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Post by Hermes on Nov 2, 2020 10:13:20 GMT -5
A recent discussion in the coincidence thread has raised the question how many books there are which have been influenced by the works of Lemony Snicket. The most obvious is of course The Secret Series, by Pseudonymous Bosch. Dante and R. have brought to light two others: Malamander, by Thomas Taylor. The Max Einstein series, by James Patterson (authorised by the Einstein estate, no less). Does anyone know of others?
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Post by Dante on Nov 2, 2020 11:29:22 GMT -5
Neil Patrick Harris's Magic Misfits reads as having some of the Snicket DNA, which would hardly be surprising given the circumstances; but I couldn't point to anything quite so specific as what Pseudonymous Bosch and Thomas Taylor have done.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Nov 2, 2020 18:38:06 GMT -5
Philip Ardagh's Eddie Dickens books seem to ride the coattails of ASoUE's success, but I think it's mostly limited to the marketing and general aesthetic, because they stick to (and go even more into) the gothic-pastiche side present in ASoUE's early books, and are more absurdly funny at it. An obvious parallel would be some of the titles: "Terrible Times", "Dubious Deeds", "Horrendous Habits"... The first book, "Awful End", came out in 2000, so just months away from the release of "The Bad Beginning."
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Post by Reba on Nov 2, 2020 19:36:31 GMT -5
my homie mr gum
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Nov 15, 2020 22:05:34 GMT -5
"The Mysterious Benedict Society" is VERY Snicket-y. Secret society, precocious kids with strange hobbies, disguises.....coming out in 2007 it's clearly Snicket-inspired. I admit, reading it as a 29 year old, it comes off as too derivative to enjoy, but I woulda ATE IT UPPPP in middle school.
Also, I'm pitching my current novel manuscript to lit agents as "'Singin' in the Rain' as written by Lemony Snicket," so one day I hope to return to this trend and add my novel to the list!
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Nov 15, 2020 22:09:44 GMT -5
"The Mysterious Benedict Society" is VERY Snicket-y. Secret society, precocious kids with strange hobbies, disguises.....coming out in 2007 it's clearly Snicket-inspired. I admit, reading it as a 29 year old, it comes off as too derivative to enjoy, but I woulda ATE IT UPPPP in middle school. Also, I'm pitching my current novel manuscript to lit agents as "'Singin' in the Rain' as written by Lemony Snicket," so one day I hope to return to this trend and add my novel to the list! Please give me tips so I can get editorial evaluation of manuscript too !! I'm writing something ... And I would love to publish one day.
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Post by Hermes on Nov 16, 2020 19:18:59 GMT -5
In another field entirely, there is The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, which is quite different in style and tone, but has some themes in common, like moral ambiguity, and features a cartographer, a secret society, a family of three siblings, and a character called Fernald.
(I notice, by the way, that Mr Gum is marketed as younger children's. Snicket is invading all agebands!)
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Post by Hermes on Dec 14, 2020 18:29:02 GMT -5
I read the first books of both MBS and 39C a while ago, and didn't find them exciting enough to continue the series. I'e just read the first book of Pseudonymous Bosch, and - well, it's quite interesting, but my feeling is that it's not really Snicket-like in a deep way; it's much more of a conventional adventure, with a Snicket-like framing added.
Malamander, on the other hand, seems very interesting indeed, and it's good to have a Snicket-inspired work set in Britain for a change. I'll come back with a few comments shortly.
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Post by Dante on Dec 15, 2020 4:25:14 GMT -5
I read the first books of both MBS and 39C a while ago, and didn't find them exciting enough to continue the series. Has anyone brought up The 39 Clues yet in this thread? I read quite a few of the books back in the day; I was intrigued by how the online engagement and round-robin authorship would play out. The answer was, ultimately, not very well; I felt the series dramatically declined in quality, and that made me rather less inclined to suspend my contempt for the premise (wealthy extended family hoards lost works of art and technology for their own enjoyment; they're the good guys).
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Post by Christmas Chief on Dec 16, 2020 9:22:39 GMT -5
I read the first 39 Clues, I think at the suggestion of someone here. I liked it well enough, but didn't read much further. The characterization wasn't strong enough for me to get invested.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Dec 16, 2020 13:46:47 GMT -5
I'm reading Max Einstein, and I can say that now that it's coming to an end it's getting interesting. The beginning was very positive and everything seemed to be going only with genius and catchphrases. But now at the very end of the book, I see that there is really a serious challenge to be overcome, and I hope that no deus ex-machina will spoil the experience.
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Post by Malaclypse Trystero on Dec 17, 2020 1:01:23 GMT -5
Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer trilogy (Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, and The Calder Game). I'm not sure it's actually Snicket-influenced, but very much similar in spirit to Snicket, and it involves some real-life mysteries, mixing them with fiction. In particular, it makes a connection between Vermeer's paintings, Charles Fort's paranormal research, frog rains, and blue M&Ms.
And also, Marisha Pessl's "Special Topics in Calamity Physics".
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Post by Dante on Dec 17, 2020 4:30:21 GMT -5
I recall that the Chasing Vermeer books were also illustrated by Brett Helquist, which certainly makes it easier to see the Snicket spirit in anything.
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Post by Malaclypse Trystero on Dec 19, 2020 10:36:18 GMT -5
Also, in my opinion, "Going Bovine" by Libba Bray has a bit of a Snicket flavor, with dark comedy and following hidden clues, messages, and stuff.
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Post by R. on Feb 16, 2021 2:40:29 GMT -5
The Little Darlings trilogy by Sam Llewelyn is very snicketesque, with three children each with different interests, including a mechanical genius and a master chef, moral ambiguity, dark humour, a sinister incident involving an elevator, hypnosis and an unusual object that everyone is hunting down for peculiar reasons. It isn’t nearly as deep and complex as ASOUE though. I always believed that the books took place in the ASOUE universe, and that protagonists Primrose, Cassian and Daisy are the Baudelaires’ long lost cousins.
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