Showing posts with label series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series. Show all posts

Friday, September 15, 2023

Karen S. Wiesner {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Rooks and Ruin Trilogy by Melissa Caruso


{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Rooks and Ruin Trilogy by Melissa Caruso

by Karen S. Wiesner



Per my usual, I came into author Melissa Caruso's high fantasy work through the back door. In other words, I read the second trilogy before realizing there was even a first, also set in the world of Eruvia where there are two main established powers. In the first trilogy, Swords and Fire, the Serene Empire has an elected doge, a Council of Nine, and a general assembly. Raverra is the central city-state there. The second trilogy, Rooks and Ruin, the one I read, which takes place 150 years later, is set in Vaskandar, a domain ruled by Witch Lords (essentially, mages). These two empires are in conflict. However, the author intended for the two series to be "largely unrelated" aside from taking place in the same setting. She made sure there were no spoilers for the first trilogy within the second. She's said that the focus of Swords and Fire is "more political intrigue and fancy balls" while Rooks and Ruin has "more magical secrets and spooky castles". Caruso recommends reading the trilogies in order, but says either way works, which I did find to be the case.

Rooks and Ruin features Ryx as the main character. She's the Warden in her home domain, Morgrain, ruled over by her grandmother. Four hundred years earlier, the Nine Demons came into the mortal world and thrust humanity into chaotic horror and suffering. Since then, the creatures were trapped behind a gate in the Black Tower of Gloamingard Castle, which ended the Dark Days. Ryx's family are caretakers of the gate the demons are trapped behind. Not surprisingly, someone wants to open the magically sealed Door and bring forth what was banished.


Ryx is an intriguing character. From an early age, her magic has been "broken". She drains life from everyone and everything she touches. Her home is as much a prison as it is a haven--and a lonely one for her at that. Rooks and Ruin begins with the villain succeeding in unlocking the gate and Ryx, along with the Rookery (a "magical troubleshooting squad"), having to clean up and contain the mess made. A lot of destructive, twisting secrets are revealed along the way to this goal. The cast is compelling while the world building caused me to seek out previous stories set in this world. That's when I found out about the first trilogy I'd somehow missed.

In truth, the first book, The Obsidian Tower, is the one that captured me the most with the magical mayhem I'm always on the lookout for, compelling me to want to finish the trilogy. The two novels that followed, The Quicksilver Court and The Ivory Tower, were well-written in every regard. However, I found my attention less transfixed with them. I suspect this was the case, in part, because of what one reviewer called "empire politics and political intrigue" dominating subsequent entries in the trilogy. Since the author self-described Swords and Fire as also being focused in the same way, I do worry I might find myself withdrawing from them as well, but I do intend to read them at some point. In any case, lovers of quality fantasy should love all the related books in this series.

Check out my latest novel!

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/bloodmoon-cove-spirits-series.html

https://www.writers-exchange.com/bloodmoon-cove-spirits-series/

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Friday, February 24, 2023

Karen S. Wiesner: I Want to Write a Series. Now What? Part 2

Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner

I Want to Write a Series. Now What?

Part 2

Based on Writing the Standalone Series (formerly titled Writing the Fiction Series {The Guide to Novel and Novellas})

“The [series] tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours.” ~T. S. Eliot


This is the second of two posts dealing with writing a series.

In Part 1, we talked about developing a plan for your series. Let's continue.

Organizing Series Details

The best way to learn how not to write a series is with no organization whatsoever. Time and time again, you’ll miss countless opportunities to plant and develop seeds for C-S-P series potential as well as forcing yourself to backtrack to clear up issues that arise and can even lead to writing yourself into a corner. Establishing the basics can give you numerous insights for further-reaching developments.

While established authors may be capable of outlining every book in a series before writing even one, that may not be possible for everyone. Maybe the only way for you to figure out where you’re going with your series is to write the first book, then set it aside while you think about the next in the series and as many of the ones to follow as you can: Which characters will take the lead? What story will be told and conflicts arise? What seeds can you plant now in the first book to prepare readers for the next ones? Try filling out the C-S-P potential questionnaire as much as you can. The more you can get your mind brainstorming on these things, the more developed each story will be when it’s time to start working on it. Never underestimate the value of a story (and series!) sitting on the backburner of your mind.

How much pre-planning you ultimately do for your series is up to you, but I recommend attempting two things to see how far you can get.

Blurbing the Series and Story Arcs

Building on your C-S-P potential, the next step in figuring out where you’re going in the series is to write blurbs for the series and its individual stories. Play with them and don’t expect perfection the first time. You can work with them more as your series progresses.

When creating a Series Blurb, you’re not focusing on individual stories but on the series as a whole to get the gist of what it’s about. If the Series Blurb is done well enough, it’ll accurately reflect what every book in the series is about in a concise, intriguing summary. Remember your Series Ties while you’re working, since they’ll help you figure out what your Series Arc should be. In no more than four sentences, define your Series Arc by using “leads to” logic (note that the components don’t have to be in order, nor is a resolution required since you may not want to defuse the intrigue or tension):

Introduction --> Change à Conflicts --> Choices --> Crisis --> Resolutions

Here’s an example from my Incognito Series:

The Network is the world’s most covert organization. Having unchallenged authority and skill to disable criminals, the Network takes over where regular law enforcement leaves off in the mission for absolute justice. (Introduction) The price: Men and women who have sacrificed their personal identities (Choices) to live in the shadows (Change) and uphold justice for all (Conflicts)—no matter the cost. (Crisis)

Next, try blurbing the individual stories you foresee in the series. It’s all right if you’ve only gotten as far as brainstorming on one or two books. Start with what you have and go further as more comes to you. This process should help your ideas multiply.

In order to begin, you need at least a working knowledge of which characters will take the lead in individual stories and what each Story Arc (conflict) will be. If it helps, try writing free-form summaries covering the who, what, where, when, and why of each story. Now let’s create a back cover blurb using this equation (if you have more than one main character, do this for each):

  Who                                       (name of character)

Wants                                    (goal to be achieved)

because                             (motivation for acting),

but faces                (conflict standing in the way).

By filling in the blanks, you’ll flesh out your Story Blurb. As before, you can mix up the order of the components. Let’s look at an example of the Story Blurb from Dark Approach, the twelfth in my Incognito Series: 

Network operatives and lovers Lucy Carlton and Vic Leventhal (name of character{s}) have spent years living in the shadows, the property of the covert organization they gave their loyalty to in the lofty pursuit of justice for all. (motivation for acting) Disillusioned, they’re now determined to live their lives on their own terms. When the Network’s arch enemy secretly approaches the two about defecting—freedom for information that will disable the Network (goal to be achieved)—the couple must choose between love and loyalty. In the process, they jeopardize the Network’s anonymity...and its very existence. (conflict standing in the way)

Blurbing in this way will expand your series and get you excited about writing it.

The appeal of the series is obvious: You don’t have to leave behind characters, place or premise in a single book. You can continue with a whole series of them! While each story should stand on its own, no series book should feel quite complete without the others since readers are invested mentally, emotionally, and even physically. The best news is, after reading the first book in a series, they’ll crave infinitely more as long as each offering is an absolutely killer read.

Five Build-Your-Series-Muscles Exercises

1) Identify the Ties in your favorite series books and how all the stories connect and build off each other. Series and Story Blurbs should indicate this information.

2) Note the differences in open-ended series and those that have a definitive conclusion. Which appeals to you?

3) Outline the Series Arcs (whether loosely or clearly defined) in notable series you’ve read—can you follow the introduction, progression and resolution from start to finish?

4) Study several series, noting how the authors planted and developed seeds for C-S-P potential over the course of the series.

5) Consider what sets your series apart from others and what twists you can inject in each book.

Karen S. Wiesner is the author of Writing the Standalone Series: Volume 3 of the 3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection

http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/writing-reference-titles.html

Happy writing!

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Friday, February 17, 2023

Karen S. Wiesner: I Want to Write a Series. Now What? Part 1

 Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner

I Want to Write a Series. Now What?

Part 1

Based on Writing the Standalone Series (formerly titled Writing the Fiction Series {The Guide to Novel and Novellas})

“The [series] tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours.” ~T. S. Eliot


This is the first of two posts dealing with writing a series.

“The disease of writing is dangerous and contagious.” (Abelard to Heloise)

Following a series can also become a relentless obsession and it’s the hallmark of why readers read series, why writers write them, and why publishers publish them. The mania is spreading. So how do you get started?

Whether you’ve been pondering starting your own or you’ve finished a first book and don’t want to let go, there are a lot of things to work out when writing a fiction series.

Developing a Plan for Your Series

If a series doesn’t have a “tie” that connects each book, it could hardly be called a series. Developing the Ties from one book to the next prevents readers from questioning the point of the series. These Ties can be any or even all of the following:

·         Recurring character or couple (think Aloysius Pendergast in Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s Pendergast Series or J.D. Robb’s Eve and Roarke from the In Death Series)

·         Central group of characters (such as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and the members of Kate Jacobs’ Friday Night Knitting Club)

·         A plot or premise (as in Robin Cook’s Jack Stapleton medical mysteries or Dan Brown’s treasure hunts in the Robert Langdon Series)

·         Setting (Forks, Washington in Twilight or Harry Potter’s Hogwarts)

As in the series examples mentioned above, what connects the books in a series should be evident in each entry. Ensuring this kind of continuity requires advance planning. Ideally, you want to start developing your series as early as you can. To get things going, let’s consider what separates series writing from novel writing.

1) Understanding Story Arcs Verses Series Arcs

Every work of fiction has a Story Arc or a continued storyline. The Story Arc is short-term since it’s introduced, developed and concluded within the individual book. In clear contrast to a stand-alone novel, a series almost always has a Series Arc as well. A Series Arc is a long-term plot thread that’s introduced in the first book, alluded to in some way in each middle book, but is only resolved in the final series book. The only exception to this rule is an open-ended series in which all the books are stand-alones and there’s no need for a Series Arc that resolves in the last book. Earlier we mentioned examples of open-ended series like the Stapleton and Langdon ones.

Series that will have a definitive end do need a Series Arc whether clearly or subtly defined. The Series Arc is generally separate from the individual Story Arcs though they must fit together seamlessly to provide logical progression throughout the series. As an example, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Story Arc is the sorcerer’s stone plotline. The Series Arc, in the most simplified terms, is good overcoming evil. The Series Arc runs progressively and cohesively beneath the individual Story Arcs in each successive book.

Is it necessary for a series that’s not open-ended to have a Series Arc? Absolutely! In a series that will have definitive closure, you’ve presented a nagging situation in the first book that must be settled satisfactorily in the last. Without that, readers who have invested time, money, and passion will feel cheated. To write a series is to promise an acceptable resolution. If, in the course of Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven Series, Kendra and Seth didn’t defeat the evil threatening the Fablehaven preserve and stop the plague that could have led to a hoard of imprisoned demons escaping into the world, Mull would have left his fans crying foul because he broke the pledge of a satisfactory resolution implied in the first book.

Spell out your Series Arc for yourself as much as you can so you can work from that premise from start to finish.

2) Evaluating C-S-P Series Potential

Readers fall in love with characters, settings and plots. They want conflict but don’t want you to hurt their heroes. They want different but don’t want things to change. But a character, setting or plot that doesn’t change also doesn’t evolve, doesn’t remain life-like, and eventually becomes boring.

Series characters, settings and plots should have longevity and intriguing potential that continues to grow, never stagnate or wane, throughout the course of a series. While none of these should ever have a radical transplant from one book to the next, it’s crucial they’re affected by changes. Consider the three P’s that make characters (and just as certainly settings and plots!) three-dimensional:

1) Personality (always multi-faceted with strengths and weaknesses, and capable of growing, being molded, deeply delved, and stretched)

2) Problems (combining light and dark, good and evil, simple and complex—not necessarily in equal parts)

3) Purpose (evolving goals and motivations wide enough to introduce new and unpredictable themes into a series but narrow enough for focus in individual stories)

Without the introduction of something new for series characters, settings and plots, you’ll give your readers nothing to hope for beyond the first book. The best way to plant seeds for series exploration is to evaluate your C-S-P (Character-Setting-Plot) potential. Basically what this means is you establish “Plants” in the first and middle series books that can be used at any time during the life of the series to expand all three of these components. Naturally, the sooner you set these up, the more believable they’ll be when it’s time to fully develop them. As an example, in the Robert Langdon Series, the main character frequently mentions the Mickey Mouse watch he wears—not something most grown men would be caught dead in. In his case, it was a gift from his parents on his ninth birthday, something rife with sentimental value, and, considering that much of this series revolves around 24-hour deadlines, the significance of this object is heightened. If the first time the symbolic accessory was mentioned was when Langdon was thrust in a tank of breathable oxygenated liquid in The Lost Symbol, Book 3, the reader would have been figuratively drowned as a consequence. Obviously the appropriate place to explain the watch would be in a time of passive reflection (in the first book in the series), not during life-and-death action three books in. Luckily, this item was planted early enough that its appearance over the course of the series didn’t feel contrived or convenient to the plots.

Most authors include numerous “Plants” in the first book in a series without realizing it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t deliberately insert them, too. When considering your C-S-P series potential, do free-form summaries for all of the questions below. Don’t worry if you can’t come up with much right away; simply use this as a jumping-off point as the series progresses. Go on the assumption that these seeds may be planted (and left mostly unexplored) in the early books for development in later titles:

·         How can you outfit all series characters with heroic traits and habits as well as flaws and vices that can lead to natural growth as well as interesting plots?

·         What occupations, hobbies, interests, and idiosyncrasies can you give characters that can be gradually developed?

·         What relationships and potential enemies/villains can you add to expand the series potential?

·         What lessons, backstory or experiences can be hinted at for later revelation and development and may lead to suspenseful plots or emotional crises?

·         What life conditions, challenges, trials, grudges, grief, betrayals, threats, heartaches or obsessions (romance, marriage, divorce, parents/children, illness, medical ailment or death) can characters face that may lead to compelling situations throughout the series?

·         What locations can you set the series and individual books in to expand characters and plots?

·         What world, regional or local events, holidays, important dates or disasters (natural or man-made) can provide a catalyst?

·         What quest—fortuitous, cursed or anywhere in-between—can be undertaken?

·         What item or object can you place that can become the basis for plot, setting or character development?

Keep one rule firmly in mind when you’re planting the series seeds that will give you both longevity and flexibility for the road ahead: Always leave plenty of Plants unexplored! The last thing you want to do is lock yourself in too early. In the early books in the Pendergast Series, it was revealed that the FBI agent’s wife had been killed years earlier. Superficial details about this death were alluded to but kept sparse and flexible enough that, when the authors moved into their Helen Trilogy quite a few books later, they could easily mold this event any way they needed to and maintain believability. Had they locked down specific details early on, the trilogy might never have seen the light of day.

Hints and allusions are ideal—even required, as we’ve seen—when you’re introducing C-S-P series potential in one book and then developing in another. In real life, no one walks around with a list to show others of the people they know, the places they’ve been, or the things they’ve done. These are introduced a little at a time. In the same way, from one book to the next, you explore the facets of C-S-P slowly, developing them beyond the static state they started in as you go along instead of all at once. If you give too much detail too soon, you may find it hard to change or adapt when the time comes to use a Plant.

Additionally, keep in mind that, if no one wants to see more of these characters, settings, and the series premise that sparks plot over the long haul, the series is pointless. Always spin established facts on their axis so the reader will have a new, emotional and unexpected journey in each additional story within the series. Every offering must be at least as exciting as the one before. These are the ingredients that bring readers back for more.

In Part 2, we'll talk about organizing series details.

Karen S. Wiesner is the author of Writing the Standalone Series

Volume 3 of the 3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection

http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/writing-reference-titles.html

Happy writing!

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor







Friday, December 16, 2022

Karen S Wiesner: Presentation is King, Part 3

A Reader's Commentary

Presentation is King, Part 3

by Karen S. Wiesner


In this final of a three-part commentary using author Christopher Paolini's two series, I talk about the conundrum of how important presentation is with massive sagas.

While I was reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, the first installment in Fractalverse, I started to ask myself why I've always had such trouble finishing--or frankly, even beginning--any of Christopher Paolini's books. Everything is in his favor: He's an excellent writer, no dispute there. Some of my favorite books are written in the fantasy genre, as his The Inheritance Cycle is. I adore dragons. I love science fiction, and, when combined with horror, it's a win-win for me. The bottom line is that I highly recommend the two series written by Paolini to any fantasy and sci-fi lover.

However, almost unconsciously while I worked to get through To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, my brain was analyzing my reactions to reading all of his offerings. I enjoyed the most the first parts of both his series. Then I got bogged down. In last week's commentary, we talked about three explanations for why this was the case. We also established that we live in a time in the publishing industry when there are fewer and fewer readers and almost nobody has an attention span that extends beyond a few hundred words. So what options are there for those of us who want to be die-hard readers but find the sheer size and complexity of many of the books and series published these days intimidating and overwhelming?

Potential Solutions

I'm absolutely sure that if the author and/or the publisher had presented the six individual parts of Christopher Paolini's To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in separate volumes instead of one massive book, I would have enjoyed them so much more. My silly brain would have accepted each was an installment of the whole and wouldn't have demanded I read through the ponderous tome in the way it was presented to ensure I got the scope of the story. I could have come back into each individual segment fresh, especially if they were published back-to-back over the course of a few months (in the case of To Sleep… maybe 3-6 months). I believe I would have been eager to devour each portion if they'd presented them in a different way that prevented my head from being overburdened by too much in one place at one time.

To keep costs down, one cover design could be created, possibly in different shades for each section (see below), with the part in the series highlighted on the front, as in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Part I; To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Part II, and on through Part VI. To avoid losing readers who are cheap (and who can blame them?), each segment could have been priced at $1.99 to $2.99.

 


Can I also just interject here that reading physical copies of books as large as Paolini's are is an exercise in arthritis foreshadowing? Even the mass market paperback {mmp} of
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was agony. My poor hands were cramping, holding up this unwieldly, bulky conveyance of words. Yes, maybe this is a good case for ebooks, and I know it compels a good many toward digital editions. That's great. I highly approve. But I've never loved ebooks. They give me a headache and, frankly, I'm still holding something fairly heavy despite that the device I use can actually contain thousands of books instead of one. For those of us who still love a printed edition, smaller volumes would be ideal.

Also, the recaps that tend to be in each subsequent book in a series needs to be minimalized. In other words, one page instead of five plus. I appreciate that refresher and believe it needs to be there, but distilling the story thus far down to the core elements is all that's truly needed. Maybe the author could have the full synopsis on their website in case readers want more detail.

Additionally, the appendices are fantastic. I love them myself. However, when they become compendiums on their own, they need to be published separately for avid fans of the series. Paolini's publisher actually did publish a 32-page supplement to The Inheritance Cycle, called Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia, providing a collection of information about the characters, settings, and objects referred to in the novels. It was published just prior to the fourth and final volume and hinted at the upcoming end of the series. However, when a book is already gigantic, appendices that are more of "series facts at your fingertips" entries might be unquestionably more useful to readers. As in, "Who or where or what is this again?" Glance in the back, where vital information is presented in a user-friendly way. "Ah-ha! Blank filled in. Now I can return to my immersive reading." 

Finally, I think die-hard and dabbling readers alike find it much easier to digest everything that's required of them in these labyrinthine sagas within film or TV series adaptations. Something about that visual medium allows for simpler absorption. So good news for fans of Paolini: In July 2022, it was announced that a TV adaptation of The Inheritance Cycle was in early development with Disney+. In August 2022, it was revealed that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (and potentially the whole Fractalverse?) was being adapted as a television show by another production company.

While I'm sure the possible solutions to my conundrum about how so many massive sagas are presented and maybe should be presented instead could warrant full articles and certainly debates on their own, I bring us back to the point of this commentary:

Presentation is king!

Readers love series. That's not going away. But we're losing die-hard readers with every passing year and, as a result, more and more dabbling readers want shorter, easier to digest volumes, presented in a variety of creative ways that may be more appealing than holding something that's as thick as concrete block for long periods of times.

 Happy reading!



Karen S. Wiesner is the author of the 3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection

http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/writing-reference-titles.html

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Friday, December 09, 2022

Karen S Wiesner: Presentation is King, Part 2

A Reader's Commentary

Presentation is King, Part 2

by Karen S. Wiesner


In this second of a three-part commentary using author Christopher Paolini's two series, I talk about the conundrum of how important presentation is with massive sagas.

While I was reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, the first installment in Fractalverse, I started to ask myself why I've always had such trouble finishing--or frankly, even beginning--any of Christopher Paolini's books. Everything is in his favor: He's an excellent writer, no dispute there. Some of my favorite books are written in the fantasy genre, as his The Inheritance Cycle is. I adore dragons. I love science fiction, and, when combined with horror, it's a win-win for me. The bottom line is that I highly recommend the two series written by Paolini to any fantasy and sci-fi lover.

However, almost unconsciously while I worked to get through To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, my brain was analyzing my reactions to reading all of his offerings. I enjoyed the most the first parts of both his series. Then I got bogged down. In this week's commentary, I have some explanations for why this could be the case.

First, in both these series, just as with most fantasy and science fiction tales, a plot and its players aren't the only things that have to be created. An entire world (or a universe in the case of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars) needs to be constructed and the underlying "explanations" for anything outside the norm of existence has to be detailed. All that has to be added to the plot and players. One brain can become overwhelmed by all that needs to be absorbed to become immersed.

Second, the Eragon books. Books 2-4, each contain a 5-7 page synopsis of what's happened before in the series. This is a great thing, probably necessary, and every single subsequent book in a series--any series--should probably have one. It's helpful not only if it's been awhile since you read the previous book but it also covers anything vital you might have missed while you were trying to get through the former volume. But, man oh man, that is dense reading right here. It's like wading through a bog with muddy muck sucking you down and plants that catch your legs and prevent you from progressing with each new step before you finally get to the other side and can actually begin your journey. {That last sentence was a bog of its own!} There were times I regretted endeavoring to begin with the synopses I did actually need to read for each one to understand what was going on. Doing so, though, made me feel like I might never get to the actual story I was trying to read. It's not that these introductions are even poorly written--not at all. They're certainly abbreviated, well-condensed, and a good summation of the vital points. Yet it was another thing to get through, on top of plot, players, universe and contextual detail for the series.

Third, backmatter: Paolini has these in all this books, and this is good stuff. This is the lore, the very essence of the worlds he's creating. He includes origins, languages, pronunciation guides, glossaries, addendums, appendices, terminologies, technologies… Sci-fi and fantasy readers love this richly fleshed out stuff. But it's just more on top of the sheer, shocking number of pages in each volume added to the plot, players, universe, and contextual details…

Combined, these three aspects exhaust me too early and too much in the reading. While undertaking To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, I truly thought there was no way I could get through the whole volume once I finished the first, 160 page part. I'd barely begun the story at that point either. Because the individual parts had been packaged in a single volume, I mentally couldn't get myself to treat each segment like a finished installment. Because the author and/or publisher had packaged the parts in a single volume, I could see no way around not reading them back to back. And exhausting myself in the process.


I did push through, growing more and more overwhelmed as I completed each installment. I will interject that I did enjoy the story itself--again, it was well-written with exciting and compelling characters and plot, with just enough universe and contextual detail to make everything logical. Each part of this tale was doing the job it was meant to in bringing the story to full culmination. Yet I labored to get through them, just as I had with the books in The Inheritance Cycle.

Paolini isn't the only author I have this issue with. R.A. Salvatore, George R.R. Martin, James S.A. Corey are some others (amazing authors!) who come to the forefront of my mind as well. The only reason I'm "picking on" Paolini (a writer I'm a genuine fan of, as I am the other authors mentioned here) is because I happened to be reading one of his books when I realized this conundrum is actually an issue with me. I don't believe I'm alone in that either.

Ultimately, I believe the bottom line on why these kinds of epic sagas are so overwhelming comes down to presentation. All of these series are massive. Each volume has countless characters, endless plots, complicated and richly drawn worlds, lore, technology, terminology, and contextual details that need to be established and revisited from one book to the next.

We live in a time in the publishing industry where short stories and novellas are popular, whether they're single titles or part of a series. Long stories are still popular, though I'm a little surprised that they're as popular as they always were considering that there are fewer and fewer readers these days and attention spans could qualify for a new Guinness World Record considering how short they are. Almost nobody has an attention span that extends beyond a few hundred words. Readers--the die-hard kind who've kept the industry afloat since the very first bound book was published--are drying up. For the dabbling readers who have replaced them, purchasing physical copies of anything is a dying practice. Handheld electronic devices rule our lives--and let's face it--very few are actually reading on them.

So what options are there for those of us who want to be die-hard readers but find the sheer size and complexity of many of the books and series published these days intimidating and, let's not mince words, overwhelming?


In next week's commentary, we'll wrap up this three-part topic by talking about some potential solutions to the conundrum of how to present massive sagas to readers.

Happy reading!

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series. Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Friday, December 02, 2022

Karen S Wiesner: Presentation is King, Part 1

A Reader's Commentary

Presentation is King, Part 1

by Karen S. Wiesner

In this three-part commentary using author Christopher Paolini's two series, I talk about the conundrum of how important presentation is with massive sagas.

 

I just finished reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, an 880 page hardcover, 1038 page mass market paperback {mmp} book (not including multiple appendices and an afterword and acknowledgement, which I will note that in the mmp added another 63 pages). The novel installment is the first in a new series called Fractalverse. The author is Christopher Paolini. Surely you remember him. At 15, this guy graduated high school and started his first novel, Eragon, the first of a four-book young adult fantasy series set in the land of Alagaësia. It was published in 2002 by his parents' publishing company. Multi-talented Paolini himself drew the cover as well as all the maps inside. He toured extensively to promote it--while wearing a medieval costume. Long story short, Paolini was discovered and Knopf publishing house bought the series, reissuing the first book in August 2003. At the age of 19, Paolini made the New York Times Bestseller list. He holds the Guinness World Record for being the youngest author of a bestselling series ever.

I remember reading Eragon in 2006 around the same time the film adaptation with Jeremy Irons was released and thinking, This must be the coolest thing ever. Not only is the author a kid, but he's writing about dragons. Dragons! An epic, sprawling fantasy with dragons. And, man, Paolini could write. He wrote the hell out of that book. (Did I mention dragons?)

I had one dual-faced problem with this book and pretty much all of Paolini's: The size (which is a direct result of the complexity).

Now, let it be known that I'm a die-hard reader in every sense of the word. Since I started grade school and realized the building held its very own room filled with books galore, I have loved books. I started working in the school library when I was in 1st grade and continued that into my high school years and a new building. The grade-school librarian set aside all the brand new books just for me to read in advance of everyone else. In the 5 years I was in that initial building, I read nearly every book the library offered. I was a fast reader and I devoured everything. Whenever I wasn't doing anything else, I was reading. It was my hobby of choice. Or maybe it was more like breathing for someone like me. In any case, by the time I was in high school, I read a Stephen King size book a day. Is it any surprise I wanted to be an author? (BTW, I wrote my first book when I was 5. Not exactly a keeper, but hey…)

So, back to the point, the only problem I had with Paolini's Eragon was the size of it--528 pages--which was a corresponding consequence of its intricate design. As flawlessly written as that first novel was and all the ones that followed in the course of 13 years, including this new intense sci-fi saga that was offered by the now in-his-late-30s author, I admit that I have trouble reading all of his offerings (except The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm, a sequel collection of short stories set in the world of Eragon--which I confess I knew nothing about until I picked up To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and saw it listed in the front with the rest of The Inheritance Cycle). I think I might have read the final book in The Inheritance Cycle, Inheritance, but I can't be 100% sure. If I did, I have no memory of the culminating story contained within.

While I was reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, I started to ask myself why I've always had such trouble finishing--or frankly, even beginning--one of Paolini's books. Everything is in his favor: He's an excellent writer, no dispute there. Some of my favorite books are written in the fantasy genre. I adore dragons. I love science fiction, and, when combined with horror…forget about it. Win-win. {I do admit with To Sleep…, I wanted more Alien, less Enemy Mine (Dennis Quaid).} Regardless, the bottom line is that I highly recommend these two series written by Paolini to any fantasy and sci-fi lover.

Almost unconsciously while I worked to get through To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, though, my brain was analyzing my reactions to reading all of his stories. I enjoyed the most the first parts of both his series. What I mean by "parts" is literal in the case of To Sleep..., which was divided into six separate parts that run the gamut, size wise. In the mmp, Part I has 160 pages, the middle parts are between 150-275 pages, and the last one is only 57. The Inheritance Cycle doesn't have parts. However, with the first book, I was really only immersed in the first 150 pages or so. Then I got bogged down. I have some explanations for why this could be the case. In next week's commentary, I'll go over those as we analyze this conundrum concerning how massive sagas are presented.

Happy reading!

Karen S. Wiesner is the author of the 3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection

http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/writing-reference-titles.html

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her here:

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor