Rip Off's in General...

[JRyan]

I get annoyed with readers of one series (whether it's RJ fans versus Goodkind, or B5 fans versus Star Trek or vice versa, or Dune and Lord of the Rings or Star Wars) accusing authors of another of ripping each other off.

 

There are only so many basic plot-lines out there. And you'll find if you study the topic at all that a lot of the most intriguing works (of film, television or novel) resonate with us because they draw on our common myth, our archetypes (the hero, the rogue, the mentor, the lover, the sage), our history. It's like comparing children of the same parent. The children didn't rip each other off, but they come from the same collective gene pool.

 

My two cents.

 

Jeff (who's been busy on this forum today)

[TheDiceAgain...]

Well put, Jeff. Just because something is similar to something else doesn't mean it's bad. I try to approach everything I read with an open mind and judge it on its individual merits. If there are things that are very close to sonething I have read before, that's not necessarily terrible. If nothing else there's a comfort in familiarity and it provides a certain frame of reference around which a seperate story can be written.

 

Dice (who's also been rather busy...)

[Guest Egwene]

I would go even further... I'd love some of my favourite authors to have their characters interact. Guest appearances in each others books. Creating one enormous fantasy universe in the process.

 

Egwene (who has been spending far too much time on here today..)

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[TheDiceAgain...]

Egwene, I don't know if you've ever read Eddings, but can you imagine what would happen if any one of the Emond's Field boys met Ce'Nedra? Now that would be fun!

[Guest Egwene]

lol... never mind the boys... how's about her meeting Faile and Elayne *g* (by the way my favourite scene in those books is the one were she and Polgara find out that Garion has gone off by way of his letter... the ensuing scene had me in stitches :D )

 

Belgareth would be a great one to insert... any tavern, old man in the corner... playing dice with Mat...

 

Polgara for a quick visit to the tower to see how one of her great great great... grandaughters is fairing... infact she could turn out to have spend a bit of time there herself..

 

Any amount of minstrels could provide famous ballads for each other..

 

aahhh... the fun that could be had playing 'spot the celebrity'...lol

[Sirayn]

On the one hand, I agree that many works draw from the same sources. I'd also argue that the Lord of the Rings -- sorry to bring this up ;) -- has entered the fantasy mythology to such an extent that nearly every work is influenced by it, overtly or otherwise, due to its populisation of particular archetypes and plot types.

 

On the other hand, I think that some authors aren't trying to be original. There's a line between drawing from the same sources and simply copying previous works. I would hold up David Eddings as a classic example of an author ripping off his own work, since much of his work is simply a retelling of the Belgariad, and we could debate for hours about how much original material makes up for how much shameless copying.

 

Do I get to put tuppence in rather than two cents? :roll:

[Guest Egwene]

I'll accept your tuppence, Sirayn :D (remind me when we meet up in the future to collect it!)

 

I know what you mean with Eddings ripping of his own work. Though he dooes it pretty well in the world of Belgareth. Despite them being essentially the same story, I enjoyed the Polgara and Belgareth editions. In fact I read those before reading the original series. I like psychology and seeing the same event through different eyes was very interesting in that respect.

 

However, I would not recommend his 'Dreamer' series. The repetitions here are actually only a few pages apart at times. Hearing the same bit of action re-told through the eyes of different people within the space of one chapter... again and again... even I draw the line there. (four books going cheap if anyone is interested :evil:)

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[loki redfern]

the characters interacting, what a brilliant idea. :D i think that although sometimes the ideas are similar its the way the story is told and the details, how things work, ect are what can make a book good great or something you cant read past the third page. i thought the dreamers was good, the tone seemed childish but i think that was intended, to show that the gods were still growing up and the children of the original pair (names?)

i just add my tuppence to the pile then

[padainfain]

Ah cross narrative character interaction. I've got two words for ya; Marvel Comics. (assuming comics still count as narrative, they tell a story) I think they consistantly win the award for throwing in characters from one story into another (i.e. spiderman meets x-men etc). Sometimes it worked really well. Other times... at least they tried.

Its usually a grey area when your mixing characters in my opinion, moreso if the story worlds arent quite similar. I.E. one good ashaman (im going with logain cause he's the bomb) at that big battle against the orcs in LOTR could have decimated everyone and hung sauron out to dry. cause there's no one to try and cut his weaves or shield him.