4,5/5
I’ve had mixed success with Brandon Sanderson’s books in the past, but I’m always up for standalone fantasy, and Tress of the Emerald Sea, first novel in Sanderson’s secret project, seems to have received exclusively positive reviews. I’m happy to say that this will be another one of those.

Tress lives on a little island to which people are essentially bound. The joys of her life include cups, baking and talking with the Duke’s son Charlie. A turn of events leads Tress to do the unimaginable: leave the island, and embark on a hopeless seeming rescue mission through the seas. Seas which consist not of water, but spores - twelve seas for twelve different kinds of spores originating from twelve moons.

Sanderson’s imagination astonishes once again. The mechanics of spores are explored in great detail and how he has come up with everything I can not understand. In addition to the cool world building, Tress of the Emerald Sea has a whimsical atmosphere, cool pirate stuff and a mysterious narrator, and it puts an indigenous spin on classic fairy tales.

Not quite five stars though, because not understanding the Cosmere references is annoying. The story does work on its own, but the reading experience clearly benefits from knowing the background of certain characters etc. Also, I wish I had the special fundraiser copy - why couldn’t they include the illustrations in all editions? Maybe I’ll get my hands on one at some point, I really want to see those pictures…