Too Many Conflicts?

[Fozia-Bajwa]

In the book Apollo's Raven, there were many conflicts containing
a conflict between Catrin and her mother,
a conflict between the parents and Marcellus,
a conflict between the Celtic culture and Roman culture, and
a conflict between the love relationship of Catrin with Marcellus and their parents and countries.
But the strongest conflict that I felt was between Marcellus and his parents for the safety of his love relationship with Catrin. But it was only Marcellus who got ready to sacrifice his all things for the sake of Catrin.

[daydreaming reader]

There needs to be a balance. Too much conflict can be confusing, and too little can be boring.

[Bonnie Shelby]

The many conflicts were a little hard to follow at times, but without them, there wouldn't have been much of a story - especially since I didn't much care for the characters. I wouldn't have been able to make it through the book if there hadn't been so many issues I wanted to see resolved.

[Michael Kevin]

In my humble opinion I think all these conflicts and twists formed the backbone of this story.

[HRichards]

I honestly thought the conflict management was the best part of the book. There was a lot going on, but I was able to keep it all straight pretty easily. To me it was actually a strength in this book.

[Amy+++]

I feel if a book has too many conflicts then it slows the book down. Sometimes it makes the book uninteresting to read.

[CommMayo]

It feels to be as if the author bit off a little more than she could chew with this book. I found it becoming entirely too complex at some points and too cliche and oversimplified at other times. If the author was planning to create a full series, I think there needed to be at least some sort of conclusion to at least one of the conflicts at the end of the first book to encourage readers to want to continue with the series.

[Cardinalsparrow]

As a writer, I think conflicts help make a book more interesting and thrills the reader more but there's a really thin line between that and overdoing it

[Cecilia_L]

I agree that balance is key. While some conflict adds interest and character development, too much becomes confusing.

[KMSingh]

I think there was a good mix of subplots that supported the main plot and gave it complexity. That being said, I think the motives of a couple of the characters could have been a little clearer, especially Rhiannon and Trystan. Their relationship was pretty clear, but sometimes the motives got a bit muddled.

[NuelUkah]

I found the conflicts were useful in terms of character development. I agree it was difficult to determine the most relevant at times, however as it is part of a series, I presume that some will return in later books.

I agree with Cassandra. Conflicts add to character development. You learn a lot about a person in how they handle conflict. Many times you can relate more to a character by watching them solve conflicts in their lives. Did you find yourself empathizing with the characters in the midst of their conflicts? I’d be interested to know.

Yeah. I concur. The conflicts really helped build interest. The conflicts had a good climax. Books such as this need to have many conflicts because in the real history, that's what happened.

[Bon0]

I think conflicts are interesting, but not if they create confusion.

[holsam_87]

All of the conflicts not only establish the characters, it also creates a solid foundation for the next book in a series.

[Britty01]

Too many conflicts can be distracting. However, for this particular story based on the fact that we are dealing with ancient civilizations, it seemed plausible that these kinds of things would occur. Rhiannon has 2 daughters by one man, and one daughter by King Amren her husband. She is listening to both fathers. The Celtic tribes rely a lot on their superstitions and are easily deceived by the druidess. When all of those things were pulled together it did help the ending fall in place. Whether in conflict or political upheaval there are always multiple things going on, situations and loyalties can change rapidly.

[CommMayo]

I think there was a good mix of subplots that supported the main plot and gave it complexity. That being said, I think the motives of a couple of the characters could have been a little clearer, especially Rhiannon and Trystan. Their relationship was pretty clear, but sometimes the motives got a bit muddled.

I mostly agree with you on this. Do you think the subplot of her sister, Vala, was dropped on purpose so she could have a larger role in a future book? Or do you think she was treated as a minor character who was just taking out of the way when she was sent with the Roman soldiers?