Should there be a recap of events on the first chapter of the 2nd book?
I don't want it sounding too much like an information dump.
But do you assume that the reader would have read book 1 and knows what's going on?
Where's the balance?
Debbie x
Should there be a recap of events on the first chapter of the 2nd book?
I don't want it sounding too much like an information dump.
But do you assume that the reader would have read book 1 and knows what's going on?
Where's the balance?
Debbie x
I read self-interestedly. Books on my favourite genre by award winning authors, and books by winners and finalists of the prestigious Carnegie and Newbery Medals.
The problem with trilogies or longer series of novels is that some authors expect you to have read the previous books in the correct sequence. The author has much to gain if he/she can make each book stand alone. Then the reader who has read the last book in the series might be tempted to read a previous book in the series.
Unfortunately that was not my recent experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness who is a brilliant author. So much so that I bought a copy of Monsters of Men. Don't let the similarity of both titles confuse you, they are different genres. Monsters of Men is the third book in a sci-fi fantasy trilogy by Patrick Ness. Obviously it's a brilliant book. Who am I to question the wise judgement of the Carnegie Committee. But I gave up reading after about 50 pages. I found the book a huge disappointment. It was clear from the beginning of Monsters of Men, that the reader would have needed to have read the previous books in the trilogy to appreciate the last book in the series.
I sometimes read series from the second book onwards as often the first one has a lot of setting up but the action starts getting good from the sequel onwards. Therefore, I appreciate a little recapping drip fed in.
I get what you mean! Information "dumps" as you call them, maybe useful for forgetful-cases like me, but it DOES get boring. Drip-feeding - Definitely a good idea.
Another suggestion, (You don't need to take it...)
Keep chapter one completely unrelated. Capture the reader's interest.
Chapter two, you can the old main-characters, in a way the people who've read the first book immediately recognize him/her, and new readers will instantly connect.
Then, you can weave in the history, the first book plot, slowly... Try and avoid memory... it's too typical. But then again, I can't think of anything else.
In the one case that I wrote a series (still incomplete), The 2nd book is narrated by a whole new character from the 1st. So on the case of recalling what happened in the previous book, we learn when this new character meets the first-book one, and they talk about it.
I don't know how useful this was to you. I hope it helped.