Writing a Fantasy Series, Part Three

The Penultimate Novel

Well, you're almost to the end. Congratulations. It seems as if I'm not the only one doing this sort of thing, but I hope my contribution is good. If not...well, too bad. I'm writing it anyway.

The penultimate novel is a fragile thing. This could be lumped in with the "sequel post", for it can be the second book in a series or the eleventh (*coughcoughWheelofTimecough*). But this one's important. This is one where a cliffhanger seems a must. Look at The Rise of the Wyrm Lord, The Battle of the Labyrinth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, PENDRAGON: Raven Rise, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and many others. Sure, some books don't have major cliffhangers - i.e. Brisingr, The Well of Ascension (sort of), and Charlie Bone and the Shadow. But a really good cliffhanger will keep readers waiting with bated breath the entire span of time until the finale is published.

And... that's pretty much all I need to add. Oh, and here's this.

Writing a Prequel

The prequel is even more fragile than the penultimate novel. It doesn't just need to be good, it needs to be amazing, or else the readers won't care. Actually, on second thought, just don't write a prequel. Please, for the good of mankind.

Coming in May!

Real post coming soon.

But WAIT! There's more...

The Berinfall Prophecies: Curse of the Spider King by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper comes out November 10. Read more about it page 18 right here.

Writing a Fantasy Series, Part Two

Writing a Sequel

So you've made it through book one of (insert number here). Now what?

Fresh Meat

Chances are, by now, readers are fairly well-acquainted with your world and the characters that inhabit it. Hopefully, they've grown to love them as well-- or hate them, it doesn't really matter. So they want to see their old friends again. But don't just do the bare bones minimum. (The bare bones minimum, by the way can be put into an equation: original plot - same settings +new characters = sequel! It's that easy!)

The bare bones minimum isn't fun to read, and sincce most fantasy series aren't duologies, you'll want readers to come back (again). Yes, introduce new characters. It'll add depth to your story and help keep it from being boring. Yes, put in new settings. It'll keep readers more immersed in your world. But don't do this at the expense of totally abandoning the old ones. They're good, too.

But make your story interesting. Make it fresh. Make it new. For example, The Well of Ascension starts after where most series end. It's about rebuilding and acting nobly in the face of civil war, but it's about much more as well. The Rise of the Wyrm Lord took a risky move, sending a completely new character into the fray. Not only new to the story, but a different gender as well. This must have presented some interesting POV challenges for Wayne Thomas Batson. Which brings us to...

Point of View

Now, there are several ways to address the POV issue, and none is any more right than the others. There's the first-person view, which is hardly ever used in fantasy (notable examples being The Name of the Wind and Percy Jackson and the Olympians). Then there's the ever-so popular second-person POV. Yes, I'm being ironic. The only book I've ever read that used this POV to any major extent is You Don't Know Me. Not a fantasy, but very, very good. Third-person limited view can be seen in The Underland Chronicles, Harry Potter, and Charlie Bone. Third-person omniscient view, however, is the most commonly used (i.e. Mistborn, The Lord of the Rings, and PENDRAGON, as well as The Inheritance Cycle). Which one's working best for you? You'll have to decide. Though it's not done commonly, a series can switch from limited to omniscient POVs-- here's looking at you, Inheritance.

A Little Pinch of Darkness

Sequels tend to edge toward the darker side of life. This gives a nice way to set the book apart from its prequel, but just remember: a little pinch of darkness will do. Don't get too begged down in the heavy shadows or else your readers will get too depressed to really enjoy the book.

On Poetry and Songs

Use with caution.

Dangle that Carrot!

The second book in a series doesn't need to end with a cliffhanger. But make sure the readers are tantalized by the prospect of another entry in the series. Dangle the carrot in front of their noses, and they'll follow you wherever you go.

Do it tastefully, of course.

Part Three: The Penultimate Novel coming soon!

"Mistborn: The Hero of Ages" review

Once upon a time, there was a man named Brandon Sanderson. He worried he was not the writer everyone thought he was, for he had written two bad, unpublishable books. But then he decided he wanted to put out a trilogy in three years to show that yes, Brandon Sanderson could write a series, if only you will trust him.But he knew that trust was hard to come by, so he decided to Preserve the best barts of both of his worst books and Pull them together to create Mistborn. And-- what do you know?-- it worked. Really, really worked. Really, really, New-York-Times-bestselling-author really worked. Why? Because it's good. He wasn't Ruined by this challenge. Instead he became a Hero to all writers.

This is the final book in that trilogy. Oh, and if you didn't get any of those in-jokes in the first paragraph, then go away, and don't come back until you've read all of them. They're good. It's worth it. **And there are serious spoilers from here on out.**

Here we go: The Hero of Ages.

Years ago, Vin killed the Lord Ruler, ending his thousand-year reign. But it turns out that might not have been the best idea. Now the Deepness has returned in the form of lethal mists, alongside powerful earthquakes and heavy ashfalls. She and her husband, Elend Venture, now a Mistborn after the events at the Well of Ascension, must travel all over the empire to find clues the Lord Ruler left behind. Maybe these will show a way to defeat Ruin, the force Vin freed at the Well. Ruin is out to do as he promised he would, long ago: bring about the end of the world. And Vin can't talk about it with anyone, or else Ruin will find out her plans.

Now, this book is filled with drama. There are revelations everywhere that make you go, "Oh, wow, of course!" I can't really describe how good it is. This is what fantasy is meant to be. All of the glowing praises I lais on the first two books still stand, but multiplied tenfold. Simply put, Mistborn is not a reading experience to be missed. I purposefully haven't outlined much of the plot so you will be just as surprised as I was reading it. Don't miss it. It has given me complete faith in Brandon Sanderson to finish A Memory of Light, the last book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time saga. Now I need to go find Elantris somewhere...

My rating: 10/10. Read it.

Writing a Fantasy Series, Part One

Now, there's a lot of fantasy out there, and it's seldom found alone. There are tons and tons of series. Here's the question: what makes them great? Part One of this series analyzes how to begin a fantasy series in a way that doesn't leave readers, to put it mildly, annoyed.

The Starting Line

Most fantasies have a prologue in the beginning of the first book, either to explain what's going on or to plunge right in. These two very different approaches can both work very well, but not necessarily. Some examples of the "slow dipping-in of your toes" method are The Wheel of Time, which shows you a moment in history for one shining moment before giving the reader a hundred pages of introduction; and A Song of Ice and Fire, which gives a brief chapter of action before letting you know the characters (many of whom you will grow to know and love before they die in horrible ways). The "oh what the heck, let's just get with the story already" method can be seen in The Door Within, which starts, "The first sword missed Aidan's head by an inch"; and Mistborn, which starts, "Sometimes, I worry I'm not the hero everyone thinks I am". Notice really dynamic opening sentences in these examples, another good device to use.

Now We're Cooking With Gas

The hero(-ine) now is faced with some huge problems, whether it's fulfilling a prophecy (Gregor the Overlander), saving the known--and unwkown--universe from the hands of a tyrant (PENDRAGON), or perhaps just surviving in a magical boarding school (need I even say his name?). It's coming up with these missions that gives your story momentum, and if it's too boring, you'll lose the reader before they even start. And, since there's probably some good stuff in there, that's never a good thing.

The Star-Studded Cast

A good fantasy needs good characters, be they djinn (Children of the Lamp), dragon riders (Eragon or Pern), half-bloods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), kings (The Cry of the Icemark), living legends (The Name of the Wind), or talking animals (Narnia). If the characters are lacking depth, then the story will fail, no matter how good the plot. So make them breathe.

Tune in soon for Part Two!