How much to reveal of book one in series book two?

DeadlyAccurate · Jul 5, 2007

The generous and talented midwife recently beta read my book and made a note of something that got me thinking. My MC gets sucked into the next plot by being blackmailed. The blackmail has to do with someone she killed at the end of book one. Revealing that in book two means spoiling, rather severely, the end of book one.

I know that some spoilers are necessary. If the MC's husband dies in a previous book, the heroine can't very well pretend he never existed in the next. But how much spoilerage is too much?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to change the blackmail to something completely made up anyway, something that happened before book one, but it did make me wonder what everyone's thoughts are on this.

rugcat · Jul 5, 2007

Backstory is always difficult, esp if book 1 has a surprise ending, or at least one that explains all the previous events in the book.

I would definitely think about changing the reason for the blackmail to avoid having the ultimate spoiler.

Soccer Mom · Jul 5, 2007

If I was reading book two and couldn't understand what was happening because I hadn't read book one, I'd be pissed. But I'm just that way. It spoils the end of book one, but If she's being blackmailed because of it and that's central to the plot, I think its unavoidable to spoil it.

Just my .02 of course.

MDavis · Jul 5, 2007

....I never read anything unless it's the first book in the series...

I think it might count as a minor neurosis.

So anyway, I guess I'm no help. Carry on!

DeadlyAccurate · Jul 5, 2007

MDavis said:
....I never read anything unless it's the first book in the series...

I think it might count as a minor neurosis.

So anyway, I guess I'm no help. Carry on!

Same here. I have to read all the books in order. When I accidentally bought Barry Eisler's third book instead of his second, it went on the shelf until I could get my hands on book two. I still have a MaryJanice Davidson book I haven't yet read, because I realized after I bought it that it wasn't the first book in the series (the werewolf series, not the vampire one).

But, since this spoiler is used to propel the MC into the plot, rather than being central to the plot itself, I think changing it will still be for the better for those who don't mind reading out of order.

WorldPlanter · Jul 5, 2007

Just like MDavis, I too never read any other book than the first in a series if I’m reading the series for the first time. In my opinion, if someone is willing to risk starting a series at some point other than the beginning than they're voluntarily accepting the possibility that they’ll encounter plot spoilers. It's the reader's fault at that point for assuming that they can read a story installment without expecting to have previous plot elements revealed.

Just my two cents.

ChaosTitan · Jul 5, 2007

Unless I'm misunderstanding the OP's question, I don't think you can avoid spoilers in a series. And they technically aren't spoilers, because character development often depends on what has previously happened to the MC. It's like a TV series not referencing events from the previous season, because the producers are worried that someone missed a few episodes. Don't worry about spoilers.

You can't assume that everyone who reads book two will have read book one. Treat book two like its own entity. Provide the backstory necessary to orient your reader. If she kills someone at the end of book one, and it propells the action of book two, so be it. Write the best book you can, and if a reader hasn't read the first one, maybe the second one will entice them to go back.

I once picked up a book that was the third in a series of six. I had no clue it was part of a series, and didn't realize it until I finished the book. I went back and got the first two, and while a few points were "spoiled," it did not draw away from my enjoyment of those novels.

JoNightshade · Jul 5, 2007

I too will ONLY begin with the first book in a series. And I will not read a series out of order. When I was about 12 I read the first book in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy (hopefully I got that right) and then realized the library was missing the second book. I ordered it but could not resist the temptation to devour the third in the meantime.

Man. First and LAST time I will ever do that.

fjeastman · Jul 5, 2007

Y'all are strange...

I like reading books out of order.

auntybug · Jul 5, 2007

fjeastman said:
Y'all are strange...

I like reading books out of order.

No - you're strange :tongue

I love reading a good series. I read a Sanford Prey book and had to hunt them all down & read then IN ORDER! He is great about going back enough so you know whats going on but not too much so its so much repeat. I've read some VC Andrews that go 1,2,3 then 4 is actually #1. You know what happens in the end but it was still fun to read the pre-quel.

So there...Are any of us helping?

johnzakour · Jul 5, 2007

I sometimes refer to events that occurred in past books in my current book. I ass-u-me anything from past books is fair game in the current or future books. Though I try not to do this too much as some book stores don't carry my older books.

Dancre · Jul 5, 2007

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. I see series as a very looooonnnnggg book and so, yes, you will have spoilers for the first book.

kim

DeadlyAccurate · Jul 5, 2007

Then perhaps I'll leave it for now and see what my agent says when she reads it. Even if she doesn't say anything when she gives me her edit notes, I may ask her. The reason I even came up with the idea of using the event of book one as the propellant for book two is that the reader was actually there when it happened, which is more meaningful than something that happened "off screen."

rugcat · Jul 5, 2007

ChaosTitan said:
You can't assume that everyone who reads book two will have read book one. Treat book two like its own entity. Provide the backstory necessary to orient your reader. If she kills someone at the end of book one, and it propells the action of book two, so be it. Write the best book you can, and if a reader hasn't read the first one, maybe the second one will entice them to go back.

If you’re writing a fantasy sequel it's even harder, because you have to decide how much of the world building to explain without repeating yourself all over. The only time I’ve used a beta reader was when I gave someone the first two chapters of the sequel and asked them to tell me if they had any idea of what was going on.

I still think the spoiler issue is important though, depending on the book. The Sixth Sense (yes, I know that’s a movie) wouldn’t be half as much fun if you knew the ending. If your entire first book revolves around who killed Lord Bigbucks, and then the next book in the series mentions straight off that the butler did it, it will ruin readers for the first. So I try to talk around specifics, esp on the crucial points.

I agree that reading out of sequence is a bad idea–but many people do.

katiemac · Jul 5, 2007

Like many others here, I never out-of-order, unless it's by accident. And, like ChaosTitan said, you really can't think of them as spoilers.

You can't control how someone reads. It's the same thing if someone picks up the first book in a series, but reads the last ten chapters before reading the first ten. They get "spoiled."

Similarly, I really dislike it when a series doesn't refer to past events -- unless the series truly acts like standalone, one-shot novels. But if you want character progression and story progression over time, it's my thought that you have to mention those former details. Or, perhaps it's not necessary to directly mention them, but the characters must change as a result, and so those details matter. I don't like it when characters die, then everyone else acts like they never existed, or when a character does something major (like commits murder), and it gets shlepped under the rug.

That being said, it doesn't mean you have to have the books' plots revolve around each other. But to some extent, it makes the overall puzzle a little bigger, a little smarter. If some readers miss out, or didn't get the reference, it's no big loss to them. But it's extra fodder for those who do.

Azraelsbane · Jul 5, 2007

I agree that you shouldn't worry too much about spoilers. One thing you might want to watch out on is description of characters. I had a reader start on book 2 of my series, and while they didn't complain about spoilers from book 1, they did complain that the characters were a bit blank, since I had obviously spent the in-depth descriptions on book 1. I hadn't even thought about that until then, because basically when I started writing book 2 I just saw it as an extension of book 1.

I actually have a question that goes along with this- What about between the prelude book and book 1 of a series? Is it the same rule for spoilers even though the two books are not quite as closely connected?

Ziljon · Jul 5, 2007

Rugcat makes a good point. I wonder if you shouldn't get additional beta readers for book II, ones that haven't read book I, so you can compare their comments. It's a delicate balance to maintain.

JohnB1988 · Jul 5, 2007

....I never read anything unless it's the first book in the series...

You would hate my local library. All sorts of books two, three and four. Nary a one of one. Drives me batty.

scarletpeaches · Jul 5, 2007

See, this is why I don't like sequels. You can pick up one book, discover it's a follow-on from another you haven't read yet and... :rant:

!!!

That said, if someone gets a book home and then realises it's a sequel and still goes on to read it before having read Book #1, more fool them. You either read books in order, or put up with spoilers.

DeadlyAccurate · Jul 5, 2007

Ziljon said:
Rugcat makes a good point. I wonder if you shouldn't get additional beta readers for book II, ones that haven't read book I, so you can compare their comments. It's a delicate balance to maintain.

Actually she did read book 2 without having read book 1. It was an excellent way for me to see if I had included enough description of the characters, and she did a terrific job of seeing stuff I would have overlooked since I have book one firmly in my head. (Did I mention what an awesome critique it was?)

Chasing the Horizon · Jul 5, 2007

Count me among the 'series must be read in order' group. I personally hate in when authors spend pages re-describing or re-explaining everything from book one in book two. I already KNOW all this, so it's both boring and a waste of paper. Put in an occasional line of description to jog my memory of returning characters and settings and get on with the story already.

I'm writing a series and if you start with book two or three you really won't have any idea what's going on, and it will completely give away the endings of the previous books.

Oh, and publishers really need to make it clearer when a book is a part of a series. It should say in fairly large letters under the title 'book 2 of the Horizon series' (insert you own number and title, of course). I can't count how many times I've bought a book thinking it was a stand alone only to discover it was somewhere in the middle of a series. That really annoys me, particularly when it wasn't marked on the cover as part of a series (or was marked in a microscopic font somewhere on the spine)

Stijn Hommes · Jul 6, 2007

They may not be the best examples to compare your story to, but in two series I read the author reveals crucial plot details in later books in the series.
(Take "Harry Potter" for example) I would reveal as much as neccesary so the reader who gets spoilt can still enjoy the little things.

If you make it clear they should be read in order to start with, you won't have the problem.

Inkdaub · Jul 6, 2007

I may be in the minority but I like the 'Previously...on General Hospital' mini-treatments that some authors put at the beginning of subsequent books in the same series. I tend to like this in fantasy because fantasy series usually are one long continuous narrative. In crime novels, say Connelly's Bosch books, it isn't at all necessary to read every book...even if I think you would enjoy the series more if you did so. Connelly calls back to any information needed for the current story to progress but no more.

Petroglyph · Jul 6, 2007

Oooh, I come back from Branson to such lovely compliments.....I'm blushing, and I want to say that the pleasure of beta reading DA's book was all mine. Now that I've met some deadlines, I can't wait to sink into the first book. I'll put on my thinking cap, DA, and see if I can offer any ideas about the blackmail.

Would the blackmail reveal keep me from reading another one of DA's books if I bought them in a bookstore? Nope!!! She is an excellent writer and I am so hooked. So I get to read it now and you all have to wait until you buy it at your local bookstore! Neener neener neeener!!

midwife

sassandgroove · Jul 6, 2007

I have read later books in a series without reading the first. I know, I'm weird. I bought one at a used book store and didn't realize it was part of a series, but hey it was .25cents. I liked it so much I ended up finding the first books ( I found an omnibus edition, YES!) but it had been long enough I forgot some of the one I had read. You know, if someone reads book 2 without book 1, it is the choice they made and will expect 'spoilers'. I needed them if I was to follow the book, yes? DOn't worry about it.

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