html

Think its kept my interest enough to want to read more

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I liked Clockwork Angel better, but on rereading Clockwork Prince recently, I find it growing on me.

Mortmain is the Clockwork Prince. There's a flashback to him and his adoptive father, the warlock John Shade, surrounded by mechanical creations. Shade says to the child, "Look well on this, my son, for one day I shall rule a clockwork kingdom of such beings, and you shall be its prince."

(I didn't take notice of that, either, the first time I read it.)


As for the second trilogy of The Mortal Instruments, I was disappointed in City of Fallen Angels when I read it -- although it did have its moments, it seemed to me that the characters were not as well-drawn. It was the dialogue, I think.

When City of Lost Souls arrived last week, I told myself that if it disappointed, too, I'd not be buying the last book. COLS started slow, and I had just about made up my mind not to continue (about 1/4 through) when she hit her stride, the characters came back to life, the action picked up, and I regained my enthusiasm.

There was too much torrid teen romance for my taste. Some of it was good and drove the plot, but some of it was ... a little too much information for me. At my age, there are certain things you don't want to know. I was willing to put up with it, though, because I liked everything else.

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