Thoughts on a world with multiple time systems and conflicting concepts of fate?

[AdiMaawatan]

Hi, I’ve been building a fantasy world where time and fate don’t behave in a single, fixed way.

Instead of one timeline or one “destiny,” there are:

different interpretations of time (linear, fractured, overlapping)

conflicting ideas of fate (fixed vs changeable vs manipulated)

entities and systems that don’t fully agree on what “reality” even is

The story follows an outsider who slowly realises that what people call “fate” might just be one layer of something much larger.

I’m trying to balance:

philosophical depth

readability

and not overwhelming the reader

I’d love to hear your thoughts:

Does this kind of concept sound interesting or too complex?

What would make it easier to follow as a reader?

If anyone’s curious, I’ve made my work free here (still revising):
[Adi Maawatan | Patreon]

I’d really appreciate any feedback on clarity or readability as well—English isn’t my first language, so I’m still improving.

 

[RiceCooker717]

Maybe make your mc or create a character that can manipulate time and fate but with some limitations, like a quest before he can manipulate it?

 

[MLLeeAuthor]

It’s an interesting concept. My favorite trilogy is His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and in books 2 and 3 the MC is introduced to another reality; the second MC has a knife that’s able to cut into other worlds. They end up fighting “The Authority” (God) and the angels in God’s kingdom. This example is not related to your concept of time, but I thought it may be useful to mention.


I think you could potentially get bogged down in overcomplicating things:

1. different interpretations of time (linear, fractured, overlapping)

2. conflicting ideas of fate (fixed vs changeable vs manipulated)

Which ultimately support the main concept:
3. entities and systems don’t fully agree on what “reality” even is

Some questions I have are:
- How are the categories of fate and time correlated? Do they affect one another, and how? How does your MC prefer to interpret time, and why? How is it contrary to the “expected” interpretation?

- What are the circumstances for fixed, changeable and manipulated fates? Who can manipulate or change fate, and why?

- What is your MC going to do/how will he feel when he realizes “reality” isn’t what he thought it was? Is he going to try to control reality and make the interpretations of time & fate uniform (not broken in categories)? CAN he even do anything?

When you think about the answers to the questions above, weaving those answers throughout the narrative (we the audience are experiencing this world for the first time, like your MC) increases readability.

 

[dayses]

i have a similar-ish concept but its not as complicated as yours. but in the end it is a reality or not kind of thing. while yes it feel complicated, think about whether it has a resolution, or to put it in better words, how does it all end? does it just stay the same, which doesn't have much of a point or is it possible that it is changed to the "normal way" it was before and if so, why and how will you convince the readers and the characters that this change back to normal is required?