No, not marrying Kim Kardashian on the set of Friends.
I've been reading the first book of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, and I can't help but be distracted at the hoard of references to popular culture which keep popping up.
BlueTooth, iPod, Shrek, Batman Begins....all within a few paragraphs.
Now I'm not specifically criticizing the Flamel books.
In a way it'd be nice if this setup was limited to a single series.
But one of my favorite fantasy series, P.C. and Kristin Cast's House of Night, keeps throwing in pop culture as well.
It's not as prevalent, given that much of the action takes place in a somewhat archaic setting.
Of course the rarity means when Jack starts singing along to the Glee version (may they suffer a thousand hells) of "Defying Gravity" on his iPod, it like those in the Flamel books does nothing but DISTRACT from what's actually going on.
I didn't get nearly emotional enough over Jack's death two paragraphs later because I was still thinking "There's a GLEE version of Defying Gravity? What the hell?"
Pop culture distracted me, the reader, from what is supposed to be a tragic scene that leaves the reader pissed-off-as-all-hell at the series' antagonist.
Plus all this up-to-the-minute stuff means that within ten years all of it will be DATED.
Rowling was able to slip a reference in Harry Potter (to PlayStation) without it distracting because 9/10 of the series happens in a technology-less environment.
Thus the HP books have a much greater chance of achieving "timelessness" than fantasy books which use pop culture left and right.
On a side note, how long does it take for a book or series to achieve timelessness?
Does it have to survive long enough to be public domain before it's considered a "classic"?
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