Hi, guys, am I the only one here who read the low fantasy novels by both chinese writer Fei Tian Ye Xiang and canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay?

I ask because I noticed many similarities between the two: -both of them do deep researches about the time periods they use as basis for their story and borrow specific historical events and people that they alter in order to make them fit with the plot and its themes;

-they reference the artistic traditions of the cultures that inspired them;

-they write standalone low fantasy novels of which some share the same universe in different eras (ex. the “Star officials” series composed by “Shan you mu xi”, “Yingnu”, “Let go of that shou” and “Joyful reunion” by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and the “Kitai” saga composed by “Under Heaven” and “River of stars” and the world of the Jaddite, Asharite and Kindath religions composed by the duology “The Sarantine mosaic”, “The last light of the sun”, “The lions of Al-Rassan”, “A brightness long ago”, “All the seas of the world” and “Children of Earth and Sky” by Guy Gavriel Kay);

-they don’t mind writing smutty sex scenes and they love complex characters and court intrigues.

The only differences I found are these ones.

Fei Tian Ye Xiang:

-he uses only Chinese history as inspiration;

-he writes love triangles only in some of his works while he doesn’t in other ones;

-his romances are all homosexual;

-all his queer characters are greatly varied;

-his protagonists are each other one true love and they’re between the major players in the setting.

Guy Gavriel Kay:

-he uses different civilizations;

-he adores love triangles (thought he writes them very well and in a way fitted for the plot compared to how most media do this trope);

-his romances are all heterosexual and his protagonists often ends up having different love stories in the course of their lives;

-he rarely depicts queer characters and they are a bit stereotypical;

-his protagonists are often common people who are involved in high stakes situations and not the major players;

-even thought his female characters are all complex and play important roles in the plot, he seems to have a strange fanservice tendency towards them (ex. in “Under Heaven” he pointed out repeatedly how beautiful a female assassin who appears for only two chapters and the female bodyguard of the protagonist, Wei Song, are when it doesn’t make sense as for a professional killer it’s more advantageous to be plain-looking so no one can identify him/her and the latter character was written as battle-hardened warrior nun and the second love of the protagonist and a foil to his first love, Spring Rain who’s naturally beautiful since she’s a courtesan).

What do you think?

When I was young, I, a Canadian, began writing a story about a guy who wielded a girl who transformed into a scythe. About a year to a year and a half later, Soul Eater made its debut. Very different world and plot than mine, but a person wielding another person who transforms into a scythe? This happened 2 more times in my life, where I began writing a very specific idea and it turned out someone else had the exact same idea and wrote that into their stories.

There are 8 billion people in this world, and it's almost inevitable that any two of them could be writers who write similarly without knowing about the other one.

I am unaware of either of the aforementioned authors, so that's all I can say. Technically, Assassin's Creed used to do just this. Ezio is a real historical figure, son of a banker, womanizer, etc. who just disappears in history and the game developers used that disappearance to craft their story about him.

I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.