Ensemble casts.

[onyxhawke]

I happen to like them. Sometimes. When done right they are able to give the reader a far more complete view of the universe the writer has taken them too than any single character could do. When done wrong, they are just as deplorable as single character narratives that fail to make the grade. Some of the best fiction SF/F has produced in the last few decades has had an ensemble cast. The balance between a single character dominated, but still multiple point of view character book like Magician by Raymond Feist, or something with something nearer a plurality of viewpoints like Shadow of Saganami David Weber. Personally, I'd like to see a lot more of ensemble casts in the future.* Unfortunately, not all writers can pull off the admittedly difficult trick of having four or five characters that are each well developed enough to hold your attention, different enough for their to be an excuse to have that many co-leads, and keep all the plot lines relevant and entwined enough to make a coherent story in a well paced, book of some publishable length.


Anyone got a good writer of ensemble casts they'd like to recommend? Well, other than Dave Freer, although y'all can recommend him too.











*Note, this does not mean send me everything you've written with seventy nine viewpoint characters, it means (as always) send me the best you've written.

Comments

[jleemoffatt.livejournal.com]

Soon Obi Wan - soon - my rewrite is almost finished.

[onyxhawke.livejournal.com]

:-)

::cracks whip ::

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

:Counts up POV characters in current WIP:

Four...Hmm...

[tcastleb.livejournal.com]

Two ensembles I can think of at the moment--Sharon Shinn's MYSTIC AND RIDER (I think that's the title) has several different POV characters that get their own storylines. It's ensemble because it's a group of magic-users traveling together. Also, Sherwood Smith's INDA series has a bunch of POV's (actually, it's written in omniscient,) but everyone in there is exceedingly well-developed and has a complete storyline of their own.

Oh, and Melanie Rawn's DRAGON PRINCE series, which needs an appendix at the back of the book to help keep track of several dozen characters and their stories.

[onyxhawke.livejournal.com]

This is the umpteenth rec' for Inda. I'm starting to think their are subliminal messages hidden in the book. :-)

[onyxhawke.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, i met Melanie Rawn at WFC in 06. Nice lady, and a fantastic disappearing act. We were in the same small overflow hotel, on the same floor, and i still only saw her once.

[tinablack.livejournal.com]

You *have* read _A Game of Thrones_, right?

[onyxhawke.livejournal.com]

Yes. Way back when it was an ARC.

[djonn]

Not particularly recent, and middle grade/YA, but L. J. Smith's Night of the Solstice is an ensemble piece -- five kids of varying ages who carry the story collectively. And see also parts of the Madeleine L'Engle canon; while there's usually at least a nominal lead in most of her books, she was very good at writing large families and putting the entire family onstage throughout the story.

In terms of "grownup" books nearer the center of the genrescape (is that a word?), there's S. M. Stirling's Nantucketer trilogy, starting with Island in the Sea of Time; the related "Change" books beginning with Dies the Fire are also ensemble pieces, but not quite to the same degree.

The other series I'd recommend looking at is that beginning with Windmaster's Bane by Tom Deitz, and running to nine volumes -- happily, the first book at least appears to be back in print via small press; I just found the new edition in my local library this past week. While Deitz labels the cycle "the tales of David Sullivan", there is a large cast that functions in many respects as a true ensemble, and not just over the life of the series.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Harry Turtledove is good at the ensemble thing.

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

My friend Julie Czerneda is quite good at ensembling, you should try her Webshifters series and the prequel series she's working on now.

Too late!

[robert-gage.livejournal.com]

*Note, this does not mean send me everything you've written with seventy nine viewpoint characters, it means (as always) send me the best you've written.

Too late, they arleady in your slush pile!

Recommened ensemble casts? What genre? And now that your raise the question, I beat my brain cells trying to recall some books like that. Will get back you on that.

Robert

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

Grin, and there I was about to say I don't like 'em much. Hard work to write well. Give me a small cast and linear plot :-). Chris McMahon is damned good at it, tho'

[onyxhawke.livejournal.com]

Writings hard work? Are you sure about that? Eric Flint told me he never spends more than twenty minutes writing a book. He sits down, types a bit and then send it off to the editors.