City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Both Evermore and City of Bones were ridiculously derivative in nature. The difference is that Evermore pretended to be Twilight, while City of Bones pretended not to be Harry Potter. Both failed.

For sake of length, I'll only address its derivative nature, leaving further critique and criticism for later.

I will start by acknowledging that many of these similarities between Harry Potter and City of Bones are quite petty. Similarities like this exist, even in real life, let alone in fiction of the same or related genre, as archetypes make a genre familiar and provide a framework for creative expansion. Also, all authors write using a collage consisting of their life experiences, other works they have read, and their purely creative power. It’s natural to have crossover. Also, let’s not forget the homage. Some similarities may be the result of one author purposefully referring to a beloved work. I say all this so that you know I am not being unduly harsh.

The sheer number of coincidences led me to believe that Clare’s work was the result of too much Harry Potter, like all she had done since 1997 is read and reread that series. Thus her writer’s collage was one-third that of Joann Rowling. I was not surprised to learn that she had her start writing Harry Potter fan fiction. Admittedly, there are also elements of Twilight, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings.

Let’s start with the most salient parallel: the villain and underlying conflict. In City of Bones, Valentine Morgenstern is widely assumed to be dead before the start of the book. As the story progresses, we learn that he is in fact at large and gathering power.  He was responsible for a great amount of chaos and slaughter about fifteen years prior. He had started a group called the Circle, whose goal it was to rid the Shadowhunters (the magic-wielding humans) of impurity and to purify the human race. This was said to be especially popular with the older houses, who viewed the Clave (ruling body of magic-wielding humans) as being overly permissive of magic non-humans and half-breeds.

Perhaps I misjudge Harry Potter’s familiarity, but I will refrain from expounding on Voldemort’s ambition, his Deatheaters, and the mistaken assumption of his death years before action in the book takes place.  Instead, I will emphasize that the major conflict of the book, the plot device around which the rest of the story revolves, is the same in both books: the attempted return to power of a fascist wizard bent on domination through blood purity, with the aid of his secret cult of followers. Those in the Circle don’t have Dark Marks, but they do have rings that can be twisted to send messages.

It’s not as bad as Christopher Paolini’s blatant retelling of Star Wars in his book Eragon, but the copy is unmistakable. Clare fleshed out the story to make it her own, but the bones are stolen from J.K. Rowling.

The other similarities are not as big, but this one is so huge that there really don’t have to be more. In fact, there shouldn’t be more, but there are.

There are small details:

• birds that carry messages between magical parties
• the name for non-magical humans (Mundanes/Muggles)
•  flying motorcycles
• enchanting buildings or even entire countries to repel non-magical people

There are entire characters:

• the parents’ best friend who is a werewolf (Lucian/Lupin)
• the coward who betrays both sides (Hodge/Wormtail)
• the old family whose wealth and connections enable them to escape the major repercussions of the villain’s fall from grace and who pass down their prejudices to their children (Lightwoods/Malfoys)
• the redheaded mother who is a victim of the V-named villain (Jocelyn/Lily)

There are even several more plot devices:

• the protagonist’s scar, from the villain and a telltale sign of the protagonist’s tie to the conflict
• the protagonist growing up in a house where the existence of magic is vehemently denied with the hopes of stamping out any inclinations toward such
• V-named villain’s youth spent at school, using his charisma to train and to recruit the underdogs to his cause
• uniting of three items (the Mortal Instruments/Deathly Hallows) to give the holder power. Incidentally, the three items are similar in purpose if not nature:
• one that could be used to make the villain his own army (the Mortal Cup for creating Shadowhunters/Resurrection Stone which Grindlewald hoped to use for an army of inferi)
• the second of a much more obvious aggressive nature (the Mortal Sword/the Elder Wand); 
• and the third with protective powers and strange ways of manipulating sight (the mirror Lake Lyn/Cloak of Invisibility). This last one is a stretch, I’ll grant, but not so much so that I am willing to give it up…like jeans one size too small.

Now, lest you think that her entire story is stolen from Harry Potter, I have a list of comparisons with other works of fiction.

Cassandra Clare claims to be “inspired by” the works of Philip Reeve, and maybe what she does is to pay him homage, but if so, then she is paying him from his own wallet. She named two of her trilogies after his books, Mortal Engines and Infernal Devices, the second of which she didn’t bother changing at all. Also, Mortal Engines features a character named Valentine who is the father of one of the main characters.

Because, yep, true to cliché, Valentine turns out to be the protagonists’ father.

The early foreshadowing was a bit obvious, but the super-awkwardly placed references to Princess Leia and the Millennium Falcon it later chapters clinched it. When Clary, the female protagonist, freaks out about the big paternity reveal, I was a little underwhelmed. To give Clare credit, however, the scene in which Clary’s love interest finds out that Valentine is also his father was remarkably well played. Still too heavy handed on the foreshadowing, but the scene played out nicely. Also, Clare is one of the few to take that Star Wars allusion to its full measure. A lot of fictional characters get told that daddy’s actually the evil villain, but few get to enjoy the more nuanced Darth Vader moment, that of the big fraternity reveal.

Now, regarding the characters. Clare sticks to the tried-and-true formula of paranormal teen romance (PTR). While she may not have stolen any of these characters from any one book, I will use Twilight, which does a surprisingly good job with the archetypes for its genre. (Others have said that Clare ripped off Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) I won’t go into too much criticism here, because my point is that Clare lacks originality. Her lapses in talent are a matter for later posts.

The archetypes:

• The Uninitiated Heroine: fantasy writers often use the initiation of a new member to justify exposition. In PTR, this is usually a female, because it plays into the misogynistic expectation of a stronger, more powerful male love interest. (Clary/Bella)
• The Enigmatic Love Interest: as stated above, he must be stronger and more powerful, but he is also unnecessarily moody with tendencies toward violence and anger. (Jayce/Edward)
• The Unfailing Admirer: a loyal best friend harboring unrequited love for the heroine. He is representative of her life before initiation and is relatively powerless. If the book is part of a series, he may later gain supernatural power to further complicate the love triangle. (Simon/Jacob)
• The Beautiful Mean Girl: She is already initiated and resents the intrusion of the heroine, whom she demeans and embarrasses. She frequently has prior claim on the Love Interest. Her change of heart toward the heroine is a staple of the genre. (Isabelle/Rosalie)

So basically, Clare took the cast of Twilight, put them in the world of Harry Potter, and then wrote them a plot. I do plan on analyzing the rest of the book in further detail, but I will wait and do so another day. For now, I will end with my rant against fan fiction.

J.R.R. Tolkien spent 20 years world building for Lord of the Rings. He created the genre of adult fantasy. J.K. Rowling invented a world loved by millions of people. Then some hack comes along and has the arrogance to write his own plot with their world and characters. He stands on the shoulders of giants, benefiting from the connection other readers already feel toward existing characters and worlds. It's reaching into the brains of the creators and playing around with what's inside. It is theft and mutilation. 

It is also a handicap to the fan fiction writer himself. No good writer can learn from stealing other writer's works. Yes, read and learn from others, but then write for yourself. Otherwise, you will never know if what is loved about your work is what you wrote or what you stole. If you can't world build, then you have no business writing fantasy; and if you can't conceive of your own character, then you have no business writing at all.

Suffice it to say that Clare's early career as a writer of fan fiction seems to have hampered her ability to create something unique.