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There has recently been news about Cassie Clare writing a third Shadowhunter series, The Dark Artifices, after the first two are done. And while many are excited by it, others are claiming she should just do something different next. What I find interesting here is the difference in response to Cassie Clare and Rick Riordan. If you think about it, they are essentially doing the same thing – they had a really good and really successful idea and they’re going with it as far as they can.
Both Cassandra Clare and Rick Riordan had a series that took off (The Mortal Instruments trilogy, The Percy Jackson pentology). Next thing you know, both are writing a sequel series (the second MI trilogy, the Heroes of Olympus pentology), a separate series very reminiscent of the first (the Infernal Devices trilogy, the Kane Chronicles trilogy), and have just announced a third such series (the Dark Artifices, and a Norse mythology series) that will come in 2015. Yet where Riordan is hailed as a hero by readers, Cassie gets flack for no originality. So let’s take a look and see how they match up (since I’ve been following both authors faithfully for many years, I feel justified in comparing them).
Round 1: The Originals
Mortal Instruments vs Percy Jackson
Completed series
Both authors really did a splendid job to start off with. Rick Riordan created a sweeping five-book saga that made mythology not only cool again, but also hilarious. I joined the following three books in, way back in 2008. In particular, Titan’s Curse, the third book, was fantastic, and the first non-Potter book to make me cry. The series took off among Potter fans needing lovable heroes and creative stories to keep them busy. The writing was easy to read and had readers laughing out loud, and appealed to kids especially. And waiting for books 4 and 5 was sheer agony.
Cassie Clare, on the other hand, went after the YA market, and did so flawlessly. One of my friends commented, “She is the only author that can make me care about an angsting couple for four books.” Riordan definitely has the edge here in terms of originality, since the Mortal Instruments do borrow liberally from Harry Potter (which makes sense, since quite a bit of it came from Clare’s HP fanfictions). However, Clare crafted a splendid romance, and wrote a splendid urban fantasy with vampires and werewolves (the “it” things in YA), as well as warlocks and fairies (and she was way ahead of the curve here!). I read it right after the trilogy concluded, so I mercifully didn’t have to deal with Clare’s cruel cliffhangers.
Both fantastic books, both presenting a fantasy-filled version of New York City, and both launched the careers of two splendid writers. On the whole, I’ll have to declare Round 1 a tie. Clare: 1. Riordan: 1.
Round 2: The Second Series
Infernal Devices vs Kane Chronicles
2 out of 3 books released so far
Both Clare and Riordan had hit upon an idea that worked, and both clearly felt that they could do more with the worlds they had created. Cassie decided to write a prequel trilogy, Riordan decided to write a series similar to Percy Jackson, but with Egyptian mythology. Both ideas were met with a mixture of excitement and skepticism, and I got both books the day they came out. So how did these series live up to the authors’ debuts?
Clare moved her story to Victorian London and introduced a steampunk element, both of which were very exciting changes. Upon starting to read it, many were struck by the similarity of the characters to her Mortal Instruments: a girl thrust into the Shadowhunter world, a love triangle, a tortured and good-looking love interest. However, beyond the character archetypes, the series was quite different.
For starters, the Infernal Devices has the single best love triangle I’ve ever found in literature. Because not only is Tessa presented with two equally viable guys, but the guys are best friends, and there is just so much heartbreak in this situation. There is also a more extensive cast of characters in this series, and many of them have quite tragic backstories. A few of my friends, who are adults, expressed the sentiment that while Mortal Instruments is a great guilty pleasure series, the Infernal Devices is a genuinely good series. And I am inclined to agree. Clockwork Prince was, in my opinion, Clare’s crowning achievement, and the second non-Potter book to make me cry. And I am counting the days until the conclusion of this series.
Riordan, on the other, took the first Percy Jackson book – The Lightning Thief – as a template, changed the mythology to Egyptian, and published The Red Pyramid. Other than the mythology, it was a less funny rehash of Percy Jackson. And Riordan did an incredibly poor job with the mythology – my group of friends discussed the book a few weeks after we read it, and we couldn’t even remember the various gods.
In fact, I was so disappointed by The Red Pyramid, I did not even feel the need to continue the series. The second Kane Chronicles book is the only one by either author I haven’t read. In fact, I don’t know a single person who has bothered to read it. The series concludes in two months, and that makes me happy, because then Rick Riordan will be able to devote his energies to something hopefully less bland.
So Round 2 goes to Cassie Clare in a landslide. In their second outings, Cassie displayed much better writing and a riveting story, while Rick retold the same story without any fun. Maybe Riordan’s target tween audience disagrees here, but teens and adults expected better. Clare: 2. Riordan: 1.
Round 3: The Sequel Series
Mortal Instruments #4-6, Heroes of Olympus
1 out of 3 published, 2 out of 5 published
Evidently, neither Clare nor Riordan was willing to let their original story go, and decided to write a sequel series. Clare would be writing a follow-up trilogy about Clary, Jace, and Simon. Riordan would write another five-book series about Percy Jackson and Greek mythology, and this time would introduce Roman mythology as well. Both series are not even half-done yet, so we can’t give a conclusive verdict, but let’s see what we’ve got so far.
Cassie’s fourth MI book, City of Fallen Angels, continues the same story from the first three books. In fact, only one major new character is introduced. But it’s largely the same thing as before: the same characters still angsting about their relationships. And by resurrecting dead characters, it rather undermines the climax of the first trilogy. This series should not be written off just yet, since there was an exciting cliffhanger and there’s still two books to go. And City of Fallen Angels wasn’t bad, by any means… it just wasn’t particularly great either. We’ll see how City of Lost Souls fares come May.
Rick Riordan had a lot to prove with The Lost Hero, after Red Pyramid disappointed, and he had to keep us interested in another five books from this world. But he passed the test with flying colors. Heroes of Olympus felt like the natural extension of Percy Jackson. Lots of exciting new characters are introduced, our old favorites are present and facing tougher challenges than ever, and Riordan deftly introduces the Roman gods while keeping the Greek mythology that we so dearly love. Full of humor and charm, I was very happy that the books in this series are positively huge compared to the Percy Jackson ones. And I am on the edge of my seat waiting until October for the third book, Mark of Athena.
So although it’s too early to say how the two series will turn out, for now Heroes of Olympus is by far the most promising one. Clare: 2. Riordan: 2.
Round 4: The Upcoming Series
Dark Artifices vs Norse mythology
Expected publication in 2015
In a move that can be seen as either “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” or “pushing their luck,” both Riordan and Clare announced in the past few months that they will be writing yet ANOTHER trilogy set in their respective world, with the first book due in 2015.
Clare’s series will take place five years after Mortal Instruments, this time in Los Angeles. The Dark Artifices will feature new Shadowhunters fighting new evils, and some MI character in their early twenties might pop by. With four magical races, Shadowhunters, demons, and angels, Cassie certainly has the material to keep telling stories in her world. Having six of a promised nine books published, there aren’t really signs of fatigue among her readership, and she should hopefully sustain that for a few years to come.
Riordan’s series will explore Norse mythology, which fortunately just got placed back in the public conscious by the movie Thor. It’s very promising because Norse mythology is fascinating – there are fewer characters, but they are all one incredibly dysfunctional family. If Riordan can create charismatic leads like he did in his Olympian series, he should have another hit on his hands. If, on the other hand, he gets lazy and just rewrites Lightning Thief with Thor and Odin, his audience may not be as forgiving.
There’s also the fact that Riordan has already published eight of a promised thirteen books, and that is a LOT of books. While his diehard fans are very happy about this, I know of a lot of people who just gave up on his books after a while. And it’s trickier to bring new fans into a series when you have to tell them, “Yeah, read these seven books, they’re great, and there’s three more coming!” It’s much easier to give someone a trilogy. Hopefully Riordan’s fans won’t abandon him.
Since both books sounds promising, Riordan and Clare are still in a tie at 2 points each. So let’s look at how they measure up in other things.
Round 5: Movie Adaptations
City of Bones vs Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters
Only Lightning Thief has been released
With the Potter and Twilight franchises wrapping up, all eyes were on the “next big thing” in Hollywood, before we all realized that it would be Hunger Games. Two years ago, The Lightning Thief was released in theaters, and it was a disaster. It really shouldn’t have been, because the Percy Jackson books lend themselves fairly well to film, and Chris Columbus (the hero who brought Harry Potter to life in movies) was at the helm.
But the film that we saw at midnight clad in orange t-shirts bore only a passing resemblance to the novel. It wasn’t a bad film by any means – it was just a horrendous adaptation. All the nuances and subtlety of the book were lost in the Hollywood spectacle. The cast worked well with the poor material, and Logan Lerman should be commended as a great Percy, but the film tanked. It made about as much money as other middling fantasies like Spiderwick Chronicles and Bridge to Terabithia, and less than a fourth of a typical Potter or Twilight movie’s gross.
The good news is that the film was from Fox, and Fox is not nearly as successful a studio as WB, Disney, or Paramount. Those all have major franchises to their names. The only thing Fox has to work with is Ice Age, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and X-Men. So Fox decided to go ahead and start work on Sea of Monsters, the second Percy Jackson movie. If the filmmakers decide to actually follow the books, they can still turn this franchise around (especially with inspired casting like geek god Nathan Fillion as Hermes). But I’m not holding my breath.
As for City of Bones, it all looked very promising from the start… up until the casting was announced. And in the most important male role, Jace Lightwood, we have none other than Jamie Campbell-Bower. Fans might know him as Young Grindewald in Deathly Hallows. However, I watched him in the short-lived Starz TV show Camelot, and his acting was AWFUL. He is incredibly wooden, fails to emote, and drove Camelot into the ground (the show was cancelled after ten episodes, despite having talent like Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes). So, quite frankly, I have very low expectations for City of Bones. It starts filming August 15th.
Both film franchises appear to be busts, so Clare and Riordan are still tied.
Round 6: The Authors Themselves
Cassandra Clare vs Rick Riordan
I have had the good fortune to attend release events for both of these talented writers – the release for Riordan’s Red Pyramid in May 2010; Clare’s City of Fallen Angels in May 2011 and Clockwork Prince in December 2011. So I’ll say a bit about both experiences.
Riordan definitely had the bigger event – a huge hall filled with many hundreds of fans. And he also had the bigger letdown. He didn’t bother reading from the book, letting some other lady do it for him. He didn’t really have good answers to many of the questions asked. And instead of waiting to get their book signed, people were told to come back in two or three hours… except Riordan left after an hour or so, and a large portion of the fans wound up with no signature. I was thoroughly unimpressed with Mr. Riordan.
Cassie Clare’s two events also had a number of fans well into the triple digits, though they were held in bookstores. Cassie read aloud from her books, had witty answers for every question that was asked, and showed a whole lot of enthusiasm. She resolutely sat there signing everyone’s book, making small talk as she did – asking people about their favorite characters and so on. She was absolutely charming, and I am the proud owner of five signed books from her. Clare: 3. Riordan: 2.
So despite their work being roughly equal, I will give the edge of Ms. Clare in this author showdown, and she triumphs over Rick Riordan 3 to 2.
As for what to expect from them in the future: Cassie Clare will continue weaving stories about romance and adventure in her Shadowhunter world for some time to come, and they will remain as popular as ever. Rick Riordan is quite the star now, but his Norse series could go either way.
However, there is one more factor to be taken into account: how long it takes them to write these books. Cassie generally takes a bit over a year to write two books at the moment, which is quite fast indeed. Riordan takes exactly a year to write two books, and has for a while now, one of which is quite gigantic. It’s clear to see why his writing became a touch mechanical if he’s rushing so much. But since he won’t start his Norse series until Heroes of Olympus is done, hopefully the quality of his writing will be better once he’s back to one a year.
Either way, we can expect great things from both of these authors in the future! Which author do you like better, and which series do you think is best? For quick reference, here is a list of their books.
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