Cassandra Clare is the author of The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Bane Chronicles. All of her literary works surround the world of Shadowhunters, also known as Nephilim, which are a race of beings born with angelic blood. Cassandra’s first book, City of Bones, was released in 2004. Since then, she has released over ten books and she has plans to release more. Cassandra Clare is an influential author of the 20th century because of her unique books, widespread fan base, and successful publications.
One thing that might stand out to a reader of Cassandra’s books is that they are unlike any other. The plot itself in her books may not be original, but the world she created is. Most young adult books are about vampires, werewolves, zombies or another mythical creature. All of those subjects have been seen before in literature. What is unique about Cassandra’s books is that they are about a race of beings called Shadowhunters, mythical beings Cassandra created on her own.
When asked how she got the idea for her novels, Cassandra said:
The idea for the Mortal Instruments came to me one afternoon in the East Village. I was with a good friend of mine, who was taking me to see the tattoo shop where she used to work. She wanted to show me that her footprints were on the ceiling in black paint — in fact the footprints of everyone who’d worked there were on the ceiling, crisscrossing each other and making patterns. To me it looked like some fabulous supernatural battle had been fought there by beings who’d left their footprints behind. I started thinking about a magical battle in a New York tattoo shop and the idea of a secret society of demon-hunters whose magic was based on an elaborate system of tattooed runes just sprang into my mind (cassandraclare).
When writing young adult books, it is much more difficult to capture the interest of adults, considering most young adult books are meant for teenagers. However, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal devices have attracted fans of all ages. Many of Cassandra’s older fans have said that they shied away from The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices at first because most of the main characters are teenagers (robbingtheromancecradle). What made many people fall in love with her books could be the complex relationships between the characters, the mature subject matter, the romance, the action, or the overall story in general.
Other authors (all of these authors write mystery/thriller novels as well) have praised the book as well. These authors include: Karin Slaughter, Nelson DeMille, Douglas Preston, and James Patterson. This book alone has over a hundred five star reviews on Amazon. Not bad for an author just releasing his first
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Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. Zora plays an important role for the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the titans of twentieth-century African American literature. Despite that she would later fall into disgrace because of her firm views of civil rights, her lyrical writing which praise southern black culture has influenced generations of black American literary figures. Hurston’s work also had an impact on later black American authors such as Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison.
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Jane Austen’s novels still remain relevant to this day, despite being written more than 200 years ago. This decade, from 2011-2017, celebrates the bicentennial publishing of her six novels. Her novels are classics, and still on many a required college reading list, yet her works are also read by ordinary people who just enjoy a good story. During her lifetime, her books were well received, but quickly forgotten after her death (Harman 65). Considered one of Britain’s most revered authors, her legacy is now passed from generation to generation and has become entrenched in popular culture (Swisher 13).
The Twilight series is a bestselling series written by Stephanie Meyer that has captivated millions of teenage girls. Twilight diverges from the vampire lore quite a bit and contains very little information about any other supernatural beings. Most vampire stories stress that vampires are night dwellers; that they cannot remain “alive” when the sun rises. Nevertheless, Twilight ignores that known ...
Fifty Shades of Grey, is one of UK’s best-selling novels, and is written by the famously known author E.L James. E.L James was not a prominent writer until the release of the Fifty Shades trilogy, which, she claimed to have written during her mid-life crisis. This novel has taken female audiences all over the world by storm. It is set mainly in Seattle, and is the first book of the Fifty Shades trilogy (Fifty Shades Darker is the second book, and Fifty Shades Freed is the third book) (Gilman, 2013).
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"And the lady of the house was seen only as she appears in each room, according to the nature of the lord of the room. None saw the whole of her, none but herself. For the light which she was was both her mirror and her body. None could tell the whole of her, none but herself" (Laura Riding qtd. by Gilbert & Gubar, 3).
One of the major reasons why such a strong connection was made with the fans is the fact that they literally were able to grow with Harry Potter. The books were released gradually, some having up to two years in between releases, so the readers grew up quite a lot across the series of the book; because of this, the book had to maintain its appeal right through teenage years. Rowling’s writing style managed to do this by starting off simple enough for a child embarking on their first novels, and developed into something much more adult and complex, which was compelling enough for both teenagers and adults. Anthony Gierzynski states that “Those 10-year-olds going to the first movie, holding the hands of their parents, ended up driving to the last midnight shows.” By having the series grow along with the fans, both literally and metaphorically, this generation has been able to claim Harry Potter as its own. Furthermore, the values and beliefs of this generation have been greatly impacted by the connection to the Harry Potter series. In his essay “How 'Harry Potter ' shaped the political culture of a generation”, Gierzynski goes on to assert that “Reading the books correlated with greater levels of acceptance for