Tress of the Emerald Sea: Episode 1 of 5 - Brandon's Book Club
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- Опубликовано: 1 мар 2023
- In this first episode of Brandon's Book Club, five guests dive into Secret Project 1: Tress of the Emerald Sea Parts 1-3. Guest Host, Merphy Napier, explores the inspiration behind the story and unique style of narration with @ChaoticForager, @ADHD_Projects, @Bookborn, and Lynn Buchanan.
As we're transported to a whimsical world of deadly spores and talking animals, each guest shares their initial thoughts on the book and what stood out to them. Throughout the episode, they share their excitement at reading from Hoid's voice. They go on to debate their favorite quirks of Glorf, and reflect on how her character grows over the first 150 pages.
We invite you to join us for all five episodes as we continue to discover the wonders of this magical realm, and how it ties into the Cosmere.
Get your Print, Ebook, & Audiobook Bundle at Dragonsteel books: bit.ly/Tresspreorder
Join the conversation at / sanderson
MEET YOUR FELLOW BOOK CLUB GUESTS
@merphynapier42 / @merphynapier42
Merphy Napier makes videos about books and manga on RUclips as well as discussions and reviews on what she’s reading @merphynapier42 and @merphynapierreviews / @merphynapierreviews
@lynnbwrites www.lynnbwrites.com/
Lynn Buchanan is a fantasy writer based in the foothills of some impressive, chilly mountains in Utah. Her debut fantasy novel, THE DOLLMAKERS, is set to come out Summer 2024 from HarperVoyager.
@chaoticforager www.tiktok.com/@chaoticforage...
Chaotic Forager is a mycologist who creates science-based foraging education content focused on mycology and holistic ecosystem awareness with a special focus on sustainable harvest.
@ADHD_projects / adhd_projects
ADHD_projects specializes in content related to the Cosmere, 3D printing, and flat earth debunking.
@Bookborn www.youtube.com/@Bookborn/fea...
Bookborn is a RUclipsr known for her in-depth fantasy book discussions and deep dives into fandom topics. As a Sanderson fan for over a decade, her favorite thing to look for is Cosmere connections.
You can check out our other Tress-related releases here:
The Year of Sanderson Starts Now!: • The Year of Sanderson ...
The Science of Magic (With Mark Rober): • The Science of Magic: ...
The Voices of the Cosmere (With Micheal Kramer and Kate Reading): • The Voices of the Cosm... 
Развлечения
Thank you for having me on for this! I loved working on this project and getting to gush about this book!
It's so cool that you got to be on this!
Merphy please read the promised neverland and my hero academia...
You did great in this Merphy!
Omg haha. Love it ❤
You did a great job moderating this conversation! Can't wait for more
I loved the Dougs but the nice touch with it too was when one of them died and Hoid told you his name and a bit about him. It was just this oh shit yeah that random guy we all overlooked because you told us to, he was a person and an interesting person and he died here. I just loved that sort of acknowledgement that all the Dougs are real too.
I had a fine line to walk with things like the Dougs. It was a funny joke, and made for easier storytelling. But good stories are about characters you care about. So if I dehumanized the Dougs too far, it makes light of the most important part of a story. This was an example of Hoid trying hard to find that balance.
@@BrandSanderson yeah I can see how that's a tough balance to find. But I liked when hoid did humanize them there as that really hit the right balance for me.
@@BrandSanderson with how the Dougs were presented, I felt far more for the Doug who passed because of the contrast between Hoid’s usual way of talking about them and the sudden graphic humanization.
It was a very Fight Club "His name is Robert Paulson" moment for me.
His name was Robert Paulson!
"I've looked and I wasn't able to find another talking animal in the cosmere."
TenSoon: Am I a joke to you?
Not a literal animal though 😂 TenSoon is as much an animal as a certain Doctor in this book
😂😂😂❤
Honestly, one of my favorite, utterly hilarious, lines happens in this beginning section.
"[...] with a jaw so straight, he made other men question if they were."
I was laughing so loud I scared my cat 😂
My favorite line from the beginning was when he went, "they were so good at being unique.. they did it together." 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m a fan of “there had been a tree on the property once, but it had done the sensible thing and died a few years earlier.”
It didn’t seem very Sanderson and made me love it even more 😂
I am reading a spanish translation of the book and I am now mourning the fact that this joke is not translatable into spanish
See, i was perfectly fine with the talking rat. I was just like oh this is new. Let's see where he takes this. And i was happy with the outcome.
So yeah, I was a fan of Huck from the beginning.
In fact, a t-shirt of Tress with Huck on her shoulder would be cool.
I second the t-shirt idea!
This was a great time! I hope to discuss Tress with you all - I loved it so much and can't wait to see what you think.
i can't believe you were in this too, its so nice
surprised and glad to see you here, love your videos
Just found your channel a few weeks ago and binged all your videos. So cool to see you a part of this!
Thanks for the love everyone 🥰
Love this! And love seeing you there 🤩
I love how this conversation ebbs and flows. Such an undulating discussion!
😂😂😂
@@merphynapier42 he said a No no word 😂
Waxes and waynes
Uuuuundulate.
@@BrandSandersonlove that google translates that to "You will Innovate."
One of my all time favorite ship adventure stories is Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so a talking rat felt very natural in this story. Plus I always loved Reepicheep.
I was quite taken with the fact that Brandon wrote this book for his wife. I especially loved the description of Tress and Charlie's early love story in this context. Just as Tress was the only one who loved to listen to Charlie's never-ending stories, Brandon's wife must be a truly special glove for him!
When I saw the talking animal I was like "oh cool, now we have talking animals in the Cosmere, nice!!" 😂 i was totally open to whatever Sanderson threw at me
tensoon has always existed
“Just because you’re grounded doesn’t mean you’re boring.” Definitely feel this!
From the setup "It was about gloves" to the payoff "You're my gloves too" had me tearing up the first time. My favorite moment in the first 3 parts. It was just so fitting (pun intended) for Tress being a very pragmatic character and yet so incredibly endearing at the same time. Such an intimate way of expressing such big and often hard to process emotions.
Honestly can't say I had a least favorite moment. Huck was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
Great job all. My favourite chapter is the Father. When Hoid tells us Len is rich even though it is clear he is very poor. Then he redefines rich. No man it's poor who has friends. The chapter it's such brilliant character development in such a short space. If feels like an entire short story to me.
No problems with the rat as it was so clearly a fairy tale. Indeed just immersed me more in the story and inn the puzzle he's immediately represented.
Loved the love story. I feel it more closely represents maybe Sanderson's own experience than most. Totally wanted it to work. Loved how it was more about commitment and comfort than anything else.
Loved the fairy tale vibe from narrator to talking rat, from hidden Prince to supposed DARK sorceress, from princess Bride to Howls Moving Castle... I see you Sanderson.
I really haven't talked enough about Howl's Moving Castle as a partial inspiration for this. Tress channels Sophie quite often in the book.
@@BrandSanderson Yes and the only reason I saw the Huck twist was that the plot from Castle in the Sky caught me SO off guard it made me think... could it be could it... Surprising yet... inevitable. Hugely appreciate you taking the time to reply to me. Your tireless interaction reminds me of when you had the time to realistically stay at a book store until everyone had their book signed even if you were in the parking lot by the end. Thank you.
Never minded the “earthy” feeling since Hoid is telling US the story and he tailors his story to his audience 😊
Actually, from a few things Hoid says, it seems like he’s telling the story to someone on First of the Sun from Sanderson’s short story, Sixth of the Dusk
Well that was just delightful. I absolutely adored Tress, so it was lovely hearing a bunch of Sanderfans put some of those feelings to words.
I will say, as much as I loved the scene over the spores, I'm amazed that the "first class fathering" didn't at least get an honorable mention. I REALLY wish more fantasy characters had parents willing to take a leap of faith on their kids.
They discuss her parents starting around 26:30 and they reference this moment at 28:00.
He's just surprised if didn't make it into anyone's favourite scene/part when they went round.
The Father is my favourite chapter in the whole book
Agree. The dad going out and being able to harness goodwill earned over a lifetime in the town to help his daughter do something dangerous/scary/crazy because he trusted her judgement completely was excellent. And a great way to quickly establish/support their family dynamic.
One of the liberating things about Hoid's voice was the ability to slip in and out of omniscient viewpoint when I needed it. Which made scenes like the advanced fathering one feel more natural to write. It stands out less than it might if I jumped to a single, one-off viewpoint in another book.
Having not read any Sanderson prior to this, I was not taken aback by the talking rat… I was pleasantly surprised!
I'm such a Sanderson junkie. So I was pretty shocked when I finished this book and thought "This might be my favorite Sanderson story." I feel like the way it was released took us all off guard because this is really an amazing book.
Yay! I had such a great time participating in this--thanks everyone for watching/commenting! :D
Great job out there!
As a story/author hoarder, looking forward to checking out your upcoming book. Does it have a curly haired girl and talking rats, or am I way off
Thank you! :D No curly-haired girl or talking rats in this particular book--just magical dolls, freaky monsters, and more than a few spiders XD I do have another book planned with a curly-haired heroine, though---gotta get some fantasy books out there with curly-haired people not brushing their hair when it's dry, after all ;)
This was such a fun watch! I finished Tress weeks ago, but I think I'm going to have to go back and reread it because of all the comments made. I too was distracted by the brushing of curly hair, but on the cover, she has wavy hair, so I figured it was more kinky than curly. The rat never bothered me, but that's probably due to growing up with Disney. I thought it was actually funny that she had a rat instead of a more "loveable" animal companion.
My favorite moment of the first three chapters was actually when Tress' father went out to get help for her. The way that whole scene was described and the ways in which it revealed this family has helped their own community made me fall in love with the story. I knew I was going to like the book, but that's the moment when I knew it would stand the test of time.
That was one of my very favorite parts too. I love how the book highlights different strengths and him asking for help in that way was such a good representation of fatherly love
I'm right there with you all. Warbreaker is NOW my second favorite Sanderson book. Tress is now my favorite Sanderson book and favorite book of all time.
Lol I loved the talking rat! Since it fit the whimsical tone of the story, I was so totally on board with it ⛵
Same! I’d also say that there have been other animals that could clearly communicate such as in Sixth of the Dusk and other entities like Kandra, Seons and Spren.
Absolutely! I was yelling NO DON'T BRUSH THE CURLS!
I don’t get the whole idea of the rat being so far out, as in well of ascension we already saw a talking dog. Granted that was a Kandra, but with that I figured there would be some good explanation. Also I just have to say I love the slight foreshadowing you get with Huck with him calling it the rock
I think the talking dog was more explained so it didn’t feel like a straight up talking animal? Idk just postulating, I’m not sure why it took as all aback so much 😂
Is it really spelled Kandra? I was sure that was wrong until I thought a little more and realized that I may only ever have listened to the audiobooks for anything Mistborn. (I had somehow gotten in mind that it was spelled 'Condra', possibly just because starting it with con seemed fitting for creatures who always follow a contract.)
Same. I figured we'd get an explanation, even if it was just "there are more sentient species than just dragons and humans." Also I didn't really "get" Warbreaker or even like it, so if there's something I don't understand, I can easily write it off as something with Breath.
@@hkpew I have the absolute opposite problem as you - I only read physical and so my pronunciations are simply dreadful. I won't judge your spelling if you don't just how I say them 😂
My response to everyone having issues with the talking rat is the following:
Talking dog Tensoon
Talking sword Nightblood
Talking embodiments of ideas in spren.
Talking balls of light in Aons.
There has even been a major scene with a TALKING STICK!
Sanderson definitely plays with the "talking something that doesn't usually talk" trope. He just presents the how's and the why's so well that we don't see it as a trope.
On the Doug front, I love that Doug refers to both males and females. Also favorite part is when Tress realizes it's okay to ask for help!
So, my own takes on these:
1) Did I believe in the romance at first? Yes. In-narrative, because Tress knew all of Charlie's smiles. She doesn't know 'smiles in general', but specifically Charlie's. That told me that she, at least, cared. (Out-of-narrative, it would have been very weird for Sanderson to write a book to his wife, put a romance in it, and then not have the romance work out.)
2) Favorite moment: The sprouter using the box on the first ship. Just.. the harnessing of deadly objects for practical purposes is amazing.
3) Least favorite moment: The revelation of the broken cup. That hit _hard_.
I _cannot wait_ for the Cosmere talk. :)
I’ve been so excited for this to come out!! I hope y’all like it!
@@TheIzaya100 Only Dragonsteel, I'm afraid. Pretty sure about that - this is something Brandon said a few times, I think.
@@TheIzaya100 I don’t work for dragonsteel nor speak for the brand or the company. BUT I believe the gold foil will only be through dragonsteel
So awesome!!!!!!
@@GoPayneGo thanks!!
@@TheIzaya100 It's only through Dragonsteel!
whimsy. whimsy. whimsy. whimsy. The fact this word has been used so much these last few years in awesome. excited for secret history 2. We are all in for a treat. Whimsey is a better story than we know.
For a while I thought that all the shards were name dropped but he missed a few.
How did the “3 pie problem” quote not show up in this discussion? 😂 That was the best.
Definitely a Sherlock Holmes reference as well!
What an amazing conversation! Merphy did a great job facilitating, and I found everyone’s comments so interesting! Best books, best readers 🥰
Thank you so much!!
She really did a good job! Especially working off our personal strengths! Such a great conversation!
seriously, it’s easy to see why Merphy is so beloved in this community. Can confirm she’s as whip-smart and kind as you think she is.
I’m SO happy the brushing of dry curls was addressed!!! I swear I felt my hair start to frizz as I read that part.
It was fun to watch the discussion, looking forward to the next video 😊
I loved this book club, it made me feel so inside of the talk and satisfied my necessity to talk about the book. I love that Sanderson do this things for the community, just the best writer.
Nausicaa is exactly what I thought of with the spores.
So I read Tress late because I waited to get the hard cover book (so glad I did, such a stunning book) and I live overseas and then on top of that I have a baby so not a lot of reading time, but once I had a quiet moment to start I read the whole thing in 2 days. My husband had to take over with my son so I could keep reading 😅.
Overall I loved this book. I really liked Tress's practical nature and as you all mentioned I loved how confident she was right away. I absolutely adored how her parents handled her wanting to go after Charlie. Her parents helping her plan was such a standout point in the book for me. The magic system is also super cool.
Oddly I didn't like her cup obsession at first. I found it kind of manic pixie dream girl-esque at first. Oh look, this main character is interesting, she collects cups isn't that odd! But once we saw her going to Charlie for stories and it was clearly a way for her to let him talk the way he likes to (I love to talk so this was super sweet to me). And also how he was sending her cups from each place he went, it started to grow on me more. Also since her general personality didn't fall into the trope I felt better about it.
I'm still waiting for the limited edition hardback copy of this book that I ordered to arrive before I can start watching these.
Edit: I finally got it. Thank you so much Brandon for the transparency about these issues.
I loved Tress of the Emerald Sea! Empathy is a real super power❤
I *love* this! It makes me feel more involved with the larger community and helps me parcel out the new book which I would have otherwise devoured.
Charlie being there was convenient. “Doug” as a name seemed like going for the joke rather then realism, but the joke was funny. It also gives a new dynamic to the story when Hood says he actually knew ALL of their names and gives the story of the sailor who died. That! Was worth the set up of “Doug”s.
This set is beautiful omg
It really was! They did such a great job getting the Tress aesthetic
I want this for all the books! There are many things that I love about this! love that they filmed this early so we could have it so early after the release. Love the fact they filmed this in the Ammonite club, such a good space for thinking creatively! Love that these creators get some exposure!
Even before it was confirmed to be Hoid telling the story I remember stopping the book, looking up at my wife and saying "Oh my god, This is Hoid telling the story!" The ability to write in a tone of voice is something magical to see happen.
Reading this book was like reading all my girlhood dreams put to the page. Thank you for that.
The only Brandon Sanderson novel I've read is Elantris, his first published book from what I understand. As I have recently gotten into his podcast, I figured I'd try his other work. And this new YT book club has convinced me to start with the most recent publication.
Looking forward to reading *Tess of the Emerald Sea* and to following along with these discussions!
It really is a great one to get back into his writings with
I loved this book and it is now my all time favourite. The interactions between Tress and Charlie start of the book reminded me so much of my SO, I just had to share it with her. The next day I went on a road trip with the family and we put the audiobook on for the drive and it was just lovely.
Dad wants to know if it's possible to commission a book like this one for mum, since he admits he wouldn't be a great writer himself.
I didn't really have any issues with a talking rat, since I figured it would be explained and it fit with the fairy tale tone.
The third to first person shifting worked really well for me and did a great job of telling us more about Hoid and his voice, but also gave us some really cool story moments.
I loved the advanced fathering scene too. Just fantastic. Particularly with mum and dad in the car.
I can't wait for secret project 2 and I really hope to see another book with this tone from Brandon in the future.
Finally catching up on these books, great discussion!
In defense of the talking rat... This story is being narrated by Hoid (which they point out at the beginning of the video) and Hoid has has non-human entities that talk in his stortelling. A particularly liked the talking dog who wants to be a dragon.
Tress of the Emerald Sea is my first and only non-wheel Sanderson.
BookTube kept eluding it's kinship with all time favorite "The Princess Bride" and its being a one shot, so I gave it a go.
It was love at page one, whimsical reading that had me laugh aloud more than once.
It is ATM Pop's bedtime reader for my almost teen granddaughters. (nearing the end, they love it)
My favorite chapter is an odd choice, because all that happens in it was cooking and talking.. 😅 But I just LOVE cultural worldbuilding, and the Quartermaster's culture was SO INTERESTING! I had to stop "reading"/listening (in true Vorin fashion I had this book read to me,) and pace around my room from how interesting I thought it was..
Maybe I'm weird but the moment I knew I was going to love the book was when Tress sat and listened to Chuck create a story about a cup she brought to him.
And maybe I'm just old, but when the rat introduced himself as Huck I knew who he was immediately.
I loved tress and hope that we get to visit lumar again in the future
I think Lumar may be my favorite Cosmere planet name yet...can't believe we didn't talk about that!
Probably the hardest part to believe of this whole thing is all the hard copies of the book in plain sight 😂
Still haven't received my copy 😭
@@reddeath1427 I don't know that anyone has. As far as I know they've yet to all be delivered to the shipping facility.
@@HSuper_Lee a lot of people have received their physical copies, myself and my friends all received ours at the beginning of February. They have updated fulfillment tracking on their site and a good portion of them have been shipped.
@@venomturtle17 Ah, my mistake then.
💀💀💀
I finally got SP1 yesterday and love it so far. My wife made me put it down and go to sleep at midnight 😂 I know there were hiccups in the process of making and shipping it, but thank you, Brandon & Co, for not lessening the quality. It is a stunning book and box, and I am looking forward to the next 3 books even more now. Thank you for inviting us even further into the Cosmere!
being able to hear a long form story told by Hoid, and one he is a part of, so at times through Hoid, is my new favorite thing. What a wonderfully fun, delightful story. Brandon really knocked it out of the park and I could see this as a really fun anime one off series.
Thanks everybody for putting this together! This is such a stellar companion video to have after reading the book! I haven't read much of the Cosmere yet, but Huck didn't bother me in the least bit. I was all about a little furry friend who could talk! It reminded me a little of Tensoon.
I will absolutely be watching and reading along with this when my copy arrives! :)
I imagined Nausica spores as well. They are light an airy enough to work and large enough you could handle them individually.
I can't believe you all forgot that there is a taking dog in Mistborn! 😄I really didn't think anything of the talking rat, I just assumed that we would get an explanation of how it came to be
I just don't view the Kandra as REALLY being talking dogs! We see Kandra first inhabiting a human...so it felt different! My reasoning probably doesn't make sense! But there it is! 🤣
@Bookborn almost every series has a talking something thag doesn't usually talk. Sanderson is just able to present it in a way that doesn't feel like the trope.
Kandra is a cool explanation but Tensoon is still a talking dog.
Spren are seen basically as animals and Syl speaking coherently is a major plot point.
Nightblood is a taking sword.
Aons are talking balls of light.
There are even psychically communicating birds in 6th of dusk.
Almost every planet has presented a non human object with the ability to speak except for taldain and threnody.
And I just remembered we even got a TALKING STICK!
@@epilef90 I disagree that he's a talking dog, though, because he's not a real dog. Huck is presented a as real rat? Either way, I don't think the problem for most of us was that "something unusual is talking" but rather the rat talking felt almost TOO basic, or too disney, and didn't fit right away. I was at least convinced later! It was only right when he first showed up.
@Bookborn you may not agree that tensoon isn't a talking dog but he is literally a the embodiment of a dog with the ability to talk. I am almost convinced sanderson made this addition to the story as a tongue in cheek way to poke fun at the anthropomorphism that is almost ever present in all fantasy. No tensoon isn't an actual dog but he is able to achieve the exact same thing as an actual talking dog.
And I think the reason you don't think "talking animals" fits into the cosmere is because of how well sanderson fits in he's anthropomorphised character into the story.
Spren, for a lack of a better fit, are essentially another Kingdom in the taxonomic system comparable to animals, fungi, and plants on Roshar. They are creatures that are well known to the inhabitants of the planet and it appears to be as unbelievable to Kaladin that Syl is talking coherently as it would be for Travis to hear Old Yeller speak. The talking spren on Roshar are exactly like the "talking animals" trope. But again sanderson is able to dissuade us from feeling this as tropey because of his skill in making unique creatures and making it make sense.
Again you may feel like a talking rat doesn't fit into the cosmere but I think it fits in perfectly especially with how Sanderson likes to play with tropes and turn them in their head.
@@epilef90 I agree with Bookborn in terms of Kandra != dogs. Kandra can be a talking anything, that doesn't mean that "real dogs" exist that talk in Mistborn.
I do see your point in general, but spren are pure investiture. You can say they're analogs to animals, but they're literally pure magic. The more I think about this the sillier it gets to "argue", if that's what we're doing.
We're basically talking about feelings or metaphors. Which are great things to talk about, but to disagree about them feels silly.
Brandon and team, I love this book so much! Thank you for making it. I cant wait to get my physical copy once they're in!
This was such a treat, y'all. Thanks for joining us!
If I was a fnugologist I also would wear that shirt I love it so much
I honestly missed that Ulaam was a Kandra for the longest time too. I knew something was interesting about him from his description, and his name was ringing bells in my head. It wasn't until he mentioned The Father that I put it all together.
That was great! I definitely will be anticipating those. I've been waiting since January 1st - though I did organize a reading group of my own, so it wasn't all just anticipation.
Anyway, see you next week!
I'm so excited for it to arrive. Ill wait and listen after I've read it :)
I'm convinced that in 5 years' time, this book will be one of the established Great Works Of Literature with many awards and bestseller records. It's so beautiful and funny and insightful.
Great job all. A fun watch!
Love the discussion, especially the different visualizations you each had. As an amateur mycologist it was really cool hearing someone more experienced give her take on how she imagined this unique world. Loads of fun.
I really love the on-theme table decorations.
Bookborn and merphy in one video? Love to see two of my favorite booktubers, one huge, one much smaller, such a great group of people to talk about this
So glad you enjoyed it! We had so much fun!
:) I'll be turning in next week, I'll do a reread before the last one cause it'd a 3 or 4 hour read for me
@@seanhalpin87 I don't know if I read that quickly, but a reread before the final episode does sound like a fun.
@@Aldric524 I read 75-100 pages an hour, but it depends on the book. Tress read super fast
That was so fun, thanks for the discussion!
Fun discussion. I am enjoting the book very much!
Can’t wait til I get my book to go back and watch these!
I need this as a movie with Johnny depp as hoid
I can't wait till my copy of Tress arrives! That way I can read along with y'all.
Yes! It finally came out 🩷
This is so awesome! I wish I could go to Sanderson's library lair to be part of a book club this cool :D. Tress was a fantastic read - can't wait for the other 3 books this year!
I pictured them exactly from naussica as well!
I haven't read Pratchett, but the book reminded me of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide quite a bit, and I loved it!
Oh Murph and Bookborn, yay.
COOL IT WITH THE RAT GUYS
Haha, couldn't help it. But honestly, I was ok with Huck. I think I went into this book and got immediately swept up in the fairy-tale aspect of it, so I read it more as a fairy-tale than a "Cosmere" book...so of course there's a talking rat! I also am oblivious and apparently really dense, since I did not twig to Huck's true nature until it was revealed, so maybe I'm the odd one out haha.
This was a very fun book club discussion, reminded me of my own book club where conversation kinda goes all over the place (curly hair discussion!) but still focuses on the book for the most part. Loved hearing everyone's fav and least fav parts.
Maybe its because I had pet rats as a child, but I was so charmed by Huck the talking rat. A wonderful talking Rat just made the book for me.
We got two rats for my kids in 2020. Ever since, we boo as a family when we see rats depicted in an evil or negative light in movies. Rats are so intelligent and can be very sweet! My kids loved to have them ride around on their shoulders.
I'm only now reading the first secret project and I love the book club so much. I hope this continues for non secret project sanderson books.
So late but this book may just be my favorite work of modern sci-fi/fantasy literature in the past several decades. I only just finished it while on vacation, and I immediately afterward reread the entire thing, annotating the second time around. This was my introduction to the Cosmere and to Sanderson's books in general (my sister gave me her copy after reading it, recommended by a friend, and soon after started Warbreaker, which I plan to read as well.) Adored the Ghibli-esque semi-fairy-tale vibe, with unbelievably lovable characters, logical and fascinating explanations for the mechanics of this world, and just the excellent writing in general. I look forward to reading other Cosmere novels, hoping we get some more of these characters (looking at Ulaam here 😭) and this planet in future projects. Either way, I am delighted with this book, fiercely recommending it to all of my friends, and eagerly anticipating my dive into this world.
Thanks for the new favorite, Sanderson. I foresee myself tearing through your other works and rereading this one time and time again- Much luck on future novels!💙
This is amazing!
Brain automatically went to Reepicheep (sp?), and I loved him as a child, so the rat was good to go from the beginning.
I love the Cosmere Finer Things Club!
Can’t wait for my copy to arrive in the mail!!
One thing that stuck out to me in this book more than most cosmere books was their focus on puns. Clearly sanderson is fully aware that language and communication is important considering he has developed multiple magic systems in the cosmere to handle the communication of ppls from across the cosmere. I think its well understood that even though Sanderson writes these books in English the characters in these books aren't actually speaking English. Their words are just being translated into the language Sanderson is writing in. It is even obvious that Sanderson is aware that puns and idiom ls don't translate well across languages considering his use of color idioms to signal nalthian world hoppers.
This is important because Sanderson sometimes makes puns which are very dependent on which language is being used. Most of these puns happen with Hoid which can be explained away with the idea that he is almost a 4th wall breaking character and may actually know English and knows these puns would be understood in the language these books are written in.
These facts make me curious about several things and how Sanderson explains them.
The first is "how does Sanderson handle those lines with puns in English when translating these books to other languages like Spanish or any other language? Does he try to find comparable puns in those languages to fit into those lines? Or does he translate those lines directly, completely losing the pun but still having Hoid reference the pun in the writing?
Second, how do these scenes work in universe? If Hoid is making a pun in English but is actually speaking Alethi does the pun make sense? Or is he actually making the pun in Alethi and we are getting a comparable pun in English?
And lastly when it is other character in the cosmere making the puns in English how is that explained? For example at one point Tress is speaking Ulaam, Ulaam uses the word "fecund" which tress responds with "I can't use that word" obviously meaning that she thought she heard the work "fuck" which is further proven by the fact that when Ulaam tries to explain the word says it actually has a very similar meaning "capable of producing offspring, fertile".
This focus on English puns is very interesting to me being bilingual and knowing that idioms and puns do not translate well across languages. Also knowing that none of the characters are actually speaking English makes it even more confusing.
That RAFO jumper is so awesome, I need it!!
I made it myself! If you have a cricut...I can tell you how I did it lol
@@Bookborn Unfortunately I do not, but now I want to get one!
Tears of enchantment TToTT
I love this discussion. I'm the only one in my circle of friends who has read Tress, so I very much needed to hear some discussion on it.
I do want to chime in on the talking rat conversation so ***cosmere spoilers***!
I didn't mind the talking rat, because my mind jumped right to Sixth of the Dusk from Arcanum Unbounded. I know the invested birds in that story don't talk, but just knowing there is a planet in the cosmere that focuses on invested animals and how they interact with people made me totally okay with the idea that animals might talk. I was actually excited, thinking the cosmere references were reaching in every direction.
Granted, I was totally wrong, but the talking rat actually excited me. 😂
So my favorite section in this part is actually when Lem traded in all of his accrued “wealth” to get his daughter of the Rock, while I agree that the walking on spore scene was good, her clinging to the moving sip after that was more nail biting.
My least favorite part was the lack of information the Duke gave to the citizens of the rock about his sons “accident” the hey this happened I have a spare lets drink just didn’t settle well with me.
Huck was off putting but inspired from the beginning in my opinion I knew he would be explained eventually and he was and it worked in the world IMO
Such a fun video! Love the idea of the book club. Love Merphy and Bookborn! Can't wait for the rest of the videos.
Hi Alicia! Thanks for watching!
I laughed so hard at the dougs bit that i sent it to several friends who dont read books(why am i the normal one in my group heh) and they also got a kick out of it
I absolutely agree as well that Tress running across the sea was one of the best parts of this chunk of the book. As for Huck, I didn't mind the talking rat at all. It threw me a tiny bit, but I think my immediate reaction was that this was a story Hoid was telling, so of course it has a talking rat in it.
I don't remember which of the panelists commented on this, but I was also completely oblivious to what Ulaam wasn't first. I listen to it as an audiobook and it was either late in the first listening or quite possibly in the second when I realized what he was.
I didn't realize what he was until Hoid mentioned Sazed.
The scenes with Tress’s parents were my favorites in this section. That and Fort.
Wow this was great. The first few minutes I was like "wait where is Brandon?" but this was still fun and very well made even without Brandon being there surely will check out the next part... and some of the other channels.
Brandon specifically didn’t want to be there so that we could be free to share all our opinions - positive or negative! Which I think is a very cool aspect of this book club and helps it feel more authentic!
@@Bookborn Oh good to know, kind of makes sense when you want unfiltered opinions. Thanks for the info
Probably not something you expect to see comments about, but the opening to this video is just GORGEOUS. The set is so cool and the music gave me goosebumps. Kudos!
I wish I knew what the music was. It seems to be from a royalty free catalogue somewhere, but since it's not credited I have no idea what it is or where one would find it.
I thought of the spores as something between powder and sand. It was interesting to hear what others were thinking.
I pictured the spores to be about the size of a pea with a texture and density similar to a volcanic rock so they would be light and brittle while not much larger than grains of sand.
With the talking rat, it’s only in retrospect that I realize how little it initially seems to fit the Cosmere, since it worked so well with the fairy-tale vibe that had been established. Sanderson is so good at introducing new fantastical elements and still having them all seem cohesive, so I never doubted that it would be satisfyingly explained eventually.
I’m big into Cosmere lore so I was excited at something “new” in the cosmere.
Hard agree with your comment
When I read the chapter title I assumed there was a snitch on board… then was pretty shocked when Huck turned out to be an actual rat lol. It was odd but easy to just go with and it wrapped up nicely in the end.
My response to everyone having issues with the talking rat is the following:
Talking dog Tensoon
Talking sword Nightblood
Talking embodiments of ideas in spren.
Talking balls of light in Aons.
There has even been a major scene with a TALKING STICK!
Sanderson definitely plays with the "talking something that doesn't usually talk" trope. He just presents the how's and the why's so well that we don't see it as a trope.
@@epilef90 Tensoon wasn’t a dog. Aeons were technology… like floating iPhones.
Just finished the book a few days ago! This is gonna be so cool
I want to like this but seeing all those books makes me so mad I don't have mine yet. lol
Awesome discussion.