Title: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Collection: Hoid’s Travails #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 443
Published: 2023, Tor Books (originally published 2013)
My Grade: 5 out of 5
Review Summary: A charming, fairy-tale-style Cosmere palate cleanser with a witty Hoid narration, fantastic characters, and a thrilling Sanderlanche ending.

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

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?

MY REVIEW

I am still trying to digest the heavy Stormlight Archive and even after having read both Warbreaker and now Tress since, I still struggle to leave Stormlight. But I have to admit that Tress was so different yet still so familiar. Having spent a lot of time with him on Roshar, I very quickly recognised Hoid’s quirky voice in the storytelling. And on top of him being quirky, he is also cursed which makes it extra funny when he talks about himself.

It is not all fun and games though, when things are actually happening in the story, the writing goes back to normality. But it was such a fresh experience reading Sanderson’s epic story, but a slightly different tone.

It was a great palate cleanser and I 100% agree that he managed to capture the type of fairy-tale story that he intended. This was originally written in secret, just for his wife, but I am so glad we all got to enjoy the Princess Bride inspired story.

There were plot twists at the end, the normal Sanderlanche, and most definitely the introduction to another era in the Cosmere which includes space travel which hasn’t really been touched on at a commercial scale just yet.

Such a lovely story. Tress is absolutely amazing and definitely has some type of functional variety going on. I would love to see where she goes next. 5 out of 5! More from the planet of Lumar, please!