Fanfiction versus Retellings – Do you have a favorite?
I got interested in fanfiction when I saw that three new books I’m reviewing were inspired by popular fanfiction characters and realized how fast this genre is growing!
Fanfiction is described as new stories based on characters from a fan’s favorite book, movie, TV show or other media. Some of the popular characters I’ve seen in fanfiction include Kylo Ren and Rey (Reylo) from Stars Wars, Belle and Edward (Bedward) from Twilight and Harry Potter imagined couples like Harry and Draco or Draco and Hermione (Dramione). Here are a few fanfiction examples with links to AAR reviews.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood has main characters based on Kylo Ren and Rey from Stars Wars. The MC is even named Adam. (Kylo is played by Adam Driver in Star Wars.) Olive is a brilliant Ph.D. candidate in Biology, and Adam is a Stanford professor. It has fake dating, grumpy/sunshine and an FMC in STEM.
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto has Elliot, a hot florist, inspired by Kylo Ren from Star Wars, and Ama, a wonderful, creative wedding planner. This a steamy, second chance romance as they reunite to plan a big, splashy wedding.
Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell, has a wizard school, magical creatures, and Simon and his vampire roommate Baz, who were inspired by Harry and Draco from Harry Potter. This is the YA M/M story that Cath, the main character in Fangirl wrote about Simon Snow.
Wallbanger by Alice Clayton was originally titled Edward Wallbanger and started as a Twilight fanfiction story. Caroline moves into her new apartment and discovers she can hear her neighbor Simon’s bedtime activities with his dates through their paper-thin walls. There aren’t any vampires but it’s funny and steamy.
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon is a fantasy romance set in the Philippines with characters inspired by Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars. It’s about Talasyn, a fierce and compassionate soldier with Light Magic and the dark and brooding, Prince Alaric, with Night Magic and they must work together to save their world. The first book in the series comes out Oct 3rd. (I will be reviewing it along with Dabney.)
I used to think fanfiction and retellings were the same thing but have since learned that they are each their own genre. Retellings are new versions of an old story, like a fairytale or a Jane Austen book, where authors keep the same plot and characters but have a different setting, time or genre. Here are a few retellings, with links to AAR reviews.
By the Book is Jasmine Guillory’s sweet retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Izzy is an editorial assistant trying to get Beau, a former child star celebrity, known for being gruff and rude, to finish writing his memoir. It’s lighthearted with fun banter.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith follows the same plot as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice except it is a comedy with a zombie twist. England has been overrun by zombies and the Bennet sisters are the best zombie slayers around due to their Shaolin training. Mr. Darcy becomes impressed with Jane when he sees her awesome fighting skills😊.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is a fantasy retelling of Rumpelstiltskin that follows Miryem, a girl who saves her starving family by taking over her father’s moneylending business while drawing the attention of the Staryk king. Maggie (AAR) described it as “A story full of adventure, wit, dangerous fey and clever queens, it is everything, EVERYTHING that a fairy tale for adults should be.”
West Side Love Story by Priscilla Oliveras is a retelling of West Side Story (and of Romeo and Juliet) and is about Mariana who competes against Hugo in the Battle of the Mariachi Bands. Mariana wants the prize money to help her adoptive parents’ financial problems. Lisa (AAR) wrote “What a great ride, and what a fun love story! I defy readers to consume West Side Love Story and avoid falling in love with Angelo, or Mariana and Angelo’s love story. I mean, he crushes on her while watching her mariachi band play Amor Prohibido – do you expect me NOT to love this book?”
When Beauty Tamed the Beast is the second book in Eloisa James’ Fairy Tale series and is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Piers, the grumpy Earl of Marchant, is the beast in the story and practices medicine in his castle in Wales. The beauty is Linnet who is hoping for a quick marriage with Piers to save her reputation. Dabney (AAR) . wrote, “The two learn to like and love one another and their interactions are witty and passionate.”
Do you like fanfiction or retellings? Do you have a favorite book of either?
Can’t believe I didn’t list Juliet Marillier. My favorite of hers is Heartsong, a standalone fantasy novel but her Sevenwaters series, based on the Seven Swans fable, is excellent. First book is Daughter of the Forest.
I do like retellings, whereas fanfiction makes me a little uncomfortable. They use characters created by people who is still alive and have the right to those characters. I tend to ask myself where is the limit between homage and plagiarism? Maybe I am not very fair but that’s the way I feel.
Retellings are different. They use archetypes and stories that belong to everybody, that are part of the public dominion. I love when old archetypes are taken and recreated, or the same all story is told from a different point of view. I tend to like retellings of classic stories in literary fiction, more than in anything commercial. I really liked The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard.
Can’t believe I didn’t list Patricia C. Wrede’s Snow White and Rose Red. Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment is also great- very romantic.
I am not much interested in fanfic, I probably only like the ones where the fanfic inspiration is not noticeable anymore ;)
But I do love retellings, especially of fairy tales, so I second the Mercedes Lackey recommendations, although the Sherlock Holmes retellings in the Elemental Series are not my cup of tea.
And yes, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is excellent in my opinion.
And I just add a few more:
The first Bayern book “Goose girl” by Shannon Hale. I also like her Ever after High books, but don’t care much for her Rapunzel.
Robin McKinley has done a few excellent fairy tale retellings and one of the Robin Hood story. My favourite is propably Deerskin, but that is very dark and deals with abuse, so trigger warning seems in order.
My daughter and I were just discussing Goose Girl yesterday. It’s one of her all time favorite books. She mentioned that the author builds a great world, and goes on to use it in at least two more books.
It’s on sale today.
It is one of my all time favorite books. It’s just phenomenal.
I do love the other Bayern books as well, but they are not retellings. Which is why I didn’t mention them here.
Goose Girl is a great one. I also really enjoyed her Book of a Thousand Days. McKinley’s Beauty (Beauty and the Beast) is great, although my favorite of hers is Chalice.
Mine is the Goose Girl. But she’s almost alway fabulous.
I also love East by Edith Pattou.
I’ve heard good things about East and West, Pattous duology. I have them on my TBR list.
A Thousand Nights by ek_johnston is one of my favorite books of all time and retells the story of Scheherazade. Don’t read the second volume, Spindle based on Sleeping Beauty as it’s a nightmare but Thousand Nights is brilliant.
For fairy tales, you can’t go wrong with Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdoms books. Not all of them are spectacular, but the starting novel – The Fairy Godmother- definitely is, and most of them are at least a B when not an A. These all (or maybe just most? been a few years) had an HEA. Lackey’s Elemental Masters series starts as romance – The Fire Rose is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and Phoenix and Ash is Cinderella – although I think some of the books are just fantasy. I loved quite a few of them and AAR Lisa gave a B+ to Jolene. Firebird and Black Swan by Lackey are more fairy tale retellings. The Woodcutter Sisters by Alethea Kontis starting with Enchanted (Cinderella). Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, starting with Cinder. The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy by Jessica Day George starting with Princess of the Midnight Ball (12 Dancing Princesses) Beastly, Cloaked, and A Kiss in Time. One of the best teen romances I’ve ever read with an absolutely fantastic hero is Impossible by Nancy Werlin. It’s a retelling of Scarborough Fair and is actually part of a trilogy, though I don’t recommend the other two books. House of Salt and Sorrows Erin A. Craig which is a Gothic retelling with dark magical elements of twelve dancing princes. Entwined (12 Dancing Princesses) by Heather Dixon Wallwork. The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long (Midsummers Night’s Dream) Sarah Beth Durst Ice (East of the Sun, West of the Moon). .
Smacks forehead – If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy. If you are into YA, Disney has an entire line of retellings of pretty much everything they have ever made, including books like A Whole New World which retells the story of Aladdin.
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey is wonderful, with a competent (very definitely NOT helpless) heroine who starts as a Cinderella.
Yes, I loved how much agency she has and how her story turned out.
My goodness, what a list! some I’ve heard of but not others. I read a couple of books by Mercedes Lackey years ago, but nothing in a long time. I’ll definitely look those up.
The Fairy Godmother and Fool’s Errand, and Beauty and The Werewolf were all favorites of mine among the Lackey’s. Alex Flinn’s modern-day-ish
retellings were great, especially Beastly and A Kiss in Time.
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White is both a well-done adventurous fantasy and a P&P homage. It is the first book of a fantasy trilogy (followed by Dragonshadow and Flamebringer).
I also strongly second the recommendation of the Enchanted Forest books by Wrede:
–dealing with dragons
–searching for dragons
–calling on dragons
–talking to dragons
–(some stories in) book of enchantments
I have enjoyed the Dade books that reference fanfiction, but view them more as a reference to the book vs. filmed GoT controversy than just about fanfiction.
I don’t mind retellings as long as they retain some element of what makes the myth interesting. To wit: I adore the tale of Cupid and Psyche, and along the decades it’s been retold billions of times, but if you rework certain important plot elements or completely ignore base characterization (I’m looking at you, girlboss!Warrior!Psyche!), then I will call you out.
50 Shades of Grey and the Mortal Instruments series are also major rewritten fanfiction successes, though both are majorly dicey (and I like neither).
I’m not big on retellings, but as with anything, it comes down to the quality of the writing for me. A friend of mine who is a published author used to write really high-quality fanfiction in a handful of fandoms, and I always think that part of the real challenge of the genre is writing stories about established character, keeping them IN character while putting them into different situations, not turning them into “pod people”. (Completely different characters.)
I’m a bit suspicious of the number of romance novels coming out that are obviously based on fanfic ships. I like fanfic (I used to write it!) and can think of a couple of recent romances that include the concept of fanfic in their storylines – Sally Malcolm & Joanna Chambers’ Total Creative Control & Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert spring immediately to mind – but the romances aren’t based on particular characters or ships. I think there’s a danger that the author can pay too much attention to their Kylo/Rey or Draco/Harry (or whoever) pairing that they forget that not all readers will be aware of who these characters are and don’t include enough character and relationship development to the story for it to work outside of the original world. Kit Coltrane’s All The Way Happy was apparently conceived as Harry/Draco fanfic – I knew that going in, and I (obvs) know who Harry and Draco are, but the author relies on THAT rather than on developing the story and romance in its own right.
I think that’s a danger inherent on retellings as well – the author has to be able to develop the story and characters and not rely on readers already knowing who they are. Reviews I’ve seen for some of the Kylo/Rey-inspired romances show that not all authors are able to do that successfully.
Most original fanfiction keeps the names and details of the setting the same, but ships different characters and/or adds adventure. It’s usually when they want to publish that they have to obfuscate the characters and settings so as not to infringe on copyright laws. I don’t generally read actual fanfiction, although I have a a family member who writes it. The closest ones I can think of is The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor, rewrites of Alice in Wonderland. And Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South gives more than a passing nod at Pride and Prejudice. I have an “Austen retelling” shelf on GR. Sally Malcom’s Perfect Day is on there.
I do enjoy well done fairy tale retellings, and have been known to seek those out. I also have a “fairy tale redux” shelf on GR. Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles are superb. They are junior fiction good enough to make wonderful adult reading as well.
You are the only other person I know who has read The Looking Glass Wars. It has been a few years, but I did enjoy them. I haven’t read the Enchanted Forest series yet, but will add it to my list. I always think of the Cecelia and Kate books (The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (aka Sorcery and Cecelia), The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician) as inspired by Austen/Regency romance novels. They are fantastic if you haven’t read them. Wrede’s Snow White and Rose Red is an absolutely charming retelling of that fairytale.
One of my kid’s bought The Looking Glass Wars as a teen and I know at least my husband and I read it, and the rest of the series. Quite fun.
I have read The Enchanted Chocolate Pot series! I especially love the first one. You probably know it was originally a writing exercise between the authors. They met and set some ground rules, then one would write a chapter and send it to the other. They couldn’t tell each other anything about their plotting plans, so each had to take the info given in the chapter and run with it. When they decided to draw it to a close, they met again and realized they had a decent story, and with some minor tweaking, they published it. It’s delightful!
I remembered another fairy tale retelling by Patricia Briggs, The Hob’s Bargain. It’s an earlier work and one of my family’s favorites.
I have The Hob’s Bargain in my massive TBR. I’m a big fan of Brigg’s Mercedes series and her Alpha and Omega books.
Many claim Fifty Shades of Grey is Twilight fanfiction.
I think you could argue that Madeline Miller’s fabulous Circe and The Song of Achilles are both something like fanfiction!
Actually, E.L. James said her books were Twilight fanfiction in an interview in Business Insider. It was originally titled Masters of the Universe.
https://www.businessinsider.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-started-out-as-twilight-fan-fiction-2015-2
Yes, I know!
I would argue with that, because to my mind, fanfic is based on a book/TV show/film – and those are based on long-established Greek myths. I know all the source material is fiction, but in my mind, they’re different.
50 Shades was actually fanfiction that was published on fanfiction.net and, when she got a publishing deal, taken down and rewritten into something original.
Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit is widely known to have begun life as fanfic – which isn’t a bad thing per se, but structurally, you can definitely see those roots. I have no problem with publishers picking up books and authors this way – there are people writing fanfic who are better writers than some published authors! But it would be nice if the finished product was a bit more… polished? Novel-like?
Yep, and also Ali Hazlewood, who writes super fanfictiony books style-wise IMO.
There’s enough Reylo-fanfic turned books out there that Goodreads has a list.
Just one story, I think.
Yeah, the base story was fanfiction, the two sequels were not as far as I know.