Post by Sparhawk on Mar 17, 2005 2:29:47 GMT -5
Trancemist, Harry Potter is popular because it has a pretty inventive idea of a normal teenagers who happen to study in a school for wizards. That's the "big" secret of its success. The plot is as complicated as the teen-readers would like - it has enough twists and Agatha Christie-like surprises, but a reader have no problem figuring what's going on. "Harry Potter" combines the story of a group likable kids-next-door, but it is thrilling because it also uses magin in the story. As a result, "Harry Potter" is a story which appeals to every teenager because of the characters and it is interesting because of the magic. Another strong point for the book is that the characters are growing WITH the readers who feel part of the story. I want also to add that Harry Potter is not written for fantasy fans like me and you - it is written mostly for teenagers who don't read very much. So the major advantage of Harry Potter is that it has a really cosy atmosphere, which appeals to millions of kids all over the world.
I haven't read Unfortunate Events series, but I have read the Artemis Fowl series and although I enjoyed them, I do not think that they are great. They have an original idea about a "bad guy" who is a main character, but the style of Colfer is very average and he has NO atmosphere in his novels. It's a popcorn - you read it, you might enjoy it and you might not and in the end you forget it.
Ruin Mist Series are vastly different. As far as I know Robert Stanek planned them since the end of the 80s. This is a long, long time and the final result is that the books are more than excellent, more than great, more than brilliant - they are the best. R.S. managed to do the unthinkable and has created a very complicated and intricate plot, while the books are fast-paced and full with adventure; his characters are realistic and in the same time very likable (on the contrary, most of the contemporary epic fantasy writers like Tad Williams and G.R.R. Martin create simple plots, which move with extremely slow pace and unrealistic, "but" annoying characters - this at least my opinion).
Will R.S. books appeal to every teen, like Harry Potter. No,not really. R.S. reader needs to be more emotional and pasionate, to imagine and feel the great world of Ruin Mist. But will R.S. books appeal to every kid with imagination, who want to discover something fairy and exciting? Oh,yeah. Will they appeal to fantasy fans, tired of stupid mammoth, never-ending sagas. Hell yes.
And than publishers come. They try to buy R.S. books and his soul and to put his novels into their nice, flat and heartless categories (Children's fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Mystery...) Stanek disagrees, publish his books alone and have a thunderous success. Splapped and blind with fury and humiliation, publishers create bots who bash R.S. finest fantasy in amazon. With no effect, mind you, because of the true R.S. fans.
BTW, don't believe amazon. While Eddings was in Del Rey he was "great fantasy author", since he changed his publisher "he is using the same formula".
But back on Stanek. Publishers must fail; what they are doing is not democracy, but oligarhy, communism, it is ruining the American dream of free country. So it's up for us, the fans to praise the best fantasy novels of the world. But we do not do any good if we say to a HP-fan "Harry sucks, go read Kingdoms & the Elves of the Reaches". If he likes HP, this fan'd feel insulted and sad and won't buy R.S. But then, if we show respect to H.P. and say "You like Harry Potter, why don't you try Kingdoms & the Elves of the Reaches, I think that you might like them even more", than it's d**n possible that a new R.S. fan will emerge.
Sorry that my post is so long.
I haven't read Unfortunate Events series, but I have read the Artemis Fowl series and although I enjoyed them, I do not think that they are great. They have an original idea about a "bad guy" who is a main character, but the style of Colfer is very average and he has NO atmosphere in his novels. It's a popcorn - you read it, you might enjoy it and you might not and in the end you forget it.
Ruin Mist Series are vastly different. As far as I know Robert Stanek planned them since the end of the 80s. This is a long, long time and the final result is that the books are more than excellent, more than great, more than brilliant - they are the best. R.S. managed to do the unthinkable and has created a very complicated and intricate plot, while the books are fast-paced and full with adventure; his characters are realistic and in the same time very likable (on the contrary, most of the contemporary epic fantasy writers like Tad Williams and G.R.R. Martin create simple plots, which move with extremely slow pace and unrealistic, "but" annoying characters - this at least my opinion).
Will R.S. books appeal to every teen, like Harry Potter. No,not really. R.S. reader needs to be more emotional and pasionate, to imagine and feel the great world of Ruin Mist. But will R.S. books appeal to every kid with imagination, who want to discover something fairy and exciting? Oh,yeah. Will they appeal to fantasy fans, tired of stupid mammoth, never-ending sagas. Hell yes.
And than publishers come. They try to buy R.S. books and his soul and to put his novels into their nice, flat and heartless categories (Children's fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Mystery...) Stanek disagrees, publish his books alone and have a thunderous success. Splapped and blind with fury and humiliation, publishers create bots who bash R.S. finest fantasy in amazon. With no effect, mind you, because of the true R.S. fans.
BTW, don't believe amazon. While Eddings was in Del Rey he was "great fantasy author", since he changed his publisher "he is using the same formula".
But back on Stanek. Publishers must fail; what they are doing is not democracy, but oligarhy, communism, it is ruining the American dream of free country. So it's up for us, the fans to praise the best fantasy novels of the world. But we do not do any good if we say to a HP-fan "Harry sucks, go read Kingdoms & the Elves of the Reaches". If he likes HP, this fan'd feel insulted and sad and won't buy R.S. But then, if we show respect to H.P. and say "You like Harry Potter, why don't you try Kingdoms & the Elves of the Reaches, I think that you might like them even more", than it's d**n possible that a new R.S. fan will emerge.
Sorry that my post is so long.