Are Middle Books in Fantasy Trilogies Always Bridges?

That's me in the mirror at Pappadeaux in the Houston airport yesterday. I flew to Atlanta for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) National Convention.

This is probably my favorite convention, because it's really just other writers. Other people who are absolutely my tribe, lovers of stories and romance. But it's not all floral chiffon and Harlequin covers. There are a significant number of people here who write various forms of speculative fiction - from paranormal romance to fantasy romance to science fiction romance. For many, the amount of romance in their books varies considerably. Still, because the some of the perspectives on science fiction and fantasy tend to veer away from anything "too girly," a lot of those writers have found their tribe amongst the romance writers.

For a really interesting article on women sci fi authors by a "hard" sci fi editor, go here. It's worth reading all the comments. I agree with what commenter Erin Lale says, the women authors have gone to romance.

However, this does not mean we traded in our geek cards for boxes of bon bons. So, last night I found myself sitting in the bar (shocking, I know), talking with Amber Lin and Sarah Frantz. Because I knew Sarah would understand, I told her what's been preying on my mind - that I'm afraid I'm writing The Two Towers. Amber patted my arm and said, "That's okay. Lots of people say The Empire Strikes Back is their favorite movie."

This kind of conversation is what happens when you truly find your tribe. They're the people who truly get you.

For those of you who didn't follow this shorthand, The Two Towers is the second book in the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy (LOTR to its friends). The second book is so widely regarded as a "bridge" - a book that really serves only to connect the first and third books - that I was able to Google "the two towers book review bridge" and up popped numerous hits. In this one, they say:

This build-up of momentum, from the smaller-scale events of The Fellowship of the Ring to the huge face-offs in The Return of the King, only becomes possible with The Two Towers to act as a bridge between the other two parts of the trilogy. But because The Two Towers is a bridge, it doesn't truly stand on its own. If you want to find out more about how Tolkien saw this book fitting into his The Lord of the Rings project, check out our learning guide for The Fellowship of the Ring, where you'll find a full discussion.

 Some people even hate The Two Towers, for this very reason.

Amber's example of The Empire Strikes Back is, of course, the second movie in the original Star Wars trilogy. (Which were actually numbers 4, 5 and 6 in the overall series of 9 projected films.) Arguably The Empire Strikes Back is not a stand-alone movie. It really doesn't make sense unless you've seen Star Wars and the ending is a far-from-satisfying series of cliffhangers that are only resolved in Return of the Jedi.

But, is this bad?

Right now I'm writing the second book in my Twelve Kingdoms trilogy and I'm acutely aware of continuing the arc started in book one and of setting up the final conflicts that will occur in book three. This is only my second trilogy and I just finished the whole editorial process on book two of Covenant of Thorns, where I had many of the same problems, so I'm still learning how to do this. Maybe the middle books in trilogies are inevitably like this?

What do you all think? Are there examples of really strong middle books in trilogies that you know of? I'd love to know!

Meanwhile, I'll console myself that Amber is right. LOTS of people liked The Empire Strikes Back the best.

Writing the Female POV in Fantasy

Lately I’m back into writing fantasy and it feels good to be back in that “brain.”

Because it IS a very different writing brain. I’m not exactly sure why. But I’ve been working hard lately on my erotic romances (Five Golden Rings for the Carina Press Erotic Holiday Anthology and Master of the Opera for Kensington). Now I’ve turned my attention to Book 2 of my adult fantasy Twelve Kingdoms trilogy. Book 1 releases in trade paperback from Kensington next June. I’d tell you the titles, but they’re still in flux.

Suffice to say these are my “princess” books – about the three daughters of the High King, each more beautiful than the last. At the start of Book 2, there are sad events. It begins in a bad place, with strong emotions and physical illness.

Just so not where I’d open an erotic romance.

And, though there’s love possibly in this princess’s future, right now her life is about other things. She has a long road ahead of her and it’s fascinating to walk it with her. Especially because she’s pregnant and I’ve never been.

(For those of you who know I have grandchildren, I acquired 5- and 7-year-old stepchildren when I was 24. They always seemed like plenty!)

It occurs to me that this is something particularly female, to write about civil wars and the concerns of ruling a troubled kingdom, while the heroine is struggling with morning sickness. Sometimes I see criticisms of the work of women writers along the lines that we focus on “small scale” events, rather than sweeping ones. (Maybe “criticism” is the wrong word – I’ve seen that offered as a reason for why books by women don’t tend to win the Big Awards, because they’re not about Big Topics.)

So, in that paradigm, the war and so forth are Big Topics and morning sickness is a small scale event. But, for me as a writer, they’re intertwined. It’s also to deal with the issue within the constraints of what is essentially a (fictional) medieval-style society. Amusingly, when I asked on Twitter about morning sickness – what foods set women off and which helped – I got an avalanche of useful feedback. I also had to keep reminding people that foods like Saltines and tech like Zofroth pumps wouldn’t be available to my character.

It was a great discussion. I Storified it here.

Still, it’s making me think – are there many fantasies with pregnant heroines? And I mean, ones with close POV on the trials of it, not the beatific Madonna glowing nearby.

I’d be interested to hear suggestions!