Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 6th Read Harder task.

If you're a Jane Austen fan, I recommend Pamela Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy series. It started out as a fanfic, then got published. I thought it would be super cheesy, but I was actually really impressed with how much she fleshed out Darcy's story when he's "off screen" in the original book, and how much she seems to have researched the period.

Heather wrote: "If you're a Jane Austen fan, I recommend Pamela's Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy series. It started out as a fanfic, then got published. I thought it would be super cheesy, but I was actually really imp..."

great rec. I'm a huge Jane Austen fangirl

Keeping with the Austen theme, Pride would be a good one for this. I'm going with Mercy Kill from the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series, which is fab if you're a Star Wars fan.

I didn't even think of Pride but I've been meaning to read it!

I was also considering Redshirts.

Hannah wrote: "I didn't even think of Pride but I've been meaning to read it!

I was also considering Redshirts."

Redshirts is fantastic, too! I loved it even though it wasn't exactly what I expected; it gets a little bizarre but in a good way.

Kelsey wrote: "Keeping with the Austen theme, Pride would be a good one for this. I'm going with Mercy Kill from the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series, which is fab if you're a Star Wa..."

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll probably check this out.

Fanfic is probably half of what I read in a year tbh. Just jump on AO3, find your favorite piece of media or character, and see what's there. There are some incredibly talented fanfic authors out there who don't care about getting published.

Viggo wrote: "Fanfic is probably half of what I read in a year tbh. Just jump on AO3, find your favorite piece of media or character, and see what's there. There are some incredibly talented fanfic authors out t..."

Thanks for this. It makes it easy.

- I'm going with a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. I've really enjoyed the other Nicholas Meyer books I've read.

A few pieces of fanfic that are now part of classical literature:

Virgil's The Aeneid - This is absolutely Homeric fanfic.
Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost are both biblical fanfiction.
Wide Sargasso Sea is Jane Eyre fanfic.

More recently, Madeline Miller has written The Song of Achilles and Circe

Of course, I'm probably going with more up to date though authorized fan ficResistance Reborn

Stephen wrote: "A few pieces of fanfic that are now part of classical literature:

Virgil's The Aeneid - This is absolutely Homeric fanfic.
Dante's Inferno and Milton's [book:Paradise Los..."

It's tough to find the line between "fanfic" and "retellings" -- or is there even a difference?

Either way, I ADORED both of Miller's books. Highly recommend.

Abbie wrote: "It's tough to find the line between "fanfic" and "retellings" -- or is there even a difference?"

My impression is fanfic is when someone takes someone else's world and adds more to it, whereas a retelling deliberately changes some of the details of the world or back story so couldn't even fit into the original world--fanfic is written as if it could be part of the canon (though it very rarely would be). But other people may have different demarcation lines.

I haven't actually read either of Miller's books yet (they're on my to read list) so I don't know if they fit, I just saw Song of Achilles listed as fanfic when I was searching.

Would "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" count?

Not my usual genre, but I'm reading After by Anna Todd on recommendation from my sister. I guess it originally was a 1D fanfic

I think I might read Death Comes to Pemberley for this one!

Would "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell count for this one?

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is one of my all time favorite books. It's a response to Jane Eyre told from the point of view of Mr. Rochesters mad wife, Antoinette.

Cherri wrote: "Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is one of my all time favorite books. It's a response to Jane Eyre told from the point of view of Mr. Rochesters mad wife, Antoinette."

More like anti-fanfic though! I remember how uncomfortable this book made me because I read Jane Eyre at 12 and absolutely loved it. Read this book in my 20s and had to re-evaluate some of Bronte's underlying assumptions. It was really a transformative book for me.

I'm kind of intimidated by this task because I'm not entirely sure what we're counting as fanfic, and even if I make assumptions, there's so much and it's not an area I play in a lot. I think I'll be lurking the recommendations here for awhile before choosing something.

ProfBen10 wrote: "Would "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell count for this one?"
agh, I'm not sure because it's not a fanfiction of anything but it is about fanfiction

Stephen wrote: "A few pieces of fanfic that are now part of classical literature:

Virgil's The Aeneid - This is absolutely Homeric fanfic.
Dante's Inferno and Milton's [book:Paradise Los..."

Thanks for the great suggestions! I wasn't even thinking about fanfic in this way. I have had Circe on my to-read list for a while.

Viggo wrote: "Fanfic is probably half of what I read in a year tbh. Just jump on AO3, find your favorite piece of media or character, and see what's there. There are some incredibly talented fanfic authors out t..."

Same! I have never logged my fic reading, but this challenge kind of makes me want to start this year... Also a tip for those new to AO3: sort by Kudos for some of the most popular works.

I think I’m going with Wide Sargasso Sea. Finally read Jane Eyre this year so think it’s the perfect follow up!

On the Jane Austen kick, I might finally read Longbourn or check out Pemberley Ranch. Or just go check out A03 and read an "actual" fan fic for the first time (hm...but what characters would I choose?)

I thought I had a fic picked for this one but then I saw that it is 2000+ pages long!

I think I'll read All Our Secrets Laid Bare but I'm still figuring things out. I've never read a book-length fanfic so I want to try this year.

I'm going to choose Gaiman's Sherlock/Lovecraft fanfic A Study in Emerald found in his collection of stories Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.

Katie wrote: "I'm going to choose Gaiman's Sherlock/Lovecraft fanfic A Study in Emerald found in his collection of stories Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
[bookcover:Fragile Things: Shor..."

I believe the title is 'A Study in Emerald'? Or am I thinking of a different one?

For anyone looking for some options:
Wide Sargasso Sea is Jane Eyre through the crazy wife's POV

Gregory Maguire's done quite a few: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, After Alice are all transformative works for The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, respectively.

The Once and Future King and The Mists of Avalon are both Arthurian fanfic (though I can't say I enjoyed the Mists of Avalon nearly as much as I enjoyed The Once and Future King...)

14 is Lovecraftian, ditto Lovecraft Country

I'll add more once I think of them...

Katie wrote: "I'm going to choose Gaiman's Sherlock/Lovecraft fanfic A Study in Emerald found in his collection of stories Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
[bookcover:Fragile Things: Shor..."
Oooh! There is a graphic novel version!

Emma wrote: "Katie wrote: "I'm going to choose Gaiman's Sherlock/Lovecraft fanfic A Study in Emerald found in his collection of stories Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
[bookcover:Fragil..."

Yes it is, I was also listing the collection you could find the story in, since I happen to own the ebook of it.

Jen wrote: "Katie wrote: "I'm going to choose Gaiman's Sherlock/Lovecraft fanfic A Study in Emerald found in his collection of stories Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
[bookcover:Fragil..."

I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know.

I'm not sure the authors of cosmic/Lovecraftian horror would agree that their work is Lovecraft fan fic, but hey if we're including that, there's also She Walks in Shadows (an anthology), A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror (two in one), and Winter Tide, among others.

I am not familiar with this term in its full meaning. One to Watch that I believe could both be fanfic and a fat positive romance about a plus size woman who stars on a Bachelorette type show. Any ideas?

Judy wrote: "I am not familiar with this term in its full meaning. One to Watch that I believe could both be fanfic and a fat positive romance about a plus size woman who stars on a Bachelorette type show. Any ..."

Fan fic generally means it is a story set in a universe the author did not create but is a fan of. So I guess One to Watch would loosely work as Bachelorette fanfic.

There's also a ton of novel-length (and shorter) fanfic on sites like Ao3 and fanfiction.net and lists all over the internet for the best fanfics of different fandoms too.

There are a million Sherlock Holmes novels out there. I'll probably read one of those, rather than tagging a piece of fanfic from AO3 (which I read a lot of)

Would Hope Never Dies fit this?

Anna wrote: "Would Hope Never Dies fit this?"
I think it would.

@Patty Marvel - yes, all of his Austen related books would count as fanfic

Perusing my shelves I found Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders. Does this count as fanfic?

As someone who has written fanfiction, I believe if you take characters that you didnt create and write them into a story of your imagination or you create characters and put them in a world you didnt create then it's fanfiction. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is absolutely fanfiction. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is fanfiction. The 40th anniversary anthologies for Star Wars: A New Hope, amd Empire Strikes Back (which include stories by Rebecca Roanhorse, a Native American author) are fanfiction. Actually any Star Wars book I would consider fanfiction. The thing about fanfiction is that the authors don't usually have permission to use what doesnt belong to them. A retelling would be the same underlying story told differently, think West Side Story is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet

Do I get bonus points for writing fanfic, lol? I'm seconding the recommendation to visit A03 - you can sort by kudos or reviews to find the "good" stuff.

Hello, readers! Our rec post for this task is up now. https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021...

I used to read a lot of fanfic of favorite tv shows, but I’m not really into it anymore. There are some great standalone recs in that post, I might go with the Narnia / No Reservations crossover. Thanks, Book Riot!

Book Riot wrote: "Hello, readers! Our rec post for this task is up now. https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021..."

This was so helpful! Though making me decide between a Schitt's Creek and a Red White & Royal Blue option is cruel.

Viggo wrote: "Fanfic is probably half of what I read in a year tbh. Just jump on AO3, find your favorite piece of media or character, and see what's there. There are some incredibly talented fanfic authors out t..."

I thought this would be a really tough prompt for me, as I've never had any interest in fanfic. But I hopped on AO3, and there was a Downton Abbey/Poirot crossover. SOLD!

Book Riot wrote: "Hello, readers! Our rec post for this task is up now. https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021..."

As a long time fanfic reader and writer, I appreciate the way you went about this! Seeing "Reading fanfic counts as reading" was very affirming and refreshing.

I'm planning to read Grendel, by John Gardner. Also under consideration is Idylls of the King, by Alfred Tennyson, though I don't know if that qualifies as fanfiction or merely as a retelling of a popular legend.

I'm also considering The Romance of the Rose, which was started by Guillaume de Lorris and finished by Jean de Meun.

I also might attempt to finish The Story of the Stone, which was started by Cao Xueqin and finished by Gao E. It's five volumes, though, so it might take more than a year to finish.

Stina wrote: "Viggo wrote: "Fanfic is probably half of what I read in a year tbh. Just jump on AO3, find your favorite piece of media or character, and see what's there. There are some incredibly talented fanfic..."

What's the name of that one?

I do a lot of reading on AO3, so technically, I'll probably do this on Jan 1.

However, for novels, I think I will go for Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows by James Lovegrove, which is Sherlock Holmes, crossing with HP Lovecraftian monsters.