I'm currently in the middle of reading And Another Thing – Eoin Colfer's sequel to Douglas Adams' Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series – but last night I suddenly realised that, frankly, I didn't give a damn (copyright Gone with the Wind) about the characters or the outcome of the story. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Eoin's writing or plotting or jokes – it's just that six parts into the trilogy, I'm getting Dent/Ford/Trillian/Zaphod fatigue. The novelty value has gone, the story and the characters have been flogged to death – I no longer care – it's time to move on with my life.
Yes, I did say this was the sixth part of the trilogy – and this brings me to the nub of this rant, namely are three volumes, episodes or whatever the most any creative writer (or team) can manage before the storylines start to pall? And I'm taking here about stories etc that are written as three-part trilogies, as distinct from series of short stories, novels etc that feature or 'star' the same characters (Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Miss Marple etc etc).
Look at the examples... The first three on the Hitch-Hikers Guides were great but the next two – So Long and Thanks for all the Fish and Mostly Harmless – sorry, not so memorable. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings – fantastic – but The Silmarillion ? Strictly for Middle-Earth anoraks. Another oldie – Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy in the early 1950s (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) – these were outstanding books. But the Extended Foundation follow-ups in the decade before his death in 1992? Strictly so-whatsville – with people like me left thinking 'actually that's spoiled my memories of the original'. Then there is Frank Herbert's Dune series – the first three (Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune) – good, but getting weaker towards the end. But, after that – three more novels by Frank and another 12 by his son – sorry but the law of diminishing returns kicks in. This is overkill.
And, it is not just books. In fact probably the worst example of three being the magic number but any more risks killing the franchise, is with the StarWars movies. The original 1970s-80s Harrison Ford trilogy (StarWars IV to VI – A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi) – are quite rightly rated as being among the most popular movies ever made. But the prequel trilogy – starting with The Phantom Menace in 1999 and ending with Revenge of the Sith (which I fell asleep watching on a transatlantic flight)... Oh Mr Lucas, why did you do it? (And, talking of Harrison Ford – I'm not sure the recent fourth Indiana Jones outing was such a good idea?)
So there you have it – three episodes good – the classic trilogy. But go further, to a quartet or beyond – and you risk pushing the credibility of your characters and plots – as well as the interest, patience and attention of your audiences. But feel free to disagree with me on this blog's comments page.
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Wednesday, October 21
Is three the magic number - a modest rant
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 21 Oct 2009 08:03 PM BST
Tuesday, October 20
Back to some haikai - a new tanka
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 20 Oct 2009 08:44 PM BST
over a fish supper
my wife discusses a friend's breast reduction op i'm squeezing ketchup ...when she mentions burst stitches Thursday, September 3
New sci-fi story published in Paraphilia magazine
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 03 Sep 2009 02:57 PM BST
Big
thank you to Paraphila Magazine for publishing by SF short story
Kastellorizon in issue 4 of their glorious zine - it's a tale of the
power of love in the face of adversity - oh yes, and there are some
killer aliens who wipe out half the human race but apart from that it is a romance. You can download it at http://www.paraphiliamagazine.com/magazi
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