I used to think prologues were a waste of paper

I always skipped them in fantasy novels because I figured the author was just info-dumping before the real story started. Then I read one in a book by Joe Abercrombie that actually set up a character's entire motivation in like 3 pages and it clicked for me. Has anyone else had a specific prologue that totally changed how you see them?

2 comments

2 Comments

josepha321mo ago

Honestly, I feel you on that. I was the exact same way, skipping prologues like they were just extra pages to get through. Then I picked up The Name of the Wind and that prologue about the three silences just hooked me immediately. It wasn't info dumping, it set this whole mood and made me want to know who this person was and why everything felt so heavy. That one prologue totally changed how I see them too, now I treat them like a little taste test before the main meal.

wright.richard1mo ago

Funny how one good prologue can make you feel like a dummy for skipping all the others, isn't it? That's the thing about a taste test though, sometimes you get a stale cracker and sometimes you get a bite of something that makes you want the whole entree. I still skip prologues in a lot of books, but now I'll give them a quick glance first instead of just tossing them aside. Not exactly a bookworm's finest moment, but hey, at least I'm learning.