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+--- Thread: to finish or not? (/thread-242.html)
to finish or not? - catman9 - 07-20-2004
OK, Night World was fabulous. FPW joins a handful of true masters in my mind. I don't think it could be made any better. Glaeken and Rasalom for the penultimate battle was THE fabulous choice.
BUT...
If FPW was just tying together only the Adversary series, with Dat-tay-vao, with The Tenant and with the Jack stuff in the Tomb...Perfection. However, perhaps with Jack's experiences with Rasalom in the hotel in Conspiracy, with him in the Florida Everglades, with Anya (and Oyv), with the Pillars from Dormentalism, FPW could write a prequel to Night World (after a few more Jack books) that ties in the "third player (Earth mothers)", that introduces Jack to Glaeken, and that makes Jack a more conscious and active player in the battle against the Otherness. Scar Lip should of course be included. Following this prequel where I would (with amazing hubris) have Jack tangle with a still not Omnipotent Rasalom, maybe some liberal additions to NightWorld could have Jack become a more conscious aid to Glaeken.
These are mere nits, since the 6 book cycle is by itself a work of fiction to rival The Lord of The Rings or The Amber Chronicles. However, without some effort like this, the Jack books become merely fun tough guy yarns, and are not leading to an apocolyptic climax, because that climax does not involve an aware, active protagonist in Jack.
I realize there can't be two main protagonists, but maybe Jack could be more of a Robin to Glaeken's Batman...
FPW, please let me know if you share any of my concerns regarding not being able to maximize the Jack ending along the lines that I have seen you building. Since you are a master creator, and I am a mere consumer of your works, you may have an even better set of tricks up your sleeve. Either way, I can't wait, and you have a fan for life. I've ordered every book that you've written from wherever I can find them recently, and they will all hold a position of prominence on my favorites shelf.
Thanks,
Chris
to finish or not? - Barry Lee Dejasu - 07-21-2004
catman9 Wrote:Hi - I'm new here. But I've recently read all of the Jack material I could get my hands on (including Crisscross, Freakshow and Barrens) and have read the first 4 adversary books. I have Reprisal and Nightworld, but should I read them? If they will be re-written with Jack playing a much more important role (which is certainly implied by a little old lady with a dog in a retirement community in Florida) maybe I should wait. Love to hear the advise as part of me wants to dive into the books ASAP!!
YES! WAIT! Be patient, and all good things shall come to pass. I'm one of the few in a rapidly dwindling number of people who haven't read Nightworld yet.
See, FPW wants to keep the changes in Nightworld *MINIMAL*, so therefore Jack's presence will be bigger, yes, and many things will be different no doubt, but otherwise the plot will be the same.
If you don't want that novel spoiled for yourself, trust me: hold off. The End is coming soon enough...
to finish or not? - catman9 - 07-21-2004
I read it already, and I'm glad I did. It was fabulous. But as I said in the above, if the changes are MINIMAL, then FPW should indert a book between Reprisal and Night World to allow Jack some serious battles against Rasalom and the Otherness, and to allow us to enjoy some culmination of the saga that Jack has embarked upon. The book wouldn't necessarily have to be part of the Adversary cycle (could be part of Jack cycle), but like the Tomb it could tie in closely to both.
With or without my humble suggestion, NightWorld needs to change to accomodate the growing presence of Jack in this apocolyptic battle.
The alternative is that Jack never realizes his role as part of the Ally's forces. All of his crossovers with Oz, Rakashi, Monroe LI, the Everglades, the Columns, The Men in Black, the sacrifice of his sister, the growing awareness of his father, and especially his encounters with the old women and their dogs who "are his mother" and represent a third player will have been trivialized to some extent. After all, Rasalom dissed Jack in the Everglades. We need some payback for that. Also have to wonder about Gia's baby...
Glaeken rules. Night World was phenomenal. But the concept has room for more than one climax. Here's hoping FPW is capable of creating multiple climaxes (innuendo not intended).