Rating: 
Summary: Example of "better" Phanfiction; but still not the original!
Review:
This book was an enjoyable read...even with it's mistakes, shortcomings and altered facts in regards to the original novel. It sometimes bothers me that Phantom phans just can't let Erik be....and accept the tragedy that is the story of Erik & Christine. I blame Susan Kay for planting the idea of Erik & Christine producing a "love child"...the last counterpoint in Kay (Erik & Christine 1881-)has spawned an ocean of Erik/Christine novels that are entirely without merit! Erik & Christine were never to be! Get over it and accept it! Erik DIED at the end of Leroux from a broken heart....and the union between she and Erik was doomed from the very beginning...
With all that said....believe it or not...I actually enjoyed this book (even with the whole Erik still living and the Christian being the son of Erik bit). The author is a wonderful writer and I believe that her talent at welding the pen is the express reason for "liking" the book....even though it is completely "OFF" in regards to the Phantom tale...
If you are a Phantom Phan...give the book a try; but be warned! It strays from Leroux and Susan Kay gives you a better read when it comes to "Phantom fiction". Buy it used or better yet: borrow it from you library to try it out first. If you like it: buy it...if you hate it: just chalk it up as a "bad Phantom reading experience" (as I often find myself doing these days....the Phanfiction these days absolutely stinks! Nothing but ALWish movie phantom stuff or WAY off "hearts&flowers" fluff or smut! PLEASE!!!! Stop sexing the Phantom up you guys!!! Love him for who and what he is! He doesn't need polished & "prettied up"!)
Try these titles as well:
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (Lowell Bair trans.)
Phantom by Susan Kay
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Rating: 
Summary: "Progeny" holds true to Phantom story - a great read
Review: "Progeny" author Becky L. Meadows restores my hope that there are some authors out there who stil know how to write and write well at that.
"Progeny" is a moving and touching book which holds true to the origional Phantom story. Meadows paints her characters on the pages with her words so that you can picture them perfectly. You get the exact image of how they look in the midst of every type of emotion.
You feel like you there in the story with them.
Brava!
Rating: 
Summary: Leroux's spinning in his grave
Review: All right. When are Phans going to learn that the Erik/Christine plot line is older than dirt, and even less interesting? It's been done so many times that it bored the living heck out of me, and I'm just craving to read something different. Meadows does not grant that.Besides using the most obnoxious cliches (The Erik/Christine love child, the fact that he still isn't dead), the author fails to bring anything remotely original to the story. The characters just barely resemble the ones in Leroux's novel. And WHY does every Phan fiction author feel the need to portray Raoul badly? He's not a bad guy, for God's sake! (I'll confess that I'm bitter. I am a Raoul fan, and I have no fan fiction to read. At all.) So save your pennies for something else, because this is not worth [money]...
Rating:
Summary: Beautifel and Riviting
Review: Excelent sequell for the Phantom I love her words and they way that she made the characers come to life.
Rating:
Summary: Another desperate grab at an original
Review: Fan fiction is one of the hardest writing styles to do well b/c an author has to prove that she is a decent author not by showing us what has already occured but showing it in a new light. Meadows' new light wafts towards out-of-character and the now cliché Erik/Christine love child. The scenes are repetetive (lots of death threats unfulfilled, passing out, vague references to Kay and unoriginality galore) to the point where I just starting skipping pages and no, nothing important was ever overlooked, hardly a difficult task. Was she using word count to get to novel length or something? Lastly, on the back page is a review from one of her buddies saying that "if you don't cry, you're no Phantom fan." I couldn't agree more. If you don't cry, you have no respect for the original. Just once, I would love to see some citations from the five-star reviewers b/c clearly, either I'm overlooking something or people's standards have dropped down by never challenging themselves with books that do not spell everything out in little thrid-grade cliff's notes format: over and over and over...
Rating: 
Summary: I had low expectations...
Review: I bought this book after reading the reviews of other readers. I had low expectations going into it, seeing that quite a few people didn't think highly of this book. I had hoped to be surprised but the book didn't even meet my low standards. It was like the author had 6 ideas for a scene and then, instead of picking one, she told all six! This makes for a VERY repetitive read. Yes, Erik loved Christine, Christine loved Erik, Christine was in torment, she was in pain, she and Erik had given each other their souls! Yes I got that the first 20 times. But to repeat the same phrases on EVERY SECOND PAGE? WAYYYYYY too redundant. So I was dissapointed. It was a decent idea, just told poorly. If you want to read a REALLY good PTO book, get Susan Kay's Phantom. It was told much better and the characters were more likeable.
Rating:
Summary: I had low expectations...
Review: I bought this book after reading the reviews of other readers. I had low expectations going into it, seeing that quite a few people didn't think highly of this book. I had hoped to be surprised but the book didn't even meet my low standards. It was like the author had 6 ideas for a scene and then, instead of picking one, she told all six! This makes for a VERY repetitive read. Yes, Erik loved Christine, Christine loved Erik, Christine was in torment, she was in pain, she and Erik had given each other their souls! Yes I got that the first 20 times. But to repeat the same phrases on EVERY SECOND PAGE? WAYYYYYY too redundant. So I was dissapointed. It was a decent idea, just told poorly. If you want to read a REALLY good PTO book, get Susan Kay's Phantom. It was told much better and the characters were more likeable.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. The author "knows" Erik and Christine and remains true to the original and Susan Kay's novel. The plot was interesting, I really liked the scenes with Erik and his son Christian as they are very much alike. I do wish they would have gotten a little closer as father and son since they were so much alike. Also I wanted Christian to call Erik "father" at least once but he never did, that was the only thing I was disappointed with. I was left in suspense whenever I HAD to stop reading and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next all the way to the last chapters which brought tears to my eyes. Definitely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Classic novel turned paperback romance
Review: I have nothing against fanfiction. I adored Susan Kay's "Phantom" and almost prefer it to the original novel, but this book I'm afraid didn't match up to my expectations. Meadows' writing style is good: a nice story pace, good characterization, engaging character interaction; it's all good...for about the first 200 pages. Then, after the first half is over, the story begins to repeat itself over and over again. The characterizations that had been charming and engaging at the beginning turn maudlin. Christine weeps, faints, and begs for Raoul's life. Erik (very much alive) agonizes, throws things, and plots Raoul's death. And Raoul...well, Raoul wasn't used as extensively as the previous two characters and therefore did not become quite as tiresome. Contrary to most phanfiction, Raoul is not portrayed as a monster, although by the end, you just want him to crawl somewhere and die. The plot is weak and extremely predictable. Most of the novel is comprised of explosive scenes between characters: i.e. much shouting and breaking things. And this just builds and builds and builds and gets more and more melodramatic until it collapses from within in what can hardly be called an ending. In conclusion, if you are a hard-core phan in need of a Phantom fix, you should read this just so you'll be able to add it to your list. But if you're looking for a thoughtful, well-wrought tale worthy of LeRoux, you're wasting your time.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant idea told poorly
Review: I have respect for fanfiction and being a long-time Phan, I was determined to love this book despite the fact that this is a difficult story to recapture. The story can be retold in different points of view but a sequel is even more difficult because the outcome is either 1) Erik will either fall into tragedy once again which is no more than a retelling of the original under different circumstances or 2) he will have a happy ending and defeat all of Leroux's work of making him the tragic hero. The former is the choice in Meadows' work. Let me begin by saying that this was a privately-published book, which in itself isn't a bad thing but it is clear as to why. There are typos everywhere and I don't mean a couple. They are very distracting from the story. The only characters who remain 'in character' are the author's orginal additions. The plot is predictable (the entire mystery can be figured out just by reading the back cover) and it is clear that the author did little research; she has never been to the places where the action occurs as she doesn't even know where Box 5 is actually located. Her pace is awful-- she rushes through important details and drags trite, repetitive scenes out even more. Judging by her ubiquitous allusions, she assumes her readers have read Kay's Phantom (which I recommend highly) but makes no effort to clarify for those who have not. She brings up new ideas but does not follow up, leaving some of her own ideas and side-stories unfinished. Meadows just doesn't have the ability to write believably. If she needs a character out of the picture, he either has business elsewhere or is temporarily unconscious (lots of fainting and sleeping drugs here). She never has me on the edge of my seat because she never throughly inconveniences her characters, e.g., how about Raoul or Christian bursting in during one of Christine and Erik's encounters or when Raoul tries to rape Christine, why is it that Erik would break into the room only to give Raoul a dirty look before departing? It is completely out of character and unlikely. Die-hard phans will appreciate the attempt (I plan on reading her sequel in hopes of an improvement in her writing) but as readers who are familiar with the original, they should also be aware of the wild alternate universe that has been invented and note that there are much better works available if a continuation is desired.
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