Tress of the Emerald Sea

I really tried to like Tress of the Emerald Sea. No, really, I did. Brandon Sanderson can craft narrative in his sleep, and the underlying story of Tress is fine. In fact, I'd say I liked it. Despite that, I just couldn't get into the novel, and that's because of, at least in my opinon, its fatal flaw: the writing style.

As someone who got hooked and binged through all of Brandon Sanderson's work last year, I can say that I was once a Sanderson fan. However, as soon as I branched out to other authors, it became painfully clear to me that Sanderson's writing style isn't particularly good. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Many people enjoy his basic style. However, in a book that is obviously aiming to be witty and whimsical, Sanderson's weakness shines through. I never once that the book was poetic or whimsical, but I frequently got the impression that it was trying its hardest to be poetic and whimsical.

The problem was amplified by the tone not being consistent. The prose switches between Sanderson's typical prose-albeit slightly more playful-and attempts at Pratchett, Adams, or Rothfuss.

I give this 4.5/5, but only because I gave The Lost Metal a 4/5, and this is better.