Published Fanfiction

[Arianna Stonewater]

A published fanfiction is a story set in the same universe (or sometimes a parallel universe) with some or all of the same characters from the original story. Sometimes it shows the story from a different perspective, sometimes it shows the events before or after a series started/ended. They're not always what you expect, especially if there is a different author than the original series.

A few examples are
-Fifty Shades of Grey series was a fanfiction of sorts from the Twilight series
-the new "Cursed Child" play, which is a continuation (of sorts) of the Harry Potter series

What are some published fanfiction/spin-offs you like? Why do you like them? Are they very different from the original series? Have you ever read any books that came AFTER the movies? For example, the first Star Wars book was based off the script for the first Star Wars movie, though it was published before the movie actually came out.

[Kathren Johnsun]

There are a few that came to mind right away.

Different Authors: Looking Glass Wars and sequels by Frank Beddor (listed as heavily influenced by Alice in Wonderland) and Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson as well as the first sequel (written as a prequel to Peter and Wendy).

Same Author: Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Ender's Game/Shadow by Orson Scott Card, and Gathering Blue and The Messenger by Lois Lowry.

Unconfirmed: The Giver and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (someone similar to Jonas can be seen in Gathering Blue).

I truly enjoyed reading all of these but most are a once or twice read before they just start collecting dust. The main exceptions to that are Beddor's books and The Giver, which I've already read multiple times each. You could also argue that all of Rick Riordan's series have been fanfiction for the mythology that they cover. All of them are a little different from the original material, but there is still enough similar that you can tell what it is based on.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I heard about of course Fifty Shades of Grey and some other works based or made from fanfiction of other fandoms, but I never realized Cassandra Clare also had her start in fanfiction. Not only that, she started in Harry Potter fandom.

So, after discovering that The Mortal Instruments sort of had a start as Harry Potter fanfiction (most notably from Clare’s Draco Trilogy, with the name of the series taken from one of Clare’s Harry Potter spinoffs), I just had to reread the first book, City of Bones and read the second of the series, City of Ashes.

While the similarities are not as glaringly obvious as with Fifty Shades of Grey, I can see it. Jace is practically Draco Malfoy down to the personality (with perhaps less “Wait until my father hears about this!") and Clary is resembling Ginny Weasley a lot. Mundane vs. Muggle and other item, name and plot similarities.

Nevertheless, there is a complete different plot between the supposed fanfiction origins and the original novels, so much so that a very original work resulted in the form of The Mortal Instruments novels. There is a lot you can give Cassandra Clare grief about, but the fanfiction origins is not one of them.