Multiple perspectives

[Anna]

After taking Felicia's advice and reading Hope's Folly as a better representation of that author's work than Gabriel's Ghost, I'm struck by something I really liked about it. Namely, the author switches back and forth between the viewpoints of both lead characters. I thought this was so effective. It let them both have more depth, and it let the buildup of sexual tension be way more intense because you get it from both characters. I want more! Anyone know of any other VF books that use both perspectives?

[Nita]

Having the viewpoints of the lead male and female characters switch back and forth is extremely common in romance books. Paranormal romance authors use this technique a lot. If you want to try the genre out, I highly recommend anything by Meljean Brook, the Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan (also historical), and books by Larissa Ione.

[PointyEars42]

Did you read the November VF alt book Dearly, Departed? Multiple POVs from not just the couple, but friends and enemies too.

[Anna]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I read and enjoyed The Iron Duke, but I don't remember if it was told from more than one perspective or not, I'll have to look at it again, and maybe go on in the series.

[C.G.]

Most of Nalini Singh's Psy Changeling books have multiple perspectives. I'm not sure if J.D. Robb's books qualify as VF, although I think they probably would, but they usually have multiple perspectives, albeit the majority is told from Eve Dallas's point of view.

[Vicky]

Anna wrote: "Thanks for the feedback guys! I read and enjoyed The Iron Duke, but I don't remember if it was told from more than one perspective or not, I'll have to look at it again, and maybe go on in the series."

I'm pretty sure it had both perspectives, though I don't remember 100%.

Like Nita said, switching perspectives is common in romance. A good deal of them are also written in third person though, so the shifts in perspective are more subtle than if you were reading a book with multiple first person perspectives.

[Terri]

I enjoyed Elizabeth Kerner's books. The first one is called A Song in the Silence. I love her skill in telling a tale from more than one perspective.

[xenu01]

Some people think it's confusing, but I just finished The Brides of Rollrock Island and it is told from multiple viewpoints over several decades and it was SO GOOD. Margo Lanagan is not for everyone, I know, but if you're into dark, original stuff (like Cat Valente or Caitlin Kiernan), I definitely recommend it.

[Carolyn-anne]

If you've got a couple of months to dedicate to the series, in the Liveship Traders series (Ship of Magic etc.) Robin Hobb does a masterful job with an amount of POVs G.R.R. Martin would pale at: Each character feels unique and detailed, even the more villainous ones, yet the story maintains a secure story arc. It's not really VF - I'd hesitate to call it romance even. But the various pairings are complex and the one sex scene... Well worth the 600 page wait. :)

[Crissy]

I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I've noticed that when I'm writing my romance titles I tend to switch back and forthwithout between characters without even thinking about it, and it always bugged me. All that training to stick to one persons perspective... and seeing it done badly by a few people (to where I did not know who was thinking what in which paragraph), it turned me off of it, and made me want to strip it all from my writing.

I will have to check out some of these suggestions. I'd like to read something done well.

[[deleted user]]

Crissy wrote: "I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I've noticed that when I'm writing my romance titles I tend to switch back and forthwithout between characters without even thinking about it, and it always ..."


I love every POV but 3rd person from multiple perspectives is my favourite. Want to see it done well? Check out S.K Munt or Justin Cronin. He does millions!