Wednesday, April 18, 2012

P is for Pern, Paolini . . . and Plagiarism

When I was a little kid, my parents introduced me to the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. To this day I still love the series, though I’ll admit that I only read the original trilogy – Dragonflight (1968), Dragonquest (1970), and The White Dragon (1978). They discuss several of my very favorite subjects, including telepathy, time travel (which I’ll write about in more depth under “T”), and of course, dragons.

The series is set on the fictional planet of Pern. For centuries the planet has been plagued by Threads, an alien spore that falls from the sky and devours all organic matter. Their one and only defense against the Threadfall are the Dragonriders of Pern, who tear through the skies torching the enemy on their fire-breathing dragons. But these magical beasts can do so much more than that.

They also have the ability to teleport from place to place in the blink of an eye by passing through the “between”. It’s a place of cold and nothingness, but by crossing the Between, dragons are able to teleport themselves – and their riders – anywhere. Spoilers: In the first novel (Dragonflight), they further discovers the dragons can jump between time, as well as place. Though this discover comes quite by accident, they’re able to utilize this ability to time-travel in order to save Pern from a Thread attack.

However, the most interesting feature of the series is the telepathic connection between dragons and their riders. Upon hatching, dragons immediately imprint on a boy or girl, who then become their bond-mates (or riders); they remain inextricably linked for the rest of their lives. The bond is largely empathetic, allowing them to read one another’s thoughts and emotions. Riders whose dragons have died are said to be half-men, a shadow of their former selves. Riderless dragons frequently commit suicide by passing into the between. The bond between man and beast is, by far, the most interesting and memorable aspect of the series.And one that I discovered made its way into another series many years later.

Many of you may have heard of Christopher Paolini and his Inheritance Cycle series. Paolini began writing the first novel, Eragorn, when he was only fifteen years old. I remember hearing a lot o buzz about it when I was in high school, and quickly raced out to buy the first novel. Boy was I ever surprised to find telepathic dragons that empathetically bond with their riders. It’s a complete rip-off of Anne McCaffrey’s original concept! And not a very good one. I only made it about halfway through the novel before I gave up and stopped reading. I’m not sure what bothers me most – that he plagiarized, or that he did it so poorly. If you’re going to steal an idea, at least have the decency to improve upon it.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who’s commented on Paolini’s literary piracy; however, most critics focus on the similarities between The Inheritance Cycle and big names like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. But MaCaffrey fans know the truth about Paolini’s “best selling” novels. So if you ever want to read a redundant, and ill-written, dragon series, check them out.
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This post is part of the Blogging A through Z Challenge 2012. My theme is (in case you didn’t already guess) science fiction. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you’d like to check in on the rest of the participants, simply click here.

30 comments:

  1. I've never read Paolini. The whole "15 year old writes fantasy series" put me off considerably and nothing I've heard since made me change my mind. Pern I have read. Enjoyed the first three very much, but later books left me feeling as though it was a party I'd forgotten the guest list of. If that makes sense.

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  2. Okay, I'm sold - Dragonflight is on my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation!

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  3. I remember reading the Dragonrider series long ago, at least the early books. I'd started reading anything fantasy I could find after reading Tolkien, and thought the story seemed a bit 'thin' but I loved the concept of the dragons... really, what kid doesn't want to fly on his own dragon? Not surprised then that someone else takes the idea and runs to the bank with it.

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  4. It always amazes me how publishers don't know the market they publish well enough to know when a story submitted to them is a copy.

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  5. I tried to read Eragorn, but just could not do it. I am glad that I did not go back and try to read him. It did not impress me either a 15 year old writing a fantasy series.

    I think that I am going to try to read Dragonflight. I think I would like this one.

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  6. As you know I adore Pern! I tried Eragon too, but couldn't finish it either. McCaffrey is a genius!

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  7. My kids enjoyed Eragon and being 12 and under at the time, thats OK.
    After they digested that we went to visit Pern and they totally loved it!

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  8. I must admit I do like the Inheritance cycle. But I can see the similarity with other books and I read them again last year and although I enjoy the story I just had this nagging thought at the back of my mind that I was reading quite a badly written book. I love the story though and ever since getting the book when I was 12/13 I've followed it through to the end (I don't like leaving series unfinished!). But now I'm older I can see things I didn't back then.

    But now I know that there's a similar book, seemingly better and original I must get my hands on a copy of the books. Sounds amazing.

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  9. These are two books I really need to read. I love the notion of "telepathic connection between dragons and their riders." That and the imprinting are captivating. I may try to read it with my son too. Thx. :)

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  10. I haven't read the Dragonriders of Pern series. It sounds fascinating! I actually really liked Eragon, so it would stand to reason that I would LOVE Dragonriders. I'm going to have to check it out!

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  11. I love dragons! thanks for this very interesting post. Happy Blogging!

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  12. YES!!! This!!!

    My thoughts exactly about the Eragon books! I read the Pern books way back in the late 70's and eraly 80's, so to me they seemed like the obvious source material for his plagiarism... er, "inspiration".

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  13. I am remiss. I have not read Anne McCaffrey's books. I tried to Eragon (which sounds a lot like Aragorn) but I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.

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  14. I've never read the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey (or anything by McCaffrey . . . *ducks tomatoes*) but I did read the Inheritance Cycle. I didn't think it was all that great by the end, though it strikes me as impressive that he wrote it at age fifteen and was actually picked up by a major publisher.


    The Golden Eagle
    The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

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  15. I love the Pern books. I've read the entire series, some of the books I've even read more than once (which is a rare thing for me). I've not read Eragon.

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  16. I've only read the first book, Dragonflight. But I saw the awful movie version of Eragon and now the similarities are very clear.

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  17. I loved the original Pern trilogy. I tried to continue on with some of her other Pern stuff, but the quality wasn't the same, and I gave up after a while.
    I haven't read Paolini. I saw the movie, and it was horrible. My oldest son told me it was pretty much just like the book, so I didn't even think about reading them at that point. Here's the thing: I admire him for being able to sit down and write a whole book at 15, but, eveidently, it reeks of something a 15-year-old would write. Certainly, the movie reflected that.

    I may need to dig out my old Pern books...
    I agree with you about the dragon/rider bond, by the way. Very cool.

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    1. The movie is actually nothing like the book. It also may seem like Paolini copied from Pern, but when you think about it, there is only two ways for a dragon and rider to communicate. Either telepathically or the dragon can actually talk. talking to a dragon and not having the mind-link is basically useless because you can't call to the dragon if its a long ways away. And if the rider and dragon don't bond, then the dragon could turn on the rider. And if you think about it, the dragon dying after it's rider makes sense. Sharing your mind and soul with someone for your entire life and them dying; the dragons basically die from grief. The riders are able to live because they didn't share their minds with their dragons for their entire lives unlike the dragons who bond as soon as they hatch.

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  18. I have the Pern books here at the house, but I've never picked them up to read. Eragon though, I've avoided that one since day one. Glad to know I didn't miss out on anything.

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  19. Oh, a post after my own heart! I adore Anne McCaffrey's Pern. It was the series that got me addicted to fantasy stories when I was younger. :)

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  20. I think I've only read one book by Anne McCaggrey, but I don't remember which one it was. :(

    I did read Eragon though. Did not feel compelled to pick up the sequels.

    Looking forward to your post on time travel! I was going to comment on your past/present posts but haven't gotten around to it, but now I think I'll wait for T. :)

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  21. Loved the Pern concept -- those sassy dragons were a hoot!

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  22. I almost got busted for plagiarism in college once. Right as they started using the Internet for paper checking. And then I showed them that the paper they were testing against was my own paper, that I'd written three years earlier.

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  23. I don't believe he plagiarized....my reasoning for this is that he was 15 when he wrote Eragon
    I don't know about you but I'm only 16 (a fan of fantasy) and I have never heard of the Pern series. Plagiarism only counts if it is knowingly committed. The fact is, 20 years later a boy might have had the same idea. I may be wrong but I prefer to give Paolini the benefit of the doubt and based on his age I don't think he really did plagiarize.

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  24. Eragon is a great book i just finished the whole series i would wouldnt think it is plagiarism The inheritance cycle is a very interesting series of books i would say that they are more popular then this anne mcCagrey due to the books age also the dragons can teleport... Really? thats like an ultimate power in eragon they actually travel and fight on their way its not just dragons too there are different races and they are more realistic then i would find other dragon books the thing is its really different if you think about it. An evil king and Evil aliens from space hmmmmm sounds familiar? no. i found it easy to read and a really good book

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  25. If you get half way through the book and stop reading because it's boring KEEP GOING the rest of the book is much better and the begining if book one is the worst part of the whole series.

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  26. Ok Ill go read Eragon. It sounds like a great book. Thanks. Oh and I read the beginning of Pern and I stopped because it was really, really boring so stop complaining no one likes a whiner.

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  27. Look u miserable loser, I've read the Inheritance Cycle, and the Dragonriders of Pern. They are completely different! Dragonflight took me two tries to read, the first book is boring! But I loved the rest of it and Dragonquest! It's about dragons that can teleport and burn Thread from the Red Star, they colonized a planet, which they named Pern and genetically mutated fire lizards to make dragon. Eragon is about a farm boy that finds a dragon egg in the Spine and hatches it and becomes the first dragonrider in a very long time. They don't teleport, there are multiple colors instead of only six, they never stop growing and a boy or girl can ride any gender. Sounds completely different to me beside the mind link. The whole reason I like Eragon more, is because it pissed me off that girls can only ride female dragons on Pern, and the male dragons are small. I luv McCaffrey's works, just Eragon has a better story plot. Now get a life and let this successful author be, u miserable loser.

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  28. i think Eragon is NOT a rip-off. and you guys don't know a good book series till they whack you in the head. get a life will you.

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  29. I agree with you. the only bad thing is that eragon leaves alagaesia forever. i almost cried. i think that eragon should have married arya so im writing a fifth book where that happens. if you dont agree with me thats fine. im only ten so i wont know that much. by the way ive read the inheritance cycle 4 times and im still not tired of it

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