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RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 10-28-2018
Good suggestions and tips as always, thanks.
You know, it's so weird discussing this because I need to constantly remind myself that everything you know about the story comes from those first five chapters, whereas I have the rest of the story laid out in a synopsis plus a large chunk of completed scenes belonging to later chapters. So I understand what you're saying about Jenandra but suffice to say that her role in the story will change radically quite soon, and there will be plenty of other Janessi later on (without revealing too much, the party will be traveling to the Isle of Mists) and examples of haughtiness and even outright racism towards the humans.
The Janessi are an ancient race that is slowly diminishing and disappearing from the Weave. They tend to blame this on humans, who from a Janessi perspective are a bunch of talking apes that came out of their caves, multiplied uncontrollably and then took over the world. When the fact of the matter is that the Janessi themselves have chosen to separate themselves from the rest of the world, wallowing in their bitterness. This is not true for all of Janessi society however; younger Janessi (like Jenandra, and another character that will be introduced later) are more understanding and tolerant of other races, whereas older Janessi are hardheaded traditionalists. That doesn't mean they're always kind and polite to humans -- after all they have been shaped by older generations -- but at least they don't treat all humans with utter contempt.
Also, Jenandra isn't well for reasons that will be disclosed later, so her behavior isn't supposed to be entirely consistent. When she and Baylon arrive in Arynsbridge in chapter 8 there will indeed be an episode where she displays just the type of coldness and haughtiness that you suggest.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 10-28-2018
Speaking of POV's: I will be bringing Lilian back into the story as well, originally I intended to have her just in an epilogue but thinking about it, maybe I should do it earlier.
Nayrb, have you read Katherine Kerr's Deverry books by any chance?
RE: Strands of Darkness - Nayrb - 10-28-2018
(10-28-2018, 05:22 PM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: Nayrb, have you read Katherine Kerr's Deverry books by any chance?
I have not, but I had a look at the Wiki and it seems interesting.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 10-29-2018
OK, well then there's no point in referencing a character that sort of served as an inspiration for Lilian.
But yeah, those books are really good. At least the first four which are very grounded, very real-feeling. After that the series sadly devolves into typical epic dragon-riding high fantasy. They're all very well-written but after the second act I kind of lost interest. It almost felt as if Kerr was pressured to "epicify" the following books, because there's quite a big difference in tone and scope between the different acts.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Nayrb - 10-29-2018
(10-29-2018, 12:58 AM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: OK, well then there's no point in referencing a character that sort of served as an inspiration for Lilian.
But yeah, those books are really good. At least the first four which are very grounded, very real-feeling. After that the series sadly devolves into typical epic dragon-riding high fantasy. They're all very well-written but after the second act I kind of lost interest. It almost felt as if Kerr was pressured to "epicify" the following books, because there's quite a big difference in tone and scope between the different acts.
Nice! I will check them out. I wonder if that sort of pressure did in fact occur. So much weird behind the scenes stuff probably going on at the major publishing houses... Sometimes it seems there is a contract involved and stuff just goes on way longer than the author is prepared for.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 10-29-2018
That's probably very common, yes. If a publisher agrees to release a whole series of books I'm pretty sure they're going to want to have some say in its creation. I doubt even someone like G.R.R.M. gets to publish whatever the hell he wants as long as he's not footing the bill himself.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 11-03-2018
Quick question to Nayrb and anyone else who's read this so far:
How would you feel about me posting a wiki-style resource (full of cross-references but sans the user-editable bits) of the fantasy world in question? World map, races, creatures, religions, nations, history--all the background material that I have. Would that detract from the enjoyment of reading the novel or would it be an interesting addition?
RE: Strands of Darkness - Nayrb - 11-05-2018
I'm a big fan of that sort of thing but I think such resources are best experienced after the fact. In the case of some very complex stories it's helpful to have as a reference, but at this stage you should be focused on the stories themselves and how they reveal the universe to the reader. Part of storytelling is that control over how information is doled out. I would advise against it at the present stage simply because of the possibility of spoilers and/or "delution of the product."
RE: Strands of Darkness - Mattias Westlund - 11-06-2018
Oh, I didn't mean publish it right now -- the material's far from finished, just like the novel itself. I was thinking maybe at the same time, in that case.
RE: Strands of Darkness - Nayrb - 11-06-2018
Oh, I see. Well then yes I'm all for it. Perhaps with some drawings of yours too?