Possible publication

[igenlode]

Having seen the number of "Phantom of the Opera"-based novels being marketed to the fans, I've been very tentatively wondering if this new story might possibly be commercially saleable: "Blue Remembered Hills" would have worked as an SF retelling in its own right if it hadn't been for the explicit Blake's 7 content, and this 'Swedish' story is pure Leroux as well as being book-length.

But I don't think I could take the embarrassment and rejection of submitting it to a proper agent, and even if they could understand the 'based on an existing novel' concept (viz. Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell books), I don't think 'fanfic AU' is a mainstream concept; it's not a sequel to Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera", it's not a retelling, it's a story that branches off towards the end of the original novel and contradicts its ending. And the opening chapter doesn't make any concessions at all to establish who the characters are and how they got there; it assumes you can make the deduction. Opening sentence: "Goodbye, Raoul," Christine said gently, holding out her hand...

I assume this sort of thing is self-published, although I find it incredible that prose like this apparently won an award for "best fiction book of 2010", even a little local one; it's not bad, but it's pretty clumping and pedestrian. (And there's a typo in the excerpt given :-p) But since my book isn't E/C and isn't Erik-centric, I'm afraid I don't think it would stand a chance on the self-published fan market, even if I had the talent for promotion and publicity required to get anyone to notice it in the first place.

Although intriguingly, The Phantom's Apprentice seems to be well rated by fans despite not being an E/C romance: Erik is a criminal lunatic, Raoul is "swoon-worthy" (so maybe not all that close to Leroux, then!), and Christine is rewritten as a young woman whose heart's desire is to earn her own living as a stage illusionist -- an interesting tie-in to the Phantom's undoubted talents in that direction, but something of a departure from the original character...

Comments

[betweensunandmoon]

The Phantom's Apprentice actually looks like something I would be interested in reading. That's unusual in this fandom.

[igenlode]

Yes, that was my reaction. Though I'm a bit taken aback by the reviewers claiming it's the first retelling from Christine's point of view; certainly in fanfic that's quite common. (What is rare is Leroux's own approach of telling the story from the point of view of Raoul, the outsider!)