Tress of the Emerald Sea

Brandon Sanderson is incredible!!

I loved this book!

It starts out a little slow, like a lot of his novels, but it starts getting really good.

It gives me The Princess Bride vibes, except Tress is capable, courageous, intelligent, and a totally tough girl.

Of course, it doesn't start out that way.

She begins as a totally normal girl, living on an island in the middle of a sea of spores called the Verdant Sea.

Also, I have to take a moment to highlight his world building skills.

What?

A fluidized sea of spores? It's brilliant!!

If you don't know what fluidization is, it's brilliant.

Basically, you can make a bucket of sand become like a fluid if you blow air up through the bottom of the bucket.

I told you, it's genius.

Not only are they just spores, they grow into deadly substances when water hits them.

Not only do they grow into deadly substances, there are multiple types of these substances.

I can't even get over how brilliant Brandon Sanderson is.

That is the reason he is one of my favorite fantasy authors.

This is one of his Cosmere novels.

It is told in the perspective of witty, hilarious Hoid (who if you don't know him, you need to read more Brandon Sanderson). Hoid is so brilliant as he tells this story, but not so in the actual narrative.

In fact, it is hilarious how stupid he is in the actual story.

I know this doesn't make sense, but as his role in the story, he is profoundly stupid, but in telling the story, he's brilliant.

I hope that's a bit clearer.

But anyway, back to Tress.

Tress feels as if she is ordinary. And, in fact, at the beginning of the book, she is pretty ordinary.

She is in love with the Lord's son. And he loves her back.

But then his father sees them together and decides it is time for his son to get married.

Well, Charlie (the son) promises not to marry anyone for Tress.

And so he intentionally ruins all his courtships.

It works for a bit at the start, but then his father catches on to what he is doing and sends him into the Midnight Sea, the most dangerous of the spore seas, as a ransom to the Sorceress, and returns with a nephew as his soon to be married heir.

Tress is distraught, and when she discovers what happened to Charlie, she stows away on a ship, vowing to save her love.

But then... a pirate ship blows hers up.

And Tress is forced to join them, wondering how she is ever going to save Charlie.

I have to make a note here; if you have ever read Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archives, then you should be prepared for an entirely different tone than he employs in The Stormlight Archives.

I mean, it's written from Hoid's perspective. What can you expect?

I have to say, writing it from Hoid's perspective was another stroke of genius.

Hoid has an entirely different tone than Brandon Sanderson. It was so brilliant that he was able to write in an entirely different voice.

So, coming to you from Brandon Sanderson is a beautiful, brilliant tale of love, strength, self-discovery, and loyalty, told in the perspective of the hilarious, genius Hoid.

I am rating this 5/5 stars. It was an incredible tale, and if you read nothing else this summer, read this.

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