For the curious

[swan_tower]

The Topic of the Month over on FFF is about how one decides where to start a book, and I answer with the comet book as my example.

Comments

[shveta-thakrar.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your post, especially the discussion about framing the opening. I really can't stand that device; I don't care about the characters yet, so to me, it's a cheap way of creating suspense to keep me reading. Except that in my case, I am likely to put down the book because of it. Show me the characters, let me get to know them, and then I'll care when they're in danger, because they'll be more than names.

Also, I can't wait to pick up the Onyx Court novels; they are on my list of to-purchase-ASAP books. :)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I've seen the framing work, but it has to be done really well, for exactly the reason you name: we have no idea who these people are or what's going on, so why should we care?

I think for the frame to work, it needs two things pulling for it: one, really good writing on a prose level, and two, it has to hook my curiosity somehow. If it can provoke me into wanting to know what's up with that, even though I don't know anything about what's going on, then I'll read on. (But if I hit the end of the book and the answer turns out to be cheap, I'll be annoyed.)