The Dangerous Game of Leap-Shark

Welcome back scribblers, scratchers and word processor tappers!

Today, I want to talk about jumping over sharks. This isn’t going to be a post about encouraging you to jump over sharks mind you, it’s more about knowing your story’s limitations, what you can do and what your audience expect of you.

But what do I mean? And why am I talking about sharks!?

Well, the term ‘jumping the shark’ generally means to do something so audacious and out there that it can only signal a decline. Originally this was referred to only with regards to television but it has since been expanded to encompass a wide range of topics and media.

Okay, so that still doesn’t really explain why I’m talking about sharks. The term ‘jumping the shark’ was coined by John Hein and it refers to an episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie, as a test of his courage, literally jumps over a shark whilst using water skis. For Happy Days this supposedly marked a gradual decline in the show’s creativity and inevitably led to the cancellation of the show.

Yeah I just jumped a shark, so what?

One of the things that I love about The Dresden Files series is that you really feel like Harry Dresden is pushed to his absolute limits. You (both the reader and Harry) find out what Harry is willing to do to protect those he loved and do what he can to save them.
Now, I will avoid spoilers, but at the end of Changes I really wasn’t sure where Jim Butcher was going to go with it. The ending was an absolute explosion of emotional, physical and magical excitement and trauma. And maybe it was that, but I really felt like the next instalment Ghost Story would have been better suited for a short story. I started reading it but found it very difficult to get into the story, or re-engage with the characters. To be honest, I skipped a large part of the middle and didn’t feel like I’d missed much.

So why am I bringing this up?

Well I read something recently that made me think of this. Unfortunately it was The Dresden Files. As much as I do enjoy the books, I recently read (I say read for The Dresden Files I listen to the audiobooks as read by James Marsters) Ghost Story and I was quite disappointed.

What I think was the problem is that Ghost Story was more about the other characters within the Dresden-verse. That’s not so much a problem but I don’t think that it merited its own novel for it.

Having said all of that, I’m a sucker for a series so I thought I’d pick up the next book Cold Days just to see if it was indeed a ‘jump the shark’ situation, or if that book was just miss instead of a hit.

It was a slow start, but a better one. And then, after a good few chapters, Butcher really stepped up the game. The storyline is back to being something Dresden isn’t sure if he can handle, but knows if he doesn’t the consequences will be dire. Cold Days definitely puts to rest the worry that Butcher’s books would face a slow and gradual decline as the series went on. Not only does he lay these fears to rest, but as far as I’m concerned he has definitely introduced enough plot points at this juncture to justify the continuing series, and there are also other elements that Butcher has brought forward from the history of the series that demonstrate a thorough overarching plan that has been in place for a long time.

I don’t think that Ghost Story was a badly written book, I just think that the story itself and how it was presented was not as interesting to me as it could have been. As I said, what I love about The Dresden Files is the tension that comes from Harry Dresden’s character and how far he’s willing to go. But in Ghost Story it was more about the supporting cast, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not my thing.

So what I would say to you, dear readers, is the following: Be careful where you’re taking your story. It might be that something you think will be a really interesting direction might put off some of your readers.

Be careful of jumping the shark, just because something’s awesome doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. Just because jumping over a shark looks cool it might not leave you any room to develop your characters or story further, it might not even be a relevant thing to have happen!

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be ambitious in your writing and the scope of your story, just make sure when it’s awesome, it’s awesome for the right reasons! And don’t  be put off keeping up with The Dresden Files! I still think they are a thoroughly fantastic read, and to have one book in the series that didn’t quite stack up out of a total of fourteen is no mean feat! But if you don’t like Ghost Story, I would recommend picking it up at Cold Days because it definitely gets better and so much bigger (in such a good way).

I hope that makes as much sense as it can without me revealing anything about the plot! Beware spectacle for spectacle's sake!

Well that’s all for now fellow scribblers! I wish you all well, and until next time: Good hunting!

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Where To Begin?! A Quick Starters Guide To Fantasy Books

Last blog post I talked about planning your novel and a couple of methods that should make your planning more effective. So this time after we’ve done some planning we’re going to do some research (kind of).

This post is all about a beginner’s guide to fantasy. Maybe you’ve started watching Game of Thrones and want to read some similar works, or maybe the fantasy genre is something that you’ve always wanted to get into but just didn’t know where to start. Whatever the reason this post should help you decide where to begin!

So in no particular order, let’s dive into it!

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

I don’t think an entry talking about getting into fantasy should miss out this absolute gem of a series. Written by a genuine Knight of the Realm and Officer of the British Empire, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series spans (currently) almost 40 novels as well as short stories, maps and books on the science of Discworld.

In short, Discworld is a number of stories where the earth is a flat disc balanced on the back of four elephants who are standing on the back a turtle flying through space. And in a way that pretty much sums it all up. Pratchett’s writing is as wonderful as it is amusing, scattered with witticisms and puns as much as a dragon’s horde is scattered with gemstones.

The Discworld series spans across many different characters across the whole Discworld, from a cowardly wizard, the leader of the City Watch and even to Death himself. So there’s something for everyone, and each of the books is easily understood if you don’t have any other experience with the series. I would recommend starting with the first book The Colour of Magic and working your way out from there, but here’s a helpful infographic to help you find which books have which characters in them.

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld provides an excellent entryway into the fantasy genre as well as a most pleasant and entertaining read for veteran.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

This series is the perfect opportunity to acquaint yourself with contemporary fantasy. The series follows the character Harry Dresden, a private detective in modern day Chicago and he just happens to also be a wizard. Harry’s character is vibrant and funny and each story, whilst contributing to an overarching storyline, wraps itself up nicely if you want to just pick one up every now and again.

The stories are full of suspense, mystery and excitement (what else would you expect from a wizard P.I.?) and in every story you feel like Harry is being pushed to his limits. It’s a great series with warm characters and an excellent magic system, the story works its way up from Harry solving supernatural crimes in Chicago to fighting powerful magical beings AND solving crimes in Chicago.

A very fun series that’s easy to get into and easy to get hooked on, an excellent first adventure for those looking for contemporary fantasy.

The Mistborn Trilogy (ish) by Brandon Sanderson

You may have heard of the author Brandon Sanderson who does everything he can to disprove rumours that he is an automaton programmed to write excellent fantasy, and Mistborn does nothing to dispel that rumour.

The tagline for the first book in the series is ‘What if the Dark Lord won?’ and that’s exactly where you are at the start of the series. The evil overlord has reigned supreme for one thousand years and the world is covered in the ash from constantly erupting volcanoes. There is magic in the world in the form of Allomancy; the magic of metals. Certain people can ingest and ‘burn’ metals to release the magical energy within them, and different metals have different properties. The story opens onto Vin, a young girl who must master her Allmonatic powers and gets dragged into the plot for revolution.

The Mistborn is currently a trilogy that follows Vin, and then another book The Alloy of Law set about 300 years after the events of the original trilogy. Sanderson’s writing is thoroughly enjoyable and his ability to weave a story full of suspense, excitement and plot twists is second to none. Sanderson’s worlds are extremely well crafted and his stories work hard and fast to do them justice, and they succeed. I highly recommend this series; once you’ve dipped your toe in the proverbial waters of the Mistborn you’ll find it hard to put the book down. Definitely a must read for new and experienced readers alike.

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E Howard

The classic barbarian, Conan is thick sinewy muscle, moving with leonine grace as he dashes from

adventure to adventure. Conan first appeared in 1932 and has been at the forefront of fantasy ever since, appearing in countless adventures ranging across the written word to film and games.

Given the nature of the Conan stories a lot of them are relatively short so it’s nice and easy to dip in and out of. Although the chronology might jump around a bit, but it’s probably just a good idea to go along with it and think “Oh it’s just Conan on another one of his crazy adventures!” and apart from that there’s nothing to stop you picking a story at random and thoroughly enjoying the read through.

The prose that Robert E Howard uses in his stories is vibrant and elegant, his language easily conveys the lithe power and grace of Conan and the world springs to life from the page. It’s good old fashioned sword and sorcery adventure with something for everyone, if you don’t want to see Conan on one adventure there’s sure to be another adventure to your tastes! An excellent window into classic fantasy and a good refresher for anyone who wants a bit of a change from dark, gritty fantasy.

Magician By Raymond E Feist

The first book in the Riftwar Saga and the Riftwar Cycle, an epic story spanning across worlds, planets and time. Initially part of the Riftwar Saga trilogy, Raymond E Feist has recently finished the final book in the epic Riftwar Cycle, spanning 29 novels and more.

The orphan boy Pug is apprenticed to a master magician and as the kingdom is suddenly attacked by alien invaders, Pug and his friend Tomas are swept into the conflict and Pug’s destiny leads him through a rift to a new world.

I still remember my first reading of Magician and I remember pausing in my reading to think how wonderfully written it was and how much great fun it was to read. The writing is easy to get to grips with and the characters are vibrant and the world just as colourful, with magical races and creatures to keep you entertained. The story has some interesting twists and turns and the characters rise to their challenges but not without being tested both emotionally and physically.

A thoroughly enjoyable read and one that is sure to enthrall you from cover to cover, an excellent window into an epic cycle but is also neatly wrapped up in an initial trilogy should you wish to leave it at that.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

I would not be able to permit myself to talk good fantasy books if I did not mention The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. The novels follow a young man named Kvothe, a mysterious individual running a tavern in an out of the way village when he is happened upon by a man looking for him to tell his story, after some convincing he does just that. And so each book is a day of Kvothe telling his tale, with breaks in the first person narrative as Kvothe rests from his storytelling.

The first book is The Name of the Wind, the second is The Wise Man’s Fear and Patrick Rothfuss is currently working on the final instalment. Rothfuss’ elegant and elaborate prose will draw you into this book and the compelling story of Kvothe will keep you there. The magic within Rothfuss’ world is based on energy manipulation rather than outright magery, called ‘Sympathy’ it connects objects together and then uses energy manipulation to effect changes on the object.

The Name of the Wind is most certainly my favourite book of all time, the prose are phenomenal and you know that every word in the book has been placed there with extreme forethought and expert precision by Rothfuss.

So there you have it! My few suggestions for anyone wanting to begin reading in the fantastical world of fantasy if they’re not sure where to start! Most of these choices give you the option to read as little or as much as you like, in particular The Dresden Files and the Discworld series is perfect for jumping in and out of as you like.

If you have any other suggestions please don’t hesitate to email them in to thetemperedpen@gmail.com or send a message using the facebook page, and don’t forget to like it so you can see when we post something new!

Keep those pens poised and your words sharp!

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