Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
The story behind Tress of the Emerald Sea is almost as interesting as the story itself. In early 2022, epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson surprised fans by starting a campaign on global crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. The campaign was to help publish four secret novels and was named ‘A Year of Sanderson’. The author wanted one million dollars from his readers. He received more than 41 million. In the end, it was the most successful Kickstarter campaign in history.
Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first of the secret books to be released and slots into the Cosmere universe of stories, made famous by Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn Saga series. Each series is set on different worlds in the Cosmere but share the same creation myth and underlying rules of magic. Tress of the Emerald Sea is a standalone novel that combines cosy fantasy and rollicking adventure.
Tress lives on the island of Diggen’s Point where she earns money by washing the windows of the duke’s mansion. Here she meets Charlie, a boy pretending to be a groundskeeper but who is really the duke’s son. When the duke becomes aware of their blossoming romance, he spirits Charlie off the island. When he returns a year later, Charlie is not with him. All Tress knows is that something is very wrong, and that Charlie needs her help. She has no choice but to adventure out into the world and find him. There is only one problem. Ordinary citizens like her are banned from leaving Diggen’s Point and travelling across the Emerald Sea to other lands. It is going to take a lot of ingenuity and more luck for Tress just to get off the island, let alone reunite with the person she loves.
Tress of the Emerald Sea is an utterly charming novel with likeable characters, interesting fantastical elements and a clever plot. It is suitable for a much younger audience than many of Sanderson’s other novels and will be enjoyed by young and old alike.
Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Identity, Pirates.
Rose Tabeni