Short Hair
It sounds like one of those stories that can either be really good or really bad. It all depends on what you do with the concept. Having all the characters constantly being reminded, "Hey, I'm in a book," would not be interesting unless there were a compelling reason. A very compelling reason.
Under World. It rocks!
Awesome Lightning Mantra
Well, any premise can be executed in a really bad or really good way. I assure you that there will be more to the conflict than the simple fact that they are in a book.
edited 12th Sep '11 2:59:18 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."
What's eatin' you, chief?
Personally, I can't normally stand it when authors break the fourth wall like that. I don't go: "Oh wow gee, that is so clever!" I just think that it takes me out of the story because, well, if the story itself admits that it's just a story, then I don't take it seriously. I feel the same way with TV shows, video games, or other such media that break the fourth wall like that.
War is God.
Awesome Lightning Mantra
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I intended to play with the possibility that fictional works can be someone else's reality, but I guess that's not for everyone.
edited 12th Sep '11 3:11:51 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."
*hrrrrrk*
Wouldn't it be impossible to portray, since it'd be an infinite recursion?
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...
Awesome Lightning Mantra
Of course not. The book doesn't describe itself in full detail. Only parts of itself. Specifically, the parts where it doesn't describe itself. Also, there won't be unnecessary repetitions.
edited 12th Sep '11 3:23:00 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."
Awesome Lightning Mantra
Well... The reception was a lot more negative than I expected.
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."
Once I'm done with my current series, I'll start writing another story.
Basically, I just want to know what people think about the central premise:
I haven't decided the book's title yet, but let's say it's X. At some point, the main characters will find a certain book that describes past events of their personal lives in great detail, and one character will also discover that the book can predict the future (but will refuse to read the whole book for most of the story). Only one character can read about these future events, as all sort of absurd events prevent the other characters from reading after a certain page.
The book they've found is X.
Yeah, it's pretty much Recursive Reality, similar to Stranger Than Fiction in many aspects, but with one detail: the book they're reading is exactly the same book we will be reading in real life. The pages referred to will be the same (that probably would be hellish to achieve for the editors and translators, but it's my ambition). I've thought about many of the implications of this, but very little of the plot is actually decided. I even thought about being a character in the story (yes, myself), maybe even as a villain or a Chaotic Neutral character who doesn't really believe that he's actually manipulating real beings in a different universe (or being manipulated by them).
Opinions?
edited 12th Sep '11 2:22:01 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."