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So Spellscribed Conviction had received more... animated responses than I had been anticipating.
That being an understatement to some people, a few readers expressed their distaste over the way the book came to a conclusion. Now to reduce spoilers I will not be talking about the specific events that happened, but I will talk about it in general.
I feel that while some people vehemently opposed the way the book ended, things happened the way I wanted to make them happen. But, that's not to say that my plans are perfect nor that I am infallible. However, I don't regret the way I did it. It got Endrance where he needed to be to do the most help for the most people.
I think I have to keep reminding myself that I'm still a new author to the publishing world. I've only put out 5 books, three of them full length novels. I will make mistakes, but that means I have more to learn and room to improve.
I think... from what this book has taught me... is that Time-Skips are not liked.
I can understand. After all, the readers want to know what happened during that period of time and I left a lot to the imagination. Though to be fair I have reasons.
I feel that what happened in those moments were stories about characters that were worthy enough to warrant more time and page space than I could fit into Conviction which is more Endrance-centric. Using the Spellscribed Tales books, I can take side or secondary characters in Spellscribed and make them the protagonist of their own stories.
The next Spellscribed Tales book will contain two more stories from during Conviction. I hope that Second Refrain sheds some light on sections people were hoping to see more of.
And most of all, thank you for your support and patience with me as I grow as an author.
I didn't mind the time skip or the state of the ending. Everything from his arrival in the city to the last scene seemed out of character for Endrance and Talos. Endrance was built up as this sharp and clever character that didn't rush to conclusions, but all that went out of the window in the final sequence of events. Talos could have said one or two sentences to explain everything, instead he used his time to be ambiguous and aggressive, something previously reserved for the king. It just felt like you had a specific ending state in mind but forced it down the reader's throat instead of taking the time to lay better ground work or think of a more in character sequence of events to get there.
ReplyDeleteI too feel the same. It looked as if the author wanted to get him to be in that situation, hence modified the circumstances in such a way as to lead Endrance into the situation. But, seeing Endrance and other characters make the choices towards the end, seemed contradictory to the characters personalities. It looked too rushed to think that actions were deliberate from the characters.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the third book so Thanks!!! Super excited for what you have to bring. And I don't think the that Endrance was out of place in the sense that he had been training for the last 3 years with the poison blades and was probably over confident in his abilities so he rushed in. While I agree that the ending came out of no where it was a good twist. I don't like how he killed off Joven; while I don't mind that he died, I think he could have spent a bit more time on that fight sequence. Super excited for Book 4. Get her done or if you would like feedback on the current draft.. let me know ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThat book was definitely a learning experience for me, and I feel that perhaps I should have played up his confidence a bit more before what happened. It had been hinted at earlier in the book but I believe that my focusing on making the ending come together made it seem rushed.
I am also looking forward to releasing the fourth book, though I'm going to make sure I'm 150% satisfied with it before I do. Been writing a lot of good stuff, so I think readers should be reassured and satisfied with how it resolves.
I agree that the end was more or less out of the blue, though as soon as it was apparent Joven was living a happy, peaceful life, it became glaringly obvious he had to be killed off before the end of the book.Which I am sad i was right about because he was probably my favorite character. And I also agree that the end was very out of character. It was obvious that Endrance and Talos respected each other, so i find it hard to believe that neither could have taken the time to communicate, especially since it didnt get especially fast paced and tense until the fighting started and his father started talking in his head, which was after they had refused to listen to each other. I also find it hard to believe Endrance would leave his more or less human best friends and family fighting against the two most powerful known beings described in the book while he ran ahead to do something sketchy. He would have known it wasnt a fight they could win and would never have left them in that position, he wouldnt even let them fight a handful of mages in the second book, so its unlikely he'd be more willing to let them fight a mythical beast and the most powerful wizard alive.
ReplyDeleteAlso yes, i HATED the timeskips. there were too many, and seemed usually unnecessary throughout the series. The long periods of peace i understand, but all the micro skips were annoying. Most glaringly the skip from when Endrance entered Talos chamber and then skipped to him already gone in book one. That was a conversation we should have been in on, as it literally explains how the main character works. I thought i missed a chapter, and actually went back to check before writing this to make sure i hadnt. Also, all the after action scenes that were skipped should have been used to create more emotional scenes between the characters, instead every chapter after a major fight would start with them already on their way. A little communication between characters after unreal, impressive or dangerous events would have been great for connecting more with the characters