Through whose eyes do you want or need to see the world?
In the Annals of the Last Emissary, the story is told primarily from Aenguz’s point of view (POV). That is the hallmark of High Fantasy. And multiple POVs are nothing new in epic fantasy. When I came to the third act of Ruinwaster’s Bane, I had a need for another point of view. There is a lot that happens in the climax and I needed more than one person to tell the story.
Before I landed on what ultimately became the final draft, I had an idea for a young boy who was about to join the Stair Guard. I wanted to use him to share with the reader what Corundum was like, what life was like in the Crystal Citadel from his point of view. I saw him racing up and down the Stairs of Forhnthulen that led to Corundum. I envisioned him having a budding relationship with a young woman. I felt his nerves and anxiety about attending to his first overnight watch at the top of the lower stair.
I wanted eyes at the beginning of the surprise attack on Corundum.
As I began working out the details of this boy’s life, I saw that introducing someone so late in the story was going to be difficult. It would take all of the momentum out of the action and drive of the third act. As a note, you don’t want to do that in a story.
In the end, I ended up making Lokah the POV character that I needed. But, in a nod to that boy that would have had a bigger role, he is the young boy/man who is killed blowing the horn that warns Corundum.
Fellow authors, have you had a thread of a project, perhaps something that overextended what you wanted to do, and then had to scale back? Exploring additional paths and options is part of the creative process. Embrace it, enjoy it, even if you never use it.
