Too Much Exposition

Since I’ve been trying to read more books than I usually do, I have the tendency to not really research very much before starting.

So this week, I started reading a book from an author whose books I’ve read and loved before. I started reading, and then kept reading, hoping that at some point, the story would make sense. I actually dreaded reading, because I felt like I saw the words on the page, but it really meant nothing to me. I wanted to care about the characters, but they did nothing. There was no growth. I got halfway through the book and still, nothing happened.

I was talking to one of my coworkers about this book, and he’d actually read the entire series. What he said actually floored me.

It gets better. Just wait until you get to the second book, that’s when the story really starts.

Really? An entire book just to introduce the characters and the setting? Apparently, that’s what the story was. No plot, no real advancement. Just… exposition in story format.

I stopped reading because I felt cheated. Whenever I start reading a story, I expect the author to meet certain expectations, and plot is definitely one of them. I’m a little more stubborn than most, I don’t toss them aside after a chapter or two. I keep hoping for it to get better.

Often, it does. This was one of the few times it didn’t.

Have any of you come across this? Were you start a book, and no matter how much you read, there’s still nothing that actually advances the story?