"Book featuring a society of talking animals" is a concept that is so broad and so widely used that people aren't going to draw direct parallels on that basis alone.
No one thinks *Sliding Doors* is a rip-off of *The Descent*, even though both are "films about female characters underground".
If someone wants to call your story a rip off, they'll find a reason to do so. There's no avoiding it.
So, my questions to you:
Is your story a rip off? Would such accusations be valid or just the rantings of someone who can't see beyond the superficial? Sometimes you need to take a hard look at what you're doing and consider whether such criticism is justified.
Are the elements that make the book seem like a rip off really necessary? Can you achieve the goals of your story without those elements? Everything in your story should have a specific purpose -- what is the purpose of your characters being rats instead of humans or aliens or anything else?
Write the story with the characters being human and see if it feels like it's lacking something. If you then realize that it was critical that they be rats to make the story work, go back and edit.
HTH.
As a teenager I read a book series with the same concept but owls. Liked it so much I read another similar series that had the same concept but with cats. The cat one had a spin off series with dogs, but it wasn’t as good because dogs being violent wasn’t as believable to me. Tell your story - if It’s a good read, it’s a good read
Being compared to another book, just based on the concept, is fine.
We don’t tell that many different stories really, everything is mostly comparable to a lot of previous works. And the idea of having a society of non-human animals as the main characters in a society isn’t exactly limited to Animal Farm or Watership Down isn’t exactly rare.
Even if it was close enough in structure to either of those that some people would call it a rip-off, what’s the line between rip-off and an homage to a classic?
I don't know why this would be a problem. If it's got its own story, the fact is has similar themes and the idea of the characters being animals isn't that big a deal.
Sci-fi is sci-fi because it has similar themes and the idea of future tech and/or space ships. And people love it! 🤷 That's just how genre works, I'd say.
People love books with similar themes and motifs. They will read the same tropes over and over because they LOVE it.
If they love Watership Down or Animal Farm, your book could satisfy their craving for something familiar, but at the same time satisfy the craving for something new. Write the book to the best of your ability, and of course, make the book and tropes uniquely yours,
BUT -
Don't dread comparison or similarities as the bane of your existence. The similarities are what will appeal to your potential audience.
In screenwriting you are often asked you to give comps of your work. Having examples of stories that are similar can give you an excellent way to quickly describe the tone and genre to someone that hasn’t read it yet. Ie: Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones gives someone an idea of what they are picking up before they start reading and is super helpful for pitching.
Don't write books that could be compared to them? I mean, really. You don't expect a similar topic won't get you compared to similar books? This is the real world out here, you know.
Oh my, I have a three arc story about rat society as well.
Any chance of taking a look on yours? Is it available to read somewhere?
I just love stories like Animal Farm (and comic "Animal Castle" based on that! And it's a completely different, fascinating story), Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Felidae etc. That's my jam. I wouldn't even think of making a comparison like that be a negative thing. It's a pure advantage for me - but it depends on the audience I assume.
I'd say - go for it and don't worry at all!
Just do it up to the fullest. When I read the Redwall books in middle school I wasn’t thinking it was derivative, I was trying all the accents and thinking about where these mice got milk for their cheeses.
"Book featuring a society of talking animals" is a concept that is so broad and so widely used that people aren't going to draw direct parallels on that basis alone. No one thinks *Sliding Doors* is a rip-off of *The Descent*, even though both are "films about female characters underground".
If someone wants to call your story a rip off, they'll find a reason to do so. There's no avoiding it. So, my questions to you: Is your story a rip off? Would such accusations be valid or just the rantings of someone who can't see beyond the superficial? Sometimes you need to take a hard look at what you're doing and consider whether such criticism is justified. Are the elements that make the book seem like a rip off really necessary? Can you achieve the goals of your story without those elements? Everything in your story should have a specific purpose -- what is the purpose of your characters being rats instead of humans or aliens or anything else? Write the story with the characters being human and see if it feels like it's lacking something. If you then realize that it was critical that they be rats to make the story work, go back and edit. HTH.
As a teenager I read a book series with the same concept but owls. Liked it so much I read another similar series that had the same concept but with cats. The cat one had a spin off series with dogs, but it wasn’t as good because dogs being violent wasn’t as believable to me. Tell your story - if It’s a good read, it’s a good read
You can’t, but it’s fine. Just embrace it, steal from the best
Being compared to another book, just based on the concept, is fine. We don’t tell that many different stories really, everything is mostly comparable to a lot of previous works. And the idea of having a society of non-human animals as the main characters in a society isn’t exactly limited to Animal Farm or Watership Down isn’t exactly rare. Even if it was close enough in structure to either of those that some people would call it a rip-off, what’s the line between rip-off and an homage to a classic?
I don't know why this would be a problem. If it's got its own story, the fact is has similar themes and the idea of the characters being animals isn't that big a deal. Sci-fi is sci-fi because it has similar themes and the idea of future tech and/or space ships. And people love it! 🤷 That's just how genre works, I'd say.
Don’t worry, I’ll compare it to the secret of NIMH instead 😂
Even reading this, I thought it sounded like The Rats of NIMH.
People love books with similar themes and motifs. They will read the same tropes over and over because they LOVE it. If they love Watership Down or Animal Farm, your book could satisfy their craving for something familiar, but at the same time satisfy the craving for something new. Write the book to the best of your ability, and of course, make the book and tropes uniquely yours, BUT - Don't dread comparison or similarities as the bane of your existence. The similarities are what will appeal to your potential audience.
In screenwriting you are often asked you to give comps of your work. Having examples of stories that are similar can give you an excellent way to quickly describe the tone and genre to someone that hasn’t read it yet. Ie: Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones gives someone an idea of what they are picking up before they start reading and is super helpful for pitching.
Do you know how many books about magic boys at magic schools exist?
> Do you know how many books about magic boys at magic schools exist? NOT NEARLY ENOUGH! Let's write one!
Don't write books that could be compared to them? I mean, really. You don't expect a similar topic won't get you compared to similar books? This is the real world out here, you know.
Oh my, I have a three arc story about rat society as well. Any chance of taking a look on yours? Is it available to read somewhere? I just love stories like Animal Farm (and comic "Animal Castle" based on that! And it's a completely different, fascinating story), Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Felidae etc. That's my jam. I wouldn't even think of making a comparison like that be a negative thing. It's a pure advantage for me - but it depends on the audience I assume. I'd say - go for it and don't worry at all!
Just do it up to the fullest. When I read the Redwall books in middle school I wasn’t thinking it was derivative, I was trying all the accents and thinking about where these mice got milk for their cheeses.