Gareth’s review of Tress of the Emerald Sea (Hoid's Travails, #1) > Likes and Comments
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Could this be because it's written like Princess Bride? Someone telling someone a tale?
It is definitely the case that telling a story in this manner makes showing rather than telling a problem that is easier to encounter. However, that doesn't change the fact that you can describe character actions to portray meanings rather than outright state motivations.
I loved the princess bride. Though it’s marketed that way, this didn’t feel anything like it. For me, it wasn’t the show vs fell but that the characters were bland. I could take them or leave them. Throw in a predictable plot and it just doesn’t work (for this reader, anyway).
"However, with this book, the entire first part is almost entirely exposition."
Dude, I have news for you. This is true of most of Sanderson's books. His stuff is all equally bad, its just that this is the first time you have noticed it.
I agree. I forced myself to finish this book and it was SUCH a bore and slog to get through.
It’s written from the perspective of another character. The Princess Bride was a major inspiration for it’s narrative. If that’s different from what you expected, fine, but it’s not bad. And it’s narrative is actually very important to the story as a whole, but you wouldn’t see that since you DNF’d it.
I get that not everything is for everyone but I think it’s a little extra to be rude about it.
Yea ok. Awesome book. I wouldn’t want all of his told this way but this one off was great. Especially coming from Whits point of view.
Wild to me to write a review this long for a book you admittedly didn’t finish reading
I get what you're saying but I think that this is actually done intentionally on Sanderson's part. It is unique to his style of writing because rather than his deep lore-filled worlds, Tress of the Emerald Sea comes across as whimsical and not necessarily important to a bigger picture. I think the reason for this is the narrator, Hoid, who is known as a storyteller throughout the Cosmere. Yes, it is different from Sanderson's usual style because Hoid is telling the story, not Sanderson. And it is told in a whimsical fairy tale style where, yes, the story starts with a lot of exposition. Just like every fairy tale starts with "Once upon a time, there was a... *insert exposition here*". I understand how this can put people off this book but I wouldn't expand that to a critique of Sanderson's writing style. If anything I'm impressed that he was able to write something very different from his normal dramatic novels. It was a bit of a breath of fresh air for me because I went into it knowing that it was just a low-stakes whimsical story where everything would turn out alright in the end. I also find it really funny that Hoid as a character is known for people getting pissed off at him for talking too much or telling long winded stories. And that's exactly what your gripe with this story is! Be mad at Hoid, not Sanderson hahaha
Have you read the Princess Bride? The whole story is told via a narrator.
Agreed. I just finished the book yesterday. I can’t stand exposition dumps. Tad Williams does them a lot too and I’ve almost given up on him entirely. A lot of authors do them and I doubt it will ever stop.
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Garrett
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Jan 23, 2023 01:23PM
Could this be because it's written like Princess Bride? Someone telling someone a tale?
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It is definitely the case that telling a story in this manner makes showing rather than telling a problem that is easier to encounter. However, that doesn't change the fact that you can describe character actions to portray meanings rather than outright state motivations.
I loved the princess bride. Though it’s marketed that way, this didn’t feel anything like it. For me, it wasn’t the show vs fell but that the characters were bland. I could take them or leave them. Throw in a predictable plot and it just doesn’t work (for this reader, anyway).
"However, with this book, the entire first part is almost entirely exposition."Dude, I have news for you. This is true of most of Sanderson's books. His stuff is all equally bad, its just that this is the first time you have noticed it.
I agree. I forced myself to finish this book and it was SUCH a bore and slog to get through.
It’s written from the perspective of another character. The Princess Bride was a major inspiration for it’s narrative. If that’s different from what you expected, fine, but it’s not bad. And it’s narrative is actually very important to the story as a whole, but you wouldn’t see that since you DNF’d it. I get that not everything is for everyone but I think it’s a little extra to be rude about it.
Yea ok. Awesome book. I wouldn’t want all of his told this way but this one off was great. Especially coming from Whits point of view.
Wild to me to write a review this long for a book you admittedly didn’t finish reading
I get what you're saying but I think that this is actually done intentionally on Sanderson's part. It is unique to his style of writing because rather than his deep lore-filled worlds, Tress of the Emerald Sea comes across as whimsical and not necessarily important to a bigger picture. I think the reason for this is the narrator, Hoid, who is known as a storyteller throughout the Cosmere. Yes, it is different from Sanderson's usual style because Hoid is telling the story, not Sanderson. And it is told in a whimsical fairy tale style where, yes, the story starts with a lot of exposition. Just like every fairy tale starts with "Once upon a time, there was a... *insert exposition here*". I understand how this can put people off this book but I wouldn't expand that to a critique of Sanderson's writing style. If anything I'm impressed that he was able to write something very different from his normal dramatic novels. It was a bit of a breath of fresh air for me because I went into it knowing that it was just a low-stakes whimsical story where everything would turn out alright in the end. I also find it really funny that Hoid as a character is known for people getting pissed off at him for talking too much or telling long winded stories. And that's exactly what your gripe with this story is! Be mad at Hoid, not Sanderson hahaha
Have you read the Princess Bride? The whole story is told via a narrator.
Agreed. I just finished the book yesterday. I can’t stand exposition dumps. Tad Williams does them a lot too and I’ve almost given up on him entirely. A lot of authors do them and I doubt it will ever stop.
