More on fantasy for young adults, Hamilton, Part 1
I was trying to provoke discussion with my post about an upcoming young adult fantasy novel that reminded me of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series. But the response has been not so much discussion as online bullying.
On the one hand it’s nice to have some passion associated with literature. On the other, most of the posts here don’t really address the questions I brought up. So I’m going to try to clarify some questions and thoughts here on what I was referring to by saying that “Ink Exchange” by Melissa Marr ’seems to take a page’ from the Hamilton series. Note: I never used the word plagiarize and I have read most of the book. Most of the folks ranting can’t say the same thing. Many of the comments seem to be by people who like to sound off, but who are not careful readers. This note is long, so I’m posting it in 2 parts.
1. First, in the title of the post I use a question mark. In other words, it asks a question about whether this young adult book is a knock-off of the Hamilton series rather than just state categorically that it is. However, I DO think the Marr cover does resemble the Hamilton series, which began in 2000. The series is fairly identifiable by the covers’ motif, which usually is a monotone, shadowy image of part of a sexy woman’s body (no full face), often with S-M overtones. Hamilton’s more recent Anita Blake books also have such covers; they too sometimes have tattoos, scant clothing.
Marr’s cover is less sexy, but also features a lovely woman or girl in a shadowy, monotone image that shows only part of the face. She has a tattoo and appears to be wearing a sleeveless, strapless, filmy top or dress. It is far less erotic, with no S-M overtones, thank heavens. Many people might think, though, that it does evoke a certain sensuality. It seems appropriate for older, teen readers.
What reminds me of Hamilton’s series is the monotone, shadowy picture of a young woman’s body, particularly from behind. Some comments have said that this image is common in young adult literature; I have not seen any, and I have been looking on the web at other young adult fantasy literature. I also receive about 300 books a week in my office and this is the first young adult book that I have noticed that struck me as having a cover similar to the Hamilton series. If someone knows of another book about urban fantasy, faery courts & mortals that sports a monotone image of a young woman, please send me the title. I see thousands of books and no young adult book has ever reminded me of Hamilton’s series until this one. I know there are other books about faeries and sex.
2. When I ask - again in a question - when imitation ends and copyright infringement begins, I am being somewhat provocative. I know that it is very difficult to bring any kind of lawsuit regarding such things against a novel. (Remember the failure of the million-dollar suit against “The Da Vinci Code.” For many folks that suit seemed silly just because the authors in the suit had written a nonfiction book, not a novel.) In St. Louis, there was a complicated suit by a real-life person because a book’s character appeared to be based on him. I will research that suit to learn whether it is still in appeal.
Back to the blog post: I did not give my own thoughts about whether there was anything untoward happening - I’m not a lawyer, of course. I do think the young adult book cover reminds me of the Hamilton series, which is longer-running and much more famous. The young adult book isn’t even out yet; an advance reader’s edition shows an image that could, conceivably, change before the final book is released.
Many books have covers that give a sense of a certain type of book or genre. This helps the reader, to some extent, know whether the book is a romance, a thriller, a cozy mystery, etc. The images convey information about how they may be similar to other books in a genre or type. I believe this is a reader service, to a large extent. No laws are broken, particularly when there are many books in that genre that sport images that are similar.
A side note: I frequently have spoken to friends and readers who do NOT remember by looking at a book jacket whether they have read the book! Some series have similar images and titles. Only by reading a description of the plot or some of the book do they answer their own question about whether they have read that book in the past.
Another comment: with about 175,000-200,000 books being published just in the United States in a year, obviously some books and titles are going to look and sound similar. Sometimes titles are repeated, in fact.
3. Some comments imply that I know nothing about what is in Marr’s book. I have, in fact, read quite a bit of it, although not every word. And I have read some of Hamilton’s series, although far from all of it.
The Merry Gentry series refers to the traditional Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the faeries and the heroine is part mortal and part faerie. Marr uses the terms Summer Court and Winter Court or Dark Court. In “Ink Exchange,” the heroine, Leslie, gets a unique tattoo (while she receives it she starts feeling euphoric and sort of “high”) and becomes attracted to a frightening but sexy faery. I don’t want to give away the plot. I hope it’s suffice to say that Leslie starts consorting with the faeries, who fight over her and caress her (”her eyes blurred at the pleasure at that casual touch - not anger, not fear - just want”). It is a long, LONG way from blatant erotica, and Marr is a good writer. But there are references to pot, rape, ‘hooking up,’ violence, dealing drugs, “selling” Leslie, etc. Which leads me to my next comment in part 2.
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