The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age Paperback – March 2, 2017

I first heard about fanfiction from "TV Guide" and a book called STAR TREK LIVES. At that point I was writing my own, but didn't know that was what you called it. In 1980 I discovered fanzines, printed delight continuing the adventures of favorite television and movie characters. A little while later, I joined the ranks of the authors. The internet has opened up the fanfiction world (for better or for worse, considering the dreadful orthography and grammar that pops up). Anyone who can upload a story can share it with others. This particular fanfiction volume differs from earlier works in that it reproduces in entirety stories, rather than citing excerpts. For the most part I enjoyed the stories, even if I wasn't involved in the fandom (although there was a very strange SUPERNATURAL story that I thought would never come to an end) and if a couple of stories kind of wigged me out (the Pete Ross story from SMALLVILLE being one and the NSYNC real-person fic being the other, for two totally different reasons). What I found really annoying was the introductions to each of the stories, which gave away the plots in an effort to explain what the author was doing. Surely it could have been worked differently. It especially irritated me in the first story, "Lunch and Other Obscenities," taking place in the reboot STAR TREK universe, and probably my favorite story in the book.

This is mainly an anthology of actual fan fiction stories instead of essays about fan fiction.

[I just posted this on the hardcover, but I actually have the paperback, and I have no idea why the two are not linked together here on Amazon.]Early on Francesca Coppa says, "This book is not per se for fandom: fandom doesn't need this book...You have the banquet, you can have anything and everything on the menu."And she is right. We as fans ultimately don't need this book, because we have these stories and hundreds and thousands more in each pairing, each fandom, with each trope. Coppa's conceit in her introduction is "One Pringle, one Dorito, one Oreo," all things you really don't want to eat just one of, and yet that's what she offers: one Star Trek, one Star Wars, one Buffy. Or one het, one slash, one gen. Or one five things, one post-ep, one case file.But as I was reading it, I began to think of it the opposite way. When I received the book last week, I read it through nearly in just one sitting. I had been in most of these fandoms or at least knew people who were. I knew pretty much all of the source texts (carefully curated by Francesca to be known to a wide audience). And so to me it was like a book full of Tapas (to continue the food metaphor). I got a little taste of Gaila and Nyota and a little taste of Faith and Buffy. There's a Five things story and here's a totally meta fic. And I know that I can go back to AO3 and find ALL the Nyota stories but for now I'm enjoying just this one.As a fan, an acafan, and a fan studies teacher, I'm not the ideal/intended/imagined reader for this collection. And yet I am on another level its ultimate reader: I enjoy a story as much for its own sake of characterization and world immersion and plot as I do for its references and unconscious meaning and interpretive possibilities. And that's where the collection is at its best: the introductions to every single story situate the source text, the fandom, the story in ways that will make it a great teaching tool but also are just plain fun. So when she introduces Astolat's Queen of Spades, she gives and entire background about gender politics in James Bond, which are, of course, challenged in Daniel Craig's and Judi Dench's versions--both the genderbent M and the more vulnerable and sexualized Bond, who rises from the water like a Bond girl and gets sexually abused in ways male heroes rarely do on the big screen.Much of the joy for fans will thus be a moment of recognition and repetition--feelings that are all too familiar from why we read fanfic in the first place. We revisit beloved characters, worlds, and authors. And we remember the moments of creation or when we first encountered the story. And there will always be one we missed, that we get to read for the first time, and that is its own pleasure!So yes, this book is a smorgasboard of fanfic, a potlatch of brief contextualizing interpretations that ultimately isn't intended for *us*. But I have a feeling that fans may get as much if not more out of it than the students and fannish outsiders for whom it was created.

Fanfiction is a rich and varied tapestry, drawing its inspirations from the myriad forms of entertainment out there. It ranges from the simple to the complex, the straightforward heterosexual romance to the downright weird sex (tentacles, anyone?). It stretches across many websites to touch on characters from television, big theatrical movies, literature and plays. You want Hercules sleeping with Iolaus? They’ve got you covered. You want Angel getting into a knock-down, drag-out fight with Voldemort? You got it. Want to read about Hedda Gabler running off with Xena? I don’t know; go looking. And if you don’t find it, you can write it yourself.Ms. Coppa was faced with the monumental task of combing through millions of online stories to find these stories. They will not appeal to everyone. They may not land anywhere near your preferred stories (manga fans will be disappointed). Frankly, I would have been happy if the sex had been explicit.But the chosen stories in this volume are well written, crafted with the various characters in mind. There’s little that’s OOC here and much that will tickle the fancy of many geeks, nerds, dweebs, bibliophiles and cinemaphiles whose love of fictional characters extends past what the original creators made of them.

Excellent book by an excellent writer with clear insights into what Fanfic is.

The first thing you need to know when looking at The Fanfiction Reader is that it is essentially a textbook. It is an introduction to the world of fandom and fanfiction for those uninitiated and who need to have an understanding. The intended audience is educators, librarians, professionals not the standard end consumer of fanfiction. The language is as one would expect for that audience though more readable than my standard academic text. The layout of the book is fairly basic. There are multiple fandoms included, largely the biggest fandoms of the time, the fandoms defining traits and importance are introduced. The fanfiction that concludes the section is introduced, its selection explained and further readings provided. These fully reproduced fanfics are from different genres of fanfic and the further readings are to direct readers to more on that genre of fic or that fandom. It is a simple yet effective layout.I am going to list the fics included in the book (my Goodreads review has links to the individual stories). They were all good examples of the fic type introduced and while I didn't know all the originals (eg Teen Wolf) it wasn't a massive problem because the fic genre was the focus, not the fic itself. I was reading this for academic purposes, not personal pleasure, I used it in an assignment encouraging engagement in libraries. That said the stories are all high quality that I recommend them to fanfic readers.The Communications Officer’s Tale and Lunch and Other Obscenities by Rheanna Introduce readers to the Star Trek universe with the fic from the 2009 reboot. It is noted in the book that Star Trek is the origins of modern fan fiction. It includes a look at the way builds up support characters and their worlds. It does discuss the importance of realising the that not all cultures are the same.The FBI Agent’s Tale and The Sad Ballad of Mary Sue’s Blues by Pares. The FBI Agent's of the title are Fox and Moulder, this is the X-Files, the term Mary Sue is introduced. The fic is clever.The Slayer’s Tale and next by Jennet Smith. An introduction to femslash using the world of Buffy. Pairing Buffy and Faith post series.The Super Man’s Tale and Three Fairy Tales of Smallville by Koi. An introduction to slash, core to the fandom experience since the dawn of fanfic. This slash occurs in the world of Smallville, Smallville is essentially junior Superman. The slash pairing in question is Lex and Clark.The Dwarf’s Tale and They Say of the Elves by Brancher. The Dwarf of the title is Gimli, Son of Gloin, the often surly dwarf from The Lord of The Rings, he is paired with Legolas in what is a common pairing, post the recent films. This is filling a gap in what is a canon relationship between the story and their deaths. It is a look at the different types of love that exist in fiction.The Pop Star’s Tale and The Vacation by Kaneko. Is the chosen example of popslash. It is noted that popslash is common and that the common group at publication point was One Direction. The choice of NSYNC was because of the age of the group and their significance in the popslash genre.The Spymaster’s Tale and Queen of Spades by astolat. astolat's fic was possibly my fave fic of the lot, and I'm not a Bond fan. The sexual power was fantastic, I loved reading the power dynamic between the traditionally alpha Bond and the gorgeous older M.This is Craig era Bond, the intro is a decent overview over why Craig and Dench's M are so important to the Bond fandom.The Wizard’s Tales and Never Is a Promise by Yahtzee, Scars by Suitesamba and Once upon a Time by busaikko. The Wizard's Tales has three fics of very different forms. The introduction is a reasonable and brief overview of what is a seriously complex world of fanfic. It does focus on the idea of fans correcting the failings of epilogues. busaikko's fic is impressive, Dudley is made a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in a logical way.The Companions’ Tale and The Pond Continuum by kaydee falls. The section introduces 5+1 fics following Amy and Rory after their run-in with the Weeping Angels. It is beautiful such a clever use of characters from the Who universe, not least of all Captain Jack Harkness. Doctor Who is introduced as well as possible for a show with such a complicated concept.The Detective’s Tale and Subliminal by Speranza. The Detective of the title surprising no one is Sherlock Holmes. Subliminal is one of the strangest fics I've read in years. There is a decent overview of Sherlock Holmes as a character and a fandom, including a very basic history of Holmes and Doyles approach to transformative works.The Demon Hunter’s Tales and Wolf Man’s Party by Mollyamory and Supernatural, aka The Boys in Arizona and Fanservice Sequel by Glockgal. Wolf Man's Party is the designated cross over fic. I was a little lost because I've never seen Teen Wolf, I know the characters due to a colleague calling her cat Stiles and an ensuing discussion but I don't know much. The crossovers are the focus of the introduction with a small section on race bending. Race bending is addressed by the comics by Glockgal.The Billionaire Superhero’s Tale and When they finally come to destroy the earth (they’ll have to go through you first) by AlchemyAlice. If you want an introduction to Batman and his history this is the one to read, Bruce Wayne is so misunderstood and his backstory has been manipulated to the point of ridiculousness. It also explains why Robin doesn't exist anymore. AlchemyAlice's fic is adorable. There are effective time jumps. And it is a crossover done well. Especially a DC, Marvel cross over.The Stormtrooper’s Tale and The Story of Finn by LullabyKnell. This is an introduction to the Star Wars universe and the importance of women and varied races.