We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies: Alternating Points of view

Use this forum to discuss the October 2020 Book of the month, "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.
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Dzejn_Crvena
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Re: We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies: Alternating Points of view

Post by Dzejn_Crvena »

The alternating perspectives remind me of the Game of Thrones.
(The main characters don't meet each other yet, and there are lots of things we have to know about them before the anticipated conflicts.)

As long as every point in the story is easy to comprehend, I'm not bothered whether a book is told between a 1st person and a 3rd person.
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Post by MarcellaM »

Using the third point of view was one of the interesting aspects of the story being able to know each character better especially Galen. Because some of the chapters are in the first point of view I would like to know Meldorath better.
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Post by Janet Kimetto »

I cannot imagine this story being told in any other way. That Galen's part is told in the first person means that he's our main character, and that he'll be our constant throughout the series. We already see characters we thought important being killed off in the first book!
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Post by photosynthesis19 »

When I first picked up the book, I found it very difficult to follow the plot. So many important events happened and so many important characters were introduced in just the prologue and first two chapters alone. But after the second chapter, everything started to make more sense and fall into place. At that point, I started to enjoy learning about the different characters' thoughts and experiences. Alternating between different characters also made seemingly annoying or evil characters like Midius Maido and the Riva Rohavi seem more relatable. And I really liked that the author chose the third-person perspective for most characters but chose the first-person perspective for the protagonist. This made it very clear who the main character of the story is and that we can expect him to take on a much greater role in later installments of the series.
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Post by Black Jewel »

I have never been a fan of alternating tenses. I get here why the switch between first and third is being made, but it is somewhat... I don't know... distancing for me. I just get settled into one tense or the other, then get chucked out by a tense change. Frustrating.
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Post by Michelle Menezes »

Dzejn_Crvena wrote: 30 May 2021, 09:55 The alternating perspectives remind me of the Game of Thrones.
(The main characters don't meet each other yet, and there are lots of things we have to know about them before the anticipated conflicts.)

As long as every point in the story is easy to comprehend, I'm not bothered whether a book is told between a 1st person and a 3rd person.
The book gave me Game of Thrones vibes too. I thought Galen was like Jon Snow in the beginning, naive and trusting. And Eldus was like Ned Stark. Their deaths were unexpected and abrupt too.
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Post by Reader Chavez »

I believe the alternating points of view is one of the things I enjoyed the most about this book. I loved this style of writing because it helps us know the character on a deeper level. The fact that each chapter is from a character's perspective helps us understand their thoughts, their past, and ultimately where their actions come from.
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Post by Mason Garrod »

I thought the perspective shifting was well-executed. I'm not sure I've really encountered first-person and third-person being used together in the same book but it worked really well here in differentiating Galen as a focal character of importance, given that he doesn't seem to be very involved in the main plot of the series yet. I do prefer the third-person sections though
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Post by Asja Šabani »

I liked this style of narration. I admit, in the beginning, it was a bit confusing to remember who is who, but once I got into the story I had no problems. Alternating points of view create a sense that each character is important in his/her own right. The fact that Galen's part is narrated in the first person is a clear signal that he is the convergent point in the story where all the other storylines are going to unite at some point. That is at least my assumption, having read only the first book in the series.
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Post by Phooko Tebogo PC »

I am still in the process of reading the book, and up to thus far I love every single thing in it. The mixture of the first and third person is all great.
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Post by Phooko Tebogo PC »

photosynthesis19 wrote: 07 Jun 2021, 16:44 When I first picked up the book, I found it very difficult to follow the plot. So many important events happened and so many important characters were introduced in just the prologue and first two chapters alone. But after the second chapter, everything started to make more sense and fall into place. At that point, I started to enjoy learning about the different characters' thoughts and experiences. Alternating between different characters also made seemingly annoying or evil characters like Midius Maido and the Riva Rohavi seem more relatable. And I really liked that the author chose the third-person perspective for most characters but chose the first-person perspective for the protagonist. This made it very clear who the main character of the story is and that we can expect him to take on a much greater role in later installments of the series.
I'm really with you, it was very difficult for me too to follow the plot in the prologue that I almost given up reading the book. But, the first two chapters changed how I felt about the book.
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Post by Phooko Tebogo PC »

I loved the authors usage of the first and third person narration, I found it skillful realizing that when he used first person mostly on Galen that showed an emphasis that he could be the main character of the book. In essence I loved the style.
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Post by Phooko Tebogo PC »

Sou Hi wrote: 02 Oct 2020, 23:24 I have no problem with that, and I think it's quite useful. The series has a lot of characters, so if one character narrates their own part, we know that this one (will) plays a bigger part in the book than the rest.
You are right. The author used this style of writing so that the reader will get to understand who plays a huge role in the book, hence it was impressive.
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Post by Olomofe »

The alternating point of view is beautifully and functionally woven together and this contribute to the beauty of this book. So I love the alternate first person and third person of view
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Post by kensgarment odogwu »

Honestly i found this absolutely amazing. The author showed talent because it would take a good reader to change narratives without getting his readers bored.
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