I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. Would this be a good book for that age? I love Sanderson, but I feel like my kids need to be more mature for most of his books.
FYI, the box you got was the February box, which is why it didn't have the novel in it. In one of his updates, Brandon said that they were having delays with the first book, so while they were resolving that, they decided to send out the February box instead so that they didn't get behind.
This book quite literally rekindled my reading spark. It’s playful, funny, fantastical, well paced and tasteful. Sanderson went to work and wrote with a vengeance. And it’s dedicated to his wife, adorable
same!! 50 pages in i realized this is what reading should feel like. even though i read stormlight before and loved it, this one made me truly **excited** to read and made me want to read all of the cosmere books as well
Hey all, just in case you have to deal with someone manufacturing outrage over the premium books being released outside of the Kickstarter (seen a few of these already) the timestamp in Brandons Time to Come Clean video where he specifically said that would be making the books available after the campaign but were uncertain if they would be able to do more of the hardcovers due to logistics is 13 minutes, 50 seconds. Shut them down. 👍🏻
It's true. With Brandon Sanderson no one should have fear of missing out. This coming from someone who was very exited early on to purchase "rare special editions." Turns out any who want and can afford any of the items Dragonsteel put out can grab them. Just not first. Good for most, but not for anyone looking to have something special and rare.
@@chrishenslick5482 Any idea if there are any other places I can get a hold of the special edition of Tress and the Emerald Sea over in Europe? I'd love to own it, but buying it from Dragonsteel directly is just insane for me as the shipping is just as much as the book, landing me at over 100 dollars.
The spore sea's felt much more of an environmental threat than the mists in Mistborn or even the highstorms in Stormlight for me. Almost like space in the expanse, where the thing that surrounds you almost actively wants to kill you.
I definitely think the spore sea's are a more ever present danger, something that is very in your face and thus isn't hard to imagine just how impactful it would be on day to day life. However I feel the highstorm is just far more visceral, relatable to something fairly close to our world. Not quite as alien as the spores, but that's perhaps a deficit in my imagination. The lengthy nature of the stormlight archive obviously lends itself to the increased levels of world building necessary to culture a far richer understanding of the daily impacts that the storms have on the entirety of existence on Roshar, the weather landscape, architecture, biosphere etc. Some of the spore sea's feel very dangerous but I personally don't feel like much compares to the sheer destructive power of the storm fronts.
not sure. The Spores are definitely ever present. But triggering them is either accidental or on purpose. Yes, they're dangerous, but they won't go off on their own.
@@TiffanyRussell yeah its just as threatening as on threnody where if i recall shedding bloid draws danger. I forget if liquids in general attract but it did feellike the expanse. I had a hard time imagining the spore seas. Its described as a planet. But in my head i was imagining these tiny planes like king kais place in dragon ball floatimg in the "seas" then there is the idea of water traveling through that space
@@LrnecBuma completely forgot about the shadows on threnody! I would still personally rank the spore seas higher as an ever present threat than the shadows only because it’s technically possible to outrun the shadows.
Tress ultimately is not about Tress but the narrator, and through that voice, Brandon reveals, page after page, chapter after chapter, his profound wisdom. More than any other of his works. This is his most profound novel.
Have to imagine that Tress or even a side character like Fort will come back around. I thought Fort's background was dope and kinda sounded offworld-esque
Perhaps, though Hoid went out of his way to mention that Fort was a mere human, with some extra heft compared to most people... Unless he's related to Ryshadium somehow, I can't recall someone else of his ilk being brought up :P.
I was absolutely amazed at how much I loved this book. Out of the 4 secret projects, I thought I’d like this one the least…. I hope I’m right in that prediction, because if the other books are somehow better than this, we are in for a massive treat. Brando continues to improve as a writer, and his comedy in this book was phenomenal. It’s definitely up there with my favorite Cosmere books (although it still doesn’t touch Words of Radiance or Way of Kings)
Tress is this timeframe's version of Beren and Luthien. A small book about love and a woman overcoming impossible odds to be with her love, while also creating ripples and waves that will cross the entire setting they take place in.
I think a big part of the light-hearted nature of the story was that this started as a book Brandon wrote for his wife as a gift. It was a lot of fun to read!
Tress is a master writer creating a personalized gift for an audience of one, his wife. He went HARD on whimsy and what he thought Emily would love without regard for any other reader. It is his best novel because it is chock full of love for his wife and every piece of prose reflects that.
Tress of the Emerald sea was the first book i read in English, previously i relied on translation by publishers in my country. And i must say, it was delightful! As i felt intimidated by the prospect of entire book in different language, it felt very easy to get immersed in the world and characters. I might read Mistborn era 2 in Original English. ^_^
Congratulations!!! The first time I read a novel in a foreign language (french) I felt SUCH a profound accomplishment. You have to go slower to understand everything, and it makes you more sensitive to the beauty of the language. I hope you continue to enjoy!
@@amandaodhner6446 Well, thank you very much! I'm happy to report, that I'm nearing completion of "Shadows of self". Appreciate your praise, it is what i needed in the beginning of work week! 🙂
@@KaeruHashbornI can't possibly imagine reading Wayne in any other language. I'm trilingual and yet have no idea how you could translate his dialogue to either of the other 2 languages I speak without losing a lot in the process.
I really enjoyed Tress. I didn't read anything about the plot so I was pleasantly surprised at it being a pirate story. I really enjoyed Hoid's narration. And while I enjoy the Easter egg hunt that is finding other World hoppers and the like, I really enjoyed how on the nose this one was about them, especially because my non-cosmere friends picked it up as well
This book was easily one of my favorite Sanderson novels (and Hoid is definitely now my favorite Cosmere character). But especially - as others have mentioned - there are so many beautiful pieces of wisdom and insight into the everyday life. I had to highlight so many passages! So, so good!
In my opinion Tress of the Emerald Sea has the most profound and important statement to date regarding the Cosmere and Hoid - i'm referring to when the narrator muses on an inconsiderate statement people like to say
I really like this review. You show again how greatly you understand to not spoil anything. And I can't stress enough, what a high praise it is, when you say, the book reminds you of Discworld. I love Terry Pratchett, you do, and I know Brandon does as well (even calling him his favourite author of all time!). If Brandon see this, he must feel verry greatful und proud, for being able to archieve exactly with this book what he wanted. As someone who had trouble reading Sanderson in the past, I gonna at least consider, giving this a try. Hopefully, I gonna be positively surprised!
There was an issue with the printer, so the January boxes (with the books) are slightly delayed, so they sent out the February boxes early, which is what you got. The January boxes should start hitting fairly soon though. They'll definitely be arriving before the the wide release in April.
Hey Daniel, if I'm not mistaken Brandon said in one of the latest weekly updates that due to problems with the book printing companies they did not receive all the books in time, so they were instead shipping the Swag Box that was supposed to come in February so People would at least receive something this month, maybe that is why you did not get the book, but the Swag Box..
I really loved Tress. The humor didn't land for me personally all the time, but every other aspect of it I found wildly entertaining. If the rest of the secret project novels are even half this good then we sanderfans are definitely in for a treat.
Completely agree. Not all the jokes landed for me - although there were a few moments that genuinely made me chuckle - but the plot, the characters, the development, the twists, the magic, the world... it was amazing.
Ditto, liked the book and always enjoy a good fairy tale, but I got the audiobook and also often felt like I was listening to a standup routine filled with dad jokes lol
@@maksspirit9798 yeah totally agree. And I like dad jokes, but I do think Brandon could’ve been better off turning down Hoid’s snark level and dad jokes a bit. Still adored the book though, the humor just wasn’t quite to my taste
The humor felt like it was a lot of inside jokes for his wife, which meant that I appreciated them for that meaning they had, but they didn't all stick for me.
This is a magical book. Loved every second of it, simple, engaging and endearing, has a warmth that stays in the heart . Also Hoid as a narrator is great, shows his power in words from the start and throws these little easter eggs here and there
I have a feeling these 4 books are going to be some of the best he's ever written. Simply because he wrote them for fun for his wife. He's so successful he has deals now and obligations, he has to write books now to finish stories and fulfill contracts and whatnot. You can expect a drop in quality with stuff like that and it's a testament tbh that they haven't dropped farther. These ones though were purely for him and his wife. He said he enjoyed them immensely and that sorta thing is just how the best comes out of an artist I think.
Absolutely devoured this book, loved it, loved it, loved it. Was beginning to fear that I was approaching a Sanderson burnout, happily was not the case, bring on the next one! Nice review!
I loved this book!!! Had someone told me before reading it about the inventions he wrote about using the elements of that world, I would have said that’s insane. It was freakin brilliant! Honestly, this is tied for my favorite Cosmere book with Word of Radiance.
As a fellow fan of both the Cosmere and One Piece I also advocate for more fanbase crossover. If you've got the commitment to be caught up in either one of these you know the payoff is worth it. Also I can't stop imagining a meeting between Hoid and the whole strawhat crew. It would be fantastic.
Well, this review convinced me to read the book. Also, since you said you're partial to pirate stories, I highly recommend the Tide Child trilogy by RJ Barker, it's a criminally underrated series with epic ship battles and interesting worldbuilding and creature design.
Im 92% through. I’m enjoying it! Love the planet. I agree, it may be my favorite planet conceptually, but outside of Tress and Huck, I’m not super keen on the character work in the book. Much prefer Stormlight in that regard, but that’s probably just my preference. It’s been a fun and engaging thus far and I’m looking forward to seeing how it wraps up. It does feel like a breath of fresh air in the Cosmere, I’m glad to hear that it hit so hard for you! I did have a bit of tonal whiplash going from finishing Wisdom of Crowds to starting Tress of the Emerald Sea though😂 Had to adjust my reading glasses a bit
I loved this book too! It's my favorite book of Sanderson's so far I think. And I didn't think I was the type of reader who would enjoy Disc World or One Piece, but you've convinced me that I should give them a try.
in my opinion oda and sanderson are on a different planet when it comes to world building foreshadowing. They are seriously the best two authors in our generation. I'm glad I've grown up in their time as authors.
I gotta ask, this is bugging me for a lot of videos.... What are the first three books on the first row and third column, right shelf, with the orange, blue and red circle?
Gotta say I love even the little details such as, which this may not be in the physical version but I hope it is, each chapter heading is color coded to let you know exactly where you are in this world. It’s not a lot but just a nice touch that helped me immerse myself more into this story.
While I'll always love the HUGE sweeping 1,000 page epics the most, and I'd rather read those than something this young and playful, it was still fantastic. I'm just disappointed more people aren't laughing their asses with thunderous applause off at a certain undead someone saying "Earregardless" (in Tress 😂😂) --- because, you know, "irregardless" isn't a real word. But now that I type this, I realize anyone who only listened to the audiobook will have missed that pun. 😥
@@renebean5501 I've roaming the internet since January pointing out Earregardless and I'm so upset no one else is joining me 😅 -- thank you for seeing me!!
While being a massive fan of Sanderson, and never doubting his skill, I too have gone a bit off him lately because so many stories have been quite bleak and soul crushing. It is probably just the headspace I'm in after years of pandemic and mayhem. So I cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to this book! Sounds just what I want and need.
This comment sections is wholesome AF. ❤ I’m a huge Sanderson fan and one piece fan so I am already diving into the book as I write this. I am so excited for a rollercoaster. There is nothing that gets me more juiced now than an awesome new Sanderson release.
This was my first book of the year and I can imagine it staying my favourite book of the year all year long. Definitely an impressive step up from Brandon who I already considered my favourite author.
I haven’t been all that interested in Sanderson since I dnf’d Mistborn, but I’m super intrigued by this one. Everyone I’ve listened to says it’s written differently from his other works.
Ok but u failed to talk abt how STUNNING the chapter headers and the art is in general. and as a fellow one piece stan and sanderson girlie, i was as enthusiastic about this book as u r.
I like Hoid as a storyteller, some good pirate/maritime fantasy, and Delius (White Sand) is my fave character. Not to mention stuff that a bit more lighthearted. I'm not saying this is cozy fantasy, but cozy fantasy is a good example of the lighthearted stuff I like a lot. You're basically telling me this would be a book for me.
I absolutely adored this book. Have listened to it on audio twice already! It is so whimsical and fun, and the additional illustrations in the book are so beautiful!
It was definitely a fun read, and I normally wait for hard copies. Warbreaker is personally my favorite of the Cosmere stories that I wish he would explore more, but it’s fun to see elements of magic from other planets beginning to recognizably seep into his other stories.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the cosmere connections in a spoiler discussion, Daniel. There is some seriously cool stuff in this book. Also, the mixture of whimsical storytelling mixed with some truly horrifying imagery at times worked really well for me.
Man I wish I had enjoyed it that much, I felt it read very similarly to some of his novellas. It's just kind of gone in one ear and out the other for me. I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed dawnshard or edgedancer or sixth of dusk but I didn't find there to be much to really grab onto in terms of plot, character or magic.
I wasn't a massive fan of TotES, but it was enjoyable and fun. I also ended up finishing it in under a week on audiobook (I used Spotify). It was really clear to me that this was the book that was written as a gift for his wife because it had a lot of little references/jokes within the writing that felt like little inside jokes for her. I appreciated the style of narration, which added a lot of humour to the book, and I liked the overall story. But it overall had a lot less depth to the story/characters than most of Brandon's other work. Plus the amount of depth it added to the Cosmere is crazy. This might be the highest density of Cosmere-lore to wordcount of any of his other books. I will also say that while Kramer as always was great, I actually wish it was read by a woman since the main character is female. I understand why they went with a male narrator, but it's just personal preference to me since many of the main characters were female and there were a few times I wished I could have heard it through a woman's voice instead. Also, this book was basically a big mashup of a lot of different elements from the Cosmere, with references to a lot of the other books within the universe, which made it a lot of fun to read if you've already finished the rest of the Cosmere books. Overall probably a 7 out of 10 for "fun factor" and accessibility, but it loses a bit due to the lack of depth of plot/characters. I actually think i would have rated this a bit higher if I had read it first instead of listened to the audiobook, but maybe I'll come back to it later in the year.
Hi Daniel! This is totally not on theme but I was wondering if you have (ever heard of) a storygraph if you're not that happy with goodreads? Love your content, thank you so much for all the effort you put into these videos!
from spotify? that...does...not...support audiobooks here.......sooo.......what...Audiobookbay? atleast release it in apple books. or is there some deel apple and amazon have?......audiobookbay it is. :/
If you liked this book and it’s lighter tone which telling a rich story you should try Skyward. Same type of lighter style that will have you laughing out loud in spots. Definitely worth the time to read the first of what will be 4 novels. Great stuff.
*Spoilers* My thoughts on Tress of the Emerald Sea I loved it. I just finished it and immediately went on Goodreads to see what others thought about it. I saw one huge post on it from a reviewer. Although I am not that prolific I will do my best to talk about what I liked most about this book. I apologize in advance for any typos. My husband is in the middle of reading this book for a second time and asked me what I thought. The comparison to the princes bride feel is real. This book is whimsical, magical and unique. ~The magic system- he imagined this world with the emerald sea, crimson sea, and midnight sea. The moons of different colors with spores coming down. I thought the world he made was so unique and well done. ~The love story. Tress being the heroine of the story is a great take on this kind of love story. The beginning of the book shows a very basic girl falling for a duke son impersonating a grounds keepers son. He gets taken away by his father the duke and sells him to a sorceress and brings back a cousin as his heir. Tress sets off to save him. She becomes a pirate, befriended the crew and learned how to do magic with spores. After a long journey she finally gets to her love. When she sees him for the first time she feels meh. Thinks that she has grown so much in her journey and he has not. That is a like real life relationship issues. But Tress was just picking up on the fact that the Charlie the witch was showing her wasn’t the real Charlie. The reveals in this book were so good. ~The reveals - The rat, the traitor, but not the traitor. I don’t want to say more about this. I don’t want to ruin it. The reveals are a few and make the story great. ~The dragon - When I realized that there was going to be a dragon in this book, I looked in the table of contents to see when I was going to read about it. I was greatly anticipating that part to see what the author was going to do with it. I was not disappointed. His depiction of the dragon was so well written I could see him in my head. Crow (the mean ship captain) and Tress end up battling each other for the dragons favor. Crow ended up inadvertently boosting about Tress and her accomplishments and ended up losing the battle. Crow ended up reaping her bad karma and ended up scrubbing floors just like Tress started out doing in the beginning of her pirate journey. I liked how Tress asked for three things from the Dragon to help her friends. ~The witch - the witch that was more technical than a traditional witch. Good twist to the proverbial witchy storyline. ~Hoit - A RU-vidr, Michael Knip, created a video gushing about this book and I showed it to my husband and he let out a very unlike him exclamation when Michael mentioned Hoid. Apparently, he has been mentioned in other Brandon Sanderson books and my husband just realized it. His aha moment was so funny to me. I can’t wait to read Brandon Sanderson’s backlist. The only other Brandon Sanderson book I read was WarBreaker. “ Hoid was a comical character and also the narrator. “Hoid, why does Tress have this strange idea that you can be savin’ her?” “Probably,” I shouted over the rush of wind and spore, “because I just realized I should take up painting! And the Sorceress will be scared of my talent!” “You are so aggravating!” Ann said. Brandon Sanderson is so witty in this book. I laughed out loud many times. ~The illustrations. I bought the digital ebook and audiobook. The digital copy had beautiful depictions of the book. I tried adding a picture here but it didn’t work. ~The audio experience - I read and listened to the book. The audio was amazing. The voices made the book more alive than me just reading it on my own. Worth listening to the book. I highly recommend it. This book is now near and dear to my heart. I will be re-reading this many times. It is now on the level of my magical Harry Potter books that I re-read when I need a pick me up.
I'm about 80% done with the book and am absolutely loving it. I knew from the first couple of pages that Hoid was the narrator, just from the way it's written, and that's an amazing accomplishment. I also see the similarities in humour to Discworld, and Sanderson has said that Pratchett is one of his favourite authors. I loved his more playful style that goes great with the story he's telling and the narrator he's telling the story through.
I know I'm quite late, but I want to say it nevertheless: I have just finished Tress of the emerald sea, and while I liked elantris and the final empire, I didn't really enjoy them. Tress was the first sanderson book I thoroughly enjoyed. I am quite happy about that :D
HELL YEAH A BOOK REVIEW FROM DANDAN THE GOBLIN MAN As good as discworld? I’ll check it out bubby. Last Sanderson book I read was Stormlight 4. (Didn’t like it)
Liked it very much except 90% of Hoid's "jokes" about are about clothes. It got really old really fast. If Hoid was established in the Cosmere as someone who is really concerned about clothes then it MIGHT have worked. He isn't and it didn't. Otherwise a sweet book, great world building.
Unrelated but, since you really like One Piece, perhaps give the animanga that stood beside it as an equal within the community up until its end (Naruto). Two tips tho: 1. (If youll watch the anime not read the manga) Skip most if not all fillers. 2. Boruto doesn't exist. Trust me. It doesn't.
Hey Daniel you probably won't read this and might not care.. but I wanted to mention that I loooved the designs of your stuff especially the hoodie, and the only reason I didn't get it is because of its kinda high polyester percentage (I can't wear poly for some reason.. ) so for the next run if at all possible.. think of me when picking the supplier and have 100% cotton available ;) Can't wait to read Tress, am still waiting for my physical copy with impatience!! After this review I am that much more excited!
Wow! This is a completely different take on Tress than I had but it still works you think discworld I think Disney princesses. 🤷♀️ I find it awesome that we have different perspectives but reached the same conclusion 😊.
such a great juxtaposition of dangerous/beautiful environment, playful narrative/high stakes, character growth/ignorance. It was just so great when it had no real right to be. Kinda like The Lego Movie.
Hmmm.... the one thing I just can't get over is Sandersons style. I have failed to finish too many of his books. So this comparison to Disc world.... let's just say i'm pressing X to doubt so hard, I now have a hole between Z & C on my keyboard
I'm 25% into 'The German War: A Nation under arms 1939-1945' which I started right after listing to Tress without realizing Micheal Kramer was the narrator for both. Gotta say Kramer makes more sense as a narrator recounting war crimes and atrocities than a whimsical tale with mostly female characters. 😅 Honestly a weird choice for narrator.
As I have been reading this book with my wife, it is fun to think about how Brandon originally wrote this book for his wife. We like to wonder if there are any (or how many) inside jokes there are in there. It makes me think that I am learning about about Brandon's wife and their relationship.
Just solid story. Consistent and satisfying. Didn’t throw any major curveballs for me but it didn’t have to. Did have one part which made me have to walk around my room to appreciate it.
I never understand the massive support Sanderson receives given his monetary support of the Mormon church (hugely homophobic) and his watery “hey guys, I dunno” line he’s trotted out to sit on the fence, never mind that “I’ll effect change from within” waffle (when? How?)If you are happy to sit at a table where the majority of others hate a group, you hate them too.
Oh maaaan I'm watching these positive review videos, reading the equally positive comments, and feeling bummed out that I didn't like it. Am I just a callous person who can't appeceate the whimsical vibes? Maybe. I think because I went in completely blind I didn't expect that it might not strictly be adult fantasy, and it was just really not for me. I'm happy to see so many people loving it, especially because the postscript was just so damn sweet. I'll just have to try the next one and hope for the best.
Maybe I’m alone in this, but I don’t think Sanderson was having any “misses” before his last two books. Though I have only read his cosmere books. Also this book was amazing.
I loved Tress of the Emerald Sea- the Alcatraz series was my first experience with Sanderson and I can see a lot of that humor and way of storytelling here.
No gloves, safe hand fully exposed (I guess). Let's go. Still riding high on the emotion of finishing this book. It was a very satisfying read, loved the tone he uses for Wit(ty) narrator.
Not everyone has received their Hoid box. You had nothing saying you were going to spoil the box. I'm kind of annoyed with you as I've done a pretty decent job of avoiding what's in the Hoid box. Thanks.
Besides Wheel, "Tress of the Emerald Sea" is the only Brandon Sanderson I have listened to so far, after being recommended it because of my love for "The Princess Bride" and I adored it.
@Daniel Greene Am I missing something? Why was there a Good Read's blurb or review in a foreign language at around the 6 minute mark? The audo didn't make mention of why you showed that.
Really enjoy the review, however I do think it's really not cool to unbox the February box in a video about a book review, as a Sanderson enjoyer who waited 9 months or so to get my first box and have it spoiled, that is very disappointing.
So when my audible subscription expires, where can I go to get an equally huge audio book library, ease of use, and a company that actually supports the writer properly?
You know, I like that you are reviewing things, but, to be honest spoiler free reviews don't really hit hard. Do you feel like they are getting the views you are looking for? I feel like full spoiler reviews would be much more insightful, though i can get why you would want to do it the other way...
The only thing that I didn't like (and only because I'd forget Hoid is literally telling someone the story from Tree's point of view as much as he could) was when he'd say something he did sometimes and I'd forget he was literally right there for a moment.
