It's Been Done?

So, I've been planning on starting a novel for the past few years. It's a fantasy/steampunk story, and I already had one thread about it here. But this is a different question, so I think I needs its own thread. See, today I bought a copy of the first book in The Cinder Spires series. And the thing is, I can tell it has a lot in common with my planned novel, just from reading the cover. It's total coincidence; I hadn't even heard of this book before I found it today. But as a writer, should this give me pause from continuing my own story?

edited 12th Aug '17 10:43:57 AM by ElSquibbonator

If they did it first, you just have to do it better.

If that were true, we would have a lot more ripoffs and rehashes in the world of fiction. To understand why I'm concerned, read the trope page for The Cinder Spires and then take a look at the thread I linked to in my first post. Do they seem too similar?

From what I read in your thread and in the page of that book, the only similar element is the existence of some sort of barrier which separates the inhabited part from some supernatural menace - and this is nothing new; you can find this very idea in countless works. Are there other similarities in your opinion?

Have to agree with , the two concepts don't seem similar at all to me. Also:

There are tons of rehashes, though. Don't worry too much about being completely original. A premise is not a story. (Not that you shouldn't try to bring new things to the table, of course.)

Even if the concept of two stories appears, or even is, similar, there's still the individual styles of the two writers whose works are being compared. You could give the same general concept, or even detailed concept, to a dozen of artists, and you would get at least ten different renditions of it.

Sure, if you reduce all the stories to their base elements and nothing more, there would be a lot of repeats. You don't see any repeats, though, because all the minor details that aren't noted and all the personalities and styles and writing quirks of the artists make them different. It's the same for you, for as long as you don't copy the style of the other writer your work should be distinct enough and different enough to make it not a problem.

This. My belief has always been that it's far more important to be unique than it is to be original.