Thread: Leaving a sequal hook in the epilouge

Okay, I have finished the basic arc of my book, the skeleton of the plot. My next step is to go back and add in the subplots and then edit for continuity of the plots events (Ive been jumping around in the narrative) I just wrote the climax of my book and while there is still a little bit of an ending left (the happy tie up) I decided to go ahead and write the epilogue. I wrote the epilogue and while I think its good it just feels like its completely out of left field (but honestly though, that's the kind of feeling I want it to generate)

I don't want to make this post too long but here is what I'm talking about. The plot of the book is that everyone in the world has super powers, except our hero. Though the events of the story our hero gets caught up in stopping a terrorist attack in his city. After he has the big one on one fight with the leader of the terrorist he beats him but they both pass out.

After they pass out a mysterious man dressed in para-military gear who has not been seen or mentioned at all though the entire story, shows up and takes away the villain in a helicopter. We don't know his name but he is called Alpha because of the Greek alpha symbol on his shoulder. Then we get the ending, hero gets girl, everyone is happy, and the plot is tied up in a neat little bow.

The epilogue is about what happens when that helicopter lands on an island off the coast of the city. two more people (Beta and Epsilon) geared like Alpha salute him and help him carry the villian too the building where they brand his palm and then throw him in a jail cell. Cut too, later they are all in the buildings cafeteria in regular clothing, t-shirts and the like (but they still have their individual symbols on them) When underneath the island a very strong cell breaks and something flys out into the sky.

TO BE CONTINUED

The person flying out of the island at the end is going to be the villain of the next book (I have a whole series planned out, he is actually going to be the major villain of the series) The para-military group will be seen a little bit more in book 2, but will be a MAJOR part of book 3.

Does it raise too many questions considering how well tied up the actual story of the novel is.

Not everyone reads prologues or epilogues. Why not just make it the last chapter? Cliff-hangers can be a good thing. It leaves readers wanting more.

I like the idea that everyone has a super-power except the hero. I'm not sure if its been done before or not but it sounds interesting.

Congratulations on undertaking the task of writing a series! I'm writing a seven book series at the moment and there are two "Cliffhangers" in it! What I would advise is to avoid any "out of left field" moments, especially at the end. If people show up out of nowhere and you have no indication of who they are or why they're there, it will appear to a reader/editor/agent that you have a Deus Ex Machina style ending, which is not the best way to go. What I would suggest is to insert a subplot into the story that has a sense of dramatic irony to it. The characters in the story can be unaware of machinations going on in the background, but your reading audience can know about it. That way, when these people show up at the end the characters may be going "What?", but the readers won't! They'll be saying: "Ah, that's why they're there!". This is the fun of planning for things like this, you get to thread the relevant plotline into the first novel and have it become a primary one in the second. That's my opinion, at any rate!

Originally Posted by S1E9A8N5

I like the idea that everyone has a super-power except the hero. I'm not sure if its been done before or not but it sounds interesting.

I've seen it done once before, just not in a modern day setting. It wasn't superpowers, but magic. In Jim Butcher's Codex Alera, the main character Tavi was the only person who could not commune with the furies of the world and thus could not cast magic, yet he performed many great feats that people were amazed at even eventually saving the kingdom and the world.


As for the revealing too much information... I'd probably say yes... You might want to think to yourself if the scene would be better put at the beginning of the second book as sort of a prologue to book 2 rather than an epilogue to book 1. I agree you should probably at LEAST give them the air of mystery of who the military guys might be that took the villain away, MAYBE show the facility in the epilogue, but save the bursting forth of the new villain for the next book. That's just my opinion.

Originally Posted by Razzazzika

I've seen it done once before, just not in a modern day setting. It wasn't superpowers, but magic. In Jim Butcher's Codex Alera, the main character Tavi was the only person who could not commune with the furies of the world and thus could not cast magic, yet he performed many great feats that people were amazed at even eventually saving the kingdom and the world.

Thanks. I'll be picking that up at my library.

Well let me be clear, its not like the military organization comes out of no where and saves the day. The day was already saved by the hero, the villain was stopped. Alpha is there just to start the next story and I want to show that there is something bigger going on here. And to show us the prison where the next books villain escapes.

Also, while the mystery about them is mentioned a bit more in the second book they aren't FULLY revealed and explained until the thrid book. (at the end of book two they will show up again and this time instead of just taking the villain away, they take the hero and his best friend along with them.)

I don't think that its Dues Ex Machina since its not like they come in out of no where and solve every problem.

Its not deus ex machina, not if they're not solving the main problem facing the heroes, because that's what deus ex machina is.

Okay, Jeeeezzzz, you guys are making me do extra work today!

Here's the definition right out of Merriam-Webster:

Deus Ex Machina: a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.

As you can see from above, this can apply to more than just the "main problem". That's all I was trying to say. I was talking about how things might come across to a potential reader. I wasn't chiseling it into concrete! I was just offering my own opinion on what I read. My sincere apologies.

Sure, go ahead and chuck the hook for a sequel in! I'd do it (and am doing it, in fact).