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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 27 May 2006 : 05:12:13
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Indulge me, this just popped into my head. How would my fellow scribes feel about "capstone" novels, for lack of a better term. What I mean is, you have, say, your Year of Rogue Dragons Trilogy or your Last Mythal type trilogy, and then, perhaps a year or so after the trilogy wraps up, you have a "capstone" novel, a novel that revisits the characters a year or so after the trilogy in question, and lets the author perhaps build a bit more on the characterisation and relationships set up in the trilogies.
You would obviously still have action and villains and the like, but with it being a "capstone" single volume, the heroes wouldn't likely be embroiled in major conspiracies or conflicts, but more personal and imediate action. This would give more time to see how the character might have grown or changed from the original trilogy.
There might be a ton of reasons why an idea like this wouldn't work, but I just thought it might be a fun idea to play with.
Oh, and for an example, the Finder's Stone Trilogy with the novel Masquerades form a pretty good example of what I am talking about with the "main trilogy" followed by the "capstone" format. Alias and company weren't still fighting Moander or the conspirators involved in creating Alias in Masquerades, and we got to see what Alias and Olive had been doing since the end of the trilogy, as well as getting to see Alias' relationships with Victor and Mintassan. This set of books is, more or less, what got my mind onto this topic.
Thanks for your ideas and your time.
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe
Denmark
468 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 10:47:28
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| In some cases it could be a fun re-visit with the heroes of old. But my fears are that the "capstone" wont be able to live up to the novels preceding it and therefore it will be a dissapointment. But if they are well written i can see myself reading them. |
"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings" |
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nb_nmare
Acolyte
United Kingdom
32 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 11:02:48
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| Then again, "capstone" novels sometimes surpass the original trilogy. Just look at Prince of Lies. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:26:02
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| Good point nb . . . I had forgotten that, but the Avatar trilogy and Prince of Lies fits this as well. |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:47:52
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quote:
Originally posted by nb_nmare
Then again, "capstone" novels sometimes surpass the original trilogy. Just look at Prince of Lies.
In terms of prose...uh...almost anything could have surpassed Shadowdale and Tantras...
back to topic:
"Capstones" could be used nicely, but if you look at Dragonlance where you still have stories revolving around the original heroes AND the original adventures...it opens the door to many possibilities I don't want to even consider for the Realms |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:50:56
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I don't know that the Realms is vulnerable to having one core adventuring party dominate all the stories, and then having all of their decendants taking over as they get too old.
I just think it might be interesting to see how the characters of a given trilogy have developed a year or so after things "settled down." Also, not every trilogy would be a good candidate for this, thematically speaking. For example, the way the Watercourse trilogy seems to be written, it looks like its there to tell the story its going to tell, and isn't a "revisit" type of trilogy.
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2006 : 01:51:50
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| I wouldn't mind a capstone novel for the druidhome trilogy. It's been way too long since we've seen what's happening in the Moonshaes. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2006 : 02:20:56
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| The word "capstone" has an entirley different meaning to me, from my military days, but I would be on board with a follow up story for the finder's stone trilogy. |
Edited by - scererar on 28 May 2006 02:25:10 |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2006 : 04:03:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
I wouldn't mind a capstone novel for the druidhome trilogy. It's been way too long since we've seen what's happening in the Moonshaes.
I kind of miss the Moonshaes myself, but I don't think Doug Niles is going to leave Krynn any time soon, and I don't think anyone wants to "claim" the Moonshaes from him. The end of the Druidhome books seemed to leave an interesting middle ground, with a unified kingdom that has more contact with the "mainland" but with a rededicated focus on the faith of the Earthmother.
Ah well, maybe someday Doug Niles will get bored with DragonLance, but right now, I think he has a pretty big project going on with Krynn. |
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Beezy
Learned Scribe
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2006 : 07:27:50
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| I think it is a good idea as well. Maybe use a series such as "The Rogues" or the one about dungeons as an opportunity to revisit some old characters as well as show more about rogues or a particualr dungeon or what have you. Or even a stand alone novel would be interesting. My only fear is that if the follow up novel was poor and kind of ruins the characters so to speak. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2006 : 11:02:21
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| Actually, you have a good point Beezy, as some of the books that felt kind of like "Capstone" novels to me were in the Harpers series, for example. |
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Xysma
Master of Realmslore
USA
1089 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2006 : 15:38:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
I wouldn't mind a capstone novel for the druidhome trilogy. It's been way too long since we've seen what's happening in the Moonshaes.
I second that, not only have the Moonshaes been "left hanging" by 3ed, I would love to catch up with the Kendricks, Keane, and the rest. I really love this idea, for much the same reason I enjoy short stories that involve characters from various trilogies, like the recent "Rivals" with Dorn and Raryn. |
War to slay, not to fight long and glorious.
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Beezy
Learned Scribe
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jun 2006 : 06:45:53
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You are quite right about the Harpers series. To me it seems like a very good and do-able idea. It lets you release a follow up novel, write a new book for a new stand alone series such as the rogues or the harpers, so new readers will probally like it and old readers will also.
I enjoyed the Masquerades novel because it let me catch up on some of my favorite characters from The Finder's Stone trilogy which is my favorite trilogy. |
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"Capstone" Novels
