If you’ve ever thought to yourself: “You know what I have a distinct lack of in my life? Fantasy books about pirates. But not just pirates. Pirates sailing on a series of oceans of increasingly dangerous spores instead of water. And you know what else I’m looking for? Just hankering for…? A lady protagonist who loves collecting cups. No, not jeweled chalices. Not precious metals or fancy enameled porcelain interlaced with gold. Just… cups. Any cups—wooden cups, clay cups, pretty glazed cups. That’d be just grand. Oh! Oh, and you know what would be the icing on this pirate cake? The proverbial cherry on this sundae (served to me, naturally, in a cup)? If it was all intrinsically connected to Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere. You know what? Let’s go hog wild here and just have a worldhopper narrate it! Mmm. Yeah. Now THAT would be brilliant.”
If you’ve traveled on this admittedly very specific train of thought, or if it perhaps tickled your fancy, then boy oh boy… do I have the book for you.
Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first of four novels Sanderson wrote over the course of the pandemic, and then announced in particularly flashy style with what turned out to be the biggest Kickstarter of all time. These four books—titled at the time “Secret Projects 1-4”—were made available to Kickstarter backers at the beginning of the year. But now, the first of these books is being published in physical copies and made available to the general public, available wherever books are sold.
Buy the Book
Tress of the Emerald Sea
I’ll attempt to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Everything in that intro paragraph you’ll learn in chapter one or by reading the blurb on the back cover, and I’ll attempt not to include any details from further in the book than that. (But please note that this will probably not be the case in the comments below, so proceed with caution.) But if you’d rather go into this book with absolutely no further details, then I’ll just say that this book is well worth the read, in this reviewer’s humble opinion. It has all the hallmarks of Sanderson’s works nicely summed up in a standalone novel; a compelling main character, an action-packed plot, an absolutely fascinating and unique setting for a fantasy world, an avalanche of a climax, and dialogue that’s both fun and realistic.
What you won’t find is swearing, lots of blood and gore, explicit sex, and intricate word-smithing. For some of you, these things are benefits. For others, they’re negatives. If the lack of these elements is a dealbreaker for you, then this book may not be your cup of tea. But if you’ve liked any of Sanderson’s other works, particularly Warbreaker or The Emperor’s Soul, then it’s a pretty sure bet to say that you’ll like Tress of the Emerald Sea too.
With that out of the way…
Arr, ye be sailin’ into spoiler-territory from here on out, me mateys! Don’t be sayin’ I didn’t warn ye!
…are ye still here? Well, pull up a barrel o’ rum to sit on, matey, and let’s have us a palaver. Savvy?
Let’s start with a look at the aforementioned cover blurb:
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?
All right, I admit it: I’ve always been a huge fan of lady pirates. (I bet you never would have guessed this based on this review so far, huh?) It was one of the things I loved most about Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies, so I’m predisposed to love this novel. The pirate crew is likable and hard not to root for, the antagonists suitably menacing (if not quite as hate-able as some of Sanderson’s other villains), and the adventure itself feels quite a lot like a traditional fairy-tale.
Normal, everyday girl living a normal, ho-hum life? Check.
Friend abducted in a classic “Inciting Incident?” Check.
Harrowing adventure, complete with mentors, friends, and goofy animal sidekicks? Check.
But here’s where Sanderson’s gift for creating unique settings really shines. This world is absolutely fascinating and completely unlike anything I’ve seen in any other fantasy novel. There are shades of Dragonriders of Pern, but really only a little. It’s fresh and original, even for those of us who have been burying ourselves in fantasy books for upwards of thirty years. Oceans made of spores, where the introduction of water causes some rather explosive effects, depending on which ocean you’re on? It’s wild, and wild in the best possible way.
Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention the Cosmere connections in this book. If you’re unfamiliar, the Cosmere is Sanderson’s connected universe, in which most of his novels take place (you can read his brief explanation here). There are people in the universe who travel from world to world, and there are deep connections between all the varied magic systems called Investiture. And if you’re a fan of the Cosmere, you’re really not going to want to sit this one out. Sanderson announced at Dragonsteel 2022 that he’s taking off the gloves in regards to inter-connectivity between his books. Up until now, he’d been cautioned against this, due to concerns over the possibility of losing readers who may not have read everything in the catalog and hence getting confused. So up until recently, he’s tried to keep the connections limited to “easter eggs,” making them more subtle. But if there’s one thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taught us, Sanderson said, it was that people—geeks in particular—are very willing to actively pursue these links and connections between stories. And so, what was once considered to be a detriment is now becoming an asset. This book, much like The Lost Metal before it, makes no secret of its Cosmere connections. You’ll see familiar characters (including someone you’ll likely know very well), familiar magic systems, and Investiture in many forms.
Will this tighter, more connective style prove to be a barrier to newer fans, who haven’t pored over all of his published (and unpublished) works, the various “Words of Brandon” and countless interviews and Reddit comments? I suppose only time will tell. I do think the Cosmere Scholars outnumber the new fans, and the newbies will always have the earlier books to fall back on (until they eventually become Cosmere Scholars themselves). It’s an interesting experiment, to be sure. Stephen King dabbled in this concept a bit with the Dark Tower, but not nearly to the extent that Sanderson’s attempting. The Marvel Cinematic Universe really does seem to be the closest analogue, and that was wildly successful, so… It will be very interesting to see what the critical review of this will be on a wider scale. I would not recommend this as your very first foray into Sanderson’s works, though, for this very reason—if you’ve never read anything he’s written, do yourself a favor and start off with The Emperor’s Soul instead.
In closing, I will say that this reviewer (who is also, admittedly, a committed Cosmere scholar) was absolutely entranced by this novel, from beginning to end. I may have seen a twist or two coming, but it’s very rare for narrative curveballs to truly sneak up and surprise me anymore. So, if you’re looking for a fairy-tale Cosmere adventure filled with fun characters, a spell-binding world, and–of course–pirates, then you don’t want to miss this one.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a ship to board and booty to plunder.
Tress of the Emerald Sea is available from Tor Books
Brandon Sanderson’s”Secret Project” novels are available for pre-order
Lyndsey lives in Connecticut and makes magic wands for a living, as well as costuming two of her local Renaissance Faires and acting at several more. If you enjoy queer protagonists, snarky humor, and don’t mind some salty language, check out book 1 of her fantasy series. Follow her on Facebook or TikTok!
Slight nitpick here: all four books haven’t been made available to Kickstarter backers: they’re coming out at the start of each quarter. So Kickstarter backers got the Tress ebook at the beginning of the year, and the second Secret Project in the wee hours of the morning last Saturday. The last two will come out on July 1 and October 1.
Loved the book, so much fun. Also, loved the cosmere connections!
The influences that Sanderson were playing with go beyond Pern, and are loads of fun in of themselves
Pirates is a big part of the reason “Red Seas Under Red Skies” is my favourite of the Gentleman Bastards books out so far!
AS soon as I heard the introduction of “Tress” way back in March 2022, I knew it will be something I will love. Quite jealous of my friend who sent me a picture of his physical book when it arrived last month! (Due to reasons, I will have to settle with an e-book, at least for now. Though, I might change that very soon.) In any form, cannot wait to read it! As soon as I will be done with Wax and Wayne, that is, now that another series (non-Sanderson) is out of the way.
I’m sorry to be a negative voice here. I was caught by the description and ordered this book. I began with enjoyment of the clever word play and twists on tropes, but I quickly became supersaturated, which led to frustration and boredom. This book was not for me, unfortunately.
@1, right you are. Apologies for the lack of clarity on my part!
@@.-@, I’m sorry to hear that! Here’s hoping you find a read more to your liking soon. <3
Lady pirates? Spore oceans? What’s not to like! Def on my to-read list!
My fave LP is the Air-Pirate Queen in Miyazaki’s fantasy anime ‘Castle in the Sky’—a raucous, benevolently tyrannical old dame leading a riotously scurvy crew of some the most adorably sentimental grizzled cutthroats to ever plunder a zeppelin.
My son-in-law got his copy recently, and was otherwise book-occupied so he let me read it first. After about 30 pages he asked me how it was, and I responded as positively as you, Lyndsey…and then done myself proud by comparing it to a book that we have both loved, and that Sanderson id’d in his afterward as a major influence on the construction of the story. I figure lots of readers made that connection, so it isn’t that impressive, but still…
Oddly enough, I was really underwhelmed with this book. (You’re not alone, srEDIT!)
One, it was written almost too middle-grade for the content. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Alcatraz for what it was. Tress felt like it was written to the same mentality — primarily 13-year-olds — but with too much content targeted to the kind of Cosmere fan who isn’t 13 years old for it to work well. The narrator’s frequent off-world references, while perhaps appropriate to the in-world audience (whoever that is), are clearly targeted toward the Cosmere Scholar type, and I found it an irritating blend.
Two, I felt he went too far in the attempt to turn The Princess Bride trope inside out. Charlie was just… lame, to me, and far more so than Princess Buttercup. While I could see the opening-scenes Tress loving him, her character arc involved a lot of growth, while his… well, trying to avoid spoilers, I couldn’t see where end-of-book Tress could possibly find end-of-book Charlie a viable match. (His end-game moves were pretty good, but … aftermath Charlie felt like Sanderson deliberately cut him off at the knees so as not to overshadow Tress, and it really fell flat for me.
Three, the villain of the piece and the final scene of the Grand Showdown was just underwhelming. There was a lot of nice Cosmere lore there, but in terms of storytelling, it seemed like the author was hoping the lore would make up for a limp ending.
Maybe someday we’ll find out who the in-world audience was, and maybe that will make it work better, but for now I’d easily identify this as my least favorite thing Sanderson has ever published. I can hope the other three of the Secret Projects are better, though so far I don’t have a great impression of #2. I’ll see if that changes once I’ve read further.
I enjoyed the book overall. The world building was great and I enjoy Hoid’s snarkiness as the narrator. That being said, the big “twist” was obvious from the first time we see that character so the climax was less impressive than some of his other works. Have started project #2 so looking forward to seeing how that one turns out.
I actually think this would be a great standalone/first time book, so I guess that’s a dissenting opinion.
Anyway – I loved the first part of the book. The descriptions of Tress and some of her little quirks were enchanting to me, I thought her relationship with Charlie was really sweet, and the worldbuilding in general is fascinating. And as the book went on, I did really enjoy some of the ways Tress continually steps out of her comfort zone, discovers new things about herself, indulges her curiosity and all that. I did feel the end with the villain was a tad underwhelming (I still don’t really have a feel for why they were there and why they left and why we should care) but overall still fun.
However the middle really dragged for me (even though it did have the aforementioned elements I enjoy) and part of that is because I realized it was going to be a Pirate Book. And I hate pirates. I felt very snookered when I realized this, haha. Look, I get it, pirates are often a shorthand for exploration and adventure and the high seas, and now we have Johnny Depp and all that, but when you come down to it – unless you are in a setting where there is overt corruption/oppression and the piracy is part of a resistance – pirates are murderous thieves at best (and generally this is also happening in a setting where something like stealing supply or food shipments is life threatening/devastating, as is leaving a ship stranded even if you are “just” robbing them) and human traffickers/rapists at worst. The justification this particular crew really didn’t hold water for me, and so I really didn’t root for any of them. (Yes I get that at least part of the book did try to explore this particular conundrum, but it didn’t work for me…).