Hey look, I read my very first Brandon Sanderson book! Even better, I really liked it. Very nearly 5-star loved it.
I have been intrigued by the writings of Brandon Sanderson for years, it’s hard to be a Cannonballer and not see many of the people whose opinions you generally agree with, and trust have incredibly complementary things to say about it. But the kind of massive, high fantasy volumes that Sanderson is infamous for have never been my thing. But then I kept seeing reviews for his standalone secret project books, and a more feminist retelling of The Princess Bride turned out to be more than I could say no to. My library had the audiobook via Libby and since I already wanted to try to reincorporate more audiobooks into my reading diet this year, I was game to try.
Tress of the Emerald Sea imagines a story in which a girl’s beloved is lost at sea to a dastardly foe, and she goes out and adventures her way to finding and rescuing him, without any previous adventuring prerequisites to her name. Yes, please. In her adventuring Tress finds herself on a pirate’s ship and is surrounded by a complex and interesting cast of characters, and those Dougs who are not integral to the story’s action. Similarly to The Princess Bride we are told the story through a narrator’s framing device. It is my understanding from both the hints in the story itself as well as a little light research on Wikipedia that Hoid is a Cosmere regular, appearing in many if not all books in some format, and his character’s humor and meta commentary on the story alone earned this one an extra 0.5 rating from me. There were many moments when I laughed out loud at something that Michael Kramer delivered just so in Hoid’s voice as the book’s narrator. In her review of Words of Radiance back in 2021, my dear friend Ale included the line “yes, there are gut-wrenching, serious, dark moments, but Sanderson balances that with a bouncy levity that’s borderline Pratchett in its honesty.” and she’s going to be so excited when I tell her that I felt the same way while reading Tress of the Emerald Sea.
I get it now. I still don’t think I’m likely to embark on Brandon Sanderson’s larger series within the Cosmere any time soon (if at all) but I have a sneaking suspicion you’ll see reviews from me of the other standalone secret project books. You know, eventually.