Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (a review)

Tress of the Emerald Sea audiobook with Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (Secret Projects #1)

Published: January 9, 2023 by Dragonsteel Entertainment

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Format: Audiobook narrated by Michael Kramer

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Bookshop | Libro fm | Dragonsteel

Book Description

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

Note from Brandon:

I started writing this in secret, as a novel just for my wife. She urged me to share it with the world—and alongside three other secret novels, with the support of readers worldwide it grew into the biggest Kickstarter campaign of all time. I’m excited to present this first book to you at last: a different type of Brandon Sanderson story, one I wrote when there were no time constraints, no expectations, and no limits on my imagination. Come be part of the magic.

Some people may disagree, but I believe that Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is the perfect novel by Sanderson to start with if you're not a big fantasy reader. I may be biased since Tress was my first book by Sanderson, but if you're like me, the idea of starting with any of Sanderson's series feels daunting. I mean, have you seen the size of his books?!? Starting with a standalone is the perfect way to dip your toes into the pool of Sanderson.

Tress of the Emerald Sea is what I'd consider to be cozy fantasy. Yes, Tress, the main character, encounters many life or death situations as she goes on her journey to save Charlie, her love interest, but the physical violence in the story is very minimal. In fact, the most threatening thing in Tress of the Emerald Sea are the seas themselves.

The spores filled the world’s oceans, creating vast seas not of water, but of alien dust. Ships sailed that dust like ships sail water here, and you should not find that so unusual. How many other planets have you visited? Perhaps they all sail oceans of pollen, and your home is the freakish one.

From Tress of the Emerald Sea, Chapter 1

The seas are in fact the most interesting thing of the entire story to me. I found the world that Sanderson created to be absolutely fascinating, and I loved the idea of a deadly spore ocean where different colored spores could kill you in different ways as they encountered water. (And also be useful in different ways.) It surely didn’t help that (most of) the characters were human and needed water to live. Also, it still rains on Tress's planet.

I enjoyed the rag-tag crew on the pirate ship that end up becoming Tress's found family, and I loved how Tress tackled every problem that she encountered. It was a very enjoyable plot. There were many laugh-out-loud moments for me as well.

And if Crow had a nightmare, it was standing before her now. In the form of a small shivering girl who had somehow earned the love that Crow had never known.

From Tress of the Emerald Sea, Chapter 48

I will say, however, that the narrative style isn't for everyone. Hoid, one of the crew on the ship, is the narrator. (I'm also told that he appears in other books by Sanderson.) The story is written in a way where Hoid is telling you a story. So the narrator often brakes the fourth wall and speaks to the reader. It's a narrative style that took some getting used to for me, but ultimately, it worked very well in the audiobook format. Michael Kramer did a fabulous job narrating as Hoid. If you have some difficulty getting into Tress of the Emerald Sea because of the narrative style, I highly recommend giving the audiobook a try.

Now, you might say to me, “Hoid, this entire story has shown me the opposite. Lem’s family is always scrimping to survive.” And I would reply, “Please stop interrupting.”

From Tress of the Emerald Sea, Chapter 7

So overall, I found Tress of the Emerald Sea to be a nice, low stakes fantasy read. Obviously, fans of Sanderson will devour this book, but if you're new to the fantasy genre and want to give it a try, I highly recommend Tress of the Emerald Sea. It's also a wonderful read if you're looking for something light hearted.

Have you read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson? & If you're a Sanderson fan, do you recommend starting with Mistborn or Stormlight Archives?