Tress of the Emerald Sea

Before writing the review, let's take a step back to the whole story of the year of Sanderson (for me, Sandy), shall we?
this is just an excuse to share my excitement and feeeeels

I remember watching his video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a-k6eaT-jQ) while coming back home from work. At first, I fell for it and thought poor Sandy was so negatively affected by the pandemic that he would take a break from writing, understandably. But after a few seconds, I was so excited about what he did and planned to do. I showed that video to my bf and after we talked about it, we decided to support his kickstarted campaign. we would have loved to receive the hardcovers, but the shipping to Europe and import taxes made up the price of the book itself, so we went for the ebooks. For me, backing his project was about trust. Not all of his books work for me despite their being very original and well-written. I still have the trust that I was about to like whatever he would write.

Now, let's move onto this first project.
...even though I dont know where to start, because this book was so different from all other books from Sandy that I still have to figure out how I feel about it.

The setting
This book is set in the Cosmere and takes place on a planet named Lumar. Its magic is based on aethers which are also mentioned in the Lost Metal which explode in contact with water. For me however it was not clear how the Investiture worked in relation to spore control.
We dont get a map, sadly, but it looks like this planet is rich in sea with scattered islands, as I imagined it. The sea is not quite what we imagine but it's composed of spores and boats float on it. Sandy based this mechanism on fluidification. There's a video on his channel that explains it best.
Each sea has spores, colour and behaviour different from each other.

I enjoyed the original magic system and setting. However, there are still some aspects that are not clear to me and wished they were better explained.

The story
The story is narrated from Hoid's point of view and follows Tress, a girl living on a very small island named Rock, who is in love with Charlie, and sets on an adventure to rescue him.

The narration was fun, but kind of strange. I enjoy the narration type, but the humour and the metaphors did not really meet my taste. I didnt laugh or sometimes i didnt even understand their meaning, probably due to english not being my mother tongue. I also found myself never fully enjoy Hoid's whimsy.
The story had continuously twists, which I didn't see coming. The end felt too rushed and in the middle the pace felt a bit too slow. Overall, even if i dislike pirate stories, I liked this one. I felt for Tress and Huck (the talking cute rat) throughout the whole book. I loved Tress's growth, too. She has changed a lot by the end. Last but not least: the illustrations were gorgeous!

This felt like acute and cosy love and adventure story that i feel recommending to everyone!

Tress of the Emerald Sea is a great one-shot from Brandon Sanderson, and while it is set in The Cosmere, I don't think you need to consume anything else before picking this up. The narration style is unique and enjoyable, and the humour works perfectly for me and keeps the entire story lighthearted despite some rather serious scenes. It reminds me of Princess Bride, a fairy tale with an amusing back-and-forth from the narrator that keeps things moving and the story from drowning in its own self-importance.

And... while Brandon Sanderson is the magic system author, this novel isn't about the rules of magic and how to manipulate them (although it's there!). It also isn't about hopeless battles against antagonists that seem to have all the odds stacked in their favour (but that's here too!). This is about Tress leaving her home and growing up as she has adventures around the world, making great friends along the way. And I'd like to think that is something we can all identify with.

Highly recommended.