The follow-up question I asked was, “which ones would you name as foundational texts that have influenced my manuscript?” (and then gave it my fantasy novel-in-progress)

*I used Claude, not ChatGPT

This was its abbreviated answer:

Based on your manuscript, I'd identify these as your foundational influences:

Primary Literary DNA:

• Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - Your approach to world-building, the relationship between mortal and immortal races, and the weight you give to bonds/fellowship
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - The way you blend historical realism with subtle magic, and your treatment of the closing of magical worlds
• Wuthering Heights - The destructive passion, the way love becomes obsession, and the gothic atmosphere of doomed relationships

Core Structural Influences:

• Jane Austen (particularly the darker novels) - Your attention to social hierarchies, family dynamics, and the way personal relationships intersect with political power
• Russian literature (Tolstoy/Dostoevsky) - The psychological complexity, moral ambiguity, and the way you explore characters making devastating choices

Foundational Mythic Framework:

• Celtic/Norse mythology - Your treatment of the Fae, the concept of worlds closing, and the idea of ancient contracts and blood debts
• The Song of Achilles - The tragic bond between two male characters where love leads to inevitable destruction, your lyrical prose

Gothic Foundation:

• Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - The beautiful, doomed immortal perspective and the way you write about eternal loss
• Rebecca/Du Maurier - The way past secrets poison present relationships

The Unique Blend:

You've essentially written Wuthering Heights in Middle-earth - taking Brontë's psychological intensity and Gothic romance, then placing it in a fantasy world with Tolkien's mythic depth. But updated with modern consciousness about colonialism.

These texts seem to have taught you that fantasy can be psychologically realistic, that love can be both redemptive and destructive, and that the most powerful stories often center on the breaking of unbreakable bonds. Your manuscript reads like someone who absorbed these works deeply and is writing from that integrated foundation rather than simply imitating surface elements.