BOOK COMMUNITEA: THRONE OF (GLASS) MESS [CC]

[@starry-mantle]

I am once again begging the SJM fandom to touch grass.

[@jennderqueer]

If I'm gonna pay $200 for 4 books those mfers better clean my house and cook me some food

[@JessOwens]

Literally!

[@leahharlann]

I'm so disappointed in the SJM fandom for treating the artist like this. It is the responsibility of the publishers and SJM to give the artist direction, and they of all people would know what other art has been used for other editions of their books. If the artist submitted a piece for approval, it should have been THE TEAM that told her "hey, this looks similar to another set, and you have some inaccuracies regarding the stag and castle." *But they didn't, they approved it!!* Cannot understand why people would directly blame the artist in a situation where the art passed SEVERAL approval processes. Blame the people who gave it the okay, not the artist who was just doing her job!! And yeah that price is *obscene* I'm seriously rethinking my FL subscription 💀💀💀

[@moustik31]

Right? Esp. since a lot of artists feel kinda of "meh" about the output, that gets greenlighted by corporate overlords. Imagine being harassed for a piece, you did dispassionately to pay bills.

[@gabriellehenley7914]

I don’t care about the series, SJM or her very toxic fan base. However, it is pretty heartbreaking to read that artist statement.

[@ll2323]

Ima say it, TOG sucks! I could literally explain each book in one sentence.

[@ghoul4692]

The thing that drives me nuts about all the hate towards the artists is SJM HERSELF approved all the artwork. It's not the artist's responsibility to make sure their client knows their own book, and the writer/publisher should have caught any errors. Illustrators are not required to read 8 novels to understand the prompt but instead should have been properly briefed by the client AND corrected if there were any incorrect representations. As an illustrator myself, I do my best to understand a client's asks. But unless the client is willing to pay me my hourly rate to do extensive research, I need them to be thorough in their request and to correct me if I am wrong about something. A professional illustrator will happily correct any mistakes and if the stag wasn't supposed to be brown it should have been caught in the SKETCH!

[@MirjamRoesli]

That’s what really bothers me, why is nobody questioning the SJM team in all of this mess. (At least I haven’t seen it.) If they approved it, as the artist are saying, then they are fine with it, or just don’t care that much about the design and more so about the money it seems. And they could say something as well. It just seems to me that they care about money, not about all the rest. I’m not the biggest SJM fan, so I am maybe a bit biased here, but her team should get the blame as well as Fairyloot and Bloomsberry. The lack thereof annoys me.

[@SamSam-esqe]

While I can see the similarities, I am an artist and if I was given a brief that said it needed a stag, castle and mountains I would have made some variation of that exact image. The composition just makes the most sense for that imagery. Having never read the book I wouldn’t know the stag had to be white and there are only so many interesting ways to draw one. I would also have put the castle in a valley to the right because it implies moving forward or towards the castle. And of course mountains in the background. And most importantly any errors made are the fault of the publisher! The amount of hands and checks art has to pass through for projects like this is already absurd and if none of the people in charge flagged it thats on them not the artist. The fact that they didn’t catch them tells me that the need for the stag to be white or the castle to be glass tells me that wasn’t even in the prompt. I feel so bad for that artist.

[@YasmeenKhan]

yeah agreed, it's hard to know how else to do a composition that has to include those elements. and both designs do have that feeling of 'oh and you have to stick a dragon (or whatever that thing is) in the sky as well' so it looks really weird to just have them floating there. I think both of them have strengths - the acrylic one handles the floating things a bit better and the painterly mountains, are quite nice, then again I like the overall structure of the FL one with those framing trees and those stylised mountains and castle more personally, and the spacing of the stag and castle in relation to each other is much better. My own opinion is that the acrylic one is way too bright and rainbowy, but I can see how a romantasy might inspire that. I did see one of their page overlay thingies and it was SO garish and ugly and so badly rendered - it makes me sad to see people paying for it. but that's just me and if people like it, that's great. and 100% agree that all criticism should go to the publishers and the people who did the art direction.

[@Macy_Richards]

Definitely not plagiarism. There’s only so many ways artists can draw the same landscape. If the artist was given a prompt to draw a castle and a deer it makes sense she would draw it in that way. But people online will call anything plagiarism just because it has some similarities to something else.

[@petiolereads]

I agree. People see a castle on the right side, tree on the left, and mountains in the background and call it plagiarism? Are you kidding meeee?

[@lovelather9012]

I dunno, coloring and styling aside, I feel like there are only so many ways you can draw "stag in front of a field with castle and mountains in the background" on the end of a book layout 🥴

[@jasminv8653]

For real lmao

[@bhsprinkle]

The artist shouldn't be responsible. They were doing their best and the publishers & author approved the design. People just want to hate. You don't gotta buy it. It's expensive anyway. It's consumers' greed.

[@esobelisk3110]

the person saying the artist should “acknowledge and apologise” for it even if it wasn’t an intentional ripoff honestly pissed me off. this is *definitely* not the first fantasy illustration i’ve seen with a castle in the background and an important character/symbolic animal in left side of the foreground (it kinda reminds me of the danish cover of the first harry potter book). they’re trying so hard to sound like they’re being reasonable while demanding that an artist apologise for using a common type of composition to capture a setting and an important animal from the books… also, i haven’t read this series, but in my eyes, it looks like the artist was going for a more muted palette to match the style they were using. it’s fine if that doesn’t work for you, but you absolutely do NOT get to harass an artist over “inaccuracies” to a book under *any* circumstances, but especially not when the artwork was APPROVED by the people who are *actually* responsible for making sure it’s accurate (and yes, going to an artist’s page and leaving comments about a piece of theirs that you don’t like *is* harassment, no matter how “reasonable” you think you’re being). (also, i wrote this comment like four hours ago and just found out youtube somehow decided to put it on a short about guardrail fraud instead of this video…)

[@HuckleberryCyn]

Like, the girlies haven’t even noticed that the new ToG covers are similar to the new Dune covers (makes since they’re by the same artist). Make it make sense! Also, the artist DID acknowledge the similarities, so that person who commented was just talking out of their ass.

[@reina-rey]

I'm a freelance book cover illustrator and what happens too is that we truly are just given bare minimum prompts and mind you we are paid flat fees, so even if SJM and other authors get royalties and make money off of these copies for every time they're sold, the artists who put their full effort into the artwork (with such a short deadline and little communication!) are sitting with a single lump sum and even smaller paychecks for those who don't have agents to help them negotiate. Like they know that their art is gonna be seen by so many people and they want to do well, trust me! Artists work so hard for so little because art makes them happy and then people turned it around and made another hardworking artist hate themselves, their work, and the joy they every got from art :(

[@danielle7127]

SJM fans (minus the normal ones) need to be so fucking forreal right now. They are obsessed with a book series that came out YEARS ago to the extent that they will sit up here and harass artists about not depicting a stag correctly like please pick another roman empire. You would think SJM cured cancer or solved world hunger the way some of these people are rabid over her books. And mind you I’m not saying that the covers are the best thing ever and worth buying (everyone gets to make their own decisions) but jeez why are they attacking folks.

[@crystaleefyffe1230]

I've seen one of them asking other readers if they should re-read the books after literally just finishing it. Do they not read anything else?

[@moustik31]

"please pick another Roman Empire" is killing me. 😭

[@kayliekat6158]

I adore throne of glass, but I'm a NORMAL PERSON. I read other work, I talk about stuff other than SJM's books, and I go about my day without thinking about it obsessively. She is not that good of an author but some of her fans act like she invented writing fr 😂

[@carly1628]

Thanks for differentiating between the normies lol. I think Bloomsbury are capitalizing on the resurgence SJM has had on tiktok. Since the book community there has grown, there has been an influx of a ton of new readers. I think these people are reading books for the first time in their adult life and discovering a new hobbie and building their collections for aesthetic purposes too.

[@katgreer6113]

​@@crystaleefyffe1230 They do. But when they find that the fantasy book they're reading isn't like TOG or ACOTAR they hate it and go back to re-read her stuff anyway. I personally don't like her work, but I can see why other people do. What I CAN'T see though, is why her fans are just as petty as the villains in her stories.

[@whynterstorme9592]

I am an artist and all I can say is, the first artist could have at some point seen the other persons work and subconsciously done a similar thing. It doesn't mean it was plagiarized, this happens with music as well. I haven't read the books so maybe it just makes sense that that scene would have come out? For the second artist, it is really heartbreaking hearing how they hate their style. But I think a lot of artists go through that, and to have all the hate comments while dealing with that... There is a lot of pressure on artists on social media to find their "style", so feeling like she can't deviate from that hurts too. Good on her for deciding to focus on improving and moving in a direction she wants.

[@ProudPlatypus]

The artist needn't have seen the image at all, there's already other images that predate both of them that are fairly similar, and might have been more of a match, if they had been working with similar image dimensions, as these two artists are.

[@gray9766]

Honestly. Four legged animal on one side, castle on the other, mountain in the back? It’s a very common set up for fantasy art for a reason. I rarely do landscapes and have done something similar before. Hope the artist is doing well.

[@kenzie7438]

HOLY SHIT WAIT my partner works at Acrylipics! she's the art manager, they are a very small family-owned business, and the art team is literally THREE people. they do really great work over there, they print and bind the books themselves, so would totally recommend checking them out if you haven't, though i'm obviously a little biased.

[@moustik31]

Why should the artist apologise for creating something, that was following the guidelines, she was given?! If the stag is Brown, blame the publishers and cie. LEAVE THE ARTIST ALONE!

[@eleonorahackman6779]

I’m not an artist, but I think this composition is pretty straightforward: you have three big focus point, with the mountains, the castle and stag. I’m an not a professional artist but I like to draw, and when you think of this composition wise, the castle would be to the right, as it is a destination (and we read left to right), and the stag looking at it makes sense to me too. I have not read these, and perhaps the artist hasn’t either? 🤷‍♀️ The stag, castle and ground are basically the same color, to lead the eye through the composition. If no specific color or material was put in the briefs, I would have made a similar creative decision. I feel bad for this artist!

[@JessCsBooks]

People forget that coincidence is entirely possible. When it comes to copyright issues, coincidence is a valid defense because not every idea is going to be wholly original. She said she was given direction by Bloomsbury and FairyLoot. Bloomsbury and FairyLoot were aware of these other end pages (they would have had to do industry research for their ideas). Put the heat on them for sanctioning a similar design. Artists don't owe fans anything for art they do for free. They make art of book characters because they love it and they want to, and it's a massive opportunity to be able to work with publishers and book boxes and get their work out to millions. Fans don't own them and don't have the right to dictate their art.

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

I feel like this type of panorama is very common Like even the stormlight dusk jackets that you can buy from another country end with the last books having the big tower of interest. But truly this fandom needs more chill. Like complain in group chats or online without tagging but don't beat someone up for just doing their job.

[@JessOwens]

How do people still not understand what belongs in the group chat and what doesn’t!?

[@candacew2437]

yikes…I don’t think the artists should be faulted for this, if anything fairyloot should do more to protect them bc they were the ones who allowed this to happen. I cringed while you read the comments, they’re honestly so hateful/rude 😭

[@stemsandpages]

Juniper Books is charging $160 for JUST the dust jackets 🤯🤯 like make that make sense.

[@Kennedy_Struggles]

When I heard the price and first saw the muted colors (couldn't see the art clearly without my glasses lol) I assumed that it was leather. I wonder if they want people to think that so they think it's more valuable. Not that it wouldn't sell with it being clearly paper Edit: not saying they are necessarily hiding they are jackets. Just saying they were trying to make the jackets look like something more valuable

[@JessOwens]

My goodness 😫

[@agnese16]

first of all, id like to say im disappointed as always about how little ppl care about problematic authors. sjm is a zionist and apparently even not liking the cover design wont stop ppl from suppoorting bad authors. second of all, i want to say that when artists get commissioned they usuallt get told what elements to include, the colour palette and the most important elements to include in the composition. not always, but they are generally given some guidelines. the artists does what the commissioner asked, so if anything, the commissioner is the one to blame if the public is not satisfied. lastly i would like to say that, as a designer, i think the cover are very pretty, the design in its elements is coherent and i think the artist did a great job. ppl love to think they know how everything works, but if they knew the artst world they would know that it's rare for an artist to get free reign over every choice for the design/illustrations.

[@moomin469]

Yes sjm is bad on so many levels 😔 I didn't even know about the zionist thing but it makes sense like with rhysand thinking of colonising places and sjm writing him in a romantasised way as well as him being anti choice to his own wife😭 honestly don't get how people enjoy her writing it's very surface level and she writes very similar books every time and her problematic views shown up in her writing Funny how ppl get mad at the artist for creating a cover "too similar" but don't care that sjm for writing the same series 3 times in different universes and making millions from it

[@nootnewt3]

@@moomin469her takes on colonizing are… interesting to say the least. In crescent city the humans were colonized and are treated like shit but there’s like no human characters in the story at all and the ones that exist are evil terrorists. It’s kinda weird when you really think about it.

[@emmal7510]

I don't think those look close enough to call it plagiarism. I haven't read the books, but it sounds like it's depicting a specific scene and "stag in a field, with a castle behind it and mountains in background" is going look roughly the same, whoever does it.

[@Frogface91]

I'm sorry, but those two pieces of art are different enough to not look like plagiarism. Goodness me, that poor artist facing the hate.

[@jasminv8653]

I feel so bad for the edge artist. The piece might not be high illustration quality but it's very sweet, and if any of you have any idea about illustration work, you'd know that subpar or wrong work simply does not get accepted, it is reworked until the client is happy or the work is dropped. It's not the artist's fault.

[@Nashaytrowerauthor]

I can only pray for the day the book community is freed from the shackles of SJM, Colleen H, and Yarros. 😌

[@marielle_critique35]

Aman sister. 💜

[@sunflowerpolka]

I didn’t think this was an issue until I saw all the videos being made about it… I actually liked the art. I honestly just want to own a special version of ToG because I don’t own the physical books only the ebooks. The price is my only issue. Really hope it gets resolved. It makes me sad that the artist didn’t feel safe and are hurt from what the people are saying. The SJM community needs to calm down.

[@Evelyn_Okay]

If I was SJM, I'd be ashamed of my stans' behavior and tell them to pipe the f down. They're a direct reflection of her and her work. It's just like with live-streamers and other content creators: you are the audience you accumulate.

[@JessOwens]

But she won’t, she stays silent until it’s time to promote something for $$

[@spokeninpages]

Your smiles were the best part of this video. Contagious, and I love it! Keep on being you.

[@JessOwens]

Thank you 🥰🥰

[@audie3600]

$200 not including shipping for 4 books?! That seems so insane to me and it’s upsetting Fairy Loot couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the artist and the way the fandom went after the artist. Crazy all around

[@trinc9015]

I was one that was respectful about my displeasure about the price and edges but I absolutely loved the character art , she’s a favorite artist of mine. I couldn’t believe she got hate 😢 as for the similarities on the overall art on sprayed edges could be that it’s a typical fantasy look, but the inaccuracies is very disappointing, not the artists fault.

[@Booksandbabel]

I know this is about the books but can I just say I LOVE seeing you interact with your husband!!! You guys are so cute together 🥰 the fact he came in to just smell you is so sweet!!! I just love yall!

[@ForestForest-wo9py]

i know this is off topic but could you do a video on how you style your hair?😊its lovely

[@alieneleni]

i genuinely feel so bad for these artists :(

[@Tategrad08]

This is the same fandom that had petitions drawn up when Sliver Flames cover come out and didn't match the other three since they were rebranding the series. So for them to lose their shit about the color of the stag not being white or the characters not looking like what they think they should look like doesn't surprise me. Nothing surprise me about SJM fandom anymore. Disappointed but not surprised. Went on both artists IG pages last week to show them some love.

[@marielle_critique35]

I 💜 ur Comment. 🙂

[@daad8264]

The artist is really talented and her character work now and previously absolutely gorgeous! And I'm so pissed at everyone for dragging her like that. Poor thing was traumatized 😢 and she's been a fan of the books for years too, not like some people were saying. Those edges aren't great though 😐

[@itsmejellydee]

I mean absolutely no disrespect to Acrilipics, but, as an artist, that's not an incredibly unique composition. Calling it an exact replica is an exaggeration. As others have mentioned, if the artist was given a brief to depict a stag against a background of castle, fields and mountains for a horizontal landscape, that's a very logical way to do it. Heck, it happens often enough with fan artists too. Iconic scenes get redrawn pretty similarly by different artists all the time. This kind of attitude towards artists only chases them out of fandom spaces until it becomes that same toxic fans yelling at each other.

[@Jessica-sh1js]

To be fair to the artists and the cover colors, FL messed up by putting them all on a dark green background. It might be messing with how the colors are perceived just a bit and making it look muted. I hate how special editions are sometimes announced on the worst background with digital mock ups that might not do the final project justice.

[@ashleejh310]

21:39 felt that gaaaad dayum in my soul 😂 $200 for just half of a series is wild. They know that fandom is… something. Did they not think that the fans would care/notice if something was explicitly the wrong color? And that wooden-looking castle was a choice lol I didn’t even like the series that much and even I feel cheated

[@NonAnonD]

Brains are weird. I don’t know how that scene is described in the books but it could be that both are accurate to the scene (minus colors) OR that the artist saw the other art and subconsciously recreated it. Makes more sense than trying to plagiarize it and simply hoping no one notices.

[@StarSquishie]

Tbh I think it's pure coincidence. If the stag is supposed to be the focus, naturally it's going to be in the foreground and on the left (where your eye is drawn first), and then the castle would have to be in the background/on the right. I'm sure the artist was just given instructions to include both things (along w/ the other elements like the river etc.) They're not even arranged that similarly, the stag is basically in the middle of the original art, the castle is much higher/smaller on the new one, and the background is different. There's only so much you can do w/ those elements (if the artist was told to include them all) so I don't see plagiarism here.

[@alexlemaire8513]

200$ for 4 books is just regular editions in canada 😭😭😭

[@JessOwens]

Lawd hammercy 😩

[@micropopo]

I thought the same thing as a canadian 😭 50$ isn't bad at all, especially for special editions

[@ghanshyamsingh3653]

When you have people enjoying toxic relationships and underdeveloped storylines...ofc the Fandom is mostly toxic lmaoo!!! I think when you collaborate with bigger companies the output should be inspiring or it's very easy in this age of social media to attack @ someone just by checking the tags... Also, interpretation of story for any scene in a cover art is important and very much the primary job of a cover artist, I'm going to assume that a lot of these major publishings are hiring amateur but famous internet artists rather than industry experts who might have to be well compensated for reading the books, researching various artworks and creating some unique style for the new editions!!! This is a complete profit oriented business tactic on behalf of Bloomsbury and illumacrate...and it's SHOWING lolzzz

[@nikieria]

I hope they cancel the whole release & say now yall not getting SHIT! 😂😂😂

[@jkpiowa]

$50 for a special edition isn't that terrible, in my opinion. The artwork thing notwithstanding.

[@kayliekat6158]

Agreed. I would never pay that much, but I've seen people spend 100+ dollars on special addition books like OUABH

[@thieleaf_the_shelf_dragon]

as someone from the uk, where we have lots of castles just everywhere, the colour of the castle looked pretty normal to me? i dont really know why people are thinking it looks like wood? ^^; and i know its just repeating things other people have said, but this is absolutely not the fault of the artists, its absolutely the fault of any flaws not being caught by the entire team approving it, and the whole plagiarism claims really just seems like people not understanding that images of the same things are going to look kind of similar if you want the composition to look good

[@obsidianromance34]

I would like for you to talk about the controversy with the author of the Windy City series (ie Mile High) who used black and biracial characters in her story even though she is is white. I believe some new covers came out with how the characters looked like and ppl were shocked.

[@arkkon2740]

I've seen people say "200 for 4 books may be bad, but just dont buy it" We're in the era of video games costing 100 dollars now for basic stuff, yet you can finish a book in a week. Yall want a 4 week experience for 200 bucks? How do you manage to punk book goons out of their money but not the gamers, genuinely? Its so easy to scam people with a good looking cover but the concept of subjectivity goes out the window when the quality in general is just bad

[@RealReaderEmily]

I personally think most of the blame is SJM and her teams shoulders. They theoretically approved those to be sold knowing key elements are wrong.

[@AlexieBees]

Also can it be noted why does SJM get so many book covers constantly made? I swear TOG already has the original covers plus two different new ones, and now this?? Like why? And why are people buying up all the different covers and collecting them?

[@JessOwens]

There are so many editions of her books. It’s absurd

[@rachel43274]

I think a castle and mountains landscape scene is very common for painted edges,

[@ReadingAdrift]

JESS!!!!!! Girl you are GLOWING in this video (not that you aren't always). I need you to do an updated skin care routine since the last one you did so I can know what products you are currently using. (literally had to pause the video to type this before continuing 🤣). Going back to watching now

[@JessOwens]

Omg thank youuuu 🥰🥰

[@grigotts]

I love how real you are in these videos. As for the covers, they look beautiful and the similarities between the art can be seen by even a blind person. Lol. But I don't understand why people would leave hate comments ...like calm down! it isn't a big deal! It was nice of fairy loot to thank their artists though. I won't be buying the special edition because they are too costly and I'm kinda satisfied with the versions I've read from and anyways the series for me turned boring after book five. They just seemed to drag on forever and after finding out that sjm supports idf I couldn't bring myself to read anymore of her works.

[@brittanykay51]

Also just DONT BUY THEM. These books are not new. This won’t be the only special edition to come out. HP has taught us that. It’s just that ppl want them NOW bc the hype is high and they can show them off for clout, whereas if they put out an incredible SE in two years your internet friends won’t be impressed anymore 😢😂

[@pumpkinschannel777]

$200 for 4 books is absolutely insane to me. Out of curiosity, I looked up the Acrylipics' Throne of Glass special editions (since those are what the art is being compared to), and it is $325 for all 7 books. Still pretty expensive imo but technically cheaper than the Fairyloot editions when you do the math. 💀

[@pig3292]

People need to calm down lol. They act like this is the end of the world 🙄

[@brittanykay51]

“I could eat but I’m not HONgry” is so real 😂

[@JessOwens]

🤣🤣

[@anikamercier2651]

I think the sprayed edges do look similar but the style is different enough it doesn’t bother me. I agree with the colors being wrong and needing correction. Overall I think they look really nice. I do think that FL has done other prettier special editions but I think the publishers limit some of the things they can do. I wonder if that’s also why the price is so high.

[@BowtiesFireflies]

I know nothing about SJM and throne of glass but I am in school for art, and I do character portraits a lot in my own time, have been for years. That second statement absolutely broke my heart to hear, especially after seeing their art. Regardless of the accuracy, she obviously has a clear eye for composition and lovely rendering skills (the sleeves on the first one! I wish i could draw fabric like that!). Sure, we can always improve, but that's no reason to tear someone apart in the way she was. And the AI comparison - ouch. I've seen friends miss out on opportunities to AI because of their pre-existing similar style. It's not our fault when AI is literally being trained on unconsenting artist's work! Very frustrating and sad to see.

[@avsambart]

FL taking the piss charging that much and not even for a full set 💀

[@rgaijin]

Its hard to be an artist nowadays when theres ai art floating around and for those ppl to compare that art to ai is just rude. Sheesh ppl are too much. And yes that price is criminal.

[@LorewithouttheE]

for real, especially when it's far more likely that those artists are the ones getting their work stolen for AI, and that's why they 'look similar'.... if i could i'd take a sledgehammer to every generative AI program, i'm so sick of 'em. and yeah that price is just....no, hell no, my wallet is screaming (i'm not even an SJM fan but the idea of any book costing $50 each, even special editions, is bananas to me)

[@jac8313]

I haven’t read a single Sarah J Mass book, so I think I’m okay to not buy these special editions haha.

[@scroogemcduckrich9705]

Thrones of Mess is WILD

[@iheartwalle]

I didnt think they were that bad but then again i dont care about the series so

[@conniesbookshelf]

i don't think anyone should be harassed, and the way the artists have been treat by the sjm fandom is awful - but i'm ngl, it's extremely disappointing to see both sjm fans and the artists/other artists more upset about a special edition set than they are about the fact they're actively supporting a zionist (especially during a time when zionists are still committing genocide against palestinians). some other artists have also said 'i'm not doing anymore art for tog/acotar bc i can't deal with the fandom' - like that's great and all, but it's kinda wild that /this/ is what took you to stop promoting this author, not the fact they're a zionist. honestly, the whole thing is a mess and i'm so glad i have no stakes in it bc i cut and run from sjm/sjm fandom when i realised that this was not the kind of person i wanted to be supporting.

[@RuaRaanui]

Just wanted to say girl you look really nice today, I love the hairstyle and lip gloss. Now I'll watch the actual video 😅

[@IHARumor]

The comments people made about Salome / morganaOanagrom and her art are what really broke my heart. Salome is one of the OG bookish fanartists and has been making SJM artwork for years. She was one of the first, which is why FL probably chose her for this project. Yet people really insulted her artwork and her craft and even downright said it looked like AI, just because they didn’t like her interpretation of the characters. Poor Salome, she was probably so excited to be asked for this project. Her saying she hates her own art is so upsetting.

[@marielle_critique35]

Truly,she did not deserve that at all,I'm glad she's not doing SJM fanarts anymore b/c of the SJM stands. I hope she gets the time and recovery she needs. 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

[@SteamCyberGothPunk]

I am so angry at how this artist was treated in this situation first of all it was approved by the companies they were hired by to create this edge art and second it wasnt even close to looking like the previous edge art, like this is crazy!

[@thepokepoet9482]

Unrelated but what's the four book box set on your shelf with the floral patterns? They're gorgeous!! Also never been an SJM fan but I do watch some people talk about her books so color me intrigued with this

[@stayathomereader]

Umm i don't think the two art pieces look THAT similar except that there's mountains and castle and a stag. And since those are images from the story of course they're in both!

[@Marie45610]

The people who are active in the SJM fandom are why even though I do like her books, I don't actively talk to people in the fandom. I do have cretiques for SJM's books and apparently, that's not allowed. Not willing to risk getting doxxed because I think some of the books are too long and could've had characters cut, or "plot" lines trimmed. These special editions are meh, in general. The bare hardcovers look nice, but the dust jackets are kind of drab. I also feel that since Throne of Glass *just* got new official covers, these special editions are a massive cash grab.

[@booksrdumb3687]

I mean, it's art of the same book series so it makes sense that it would be the same scene and they look like different renditions of it to me. I get being miffed about how it's not accurate to the books especially since it is $200 for four books.

[@ReadingAdrift]

As a Sarah J Maas SUPER-stan!!!!!!! that price and artwork are a NO-BUENO for me (I'll keep my original hard cover versions which will likely be the most coveted versions some years from now)… but I'm here for these comments and lite-mess

[@balletbookworm]

the "concern trolls" who are commenting on the artists' pages are the worst. yikes.

[@MajandraMonroe]

I need the SJM fandom to get a clue. The promts were castle and deer and she did that… anyone doing sjm art and claiming they own a castle or a deer need help immediately. And the artist who didn’t the character art was honoring book descriptions. So I get why these artists are saying duces to that fandom.

[@ccbb8115]

calling ugly covers + potentially plagiarized edge designs "HEARTBREAKING" is sooooo goofy. the books are FIFTY UNITED STATES DOLLARS A PIECE, are limited in stock (at least i'm pretty sure they are?), and are not going to replace the existing cover designs. nobody's stealing your credit card and forcing you to buy the set (not you as in you, you as in the people hate-commenting lol). and if an artist is given the prompt to include the castle, mountain range, stag, and dragons.... how many ways can you really incorporate all of that? especially when it was approved not only by the publisher but by SJM's own team, the fact that people are rationalizing throwing this artist under the bus as if they personally chose to step on the toes of another creator and the TOG community is just wild. i've never read TOG, but i can imagine something like this being done to my favorite books/series, and while i would be disappointed i would simply... not engage with the product. "heartbreaking" is wild.

[@jamieevans1387]

This is wild! Y'all, just don't buy it! It is literally that simple. You're supposed to fall in love with what's between the pages, not the cover

[@marielle_critique35]

Nice one and clever,lol. 😊

[@anne-marie339]

Maybe it’s just me but $50USD isn’t that wild a price for a SE when you consider all the extra pieces and people who have to be paid. Not saying the quality always reflects the price, but it absolutely can when there’s unique extra art, foiling, etc. And while not an SJM fan, I’ve absolutely paid a good chunk of money for SE of favourite books - it’s sometimes worth it, personally. But I’m also Canadian and pay more for books anyways 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Hannah-ks2kc]

I personally don't think the artwork is plagiarism I've seen plenty of similar art based on throne of glass my issue is the cost and lack of basic details being right. Personally I like the muted colours, I'm not one for the bright colours and think the design is beautiful aside from the glaring problems of the stag being the wrong colour

[@bhsprinkle]

I've never felt inclined to read the series yet Goodreads added it to my WTR list without my consent. 🤨

[@trinc9015]

Also hope the update is the price lol😅 cuz otherwise I’m not buying them

[@TRex799]

That’s like $50 a book!!! Also $200 for the first 4 books means presumably $400 for the whole series total… WILD.

[@JessOwens]

It’s ludicrous!!

[@KittyxKult]

I can see $50 a book for special editions, I would drop $200 for a special edition of some of my favorite books for just one, but I don’t love the designs. The naked hardcovers are cute but those end pages are not great. There’s nothing wrong with the art but it doesn’t even fit the vibe and I haven’t even read these books. The acrylic print one or whatever is actually so much more beautiful like I’m not crazy about them either but they’d be worth $200. The artist still doesn’t deserve hate like this tho

[@Sirdeln]

JESS you are so delightful

[@JessOwens]

🥰

[@marisagettas]

With every passing year I am happier and happier that I never picked this series up…what a clusterf*ck. I call shenanigans that all these people signed off on these sprayed edges. Someone is lying, because even I, a non-reader, knew the stag should be white and that’s not how the castle looks 😂😂😂

[@LovingBeingNatural1]

I have never read the series so my question is “Is this scene pretty or the elements in it pretty well described in the book?” If so, the artists’ rendering are going to be similar. Tolkien’s description of Bilbo’s house is very detailed. There is only so much differation you can take. Second, I believe the artist is telling the truth about not having seen the previous art. Sometimes coincidences happen. Helen Keller tells one in her own life where she was accused of copying a passage of someone’s book when she had never heard of the book or the person. This vitriol towards artists helps no one. I am glad Fairy Loot stood up for the artists. I think I paid $350 for a Barack Obama signed book, so I can’t talk. I’m about to pay about $60 for a George Takei signed book, so I understand someone wiling to pay for something truly special to them. I have been collecting hardcover books for decades and I used to subscribe to a number of subscription boxes, so I can say this with some confidence, the number of people who are happily paying for multiple subscription boxes by debut authors has gone down quite a bit in the last few years. I think presently, there is more money in special edition books of popular authors than a book box of trinkets and an unknown author. When I buy the books, it’s only the book now. I have too much other stuff. Finally, why is the price so high. Are they paying the artist well? Did Fairy Loot buy exclusive rights to the artwork? Are the limited edition? Does the artist had signed them? Is there additional artwork inside the book? I looked at Litjoy’s special edition books and $50 a piece seems right in the middle of the range to me. Again, I won’t be paying this because I’m not interested, but I would pay that much for a signed special edition of a Rebecca Roanhorse or Nnedi Okorafor series. .

[@icelusthefish]

Those comments about plagiarism are kind of insane because a castle with some mountains is really generic especially for fantasy. I feel really bad for these artists, catching so much hate for just trying to do their jobs

[@leaf111]

for that price the books should be incrusted with precious jewels

[@passionfruitz]

there are so many people in that post where fairyloot is defending the artists saying "that's not the issue, we weren't hating on the artists" when they clearly were hating on the artists in previous posts lmao... insane behaviour

[@Faith-Trust-Pixie-Dust]

20:56 straight facts

[@PistachioGold]

The entitlement some people have 😂 its like they're being forced to buy the books too.

[@nazimelmardi]

Just to give you an update: what was the SAME price: 4 books from Sanderson. The 4 kickstarter books. Hardcover, artwork full in the book, etc… (Tress of the Emerald Sea etc, to Yumi) that’s 200 usd. Anyone can compare the quality what can get for the same price. As for the art in that case… the poor artist were hated already. So let’s leave her alone. The fandom literally attacked her on her account among others for that castle but that anger is what they show… The same artist did the art for Name of the Wind. So we can see that this is for this specific fandom. There wasn’t any hate towards her at that time. (Yet we know that there is the waiting for 12 years for the 3rd book…)

[@Ashley-gq9xy]

Sorry but the SJM fandom needs to grow up lmao, this is so embarrassing. If someone doesn't like the art they can simply choose not to buy it. But of course it becomes a life or death matter because they're ~special editions~, and the SJM girlies gotta have 5 different sets of the same fucking series!! 🤗

[@marzipan9]

The internet has made too many people think their opinions actually matter to the whole world, not just their immediate circle.

[@VitaA007]

Pricewise tho, 4 books for $200 is $50 a book, right? Isn't a regular degular HC $30 to $35 now? So that's $15 to $20 more a book. $15 extra for a special edition is not like wild, on the face of it. Like would I pay that much money for these books, hell no, but Folio Society does $75 to $150 for special editions. The quality is a huge issue 💯, and in general $35 for a regular HC is something to DEFINITELY be upset about, but the price difference between the original HC and a SE here isn't actually that large. Again is it WORTH that much, not imho, but saying the final number is so high when the regular price would be also high ($140 v $200 for 4 books) is kind of confusing to me.

[@rainyrambles]

200 dollars for 4 books is insane to me…. Like I get that they are exclusive editions but its so??? The covers look fine imo (still not worth the price for me personally) but I haven’t read the books so idk how well they fit. As for the artwork, I agree with some people saying that it might just be similar due to the composition, and regardless, I don’t think the artist should have to suffer as a result of it.. I feel bad for them

[@heathermalmal9943]

I’m not buying these editions mostly because of the price (in this economy?) and I just don’t need them. But while I see some similarities in the two artworks, I feel like if you search “throne of glass” this is the kind of art you would see anyways?? Like was she not supposed to put a castle and mountains for a fantasy series? They look similar but in the same way they look similar like the opening to beauty and the beast… But I think it’s appalling to sit there and make fun of artists and I feel like Fairyloot needs to start monitoring these posts and delete negative comments. This isn’t the first time this has happened and previously Fairyloot has accepted the criticism and made the artists fix their work which I feel like is sometimes okay but at the same time, they shouldn’t have approved the work with say a brown stag if they knew it should be white. I’ve worked with smaller artists before, and they usually send a mockup and ask for any feedback before submitting the final. And to think the Fairyloot, likely the publisher and SJM all saw the brown stag and said nothing and now the artist is taking heat is gross to me.

[@b.ham.reads2020]

I've never read SJM but $200 for four books has to be a crime somewhere. I'm sorry to the fans who want this. haha

[@MJSpice]

Late to this but recently saw another book site or whatever and they used AI generates images and then deleted comments calling them out

[@NippyBooks]

this reminds me of the whole Rainbow Crate and the Foxhole Court Special Editions drama that went on - even tho it played out completely different. Rainbow Crate posted the announcement for the SE and within hours the Artist was exposed as zionist, Rainbow Crate then announced that they read the comments and promised to do better within like 24h and just a few weeks ago they announced the new artist whos art will be featured on those special editions... Now like I said, this is a completely different story...the artist isn't a zionist or something equally as bad and I feel bad for them getting attacked and saying they themself don't like their art when it is beautiful art - I can't comment on how accurate it is, since I never read the series or a SJM book ever, but still, I think the art is pretty. And about the whole "copying" allegations: I myself saw two different people in art class having the same composition in their artwork at least two times during my school days and it wasn't like they were inspired by each other. They weren't friends and at least one project was done over the holidays...so yeah it is possible...it just sucks that it happened (if it was a coincidence) when it's about art that is to be/ has to be paid for... Edit: just watched more of the video and I noticed that the artist who hates their art style isn't the one with the "stolen" composition on the edges. my bad!

[@ZaraVelaris]

special editions have lost their meaning they are now more common than regular books 😂

[@EnragedTiefling]

I would pay $200 for the editions of the TLT books if they were that fancy, but SJM.... no.

[@sinaseas]

thats like... almost 300 dollars canadian lol