Time Gaps…Why I Use Them Even If I Hate Them
Twilight of Lanar’ya is now on sale in paperback (CreateSpace and Amazon) and eBook (Smashwords and Amazon).
I think my #1 pet peeve in some works is time gaps. You get to know one group of characters and then, bam, you’re 4000 years later with a whole new bunch to learn. Sometimes, this tool (I hesitate to call it that) can be used effectively. Brandon Sanderson does it quite well in The Way of Kings and Robert Jordan really got you drawn into The Eye of the World with a prologue that takes place 3000 years before the story proper. However, with some other authors, it’s clear that it was just a crutch to cover the fact that they didn’t want to actually build up their characters and do a proper transition.
In Twilight of Lanar’ya I do have several time gaps. I wanted to set the prologue in the early days of the Empire and then show how Andral was coping with being an elf flung into a human world. I also wanted to show events that would be referenced in Jarl’s life but without having to create a monster-sized book. So, I used time gaps. The characters I used the gaps with were all built up either before or after the gap so I didn’t fall into the “I didn’t want to develop characters” trap but I did feel somewhat guilty about how often I was using time gaps.
Well, I’m hitting a point in Midnight of Lanar’ya where there’s going to be a bit of a gap. I’m in the homestretch for writing the first draft and if I can just sit down this weekend, undisturbed, and get some serious work crunched on it, I will definitely have the first draft finished by the end of this month.
Still, I hate using time gaps within a book. A gap between books is okay. A gap within better have a damned good reason for being there or else I’m going to need some sort of strong signal that “A Lot Of Time Has Passed.”
Anyhow, I’d best get back to working on Midnight of Lanar’ya. Apparently a bunch of people have finished Twilight of Lanar’ya and are bugging me to finish the next book already because they want to know what’s going on.
Twilight of Lanar’ya is now on sale in paperback (CreateSpace and Amazon) and eBook (Smashwords and Amazon).
Now that you mention it, the time gaps really are my biggest problem with your book so far (not very far into it, just arrived at Shadow Keep).
Especially since they don’t seem particularly important: I’m pretty sure that, apart from the very first part with the dying emperor, and MAYBE the part where loriaski (sp?) get promoted, i could have easily gone without those jumps, without missing anything.
As it is now, they only serve to confuse me, and they infact almost got me to put down the book, something i’m happy now i didn’t, before i was really into it.
Also, and this is pretty much just a peeve of mine, but the timeline really disassociates me from the story: Almost 3000 years, and there have been pretty much ZERO technological evolution. Look at us: 3000 years ago, we were still running around, smacking each other in the head with stones. Now, i can see why you did it, what with a large part of the story seeming to rely on people having forgotten the Night souled and so on, but i just thought i’d say it anyway.
I will admit that the first several time gaps/jumps were something I seriously argued with myself over. In the end, I wound up adding them and leaving them in because of things that will be made clear in the second book.
In the second draft of Twilight of Lanar’ya, you had the prologue, then the battle with Loriaska where he got promoted, then the jump to “modern day” Centralis.
I am happy to say that the second book Has only three time gaps in it. One is a flashback and the other two are logical gaps — one of a couple of months and the last of a few years. Both are clearly indicated as such.
And, part of the reason why there have been no major technological innovations is because of the complete destruction of the Five Kingdoms. In the war that the Emperor ended, almost 7 out of every 10 people died. Then about half of the survivors died from starvation, disease, wounds, etc. So, the Empire at the outset has a population of about 5,000 humans, 3,000 elves, 2,000 dwarves, and 500 half-elves who are soldiers and a random mix (I don’t have my notes handy at the moment) of about 25,000 civilians. The Five Kingdoms had populations of close to a total of 25 million. Imagine if the US were decimated like that to where only about 10% of the population survived and entire cities were reduced to rubble. It’d take several centuries for us to get back to an industrial setting. In Lanar’ya, since there’s magic, science isn’t the end-all be-all so that also slows up technological advance (seriously, would we have even bothered to develop firearms if we had magi who could shoot missiles out of their hands?)
And, people haven’t “forgotten” the Night Souled. Those living on the Boundary know good and well that they’re there. But those who have gone centuries without having to see and fight them have gotten…complacent.
Anyhow, thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book and get the second book when it comes out later this year.
– G.K.