This book was the best way I could think of to start my reading year. After going through a bit of a reading slump the last couple of months of 2022, I awoke on the first of January to the first of Brandon Sanderson’s secret projects in my inbox, and I was so excited to get to it, I was done with it by January 3rd.
For those of you who don’t know, Brandi Sandi spent his lockdown year (the year I spent in despair and flip flopping between hours of Youtube, lazing around listening to audiobooks and stuffing my face with takeout) by writing 5 bonus novels. As in 5 extra novels on top of what he was supposed to write that year. And then he decided to self-publish them in what became the largest kickstarter campaign of all time. So yes, back to the book itself.
This book was an absolute delight. It tells the story of Tress, a girl from a small island. She has her family, she has her job washing windows, she has her cups and she has a friend who makes her days a little brighter. In a place where people are not allowed off the island for fear no one would remain, Tress is contented with her life. She doesn’t want to leave, she doesn’t long for adventure, she’s happy and fulfilled just where she is. That is until something unexpected happens and Tress decides to leave on a rescue mission into the unknown.
I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’m leaving it at that. You should read this book if any of it sounds appealing, or if you like self-insert narrators, or if you like fairytales, or pirate tales, or if you’re into quirky world-building, or if you’ve been wanting to start reading Sanderson and don’t know where to start. This is a great entry point into the Cosmere.
This simultaneously felt nothing like Sanderson’s writing and exactly like a Sanderson story. It’s a brand new Cosmere world, and you have a lot of Easter eggs, but you don’t need to have read anything before.
A few standout things for me:
- The narration: Hoid is narrating this story and is also a character in this story and it’s just as hilarious as you think it’s going to be from my description
- The “photography”: and by this I mean how beautiful the picture this world painted in my head is. This world has colorful seas made of spores which fall from the moons – it has vines and its own nature and sailing ships, and the descriptions are so vivid I could almost taste everything
- The protagonist: Tress has common sense and it was such a breath of fresh air. She talks to people and discusses problems with her family and it was a delight
I’m trying to come up with the negative points, because I rated it 4.5 stars, but I honestly can’t remember anything about it I disliked. Maybe if you don’t like funny self-aware stories that are poking fun and breaking the fourth wall.