The opening sentence of Chapter Twelve of SM Stirling's On The Oceans Of Eternity informs us that Tarmendtal enjoys trading, taking tribute and showing the flag. Thus, this is his pov. The second sentence continues that it was a relief to be in open prairie. This is still Tarmendtal's pov. However, an aside informs us that the prairie is:
"... - what another history would have come to call the Sacramento Valley -..." (p. 250)
This is background information provided by the omniscient narrator from outside Tarmendtal's pov. An exercise for a writer would be to find a way to convey this information without stepping outside the viewpoint character's pov. In Doctor Mirabilis, James Blish resorted to an afterword to inform us that, in one scene, Roger Bacon had had an experience with what we call "ether."
On The Oceans Of Eternity keeps us in suspense by frequently changing its pov.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think one way of having Tarmendtal know he was in would have been called the Sacramento Valley is to have him thinking and remembering about that from the Nantucketer books and maps obtained by King Isketerol.
Sean
Sean,
Yes. We could make it an exercise to think of maybe six different ways?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Hmmm, when we first see Tarmental Stirling could have included this in his toughts: "A real pleasure to be out of the Hidden Fort and traveling thru what the cursed Nantucketers call the Sacramento Valley."
Sean
I meant THOUGHTS, not "toughts". Drat!
Sean
Sean,
Another way is not to tell us that this is the Sacramento Valley in this passage but, as soon as the pov switches to Peter Giernas waiting in ambush, have him think it. In fact, Giernas' pov does refer to "Feather River" on p. 254.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That would have been another way of doing it. In fact the Nantucketers, at least for the Western Hemisphere, seem to have unimaginatively kept the old names.
Sean
I was experimenting in OCEANS. It worked, usually. With p.o.v. shifts, you have to develop a sense of what will jar and what won't, which is tricky, since your mind tends to hear an ideal reading. Having a writer's group helps, because then you get an outside perspective.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Understood. And I hope the discussions on this blog about Poul Anderson's works and yours has been of some interest and value to you. In this case, it might have been better if one of the Tartessians or Peter Giernas had been thinking about the Sacramento Valley, instead of using the omniscient narrator method.
Sean M. Brooks
Yes, I agree. 3rd-person omniscient is sort of too easy at times.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I don't think you make this mistake too often, however. And there are times when the 3rd person omniscient narrator technique is properly used.
Sean
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