Was the story too fast paced, or too centralized around the main character?

Use this forum to discuss the September 2021 Book of the month, "The Fourth Kinetic: Clairvoyants Book 1" by Brady Moore
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Dr Chocha
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Re: Was the story too fast paced, or too centralized around the main character?

Post by Dr Chocha »

Sushan wrote: 01 Sep 2021, 00:29 It felt like the story jump from one point to another too quickly without giving any time to develop the supporting characters. At most occasions all the changes, actions, or the decisions of other characters occurred just to support the needs of the main protagonist. Sometimes they felt like forced and done with no real motivation of their own.

Did you feel this lack of character build up and the story being 'too-centralized' around Rion? Or was it simply because of the first person narrative?
Yeah it was quite a quick pace. But, I believe the author wanted to cater many plots. This did not affect my read though.
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Post by Dzejn_Crvena »

I don't think it was too fast, but I agree that it's fixated more on Rion's situation other than giving the spotlight to supporting characters. Since it's a first person perspective, it can't be avoided at times.
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Post by SweetSourSalty AndSpicy »

I think it is the point of view. The first person narrative is an approach to sustain the secrecy. Rion then takes the audience in his circle of trust. It allows him to explore his abilities and keep them hidden. In effect, the readers see the other characters from the lens of Rion. The information about them is limited based on Rion's perception.
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Post by Satwik Mohanty »

I was satisfied with the pace of the book. But my problem was with the side characters. I like a book where all the characters are well defined and well written. I would have liked to see other characters play significant roles.
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Post by Melissa VanCleave Plant »

Medhansh Bhardwaj wrote: 02 Sep 2021, 08:55 This is not the only book as there is a series coming after. So the author could have simply stopped in an appropriate place and go to the next book if the book was getting too lengthy with the character development. It is good to introduce many characters at the beginning of the series. But the development of the characters is important too as there won't be appropriate moments to do that in later sequels of the series.
I think you may be onto something. I think after Rion gets captured by Psyiirin would be a good point to stop and restart a new book. That would allow for more character development, more backstory.
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Post by Ekezie1998 »

Indeed I did not feel that the author took time to build and develop the character of the other characters apart from Rion. I am certain of this because I can barely describe such characters even if I were asked to. This definitely did not add to the quality of the plot.
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Post by Eutoc »

Most authors prefer developing the main characters(antagonists and protagonists) at the expense of supporting characters, which the author did in this book. Imagine if a chunk of the book was dedicated to other supporting characters, it might cloud the much needed emphasis in the full discovery of Rion.
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Post by Nonso Ok »

I agree with you. This book was fast paced, it seemed like the author was in a hurry to touch everything and anything. He did not give the characters time to fully develop. I think Rion too was not even fully developed, or is it just me?
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Post by Prarthna »

I agree with you, other characters did not get enough time for their development. I feel that some of the side characters had a lot of potential. I would have preferred if the story wasn’t too centralized around Rion.
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Post by Ivvie Ivanova »

I agree. Pacing and attention to detail when it comes to decision-making, emotions, and actions. These are aspects I pay attention to the most. To me, that can make or break a story. I wish there was more rhyme and reason to Rion's decisions and actions I think that would have made the character more memorable, more palpable to me.
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Post by Nkgchidimma080 »

The place of the Book was perfect however I can’t say that I liked that the book really gave all the attention to a single character. But despite that the story line was still good
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Post by Elon Gathungu »

I think the story is centralized around Rion. Some of the other characters would have added to the plot development of the book if they were more developed and rooted in the story. However, I do not think Rion's character should be toned down, instead, some of the supporting characters should be improved to catch up with Rion's character. I hope the next book will be better in this aspect.
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Post by SnowStorm244 »

I felt like the story line was fast pace, however I believe that it was well written. Some of the side characters seemed too one-dimensional and didn't really have flaws besides the one for the story line to continue. I don't think it was too centralized on Rion, and there was some character growth just not a whole lot.
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Post by Kazak »

I wanted to see all the characters described more and given more things to do in the plot. Even if at the end of the day Rion would be the one leading most of the plot.
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Post by amakaokoye »

Yes, the book was fast paced. The other characters in the book weren't fully developed and as such it made the story too centralised on Room.
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