Lezersrecensie
Fairy Tale or YA?
Brandon Sanderson hardly needs any introduction in the Fantasy world. After finishing 'The Wheel of Time' series for Robert Jordan, his work skyrocketed. At the moment he is working on his own Epic Fantasy series 'The Stormlight Archive'. He has already announced that the Cosmere binds most of his books together. Tress of the Emerald Sea is no exception.
Tress lives on the Rock. She collects all kinds of cups. She visits her friend Charlie regularly, but she can't express what she really feels for him. Charlie acts different towards her. That is because he is the Duke's son, but he doesn't want her to know. But he is genuinely interested in her. Everything changes when his father decides that he should marry and they're off over the dangerous seas of Tress' world. Charlie promises her not to marry any of the princesses and will sent her a cup for each one rejected. After the fourth cup it stays quiet.
The duke returns and has named a new heir. Charlie has been sent by him to the Midnight Sea to marry the Sorceress. He did not return. Tress decides that if no one is going to rescue her friend, she has to do so herself.
Hoid is a character that has already made an appearance in 'The Stormlight Archive' and 'Mistborn'. And now he is the all-knowing narrator of this story. In the afterword Brandon says that this was his intention. Is this a come back to stories with an all-knowing narrator in Fantasy? I don't think so, because this not been used in stories for decades (as far as I can tell). And it was done in a non-aggressive way (meaning you don't get overwhelmed with texts from the all-knowing narrator). The conclusion of the story and what the narrator also tells about himself, gives you clues about the character Hoid without revealing anything in and of itself. Which is what Brandon wanted, as he states so in his last words.
The short chapters make this an easy to read Sanderson and a book you can get to when you only have a few minutes.
At some points in the book Brandon tries to be like Terry Pratchett, which don't work out for me. The rest of the story reads sometimes like a fairy tale, sometimes like YA (which is most dominant), although lucky for us, it doesn't have the love triangle most favoured in that genre.
The seas he describes on Tress' world seem beautiful to the eye, dangerous to sail, and I don't think I would like to be a sailor on this world.
Tress lives on the Rock. She collects all kinds of cups. She visits her friend Charlie regularly, but she can't express what she really feels for him. Charlie acts different towards her. That is because he is the Duke's son, but he doesn't want her to know. But he is genuinely interested in her. Everything changes when his father decides that he should marry and they're off over the dangerous seas of Tress' world. Charlie promises her not to marry any of the princesses and will sent her a cup for each one rejected. After the fourth cup it stays quiet.
The duke returns and has named a new heir. Charlie has been sent by him to the Midnight Sea to marry the Sorceress. He did not return. Tress decides that if no one is going to rescue her friend, she has to do so herself.
Hoid is a character that has already made an appearance in 'The Stormlight Archive' and 'Mistborn'. And now he is the all-knowing narrator of this story. In the afterword Brandon says that this was his intention. Is this a come back to stories with an all-knowing narrator in Fantasy? I don't think so, because this not been used in stories for decades (as far as I can tell). And it was done in a non-aggressive way (meaning you don't get overwhelmed with texts from the all-knowing narrator). The conclusion of the story and what the narrator also tells about himself, gives you clues about the character Hoid without revealing anything in and of itself. Which is what Brandon wanted, as he states so in his last words.
The short chapters make this an easy to read Sanderson and a book you can get to when you only have a few minutes.
At some points in the book Brandon tries to be like Terry Pratchett, which don't work out for me. The rest of the story reads sometimes like a fairy tale, sometimes like YA (which is most dominant), although lucky for us, it doesn't have the love triangle most favoured in that genre.
The seas he describes on Tress' world seem beautiful to the eye, dangerous to sail, and I don't think I would like to be a sailor on this world.
1
Reageer op deze recensie
Meer recensies van EricWijnen
Gesponsord
Wanneer een bekende influencer wordt ontvoerd is het aan herstellend criminoloog Jackie Laurijssen de taak om haar veilig terug te halen. Schrijf je nu in voor de Hebban Leesclub.
