Migey Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Hey again guys. So not too long ago I was a relatively active-ish member of this forum (reading, if not posting), for a decent period of time. This was around the time I was reading a ton of fantasy, and everything was good. I had too many fantasy books to fit in my room, and space in all the boxes I'd rustled up was going fast too. But then, more recently, I havn't been reading nearly as much, what with university and the like taking up a lot of my time. But earlier today I decided I wanted to start reading more fantasy again, and decided to look up a whole bunch of series that I'd only partially read or that were not yet completed. Then I read some of the blurbs and my immediate response was "JESUS CHRIST". All the names. All the referenced events. Countries, magic systems, artifacts, people, events. My god. I must have read the first books, or what was out at the time of at least 20 series or so, and what I havn't forgotten has melded into one hazily recollected lump in my brain. I've had annoying experiences in the past with returning to a series without the slightest clue what the hell is going on, so I decided to try and inform myself on some of what I've forgotten. This is the issue: there doesn't seem to be any effective resource online for most of what I wanted to know. I could find discussions and reviews and the like of many books, but for most series it seemed absolutely impossible to find a clear, helpful synopsis of any book. At this point I assume that no such resource exists, and it makes me think we really need one. Some sort of dedicated website for book synopses so people can easily find the relevant information about a book they may have read in the past (key characters, key names, plot events, magical rules/systems, anything relevant, etc) so they can feel somewhat up to speed when going into the next installment. I know most of you are probably thinking 'Wikipedia, duh', and so did I, but it doesn't seem to have heard of half the fantasy series I was interested in, and for the few that it had, the information was often sketchy and unhelpful. I guess I could go back and reread the previous books, but A, some of them are massive and the time constraints that have stopped me reading so much these days aren't going anywhere, and B, I don't have access to most of them. I'm sure there must be other people in my position, and who could benefit from such a resource. I've found some similar-ish things but nothing really helpful: I can find blurbs online easily but consolidated and helpful information on the events of a book, such that you could start the next one without feeling too behind, doesn't seem to exist. I doubt many would interested, but hey, better to try and fail than not bother at all: assuming that such a website doesn't exist already that I just couldn't find, does anyone have the know-how/interest to maybe help set up or contribute to such a website? Or any alternative solutions that would require less effort? As opposed to just making a concerted drive to make/update wikipedia pages (which would still be useful anyway) such a website could also collect blurbs and have spoiler-free summaries for people who havn't read the first book of a series and are interested. It could also collect reviews, have discussions, etc. I havn't the faintest idea how to set up such a website but I know that if one existed I'd be incredibly grateful. So. Does anybody know of a website I don't, or finds the idea of setting one such up interesting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 When you find this resource I want to use it too! I frequently have this problem when reading the next book in a current series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felice Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 A "What Has Gone Before" wiki sounds like an excellent idea. You could set up up on wikia.com... I don't think it's the sort of information that belongs on Wikipedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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