Author Archives: Noelmcoughlan

The Worst Advice On Prologues

Prologues:

Some people love them. Some people hate prologues. Some skip them. Agents don’t like them, apparently.

Personally, I don’t like prologues that have only tangential relevance to the story, and I don’t like infodumps. Some people love a good six page history lesson. Some people might love tangential prologues too, though I have never come across anyone who publicly stated it.

If a prologue is interesting and relevant, I have absolutely no problem with it. I have even written one or two.

This post is not really about the virtue of prologues. It is about the lack of virtue of a certain piece of advice related to them. It runs something like this:

A writer walks into a bar and says to the barman, “I want to keep my book’s prologue but, if I do, my book will never get an agent. Prologues have gone out of fashion like the letter thorn.”

The barman scratches his head and answers, “I just serve drinks, but it seems to me, the best thing you can do is scrap the prologue.”

The writer jumps up and down. “BUT I CAN’T!! IT’S MY BEST WRITING EVER!! I LOVE IT MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF!!”

The barman waits for the writer to calm, pours him a stiff drink, and says, “Okay. This is what you do. Make the prologue the first chapter. Agents will read it and never realize you slipped them a prologue.”

If this reads like a joke, it is because it is. Don’t be the butt of it.

Turning your prologue into Chapter 1 is a terrible idea.

(1) Readers will assume Chapter 1 is the start of the story and the characters it introduces are important to the plot. When that turns out not to be the case, they will be confused/betrayed/annoyed.

(2) Agents will work out that Chapter 1 is a disguised prologue when they start Chapter 2. Will they be impressed? No. Their reaction is likely to mirror that of the readers.

If a prologue can successfully pass as the first chapter, then it was never a prologue in the first place.

Roadside Picnic By Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

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Roadside Picnic is one of my favorite books. Six locations around the world exhibit unearthly phenomena, presumably caused by alien intervention. Dispersed in these so-called zones are various strange objects. The function of some is understood at least superficially while others remain enigmas. Access to these Zones is restricted, but thieves called stalkers break in to poach these valuable items. The book follows the adventures of one such stalker, Red Schuhart.

Often in Science Fiction, when faced with a strange phenomenon, the main characters make educated guesses about its nature that often turn out to be surprisingly insightful. Roadside Picnic eschews this trope almost totally. There is some interesting speculation about the nature of the Zones which gives rise to the name of the book, but ultimately the reader is left to ponder their mystery. The stalkers aren’t scientists. They are more like rats in a maze, learning by trial and (fatal) error. This creates tremendous tension throughout the novel, If you like good SF, this book is a must.

If I Should Die Before I Wake By Gabriel Boutros

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This is a very short book. It is hard to sympathize with the two main characters. Simon Wallis is a criminal on the run from his boss after he is discovered embezzling money. Frank Burke is the assassin sent to Montreal to kill him. If Simon is unlikable, Frank is a pure psychopath, ready to kill anyone to protect his identity. Though both are well drawn, we don’t learn a great deal about either’s past. And we don’t need to. The thrill of the chase and its ultimate outcome is enough.

Boutros expertly weaves the two stands of his tale into a cohesive story. He draws often ironic parallels in the two men’s experiences. For example, the hitman dreams of being on the run while his prey has dreams of being the hunter. The ending took me by surprise, but was quite apt.

All in all, an excellent if short read.

Tackling The Imago By Anyer Feanix

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I received a free copy of this book for an honest review. Lucky me. This is a brilliant book. Gina is an engaging person, and the diary format perfectly reflects her character – a pleasant, jocular veneer concealing a much darker nature.

This is a book about obsession and its roots. Feanix displays a shrewd understanding of human nature. In a couple of scenes, the depth of her insight was awe-inspiring.

There are a couple of things that a prospective reader should be aware. Do not be fooled by the levity at the start of the book. This book deals with dark issues. Also victims of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (fear of long words) may find some of the word choices challenging. (By the way, that word doesn’t appear in the book.) This is explained as a product of Gina’s study of English as a foreign language, but Gina also seems to use it sometimes to distance herself emotionally from what is happening. In any case, don’t let the language put you off. This book is really worth the effort.

Trust

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I have read a lot of different books by a lot of different authors, some renowned, some unknown, and I have come to the conclusion that the SF writer needs the reader’s trust. In these days of relatively cheap fiction, losing the reader’s trust is the end of the relationship. The reader isn’t likely to look at that author’s work again.

When the trust is there, readers are likely to cut the writer some slack. That unexciting training lecture in the second chapter will be glossed over in the hope of something more interesting to come (soon). The reader will patiently wait for an explanation why the aliens were doing handstands while they planned their invasion of Earth. The reader will accept the nonsensical on the assumption that it will all make sense at some stage.

Of course, if your work is well known, if there are a lot of voices enthusing about it, the reader’s trust comes a little easier. But suppose, you aren’t. Suppose you’re self-published like me. Trust can be a fragile thing. Your main focus must be on securing it.

I know that very deliberately, it is mine.

Goodreads Giveaway!

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Like a signed copy of my book A Bright Power Rising? I am giving away two on Goodreads. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of them is join Goodreads if you are not already a member, click on the link below and press the ENTER TO WIN button. The giveaway is running until 10th June so you have lots of time to enter!

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/92938-a-bright-power-rising?page=2

The Death World Books – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

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Death World is a really entertaining read. Jason dinAlt is the hero, a gambler with psionic abilities who is hired by the ambassador of planet Pyrrus (hint, hint) to engineer a gambling coup. He ends up visiting Pyrrus, the most deadly planet ever colonised by humans. All plant and animal life is predatory, and the colonists are locked in a ceaseless battle with them. The colonists, despite their incredible toughness and discipline are slowly losing the battle. Jason sets out to understand this mysterious phenomenon and save the colony. It was a clever story and I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed the sequels a lot less.

WARNING: THE PARAGRAPHS BELOW CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Having enjoyed Death World, I looked forward to Death World 2. My initial issue was that the world Jason is stranded on in the sequel isn’t as inventive as Pyrrus, and it didn’t feel as deadly. However, a much bigger issue was Micah. The entire book hinges on him being incredibly annoying and doing annoying things, and well. for me at least, he overachieves. He is the most annoying character in any book I’ve read. EVER. So much misery could have been avoided if what had happened to him at the end happened to him at the beginning. I suppose I have to rate the book a bit higher than I otherwise would, because Micah made such an impression on me, albeit not a very happy one.

Death World 3 started out interesting but it rapidly became clear we were dealing with some pastoral warrior/invader setting. Jason’s plan find a home for the Pyrrans on this third planet is convoluted and over-the-top. He effectively facilitates genocide of the more advanced lowland cultures to wear out the warlike tribesmen in his way. It is an example of where you are supposed to root for the hero because he is the hero, and ignore the morality of his actions, actions that any dastardly villain would be proud of. I didn’t enjoy it so much.

Guess What The Postman Brought Me This Morning

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Finally, A Bright Power Rising is available in paperback. Personally, I feel that it looks splendid. Its 5×8″ (my favorite book size) with cream paper and a matte finish cover. I never imagined that I would know the specifications for my favorite book size or have strong opinions on paper quality and cover finishes, but I do now!

It looks good on the shelf too! It nicely blends in.

My biggest concern was the layout of the maps in the paperback. That was why I hired Polgarus Studio to format the book for Createspace. Not only did Jason and Marina ensure that the maps were perfectly legible, but their layout was better than anything I could have imagined. They did a fantastic job and were worth every cent of their price. I am so glad I sought their help.

The maps are absolutely perfect!

As an aside, I needed both hands to hold the pages open so this picture was actually taken by my nose.

Of course I also have to thank Rob Antonishen for his foresight in his map design. I also have to thank the ever-dependable Marek Purzychi who converted his original design into a paperback cover.

The book is currently available Createspace (https://www.createspace.com/4764841) and will be available on Amazon in five to seven days.

Ten Reasons Why The Golden Rule Is Going To Be A Duology

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(1) The story is too long for one book and too short for three.

(2) Because it is two volumes, it can’t suffer from middle book syndrome.

(3) I like succinctness.

(4) If it was one volume, the paper copy would have such a wide spine, it might be mistaken for an accordion.

(5) Empty shelf space in my house is limited.

(6) At the moment, each volume has a beginning, a middle and an end. If there were three volumes, the first volume would have a beginning and a middle, the second volume would have an end followed by a beginning (really problematic), and the last volume would have a middle and an end, but no beginning.

(7) Almost everyone writes big, fat fantasy books in three volumes. I like to be different by err…writing them in two volumes.

(8) In a multi-volume series, some concepts might have to be explained in each volume. I hate repeating myself more than once.

(9) I could only think of good titles for the series and two books.

(10) Anyone who reads the books will understand that two is the ideal number concerning any story involving Ors.

Why the worst book I ever read inspired me to write.

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If I gave you its name, you wouldn’t know it.

I discovered it in the only English bookshop in Nice. Buying it was an absolute act of desperation. I read mostly SF and fantasy, and this was the only book in the shop I hadn’t read before. That’s not due to my encyclopedic reading but the sparsity of choice.

I have a problem with books. It is a stupid kink in my character. If I start a book, I must finish it, no matter how brain-rottingly bad it is.

It was a typical fantasy – the size of a brick and nearly as heavy.

The world made no sense. The characters’ actions made no sense. I remember the hero’s spirit was transferred to the body of a dead girl to hide him from pursuing villains. I remember thinking that was a bit of an extreme reaction.

There was an underlying seediness to what happened to some of the minor female characters that turned my stomach.

To this day, the phrase “beautiful cornflower blue eyes” affects me like rubbing bits of polystyrene together. It was repeated so many times, it had a mesmeric quality, draining my will to live.

The only good thing I learned from it was the use of cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to draw the reader on. The problem was that the cliffhangers did not move the plot forward. They worked like this:

Chapter 10

…Something pushed her face down in the water.

Chapter 11

She stood up in the pool. The water was just up to her ankles. “Why did you push me?”

I actually gave the book to friends for Christmas as a joke (having already made my feelings about it loud and clear). The joke kind of backfired as they reciprocated with another book by the same author. I still have it. Unread.

Anyway, at the time, I had kind of given up on writing. I had been writing the first page of the same novel since I was fourteen (that’s a story for another post). But this book inspired me to start tapping on the keyboard.

I wanted to write something different. Something better. Something that didn’t make me cringe.