Prologues

I decided that the first book, Apprentice in the Wild, needs a prologue.

You see, chapter one begins with Abanoub looking out the window and thinking, Something has happened. That's because he is a seer, and so he knows things before other people do. The something that happened was the assassination of King Peada of Mercia, but as written, it will be about nine chapters before that's established.

So, prologue. Tell the story of the assassination in the prologue, then segue to chapter one, where Abanoub looks out the window and thinks, Something has happened.

It makes sense to me. I was hoping to surprise the reader with the story of the assassination, but I think there's something to be said for letting the reader know up front what happened, and then watch Abanoub discover the truth for himself.

I think the book works either way. If an editor tells me to drop the prologue, I could agree to that with no more than the usual amount of temper tantrum. I've tried doing some online reading and it seems the internet has a lot of hate for prologues. Go figure. They're not essential; not every novel needs a prologue. But as a reader, I often find they're an interesting way to get into the story.

I'm going to think about this some more. I may write at greater length on the subject of prologues later at my other place.