Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (four stars)

Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson (four stars)

In the land where everyone screams, everyone is also slightly deaf.

Most enjoyable Sanderson tale to date. Sanderson is a master world creator. This standalone fantasy novel showcases his world-building mastery, even though it occurs in his already-developed universe, the Cosmere. Hints of science fiction. Apart from a notable exception, this story’s association to others is undetectable to average readers.

It is the sharpness of the wielder, and not the sharpness of the sword, that foreshadows mishap.

If anything better than some of his expansive epics. He still shares insights to the foibles of humanity, leavened here with humor. Do read his afterword on the origin of the tale.

“You have everything you need.”

Book Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)

Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson

(4 out of 5 stars)

“Expectation is not just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself.”
Much better than The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1), but still not quite a five. This is a coherent story, for one thing. Still a large, rambling cast–many with a full array of foibles and strengths. Everyone is flawed; some fatally so. Way too much back story on Shallan. (All the better to hide a plot reversal in.)

But with this book