Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson


Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first of 4 novels from Sanderson's "Secret Project" which he wrote during the "lockdown" caused by the pandemic of that evil virus whose name should not be not mentioned (as if it were Voldemort himself, damn it). To get those novels into the light of day, Sanderson launched a Kickstarter campaign that turned out to be the most successful ever. In 24 hours, the campaign reached its goal, and by the end earned an incredible 41.7 million dollars. That's how the world got Tress, The Frugal Wizard's Handbook: for Surviving Medieval England and 2 more books yet to be published. Tress and the Handbook were published in Serbia by MIPL and you can get both books on their website.

And speaking of the release and books appearance... Oh my gods and aliens. MIPL set the standards. The book is a little larger than usual, but the story and illustrations compensate for the slight discomfort during reading caused by the size. As far as I'm concerned, from the technical side, MIPL and Tress deserve a clean ten.

But let's get back to the topic, which is the novel itself.

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?


Tress of the Emerald Sea is an epic/pirate adventure about traveling through seas that aren't seas, but a bunch of spores that can kill you if one of your eyes gets watery. Faced with all the dangers, Tress never gives up her intention to save Charlie. Even if it means causing a mutiny on a pirate ship, learning how to handle spores, inventing and finding new ways to use spores to her advantage. From an ordinary window washer and cup collector, Tress becomes a fearless heroine by pure chance, and with a little help from a talking rat and Hoid, a guy on whom the Sorceress cast a curse, so now he's a bit goofy ;)

Although some would say that Tress is a children's book, no, it is not. Because in addition to the flowing style and the ease with which it is read, this is a novel that tells us that the path to the goal is as difficult as we present it to ourselves.


What I didn't like about the book was the ending, which for me was too much in the style of "she waved a magic wand and everything was solved instantly" and the mixing of modern technology and the fantasy world. Fort, one of the pirates who is mute has a magic board that writes both his words and those of the interlocutor. Okay, I swallowed that like some magic item. But the Sorceress who has the command center of the spaceship in her tower, that's a bit excessive for me. And in the end, among other things, with the help of that very technology, she's defeated by the girl who sees these modern wonders for the first time in her life. Sanderson, my man, I love fiction and fantasy, but I wasn't born yesterday!

But!!! There's always that but... Don't despair, the story is really good and worth reading. Because if nothing else, it has a terrible dragon who likes to play outsmarting with smart girls.

All in all, a solid 4 from me and I recommendation to get the novel and give Tress a chance.

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