Here's the idea I've been toying with. Title: Those Who Fight Furthest (inspired by a Final Fantasy song, but has relevance to the plot) Plot: The protagonist, Zak, and his best friend, Lance, are around the age of 20. They return home after an outing one day and find that their village has been attacked, nobody left alive. They discover that it was the actions of Libero(last name), president of the organisation that runs the largest city and who's power reaches throughout the land. They head to his headquarters with revenge on their mind and whilst in the city run into an organisation who fight against Libero and his corrupt police force who unofficially run the city. They eventually make an attack on Libero's headquarters but are caught and thrown in jail. They overhear a conversation and discover that Libero is searching for an ancient artifact that will give him uncomparable power. They then escape and undergo a quest to stop him. This is the plot for the first book and I am planning a sequel. It contains sword fights, magic and obviously this idea posted is basic as if I were to post everything then I might as well post the whole novel . I appreciate any feedback on the idea.
This is just my opinion, but I find that imprisoned characters just happening to overhear a vital conversation is an unrealistic and cliched idea. I really doubt that such sensitive information would be handed off to the jailer, much less in earshot of the prisoners. If it were me, I would find another way for the characters to discover about this artifact. But, as with all things, your idea could work well if it's not just thrown together.
I agree with FMK, but there are ways around this. Is there a way that your MC(s) could 'prove' that they're on Libero's side? As in, prove this to one of the bad guys they meet in jail? Perhaps when they first enter the cell, they hear two men (who work for Libero, for example) discussing something in connection with Libero. So they try to 'prove' that they're on Libero's side and only want to help. ^ My idea is overused, but it's just an example. Overall, I really like the sound of this. It sounds interesting and exciting and has a lot of promise, but whether you manage to pull it off or not is all down to your skill as a writer.
This is just my opinion, but that summary sounds like at least a dozen other movies, books, games, comics I've seen over the years. It pretty much follows the adventure formula to the T. You can still make it a good story though. You just have to make sure to fill the formula with interesting and engaging ingredients.
I agree with Shaehl, the story sounds a lot like tons of others out there. You'll have to add some more to it to make it completely original. It needs some work, but I think it could work.
I did think that the over-hearing a conversation part would be too easy and have already got another way. I know it does resemble the typical revenge style story of this kind, there are plenty of twists that will give it more originality in my opinion. I only posted a basic outline just to see what others thought, which is why most people post their ideas. But I appreciate the comments and they have made me think over the cliche parts of the story and maybe alter them a little.
