Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a Kickstarter backer on this campaign, I was able to read this book immediately on the first day of the year and I bet it will be tough to find another book that I will love more this year. As the back of the book (and Goodreads description) says, this book is basically “What if Brandon Sanderson wrote The Princess Bride?” It even has a Vizini battle of wits moment and an eel moment! I do not know if the regular commercial versions of the books will have the amazing art in the kickstarter versions, but definitely find a way to see the illustrations - they are beautiful!

I happened to listen to the audiobook because I was impatient about the pace at which I’d be able to read the ebook. The usual Cosmere narrator is doing the job and doing as great a job as usual.

If you’re on the fence about this book (as many folks online and who I know in person have been), give it a try and you may fall in love with the story. But even if you don’t, there’s so much Cosmere Lore and Easter Eggs in here that it’s worth reading just for that.

That said, I feel the book works well standalone and plan to share it with my pre-teen daughter and with my wife. Sure, they won’t know who Hoid is and they’ll miss out on a few Cosmere Easter Eggs, but I don’t think any of that is required to enjoy this story.

So, if you’re a Sanderson fan and a Cosmere fan, you’ll not want to pass this up. But even if you’re not, I think you should DEFINITELY give this book a read. It’ll be worth your time!

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