I'm working on my fantasy novel and I handed what I had over to a friend of mine to give me an opinion. But he made some comments that baffled me. The fantasy I'm writing is meant to be a quadrilogy so I have 4 overall point of view characters in the first book of the series b/c their story lines carry over to the next books and are important to the theme I'm trying to get across.
One point of view is from the hero, the next is from the major antagonist and I have 1-4 chapters that dip into two other secondary character's pov (these two will have a larger role in future stories & influence the ending of the first).
So the problem is, he said that having the antagonists point of view within the same book as the protagonists will confuse readers b/c they won't know who they should root for/who the good guy is. But this is intentional b/c I want readers to connect to both characters without their opinions being colored by the stigma of good vs evil. It is clear to the reader which of the two characters is more "villainy" b/c my villain is a criminal and his morals are questionable at times. It's like The Godfather..reading about Don Corleone. He is likeable in a way, but you know he's a "bad guy."
My friend says you shouldn't have 2 pov's where you like the hero and the villain b/c you don't know who you want to win. But I disagree. I LIKE reading books where I'm apprehensive about who I should root for. Plus I think its more realistic b/c no person is just black (evil) or white (pure/good). And by the end of book one, I think readers will be satisfied that the villain gains the upper hand over the hero (which leads to the next book), because they're both likeable characters. It would be different if you hated the bad guy and he won.
He also advised me not to include the pov's of the 2 secondary characters. But again, the way they see the events unfold is important to understand their actions at the end of book 1.
So I would appreciate your insight into this. Do you agree or disagree with him? Would reading from both pov's confuse you, take anything away from the story? And is 4 pov's too many? What are your thoughts. I'd be massively grateful for your insight b/c I don't think readers need to have an unlikeable villain to feel satisfied.
Thanks so much in advance guys.
@Cath: Mm, good point about the story selling on its own..makes me see the 2 secondary characters as less important if I didn't know their role in future books. One becomes an anti-hero in later books, another does the opposite and becomes the heroes Judas so I wanted their POV's in books 1-4 (just 2 chapters each in book 1), so that readers could get into their minds and understand things in the later books. I won't even send my 1st book to the editors desk until I'm nearly done with all 4 anyways.
Thank you for the insight guys.
One point of view is from the hero, the next is from the major antagonist and I have 1-4 chapters that dip into two other secondary character's pov (these two will have a larger role in future stories & influence the ending of the first).
So the problem is, he said that having the antagonists point of view within the same book as the protagonists will confuse readers b/c they won't know who they should root for/who the good guy is. But this is intentional b/c I want readers to connect to both characters without their opinions being colored by the stigma of good vs evil. It is clear to the reader which of the two characters is more "villainy" b/c my villain is a criminal and his morals are questionable at times. It's like The Godfather..reading about Don Corleone. He is likeable in a way, but you know he's a "bad guy."
My friend says you shouldn't have 2 pov's where you like the hero and the villain b/c you don't know who you want to win. But I disagree. I LIKE reading books where I'm apprehensive about who I should root for. Plus I think its more realistic b/c no person is just black (evil) or white (pure/good). And by the end of book one, I think readers will be satisfied that the villain gains the upper hand over the hero (which leads to the next book), because they're both likeable characters. It would be different if you hated the bad guy and he won.
He also advised me not to include the pov's of the 2 secondary characters. But again, the way they see the events unfold is important to understand their actions at the end of book 1.
So I would appreciate your insight into this. Do you agree or disagree with him? Would reading from both pov's confuse you, take anything away from the story? And is 4 pov's too many? What are your thoughts. I'd be massively grateful for your insight b/c I don't think readers need to have an unlikeable villain to feel satisfied.
Thanks so much in advance guys.
@Cath: Mm, good point about the story selling on its own..makes me see the 2 secondary characters as less important if I didn't know their role in future books. One becomes an anti-hero in later books, another does the opposite and becomes the heroes Judas so I wanted their POV's in books 1-4 (just 2 chapters each in book 1), so that readers could get into their minds and understand things in the later books. I won't even send my 1st book to the editors desk until I'm nearly done with all 4 anyways.
Thank you for the insight guys.