Overwhelming background information

Use this forum to discuss the July 2021 Book of the month, " Worldlines: A Many Worlds Novel" (Many Worlds, #1)" by Adam Guest
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mohamed benziane
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Re: Overwhelming background information

Post by mohamed benziane »

for me as i was reading the book , I preferred if the scenes were left dry for the reader's imagination to water as they want, I think it will make the reader more involved in the book and the story will be unforgettable
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Post by Truptee_A_B »

To be very honest, it was annoying. As I read on, though, I realised that it was necessary. If it wasn't for those details, I wouldn't have realised when the author switched between different worldlines until much later. It felt like I was re-reading entire paragraphs and that made me not want to read on until I realised how a minute change in detail had a significant impact.
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Post by Kaitlin Licato »

I agree that there were too many details. I like description to a point. If it is going to help the plot, then go right ahead, but if not, then lay off. Eventually it starts reminding me of the Charles Dickens idea of being paid by the word. Don't just make things needlessly wordy!
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Post by Benaron »

The details could be more distracting the more I focused on them, but just taking it all in helped me appreciate the world Adam Guest built; overall, I think it was necessary to convey proper visualization of the scenes for the reader.
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Post by Katherine Smith »

I think that the author tried to balance explaining complex scientific and science fiction ideas with creating a well written story. I do not think that the author was too detailed, although maybe some monotonous details could have been cut from the final product. I am one of the people that likes a lot of details in the stories because it makes me understand the plot line better, but others might not feel the same way.
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Post by yomide »

No matter much the author tried, I don't see a way around the details he gave. He had to. The book entails many worlds that are different and yet similar. He had to show that.
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Post by shreya_davessar »

I think that most of those descriptions were apt and lent each worldline its own charm. I feel that the descriptions resonated with the characters' feelings, especially Gary's, in each worldline. It helped me visualize and feel the story better.
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Post by AbhyarnaAman »

Sushan wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 01:00 The author has gone too far, as per my opinion, describing the background details when he took the reader to a new scenario. A few examples are the descriptions about the road in the scenario of Gary's nearly missed accident,

Do you feel the same as me? Could it have been better if the details were a bit less? Did you find it distracting or did you prefer it the way it was?
I think the description of Gary's nearly missed accident was important as that was the exact time where two timelines were formed, first when he stopped to pick the pen and got hit by the truck and second when he did not stop for the pen and moved on for his exam.

Other incidents could go without much background information.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

DyanaFl wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 12:02 I think the descriptions highlighted the fact that the worldlines were similiar with just a slight difference in one or two details (for the most part). I'm not a big fan of drawn out repetitive descriptions, but in this case it didn't bother me as much. I didn't view them as a hindrance.
Well, to show that the worldlines were more or less similar the author used the enormous details on the backgrounds. But this repetition makes the reading experience far more exhausting. Fine descriptions for once was too much. Imagine when you have to go through the same thing again and again.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Mtibza eM wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 12:32 No, I think the descriptions were perfect. There worked well in laying the foundation that the story was going to be built on top of. So had the author hurried to properly describe those scenes, most readers would have been confused and lost.
I agree that some sort of describing the background as well as the settings is necessary for the better understanding of the reader. But the flow should be maintained despite whatever the details you include. At many occasions I felt the heavy background details distracting me from the main story.
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Post by Troy Barnes »

They are a necessary part of all multiverse writing. The author put a lot of effort in so to as to properly build his characters and the worlds and enable his readers to pick out the subtle differences in the Gary's of each line.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Reader-247 wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 14:58 I hate to admit it but at times I would skip indepth details which set the scene because I, just like you, feel that stories are dragged and these details do not add to the plot of the story.
I am glad to find someone who think alike. I say the same thing. Too much background details drag the story. And also sometimes they become very much distracting (I think it has happened here). So I personally prefer straight to the point stories with minimum background information which is of utmost necessity.
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Post by Chloe Adams »

I actually quite love the author's decision to include so much backstory because without I wouldn't have been able to connect with the characters.
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Post by hullahope »

I half agree with you on this point. I felt like some of those descriptions were actually useful as they add context to the story but then there were many descriptions which I felt was not necessary so according to me, these could have been avoided.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Akanksha D wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 21:58 I did feel the same. Sometimes it was ok, but sometimes it was too much. I feel like the book could have spent time instead on character development, which it lacks quite significantly, in my opinion.
Good point. Though we get a good picture about the backgrounds and the settings, we do not get the chance to know much about the characters, which would have been quite important as this talks about multiple lives and multiple deaths of a single character in multiple universes.
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