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CronoDAS comments on Fifty Shades of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Less Wrong
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Data point #2: Eragon, which is better known for having being written by a 15-year-old than for being an especially good book, but has gone on to sell lots of copies anyway. (According to what I've heard, it's good enough to be entertaining to young people who are new to reading epic fantasy, but it's no better than any of the other fantasy books out there.)
I read an article about Eragon before I'd ever heard of it; apparently his parents were small-book publishers or something, and went around promoting his book heavily. I found this rampant nepotism and an example of how media success is not a meritocracy, but I decided I should read the book before I jumped to negative conclusions about it being a bad fantasy book whose success represents the triumph of luck & marketing - after all, maybe the dude was a prodigy. So I read it and.... it was a bad fantasy book: the writing was clearly immature & inexperienced, and the setting/plot practically plagiarized Tolkien in a number of places. The author is no Brandon Sanderson, to be sure. Even the Sword of Shannara pulp fantasy series is better.
Interesting fact about Brandon Sanderson: He finished writing seven novels before any of them were published. (This is why Elantris doesn't read like a first novel - it wasn't one.)
That's a very generous way of putting it. I picked it up off the bargain shelf not realizing the age of the author. The plot is totally derivative and every character speaks in the same, implausibly stilted voice.
Incidentally, I once very much enjoyed a book written by a twelve-year-old.
Axe Cop comes to mind, even though it was a partnership with one (very in the beginning, now noticeably less so) junior partner.
How old were you when you read it? I loved the MacDonald Hall books when I was little, but I don't know how well they'd stand up to a more critical eye.
Probably somewhere around 12 myself. Looking back at the series, the characters are indeed paper thin, but the jokes are still funny.