Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Digital Novel

Neal Stephenson has created a startup to develop a platform for digital novels:

http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2010/09/01/01venturebeat-writer-neal-stephenson-unveils-his-digital-n-97561.html

The article mentions they aim to bring images and video and music to the novel.
Meh.
What I would like to see, and what I've wanted to see for quite some time, are dynamic glossaries that reflect where you're up to in the story.

For example:
Bob (from page 1+)
A young orphan boy living with his granny in the woods.

Bob (from page 100+)
A bearded young man who is the lost nephew of Prince Peter.

Princess Bob (from page 150+)
A delicate woman, born a boy in a forest, married to Prince Peter.

Queen Bob (from page 250+)
Ruler of the land of Laurenthesia and widow of Prince Peter.


Too often descriptions in lengthy novels / series are only applicable to the first few chapters, or they risk giving away too much information about plot development.

(and now I yearn to discover whether Queen Bob the Just can hold her tattered kingdom (queendom?) together against the invading forces of darkness...)

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