Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Brandon Sanderson Book Review
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A brand new standalone novel from Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea is one of the secret novels written during the pandemic, containing all of Sanderson’s characteristic flair.
Introducing Tress of the Emerald Sea
Spoiler Free Review!
No Spoilers Here
One of four secret projects written by bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, prolific author of epic fantasy, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tress of the Emerald Sea is a much more self-contained novel than most of his other works. But that doesn’t mean it’s missing any of Sanderson’s fresh ideas or his masterful approach to crafting unique settings with interesting magic.
And nor is it disconnected from Sanderson canon, as it’s an integral part of the Cosmere universe shared by most of Sanderson’s adult fantasy books and contains many references to the wider Cosmere universe – including series stalwart, Hoid. But that shouldn’t put anyone off as Tress of the Emerald Sea is a standalone novel easily able to be enjoyed by long time Sanderson fans or new arrivals to his work.
Tress of the Emerald Sea was conceived as a sort of fairytale, and written similarly to The Princess Bride, giving it a unique feel amongst Sanderson’s other stories sure to appeal to fans of The Princess Bride. But make no mistake: Tress of the Emerald Sea has all of Brandon Sanderson’s appealing characters, engrossing worldbuilding, and unique settings all wrapped up into the skin of a whimsical fantasy adventure.
We meet our heroine, Tress of the Emerald Sea (also known as Glorf), as she goes about her simple life as an ordinary girl living in her island home on the fantastical Emerald Sea, an emerald green ocean, one of many deadly spore oceans where pirates abound – but pirates are the least of her worries, since contact with spores can mean instant death.
The only life Tress knows, Sanderson is keen to point out, is a simple life lived entirely on one small island with little in the way of intrigue except her friend Charlie, who just so happens to be the son of the island’s Duke. Aside from her friend Charlie, the most exciting part of life for Tress is collecting cups brought to the island from faraway lands, which is a neat little clue that Tress longs for something more, something new.
And of course, disaster strikes as Charlie departs the island never to return, and which makes Tress leave her simple pleasures and her island home for a new life out on the Emerald Sea. And in a way this is a tragedy for Tress and for her family, but it kicks off a classic Brandon Sanderson story with all his usual flair where Tress takes her own place sailing the Emerald Sea, and even the deadly Midnight Sea in a quest to save Charlie from the Sorceress.
Spoiler Free Verdict
Tress of the Emerald Sea is well worth a read whether for fans of Sanderson’s other work or new readers looking for something different. Tress has a great blend of references for long-time fans while also being enjoyable on its own merit and has more than earned its own place in the Brandon Sanderson canon.
Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea Review
Review with spoilers!
Spoilers for Tress of the Emerald Sea follow!
Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson puts out book after book seemingly without end, but where he doesn’t lack is his consistent quality. Whether writing about flawed superheroes in his non-Cosmere works, strange alien crabs in the Stormlight Archive, or indeed Tress of the Emerald Sea and her unique spore oceans, Sanderson’s fans can expect to receive the same high quality each time.
Even on a book with as many differences from his usual work as Tress of the Emerald Sea. The framing as a story told by Hoid gives it the feel of The Princess Bride. I have to admit, when I picked up Tress of the Emerald Sea for the first time the change in style did a little to put me off, but I soon got over the difference from his other stories and enjoyed it just the same. Secret novels
Tress of the Emerald Sea was a book I read in a single sitting. In part this was because it was shorter than a lot of Sanderson’s other works, but it was mostly because, in true Brandon Sanderson style, it was a real page turner. An exciting look at a strange new world as unique as Roshar from the Stormlight Archive but completely different in tone and aesthetic.
From the emerald green ocean of the Emerald Sea to the deadly Midnight Sea and its Midnight Essence ruled by the fearsome Sorceress, I was hooked. Plucked from the only life Tress knew, our heroine proves herself capable of survival in a land where pirates abound and a single drop of water can spell instant death.
Which, okay, of course she does: this is a fantasy adventure novel after all, and the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought from faraway lands doesn’t quite fit the kind of story being told. But Tress is an interesting heroine because she’s thoughtful and pays attention – a surprisingly rare talent in many fantasy worlds. Where others react and assume, Tress decides, and this proves to be a very useful skill when disaster strikes time and time again in her quest to save Charlie from the clutches of the Sorceress.
No Sanderson book would be complete without an interesting and compelling magic system, of course, and here Tress excels. Forced by circumstance, Tress becomes the ‘Sprouter’ of a pirate ship, the only person on the ship comfortable with handling the deadly spores which make up the spore oceans where pirates and merchants alike travel. This is a dangerous occupation as it requires working intimately with the deadly spores making up Lumar’s oceans, and even a single drop can prove lethal.
But of course, Tress proves a capable Sprouter, as is fitting of the heroine in such a story. Using her newfound powers, Tress discovers secrets and managed to get herself into just the right places at the right time to succeed in her quest to save Charlie from the Sorceress.
The bones of the story itself are nothing special, being of a genre of stories told many times throughout the ages in different ways. But the trappings of Sanderson’s Cosmere universe along with the author’s unique approach to worldbuilding and storytelling makes Tress of the Emerald Sea stand out.
Near to the start of her journey Tress makes friends with a talking rat by the name of Huck. It becomes quite clear during the course of the story that, aside from being a talking rat, Huck is an unusual little fellow with a far bigger role than it first appears.
The ‘twist’ of the story being that Huck is in fact a cursed Charlie is telegraphed at many points throughout to the point that it didn’t feel like a surprise at all when it was finally ‘revealed’. But that doesn’t matter, since the fairytale framing of the story allows for such things, and it was enough of a surprise for Tress herself that even though it was telegraphed to the reader, for me it still hit right.
With the aim of appealing to fans of the Princess Bride, Tress was a bit of a departure from Sanderson’s norm and the stories told in his usual style. But it wove Cosmere universe lore into the narrative masterfully, providing many interesting hooks for long-time fans.
I enjoyed the presence of Kandra, the enigmatic beings from the Mistborn saga, while getting to meet a Sandersonian dragon was a real treat. And the Sorceress herself, who is an Elantrian from Sanderson’s Elantris novel.
Verdict
Well worth the read, especially for fans of the Cosmere universe shared by Sanderson’s many novels. This is a meaty entry for Cosmere fans despite its relatively short length, while it also offers a lot of new readers too.
