ATTENTION: Although Epic Legends of the Hierarchs and Song of the Sorcelator are separate series, due to the complicated issues surrounding alleged plagiarism and the interactions of their fandoms, they will be featured on one page.
Epic Legends Of The Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga
A series of High Fantasy novels by Tycho Brahe originally released as tie-ins to the Elemenstor Battles Collectible Card Game. Although the card game is long out of print, the cycle is currently at 13 novels with a 14th rumored to be coming out any day now, plus a four book prequel series titled The Harbinger Cycle, and an anime series, among others.
The first two books chronicle the adventures of Horatio the Tribbit, Son of Julio and Arch-Son of Hermes The Obtuse as he discovers his true destiny as a mighty Elemenstor. Further books record the exploits of other Elemenstors and heroes of the world of Battal, such as Gavment Rayling's quest to find the legendary magic sword of the Magic Sword Kings.
An extensive wiki and list of books and related works is available here.
The Song Of The Sorcelator
A four volume (fifth recently announced) series authored by L. H. Franzibald, recounting the adventures of the Sorcelator Grimm Shado, a nomadic Spellbiker on the post-apocalyptic world of Fehtahn, and his battles against such foes as the Witchaloks and the Immortal Space Bitches. Two Direct to Video movie adapatations have been released so far, and a forthcoming animated series is anticipated shortly.
Go here for the wiki and list of works.
Due to their close release dates and certain stylistic similarities between the two series, there have been conflicting accusations of plagiarism, both from the authors and their fandoms. Heated debate on the matter continues, with no resolution likely in the near future.
WARNING: Below this point are serious unmarked spoilers for both series...
...and this is also the point where we stop telling Blatant Lies. So what's going on here? Dueling Atlanta Nights, that's what.
To elaborate, Jerry "Tycho" Holkins of Penny Arcade, in an attempt to parody the (what he considers to be) clichéd fiction that often serves as the background for gaming systems such as Magic: The Gathering, decided to pretend he had written an incredibly shallow fantasy series for a make-believe Collectible Card Game (as seen in this strip.) Thus was Hierarchs born. Making a few comics to illustrate how he would write bad fantasy novels, he set up a wiki and invited readers of Penny Arcade to flesh it out with all the glorious Stylistic Suck they could invent. They rose right to the challenge. According to him, the wiki set to make a point about the superficiality of such fiction, but also as an acknowledgement that fandom willingly buy the products regardless of they believe the quality will be like, claiming the website is "the joke that everyone is in on".
Taking things further, he conceived Sorcelator, a "competing" series authored by a paper-thin expy of Tim Buckleynote , with its own wiki and (kayfabe) rabid Fan Dumb, complete with hilarious role-played flame wars between the two wiki groups. Sorcelator has ended up being more visible, with several mini-series comics, since Gabe and Tycho ended up having more fun with its particular brand of Stylistic Suck.
Tropes taken to the extreme:
- Animate Inanimate Object: Called "Furniliars", they're a product of Stream magic.
- Cool Versus Awesome: Sorcelator runs on this.
- Creator Breakdown: Tycho binged on drugs and booze while writing the last novel, as he saw what he regarded as a bunch of waste-of-paper tie-in novels gaining acceptance and success and giving him a lot of limelight he wasn't ready for. He may have even attempted suicide. The finale of the anime involved a Gainax Ending after the director deliberately attempted to replicate the same binge to make a fitting conclusion.
- Comically Lopsided Rivalry: Despite his mercenary attitude towards them while writing them, Tycho is (kayfabe) very bitter about Franzibald's books massively outselling his.
- Creator Worship: Invoked by those on the Sorcelator wiki, which is incredibly fawning toward the series' "author."
- Department of Redundancy Department: "In the Second Age of Third Age, a grim, shadowy figure walks into a bar. It is Grimm Shado." Also, he apparently banished the Witchaloks to "The dark shadows of the Shadowdark."
- Fandom Rivalry: Played for Laughs.
- Fetish: Apparently the mobile furniture in Hierarchs has fans that call themselves "furnies." Ahem.
- Meaningless Meaningful Words: A Hierarchs trademark.
- Money, Dear Boy: Tycho originally threw together the Hierarchs novels to make a quick buck. Their eventual success eventually led to a Creator Breakdown.
- Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: Sorcelator has all four, and then some.
- Purple Prose: Dueling Purple Prose.
- Revenue-Enhancing Devices: The working title of the first Hierarchs book was "A New Franchise."
- Sequelitis: Return of the Witchaloks II implies there was a Return of the Witchaloks I.
- Shout-Out: The name/title of Butters, the Toaster of Small Stature But Great Courage is one to The Brave Little Toaster
- Small Name, Big Ego: Franzibald has a slight sense of entitlement.
- Stylistic Suck: The whole point.
- Take That!: Against the Magic: The Gathering novels and Tim Buckley.
- Wham Line: "“You have a brother, Grimm Shado. And...he is you."
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Sorcelator is full of this.
