Ever read a novel and concluded the plot is overpowered by coincidence? A chance meeting in the middle of a wilderness? In a crowded city? On the same train?
Consider this staple of crime fiction; the detective doesn’t believe in coincidence. No one linked to the crime ever ‘happens’ to be somewhere, or know someone ‘by pure chance.’ There is motive and planning and hidden truths to uncover. Unless the author is a complete hack.
So when plots turn on a coincidence or worse, a series of coincidences, readers see the red flag.
A reliance on coincidence is a cheat, and readers know it. Any time there’s a huge dollop of coincidence, there’s a chance the reader will throw the book down in disbelief. The more coincidences there are, the more the plot falls apart. Especially if it’s instrumental in the climax and resolution. That’s why the Deus Ex Machina ending goes down so badly nowadays.
Novelists from Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot to Evelyn Waugh and David Nichols all abuse coincidence in some measure, from mildly to grievously. Literary greatness earns them a free pass, but most of us don’t get that luxury.
So I have to ask: do I have too many coincidences in my plot?
More like a roll of the dice
The plot of Kamsen Knights takes place after the fall of the Empire. Set inside a walled city, the confined environment draws characters closer together. Yari searches for her father among the Vanished. She’s the daughter of an important man in the Assembly, before the Empire. Politics and conspiracy soon come into play.
In the opening, Yari’s meeting with a contact is interrupted by a gang of thieves. It looks like an unfortunate turn of events. The thieves run off at the intervention of Niémy, the Emperor’s legendary former bodyguard. That’s a jarring coincidence. Or is it? Is she there by chance? It seems unlikely.
Constables from the City Watch arrive, specifically Captain Branko. It’s within his precinct, he’s actively pursuing a gang. So far, so random. It’s plausible.
Yari decides she needs the services of a thief and meets Risto with her shady past.
Risto knows Branko. It’s a surprise to Yari but not a coincidence. A past event links the pair of them, and to the Quartermaster, Ledran.
Soon, Yari gets pulled off the street by Mikailut. A second legendary figure happens by. That’s a big coincidence. Then the same gang of thieves returns. Mikailut uncovers their purpose. It’s not coincidence, this is conspiracy. We forget about his sudden appearance in the aftermath of the action.
The web of tangled lives
Next, we discover Risto knows Mikailut. Their paths crossed in the past. The web of tangled lives stretches further.
In Yari’s backstory, she had a life-changing meeting with the rebels who assassinated the Emperor. She doesn’t reveal it until late on. Mikailut and Risto also know the rebels. The web tangles further, but it’s not ‘coincidence.’
Later we find out Yari know’s Branko’s young constable. It’s linked to the Yari’s backstory with the rebels.
Finally, Niémy turns up outside the Basilica after Yari gets threatened by the priests. Another coincidence? Or has Niémy been on the trail of the conspiracy all along? Yari fills in the details, so it’s not a surprise that Niémy appears again when the coup begins.
Joined by an invisible hand
Mid-point of the story, Yari goes to a fortune teller and has a skeptical conversation about fate. Is Yari guided by the hand of the Queen of Fortune? Does fate exist? We’re in a fantasy setting where there is magic and the belief in supernatural beings. Fate denies coincidence. Doesn’t it?
Root causes
We discover Yari’s father is liked to two conspiracies, the Old Houses and the Church. Everything flows from those. The Old Houses want to stop Yari’s search. The priests have need of Yari’s father, but show their hand too early.
The people around Yari are all linked by the fall of the Empire; Risto, Branko and Ledran, with Niémy in opposition.
Overpowered by Coincidence?
The only real coincidence is Mikailut’s intervention in dealing with the gang of assassins. This is my one neon-lit, flag-waving coincidence of the whole plot. How did he end up in the right place and right time? He knows the gang, but why right here and now?
Beyond that, the cast know each other in a web of secrets. Yari’s search drives her to uncover those links and reveals a few of her own.
The question remains how many and how large coincidences can one story take? Until they stretch and snap readers’ credulity beyond breaking point? Will readers call them out for the betrayal of cause and effect? At what point does coincidence overpower the plot?
The detective’s cleaner happens to belong to the same bridge club as the murderer. That one’s in a published crime novel.