Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first of Sanderson's "Secret Project"- a set of four novels written during the height of the covid pandemic and being independently published. As a Sanderson fan I had to sign up for them since I knew they would be fun reads and indeed the first hasn't disappointed. Plus as a Cosmere novel it connects to his grander universe. I look forward to seeing what the other 3 will be.

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?

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

This was a fun Sanderson novel. It has a fairly simple premise, but in typical Sanderson fashion it quickly spirals into some very cool moments and, as a Cosmere novel, offers some tantalizing information for those curious about the great web connecting many of his novels. Character-wise I liked Tress, but felt that she became a tad generic in spite of her strong introduction. I liked the illustrations, though my kindle showed them only in greyscale.

Plot

The plot of this book is fairly straightforward, though it takes some interesting turns. The chief premise is a bit of a damsel-in-distress rescue mission. I don't want to spoil any of the major events, so I'll just say that it moves quite fast throwing ever greater challenges to Tress and her friends.

Characters

Central to the story is Tress. She starts off as a small town simple girl and initially gave me some Auri vibes with her unusual fascination on cups (from Rothfuss's Name of the Wind); however, she quickly grows to a more standard Sanderson heroine- an adventuring scholar. While she's great, it does seem Sanderson gravitates to that archetype very often so I felt she lost a bit of personality when leaning heavily into that. 

In addition to Tress we also have Huck, a talking rat; a bunch of pirates including Fort, Ann, and Salay; and of course- Hoid. This is a Cosmere novel so Hoid is present and up to something.

Setting / World Building

Like a lot of Sanderson's novels, exploring the setting is an integral part of the experience. Tress lives in a weird world with several moons hovering in the sky and raining down spores. These spores form the seas in which boats navigate but are dangerous in their own right. The spores activate in the presence of actual water and can have devastating effects. This however, makes things very interesting as you can start piecing together how to solve problems by using the right combinations of spores. We don't get to see all of the world, but enough to give us a taste for what is possible there.

This is a Cosmere novel, which means it is in the same grand universe as other novels and series like Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, or The Stormlight Archive. If you've read some of those, you may encounter some brief moments where a character or concept from those is mentioned in passing. One aspect I'm not 100% sure off, however, is the timeline between all of them. Naturally, Hoid can't be everywhere at once but some aspects of technology and presumably major story events have already taken place in these other worlds. Regardless, this isn't important to enjoy the story, but it gives an extra depth for those who are Sanderson fans.

Final Thoughts

This was a really fun, short novel. A bit of a romantic adventure, but with classic Sanderson world-building and quirky characters. You can certainly see some of the covid influences, from the fear of airborne spores to tablet communication devices. The plot is straightforward and told in an interesting style with a whimsical narrator that talks to the reader and frequently drops fascinating Cosmere links or foreshadows story events. Overall this was a good book and a great start to the year of Sanderson.