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

Post by IamJc_Bembo12 »

The narrative is really not fast-paced, but I presume the author grants the main characters enough recognition in some chapters. However, I concur entirely with your assessment that Rion's character has been centralized. The book overlooks that he created the Clairvoyant, which places greater emphasis so that the reader would not be monotonous. But I understand where he's coming from. Given that it is written in the first person, we can anticipate that he will be the central focus on numerous occasions, as he is also the protagonist. On a larger scale, the book is a fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed perusing.
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Post by Elisa Joy Ocasla »

The book is fast-paced, which is evident in many scenarios. This clearly indicates that development on the other characters instituted by the author was underwhelming. I understand Ron's frequent centralized recognition, but the author should have given others an opportunity to excel and make each specific scenario static and explicit through actions and representation. As far as characterization goes, I can say that this book is similar to other sci-fi books I've read. However, the author could have done more to elevate this piece to the top.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Ndive Mzamo wrote: 03 Sep 2021, 20:14 The story was too fast , main focus was on Rion. Not much was said about other characters . But I liked the way the author displayed Rion and had so much information about telekinetics. I learnt a lot from this book.
Since the protagonist was a telekinetic we see a lot of details related to them. But there are three other groups of Clairvoyants and each group has a different role to play for their clan as well their own selves. We do not see much details about their powers and weaknesses. It would have been better if a thorough understanding about clairvoyants was presented by the author to understand the battle in between the groups of clairvoyants.
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Post by Amy Luman »

I think that this novel moved very quickly. Mr. Moore could have fleshed this out more by adding more detail about the other Clairvoyants and Diana. Of course, doing so would have resulted in another book to add to the series. I believe that this would have given readers more connection with the characters
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Seroney_ wrote: 04 Sep 2021, 07:15 I agree that most characters were superficially displayed. However, I am happy that Rion, the protagonist, was accorded time and space in the better part of the book. I would have loved it more if a few more characters were accorded the same privilege. That said, character development was shallowly done in this book.
Rion was given more screen time because he was the main protagonist and it was necessary for the foregoing of the plot. But if we consider his character per se, it would have been developed further and given the proper place of a protagonist. But Brady Moore has only revealed the facts about Rion which are necessary to the plot. That is why the character development feels too shallow.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

raj_nandani_poet wrote: 04 Sep 2021, 11:00 If felt like that to us but maybe there was a bigger purpose to series and thus the author saved those moments. It has happened in many series that a half- informed situation gets manipulated into creating something like deux-ex machina effect.
Deus ex Machina is now the phrase used to describe any situation where something unexpected or implausible is brought in to the story line to resolve situations or disentangle a plot. The resolution could come from a new character, device, or event.
Thank you for introducing the term. You maybe correct, and the author may wanted to just name his weapons in his arsenal and keep them ready for later executions. But I am not sure what the readers will remember the 'just-mentioned' characters since they had a mere presence with no much significance. I think a better approach would have been introducing them later when the necessity occurs.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Suzer6440 xyz wrote: 04 Sep 2021, 23:51 I was satisfied with how the characters were developed. The storyline and self was intriguing enough for me to follow each character’s purpose. I liked Rion and felt like the author did “just enough” to develop each character. The pace was perfect for me and I definitely did not think it was too centralized on Rion
I am not certain whether the side characters were developed at all. We see some details and character qualities of Rion since he is the protagonist as well as the narrator of the story. But for other characters we see only their actions and qualities which are necessary for the progression of the plot, and that is why they are felt like 'forced into' since we do not know their background and motives. Maybe that lacking was due to Rion being the only narrator and the reader had to see others through his eyes, but not the author's.
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Post by Novela book »

I agree that the characters were lacking development and the story was a bit fast-paced. But I think it depends upon what the author was trying to convey to the readers through the characters as a whole rather than how deep he ent through each characterization. it didn't make me feel anything missing but gave me the anticipation for the next books in the series.
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Post by jaym_tan »

It does seem like the other characters were lacking in development and I wanted the others to say something, or be given more backstories. So from what I observed, the storyline seemed rush.
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Post by collinsogw555 »

I agree with you that the book was centralized on Rion as he was the main character to watch out for, and all my attention was totally on him. I also liked the way the book was fast-paced.
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Post by marta baglioni »

I think this book was a little too fast-paced. I usually like when a novel has a fast pace, but this book had a lot of things happening and it didn't take the time to make me truly appreciate the characters. The author could have postponed some incidents in the sequels and slowed down a bit, in my opinion.
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Post by jeanmtdb »

The story was very fast-paced and plot-driven. The supporting characters were there only to support the main character. Rion's character was developed as the plot called for more information, emotion, and action. I like the story and hope that the subsequent books in the series are more character-driven.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

MayorE wrote: 05 Sep 2021, 13:03 In as much as I liked Rion’s character, I agree the book was fast-paced and some characters were not properly developed. Since there is a sequel to the novel, I think the author might just developer the characters properly and that would explain the fast pace of the novel
Maybe the author wanted to just name all the characters in his first book and later utilize them in the coming sequel. But I do not think that is a wise approach because the reader may not be able (most probably) to remember these characters when the sequel comes. These additional characters could have been introduced then and there when the necessity ooccurred and developed them as per the plot. Then their actions and motives would have been clearer.
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Post by Alyssa Wakefield »

I feel that the pacing problem lies more with being inconsistent. I felt that the first few chapters had great pacing, but in some areas of the story, specifically during the Rion's kidnapping, the plot should have been drawn out for at least a dozen more pages. The author seemed to have trouble differentiating between scenes should be elongated vs. shorten based on the average reader’s interest in the plot.
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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?
Exactly, I observed the same thing with this book. Brady Moore gave more attention to Rion to an extent of failing to develop other characters in this book. In fact, other support player's actions seem not to be of their own but forced on them. Many people, just like me, love fast-paced stories, but character development is a key ingredient for any good fictional story. And therefore this a major flaw in the narrator storytelling skills.
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