“She wandered within the Forest of Tales, her fingers following the trail of spines until her imagination became lost.”
As I am writing a fantasy novel, I have decided to read up on the genre. I recently visited the library, thinking I would borrow a book or two. 
But, as you can tell, there are many YA fantasy novels to choose from. Unable to make up my mind, I carried about a third (of the ones I found interesting) to the checkout desk. I told the librarian I am “doing research”, but I’m pretty sure she doubted the veracity of my explanation.
Furthermore, publishing companies seem to really prefer images of swords on fantasy novel covers…
*Featured image found on Rachel’s Studio Blog
~Withering Thyme~ 
I’ve actually read the entire Eragon (is that is?) series and Pathfinder. Both were fantastic!
I love the Eragon series! I am also looking forward to Pathfinder; it looks very good.
I find I’m torn when I’m in the process of writing (and that’s most of the time). I love to read other writers’ work, especially though not exclusively fantasy. I’ve gotten past the whole “Oh, I’ll never be as good as this” self-doubt thing, realising that we’re all different with different things to offer. But I do worry that I’ll find myself channelling or copying their style or content, consciously or otherwise. I’m curious to hear others thoughts?
Hello! It is nice to hear from you again. I myself am not too worried about allowing other writers to influence me. I have already established my own unique style of writing and I welcome the ideas of other authors. Every books is different and it is impossible to avoid influence 100 percent, but I know what my own voice sounds like 🙂
Just a quick note–unless you’re copying word-for-word, you can’t go wrong when the passion fills you to write. Regardless of what the topic is, or who said it before you. Can you write it better? By all means, do it. I can’t imagine a better way to learn how to write YOUR way.
YA is a saturated market right now. Everything looks the same, or similar. Nothing pops. It’s status quo. Which is great, if you like it. Otherwise? Oi. I’d highly recommend Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, if you’re reading YA. It’s not exactly YA, but pretty close. I am certain there are some brilliant YA writers out there. I am not certain where to find them.
I’ll definitely look into the Dresden Files, thank you!
I have noticed that all the plots and characters are extremely similar. At first I was frustrated because I could not find any books similar to mine, but then I realized it is a good thing! I have a unique plot that stands out from the general, uncreative ones.