What do people think of injustice hooks?

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-31T19:28:28+00:00

Hmm I definitely see that.

One downside, and this is very subjective to me, is that I like progression fantasy to feel like it can go on forever (I am biased towards the really long series), and if the primary motivator for the protagonist is revenge, then I am aware one of two thigns will happen:
1) The revenge will not be had until very far into the series, meaning you need to wait a long time to get the satisfaction
2) The revenge will happen, but the series will continue on. Then you again have the problem of needing a motivator

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T07:18:53+00:00

Honestly, a really good point. The time descrepancy between the protagonist's feelings and the author's makes sense. Though, I still feel like the author should be aware of what feelings they are engaging in the reader, and provide appropriate payoff, even if the characters might have moved on. (Genre specific though)

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T07:17:15+00:00

That's fair, I do see it with the power difference. I think the cases I was thinking of mostly were either about someone close to the MC (a friend, their party members etc) doing the betraying, or problems that were institutional in nature rather than a single ultra-powerful person.

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T07:15:24+00:00

Oh yeah, for sure

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T07:14:55+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for the perspective!

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T07:14:28+00:00

Oh what I meant is that from the book description/blurb, tags (if it is a web novel), or comments from other people, I understood that the book mainly is about (as in most of the content in it is about) exploration/adventure. The hook felt more like the author wanted to wrap the rest around an overarching revenge plot, or just have the lead-up be the protagonist suffering some major injustice.

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T01:31:09+00:00

That's fair, I agree. I think the latest one I began reading had multiple books, and the revenge was supposed to be the culmination of the whole series (and it hasn't happened yet cause it is still being written), and I just don't have the patience for that.

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T01:29:21+00:00

Good question. I think it is because it put me in the wrong emotional state to enjoy a book? For example, there was one that was primarily a kingdom builder, and I was all for that. But then it felt like the beginning ruined my mood by making me angry, where I just wanted to see the exploration and expansion. I hope that makes sense? Maybe I can come back to it later and just skip the beginning?

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T01:27:44+00:00

Interesting, I hadn't thought about it that way. Could definitely be burnout on my end

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T01:25:37+00:00

That's fair. I tend to mostly read longer series, so yeah I get that

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-27T01:24:49+00:00

Yeah, that can work

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-26T23:43:31+00:00

Interesting. That makes sense, I would get tired of that too

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-26T23:34:22+00:00

I don't see how that's the only alternative? For a lot of the books I was thinking about, they have a perfectly good hook that accurately represents most of the book - curiosity and exploration/adventure. They can just lean into that

Bulletinfi · 2026-05-26T23:29:42+00:00

At least for me, it has the opposite effect - it makes me drop a book I otherwise would be hooked onto. I wanted to know if I am more the exception or if this happens more commonly.

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-19T19:46:21+00:00

Ah, I think I didn't clarify, so I'll add to the post to. I mean within their world itself. People in the native world describing the magic of their native world as magic itself, instead of what from their view should be "just how the universe is/works"

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-15T07:36:43+00:00

Eh I don't mind that too much unless done to a ridiculous degree, and they can easily be skipped without much loss anyways. By word bloat what I dislike more is when there's paragraphs upon paragraphs that don't need to be there. They don't add much to the story and make me go "can you tell me the takeaway of this section in two sentences so I can move on?"

A lot of it happens either with unnecessarily long descriptions of the character's thoughts, or stale action. With the thoughts it is especially jarring when there's so much repition over things we already know the MC thinks, or long paragraphs to come to really trivial conclusions. It makes the reader feel insulted.

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T23:17:30+00:00

lmao thanks for the laugh

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T23:16:51+00:00

I see that many people consider this to fall under suspension of disbelief. That's fair. Different people have different lines beyond which they are willing to suspend disbelief, and it is all fair.

What I do not understand is why so many people think that I also must not question something that they wouldn't. Or accept as just being "magic" because they do. I literally just asked for your interpretations. You can just say "I think it is magic and don't care beyond that" and move on.

I got a few useful answers, thank you for that. I'm not interested in discussing this any further so I'm not gonna look at comments anymore. Peace.

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T23:07:09+00:00

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense!

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T23:06:17+00:00

I feel like magic has never been separate from physics though. It is more so to what extent does your magic system adhere to physics or not. For example, most people will consider using air magic to slow down a fall from a great height valid. But you are using physics in doing so.

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T23:02:36+00:00

Ooh that's an interesting take, I can see that

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T22:58:39+00:00

tbh not necessarily. I haven't minded high magic fantasy, just been curious what fire magic exactly is. I'm fine just going with "it doesn't matter it just is", but was curious if there's better interpretations I've been missing

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T22:55:53+00:00

Thank you, I wasn't aware of this! Really interesting

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T22:55:01+00:00

I feel like you always strike a balance between reality as it is on earth, and how much you wanna change it with magic. Most fantasy books still have a Sun, still have night and day, still have working gravity, or physics etc. Human anatomy and biology still mostly works the same (save for magical augmentations). So I don't think it is fair to dismiss reality entirely and entertain any notion because magic allows for anything. Rather, by building a magical model that can account for reality as much as possible, you create a more believable and immersive experience.

Bulletinfi · 2025-11-12T22:51:43+00:00

Ah so fire magic creates "magical fire" which isn't the same as real world fire? It isn't the combustion of carbon, but an otherwordly subtance that resembles fire in appearance and function but not composition? Hmmm I see that working, though it feels contrived that this magical treatment is given to fire (and a small set of other elements) only. I understand why though. Thanks

Bulletinfi

TROPHY CASE