King’s yarn begins in a world that’s recognizably ours, and with a familiar trope: A young woman, out to buy fried chicken, is mashed by a runaway plumber’s van, sending her husband into an alcoholic tailspin and her son into a preadolescent funk, driven “bugfuck” by a father who “was always trying to apologize.” The son makes good by rescuing an elderly neighbor who’s fallen off a ladder, though he protests that the man’s equally elderly German shepherd, Radar, was the true hero. What’s a person to do when sheltering from Covid? In King’s case, write something to entertain himself while reflecting on what was going on in the world outside-ravaged cities, contentious politics, uncertainty. Narnia on the Penobscot: a grand, and naturally strange, entertainment from the ever prolific King. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.Įngrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious-which also makes her an appealing heroine. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her.

Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water-they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife-and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.

Tress of the emrald sea