Is the book canon? AU?

[FulvousFox]

From the way the book is structured, delivered, inconsistent to the game at some points, as well as what people are saying, it appears to be an AU of sorts.

If so, what's the point of the book? If it indeed isn't canon and is based off an entirely different FNaF, then why associate it with the game's plot?

I mean, I don't mind it and I'm even looking forward to actually reading it, but then why tell it if it doesn't help with the storyline of the actual series? Is it basically meant to shed more light on what Freddy Fazbear's Pizza really is? Just to explain the characters and setting? Or is this truly the actually story, but we just assumed to wrong things from the game?

I could be wrong, mainly basing this off of what the reviews and readers are saying. Can anyone explain this better? It would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

[Scott]

The truth is that after a while lore can become so dense that there isn't room for a story anymore. Another truth is that what makes for a good game doesn't necessarily make for a good book. Sometimes a timeline gets so full that the only way to tell a real story is have the story set in a different timeline, an alternate universe, a different location, or perhaps from a vantage point that isn't entirely what it appears to be.

[FulvousFox]

Originally posted by Scott:

The truth is that after a while lore can become so dense that there isn't room for a story anymore. Another truth is that what makes for a good game doesn't necessarily make for a good book. Sometimes a timeline gets so full that the only way to tell a real story is have the story set in a different timeline, an alternate universe, a different location, or perhaps from a vantage point that isn't entirely what it appears to be.

I appreciate the input, thanks!

[Boxohobo]

The fact that I am left more confused than ever is oddly comforting.

[FulvousFox]

Originally posted by Boxohobo:

The fact that I am left more confused than ever is oddly comforting.

Better left vague than fully answered. Makes it more interesting.

[Boxohobo]

Originally posted by Cheesecake:

Originally posted by Boxohobo:

The fact that I am left more confused than ever is oddly comforting.

Better left vague than fully answered. Makes it more interesting.

Agreed.
After the march of the Dream Theorists, I'd rather have no answer at all.

[Buszeg]

This book looks pretty clear and connected to games, but one point which is killer - but that's also explained by scars :I Dunno why it can't be canon.

[galacticcorgi]

Originally posted by Buszeg:

This book looks pretty clear and connected to games, but one point which is killer - but that's also explained by scars :I Dunno why it can't be canon.

Because Scott outright said it's an alternate timeline just upthread?

[Zarameus]

Wait wait wait. So you're saying this book is an alternate timeline?

Like, the events of this book - did they happen in the world of the game? Reading this, does it shed light on the backstory of the games from a human perspective - or is this telling a completely separate story in a separate universe with the same ideas and concepts? How much of this book can be applied to the proper canon? Or is this the proper canon and the games are now to be taken with a grain of salt?

Scott, I'm praying you can clear this up for me. I was very much enjoying it up until this point, but if this doesn't have any bearings on the story that I've already become invested in... Well, I would just very much like to know...

[LadyFiszi]

I'm only at the 34% of the book and I have this feeling that I'm reading a fanfiction. It must be because of the age of the main characters which reflects the age of most FNAF fans, and because mentioned fans write their fics about characters who have similar age as they have.
At least I don't feel that my writing is worthless, the official differs so lot, that I can handle both as different AUs.

[Doctor Script]

Originally posted by Scott:

The truth is that after a while lore can become so dense that there isn't room for a story anymore. Another truth is that what makes for a good game doesn't necessarily make for a good book. Sometimes a timeline gets so full that the only way to tell a real story is have the story set in a different timeline, an alternate universe, a different location, or perhaps from a vantage point that isn't entirely what it appears to be.

I hope you don't mind me interjecting here, but this isn't entirely true.

I think what you're describing here is a problem of a story that's already been told in a manner that's best suited for the medium it was presented within, if I'm understanding this fully. You are absolutely correct in that manner, FNAF the game series would be a terribly dull read if told from the perspective of a security guard trying to survive the night for a week straight, given the guards limited vision of the worlds working around them. The sense of claustraphobia instilled by limiting our view of the outside mechanisms of the game's internal logic and lore greatly impact our ability to feel at ease when we play the games themselves.

However, saying that the game doesn't translate within it's own formative structure to a book is similar to saying Star Wars wouldn't work as a novel because the sound design is so intriguing for the audiences experience. You're identifying a trait of the source of our enjoyment for the cause of our enjoyment.

I'm sure FNAF has been a bit of an exercise in appropriate exposition for you, as Desolate Hope (I apologize, I haven't had much time to play through your other work) allows you to create a world that is blossoming with potential and exploration, while Freddy Fazbear Pizza is encased in a brick and mortar building. The store has a very detailed history and it'd be difficult to expound upon it without contradicting yourself.

This is a similar problem to most franchises and creating and generating sequels that are interesting for the audience to enjoy, without undoing previous successes of the characters or telling the same story again. The easiest (albeit, not the safest way) way to explore outside of the established timeline is to try to change genres. It worked wonders for the Aliens Franchise (Up until Resurrection, but honestly Joss Whedon needed to direct that to make it work), with the first movie being a survival horror, the second being an action adventure, the third being post apocalypse, and the fourth being straight Science Fiction.

Making alternate timelines on behalf of the medium works, but it isn't necessary... I could, for example, see a great story about two newly dating love birds facing the boyfriend being moved to Night Shift, for a uncomfortable twist on the old war epic trope. Or a psychological thriller about a guy who can see the ghosts in the store, but isn't sure about whether or not he's suffering from schizophrenia like his doctor says or if he actually is talking to kids via the animatronics. I was interested in hearing a Goonies-esque telling of your story, but I worry that it detracts from the world I have been obsessing over to change details we weren't really sure of in the first place.

I presume the movie has had similar issues? I was a bit concerned when I heard it first announced, I can't personally imagine a person being shoved in a suit without it looking absolutely comical or cut so close and so fast it'd be a bit sickening. I doubt you could get by without it happening with at least a discretion shot, though.

If you would like my input on anything, please, let me know. It's the least I can do.

[LadyFiszi]

I thought it will be told from the view from one of the characters we know from the game. One of the kids, or the killer, most specifically.
Why are the main characters teenagers? I wonder... it can be because most of the fans are about the same age, but is there any other reason? Because there are no teenage characters in the game, it was separated to the world of kids/ghosts and nice/evil adults. I thought a war of the two worlds would be great, but teenage are...between the two.

[Rollerwings]

I think I understand. So Scott had a story in mind he wanted to tell, but it couldn't be shoehorned into the timeline if the book adhered closely to game canon.

In simple terms: He wanted to tell Charlie's story, set ten years after the murders. But FNaF3 already established exactly how things ended thirty years after the murders, as well as events at the closed pizzeria in the interim (we know that Purple Guy returned at some point, destroyed the animatronics, and was lured into Springtrap by his victims' ghosts.) So the timeline and canon leave little room for plot twists; the teens break into the pizzeria, but from there, what can they do that wouldn't affect later canon since we already know the eventual fates of the animatronics and Purple Guy? The teens could either get spooked exploring the place, make it out alive and have nobody believe them or they could die in the pizzeria. Neither option really adds much to the mythos, so some deviation from canon is needed.

I previously said that as an amateur writer, it would be educational to see how Scott and Kira handled the storytelling, and it was very helpful. I now see my rookie mistake, trying to write an FNaF fanfic with the goal of "fleshing out" the story from the first game while sticking tightly to its canon. I could (and did) add all the backstories I wanted to for Mike and Phone Guy, a backstory for the pizzeria itself, even additional events that didn't happen in the game, but then I realized I'd written myself into a corner because everyone reading it already knew how it would end, with Phone Guy in a suit and Mike getting fired. Some deviations from canon were needed to salvage the fanfic.

The point of that last paragraph is that Scott could have taken that approach and written the entire story of the pizzeria with insight from the human characters like Mike and Phone Guy. That would be a book we on this board would appreciate and absolutely treasure (I know I would), but would more casual fans appreciate it the same way? You can imagine the professional reviewers might criticize the book for telling a story that was mostly already established by the games with added details only the most passionate fans would care about, like what state the pizzeria was located in or what Mike actually looks like. I can understand why Scott's plans for an FNaF novel took a different direction.

[LadyFiszi]

I know what you are saying, but I partially disagree. I'm also writing the story as I imagine it, but since I know that most of my readers know how it will ended, I focused more on the character's personality. And people like it. I've added some backstory and stuff too, but not too much, it would be boring.
I also write it from different perspectives (the same way as it is in Game of Thrones), I have a few characters whose eyes we see the story through, Sometimes it is one of the kids, or purple guy, or phone guy (who is actually some kind of manager).
So doesn't matter if almost everyone who reads it know what will happen, it makes to wait the special parts even more. (Right now, I'm writing the murder scene which is horrible and stressful, from different views).

So I just wanted to say, it is not necessarily a problem if people know how it will end if it is interesting or fresh enough. And I'm sure fans would be happier with familiar faces than new ones (teenagers... sorry, I'm not a YA book person).

[Boxohobo]

Originally posted by LadyFiszi:

I know what you are saying, but I partially disagree. I'm also writing the story as I imagine it, but since I know that most of my readers know how it will ended, I focused more on the character's personality. And people like it. I've added some backstory and stuff too, but not too much, it would be boring.
I also write it from different perspectives (the same way as it is in Game of Thrones), I have a few characters whose eyes we see the story through, Sometimes it is one of the kids, or purple guy, or phone guy (who is actually some kind of manager).
So doesn't matter if almost everyone who reads it know what will happen, it makes to wait the special parts even more. (Right now, I'm writing the murder scene which is horrible and stressful, from different views).

So I just wanted to say, it is not necessarily a problem if people know how it will end if it is interesting or fresh enough. And I'm sure fans would be happier with familiar faces than new ones (teenagers... sorry, I'm not a YA book person).

I second this notion.
That's why we're all going to see the movie, right?

We know what we're going to see.
A Pizzaria and haunted animatronics, possibly some ghosts-
I think most of us have played the games.

But in this, we get to see it a different way.
With the ambigious nature of the games, there are countless ways to translate what we think we saw, or what we think we know, and it will probably be a while before we exhaust them.

[Elysia]

Originally posted by Scott:

The truth is that after a while lore can become so dense that there isn't room for a story anymore. Another truth is that what makes for a good game doesn't necessarily make for a good book. Sometimes a timeline gets so full that the only way to tell a real story is have the story set in a different timeline, an alternate universe, a different location, or perhaps from a vantage point that isn't entirely what it appears to be.

that's quite clever Scott, but are there any parts of the book (Purple Guy's name, the main character, the mall) that are in-fact true? If we were comparing this to the real in-game lore, how much of it would be correct?