Prequel Books Are Still Books
I've been having an odd argument with the good people of Goodreads.
THE NEW HUNGER is my second book. It's the second book in the Warm Bodies series. Yet for some reason, Goodreads insists on calling it "Warm Bodies 0.5" and no matter how many times I change it, you guys change it back.
The half-book status I can understand, since it IS a novella, so call it "1.5" if you want...but zero? What is that? If the first book in a series is book 1, then book 0 would have to be...a book that doesn't exist. But this book does exist. You can buy it here. So what's with the zero?
Well, THE NEW HUNGER is a prequel. The story (most of it) takes place before the events of WARM BODIES, and apparently, to a lot of people that means it's somehow a "negative installment" or even not a part of the series at all. As one news item put it, "Marion is calling this a 4-book series, even though one of the books is a prequel."
I don't like this, you guys. This is nonsense. A prequel is as much a "real book" as a flashback is a "real scene" and its place in the series is wherever the author put it.
I didn't write THE NEW HUNGER after WARM BODIES by mistake. It's not "out of order" any more than flashbacks are out of order. It's book 2 for a reason: because your knowledge of book 1 changes the way you read it. It attaches a premonition of hope to an otherwise bleak outcome. Prequels are unique because they tell a story in two overlaid layers of time: the one playing out in these present events, and the one playing out in your memory of the future. And if you take it upon yourself to "fix" the author's "error" and rearrange the books, you lose all that.
So can we keep this book in the series? Can we stop shoving it to the back like supplementary bonus material? Because even if it's not apparent yet, I assure you THE NEW HUNGER is a crucial link in this story. It lays the foundation for much of what's coming, and without it you're going to find yourself quite lost in THE BURNING WORLD.
Ok, the weight is lifted, I'm glad we understand each other, I love you, thank you, goodnight.
-Isaac
THE NEW HUNGER is my second book. It's the second book in the Warm Bodies series. Yet for some reason, Goodreads insists on calling it "Warm Bodies 0.5" and no matter how many times I change it, you guys change it back.
The half-book status I can understand, since it IS a novella, so call it "1.5" if you want...but zero? What is that? If the first book in a series is book 1, then book 0 would have to be...a book that doesn't exist. But this book does exist. You can buy it here. So what's with the zero?
Well, THE NEW HUNGER is a prequel. The story (most of it) takes place before the events of WARM BODIES, and apparently, to a lot of people that means it's somehow a "negative installment" or even not a part of the series at all. As one news item put it, "Marion is calling this a 4-book series, even though one of the books is a prequel."
I don't like this, you guys. This is nonsense. A prequel is as much a "real book" as a flashback is a "real scene" and its place in the series is wherever the author put it.
I didn't write THE NEW HUNGER after WARM BODIES by mistake. It's not "out of order" any more than flashbacks are out of order. It's book 2 for a reason: because your knowledge of book 1 changes the way you read it. It attaches a premonition of hope to an otherwise bleak outcome. Prequels are unique because they tell a story in two overlaid layers of time: the one playing out in these present events, and the one playing out in your memory of the future. And if you take it upon yourself to "fix" the author's "error" and rearrange the books, you lose all that.
So can we keep this book in the series? Can we stop shoving it to the back like supplementary bonus material? Because even if it's not apparent yet, I assure you THE NEW HUNGER is a crucial link in this story. It lays the foundation for much of what's coming, and without it you're going to find yourself quite lost in THE BURNING WORLD.
Ok, the weight is lifted, I'm glad we understand each other, I love you, thank you, goodnight.
-Isaac
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Melissa wrote: "The "0.5" status had always screamed "bonus material" to me as well. I can understand using it for a short story that takes place within the fictional universe (and you usually don't need to read i..."Exactly. Some readers are really hung up on chronology and get confused and upset when stories are told in nonlinear ways. I often hear people asking what order they should read a series in, as if the order the author actually chose is just one opinion. There's a weird arrogance to it.
I've always found it unfair, every single book is as important as a forst book in a series, and shouldn't be judged whether it takes place before or after the first book... Prequels are equal to other books!
I don't know. I may be on the other side of the fence here. I like to write myself and hope to one day be able to call myself a "real" author. As soon as you have puplished a book/story it is out in the open and out in the world. In my opinion the author no longer "owns" his or hers story - and I am not talking about copyright here because of course he or she has his or hers rights.
But as soon as a story has been puplished and is being read it belongs just as much to the reader as it does to the author. I can understand why it would bother you a great deal Isaac to have Goodreads dictate in what order your second book should come. But I just don't agree with the fact that the author decides the reading order. He or she does not. The reader does.
From a completely personal point of view I like a structured story line. So if the author writes a prequel to the first book I want it to come before book no. 1. No matter when author wrote it and how he intended for me to read it.
But as soon as a story has been puplished and is being read it belongs just as much to the reader as it does to the author. I can understand why it would bother you a great deal Isaac to have Goodreads dictate in what order your second book should come. But I just don't agree with the fact that the author decides the reading order. He or she does not. The reader does.
From a completely personal point of view I like a structured story line. So if the author writes a prequel to the first book I want it to come before book no. 1. No matter when author wrote it and how he intended for me to read it.
Michelle wrote: "I don't know. I may be on the other side of the fence here. I like to write myself and hope to one day be able to call myself a "real" author. As soon as you have puplished a book/story it is out i..."It's not a question of "rights." Of course the reader can read a book however they want; no one's going to stop you. If you want to read a book back to front, bottom to top, go for it. Just be aware that you haven't read the story the author wrote (or that most other people are reading) you've read your own weird remix of it, so don't go telling people "[Book Title] is confusing" or any other review, really, because you haven't actually read that book.
And having said "go for it" I should add that I do think this is a crazy way to approach art. Where do you draw the line on tampering with the artist's intent? Do you skim through books looking for flashbacks so you can read those first, even though they're meaningless without their context? Do you go to a museum and look at Van Gogh through red-tinted glasses because you prefer a warmer color palette? Of course you "can" do all these things, and I think it's fine to play and experiment with art that you already know well, to experience it in new ways...but to force your first (and only?) experience through your own personal taste filter seems dangerously self-important. One of art's most important features is that it's NOT you. It's someone else. You're experiencing someone else's thoughts and feelings in the way they chose to express them, and this expands your experience of life. To insist on experiencing someone else's thoughts "your way" seems to disrespect the whole concept.
Nevertheless, I've been excited to read THE NEW HUNGER for over two years now, so I'll be picking it up. :)