In 2022, the popular American writer Brandon Sanderson launched a company on Kickstarter. The author wanted to publish four secret solo novels in his popular Cosmer universe, which he wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one day, he raised $41.75 million (!), which set a new record for the platform, and went to prepare the publications. The first book of the four was published in 2023 — it was «Tress of the Emerald Sea». A year later, Vivat published it in Ukrainian, and now everyone can join the novelties. In this article, I will talk about this book in detail, tell you who will probably like it more, and who should skip it and return to the writer’s famous series.
Pluses:
an incredible edition with illustrations and color cut; a bright atmospheric fairy tale for adults; a wonderful main character; a lot of adventures, action, and humor; a detailed world that is part of Cosmer, there are references and characters from other series of the writer, so the book is full of Easter, but this will not prevent new readers
Minuses:
genre and plot format make the story a bit naive, and some characters are not always realistic
«Tress of the Emerald Sea»
Author Brandon Sanderson
Illustrator Howard Lyon
Translator Hanna Tsvira
Publisher Vivat
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 400
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2024
Size 235×163 mm
Website vivat.com.ua
On the distant planet of Lumar, on an island in the middle of the Emerald Sea, lives a girl named Tress. This piece of land is not very friendly, so its inhabitants are forbidden to move elsewhere. Tress lives with her parents and younger brother, earns money by washing windows, collecting cups, cooking deliciously, and is in love with Charlie — the son of the local lord. He also loves Tress, but his father forces him to leave the island and find a bride of his own status. In the distant seas, a disaster happens to the boy, but no one cares, especially since it is very dangerous there.
The girl decides to flee the island on the nearest ship and find Charlie. On the way, Tress will encounter incredible adventures, magic and strange things, new friends and enemies, dragons, bizarre creatures, and a powerful Witch.
«Tress from the Emerald Sea» — a classic fantasy tale with an equally familiar hero’s journey, but it is still for adults. This is an incredible adventure that falls in love with you from the first pages and does not let go. At the same time, the writer adds a few other genres here, so the reader will see a bit of steampunk and space fiction.
To quickly explain the mood and atmosphere of the novel, it can be compared to the books «The Princess Bride» by William Goldman and «Stardust» by Neil Gaiman, as well as their film adaptations. That is, we have a pseudo-fairy tale story with adventure motifs and love in the background, humor, magic, and action. The characters develop and change, overcome difficulties, discover the world and its dangers, and, of course, resist Evil in one form or another.
The local story is rapidly developing into a bright, fun adventure full of cool characters, with an incredibly well-developed world, an inventive and unusual magic system, unexpected plot twists, and a masterful ending.
Sometimes it seems that another adventure story, worn out by many similar novels, will not be able to surprise you and make you feel for the characters as if they were close people. But Brandon Sanderson once again surprises and shows what his talent as a writer is capable of. In a tight format, only 400 pages, the author skillfully creates and tells a convincing, sincere, thought-provoking, and simply fun story.
In «Tress of the Emerald Sea» a cool universe. Sanderson has come up with an unusual planet where instead of water, the seas and oceans have spores with different properties and dangers for people and ships. It is part of the Cosmere, so the author also added some characters familiar from other series. If this is Sanderson’s first book for you, you won’t miss anything important, and if you’ve read other series, you have a chance to find connections to other books.
I liked that the story is not told from Tress’s point of view, and the writer almost immediately breaks the so-called «fourth wall». The story is narrated by a local blessed man. For him, all this has already happened, but to us, the readers, he conveys everything gradually, often commenting on the actions of Tress or other characters, giving them characteristics, telling us more about the planet, and so on. Such a move definitely revitalizes the novel, makes it unusual and more vivid.
I would definitely mention Tress. She is an incredible character at the beginning, but after going through a noticeable and dynamic evolution during the local trials, she becomes a different Tress – no less amazing, and more alive, changed and flourishing, braver and more experienced. This heroine sticks in the memory for a long time and occupies a respected place there.
«Tress from the Emerald Sea» will definitely not appeal to everyone, and that’s okay. Due to the fairy tale nature of the plot, the local history is sometimes simplified, the characters are unexpectedly helped by magical things or creatures, and they are deliberately sterile and often one-sided.
We should also talk about the book itself because it is incredible. Yes, such beauty costs a lot, but in my opinion, it’s worth it. «Tress of the Emerald Sea» has an enlarged format, snow-white paper, atmospheric page design, color cuts, and gorgeous illustrations by Howard Lyon.
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