I actually read Tress of the Emerald Sea (Young Adult Fantasy, 365 pages) by Brandon Sanderson several weeks ago but am only now doing the book review because the book is due back to the library today. So it goes. This book was also one of the random books my librarians put in my box, as I’m an avid and voracious reader and they like surprising me with new things to try.

“The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes. Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and maker her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?”

No, that isn’t a typo or a mistake in my own typing skills in the book summary (the sentence about the voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes), that sentence is copied word for word from the front book dust cover. And the back of the book just as a paragraph from the author about a Kickstarter and nothing about the world or the book itself. Apparently, this book was written by a #1 New York Times Bestselling author who funded this book through a Kickstarter and kept it secret from his publishing company. I have a lot of thoughts about that and it’s very possible that those thoughts might have jaded my reading of this book.

The world-building is very interesting. The idea of different moons with different purposes, and a different take on water was intriguing.

Tress’ love of cups and their individual stories, and her love of Charlie’s stories, was endearing. Tress as a character had a lot of good points, especially her cleverness, her willingness to take action, and her desire to see the best in people.

I think there were two things that really rubbed me the wrong way.

The main thing that rubbed me the completely wrong way was Tress and Charlie’s relationship. Charlie seems to be the only boy in Tress’ age group that she interacts with and Tress seems to be the only person in Charlie’s age group at all that he interacts with. Additionally, there is a power difference in their statuses and the only reason they know each other at all is because she is a paid servant in Charlie’s household. This is not how you develop healthy relationships. I’m sure it’s meant to be sweet but they are trapped on a rock in the middle of hazardous seas and they don’t know or interact with anyone else. While I agree that rescuing Charlie is a good thing to do because no one should be replaced or sacrificed from their families for the sake of political convenience, the romance still felt completely forced. Now, if I had any faith at all that this was going to be a platonic, non-sexual relationship, I would actually be really supportive of it, because I didn’t feel like these characters had any actual chemistry at all.

The second was that Tress wasn’t even really the main character in her own named story. This was more Hoid’s story than it was hers. Even with all her cleverness and all her compassion, she still wasn’t the one to save the day at the end. And the dude who saved the day did so, and changed all of the lives of the pirate ship, out of an arrogant bet with the sorceress.

Overall, the book was okay. I am glad I checked it out from the library and I don’t think I will feel the need to read it again.

Sanderson, Brandon. Tress of the Emerald Sea. Tom Doherty Associates / Tor Publishing Group, 2023.