AdrienneW

I am not sure where to put this, so I will try here.

Why is it, in the history of science fiction/fantasy that some ideas are off limits while others are not.
For exampl, there are an endless supply of LOTR type fantasies, many of which share similar monsters in name and description. There are dozens of galactic adventures, aliens from space to earth etc. But it seems to be taboo for any one to touch the "idea" of, for example, Ann McCaffery's Pern.
I remember one book being written years ago where there was a similar symbiotic relationship with insects, dragon flies, and the book was not accepted well by Pern fans.
Why is it that a world like Pern is so taboo to be duplicated in any other fashion, even if the story is worth merit. Why is it that any dragon/human relationship will always be compared to McCaffery's works?
I would love to hear some input on this as well as other possible comparisons...

MEShammas

Because people find an other that they like to use as a schema to categorize all other authors under.

Mayhaps? Maybe? Perhaps? Perchance?

To tell the truth, I am not completely sure.

I shall end (quite randomly) with a quote (quite random) from my book (quite randomly random).

"The axe took him in the back of the head." --quoted by, well, me ofcourse!

GOOD LUCK!!!

jesterscourt

Nothing is off limits in writing, particularly fiction. Now if you are asking if you'll have a ready-made audience, then that's a different issue.

Do you remember the post a few months ago about the poster that wanted help with their query letter for a furry novel? I thought at the time it was quite silly, and that there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of it getting even a response. But you know what? I just watched a show on tv that was talking about growing underground trends, and guess what it mentioned? If your ideas are well executed, I think it will find its own audience on its own.

ClancyBoy

If you don't want to be thought of as copying McCaffery, then don't copy McCaffery. Do something different.

If you write about dragons and people, of course there will be comparisons to other books about dragons and people. Just like mysteries are compared to other mysteries, romances to romances, etc etc.

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JohnN

Nothing is off topic, some things are just not popular!

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Mr Sci Fi

If you use a Dragonrider in your work, chances are you will be compared to McCaffery.

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Wallmaker

Mayhaps, LOTR spans a lot of commonly used species in fantasy, etc, that other stories can slip by, but McCaffery's stories are so specifically dragon and rider related it would be hard not to think of her work. Or, maybe it's just the difference between what LOTR fans and McCaffery fans will accept.

Even still... I think you can use a familiar topic if you have something new to add to it. If you use the familiarity of Dragonriders to set up the world but put a new twist on it, people will say, oh, wait, this is different.

Cheers,
Kay

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