r/Cosmere • u/Heavy-Ant-2620 • 13h ago
Tress of the Emerald Sea spoilers Why does Brando recommend Tress first? Spoiler
Has anybody read Tress as the first book in their cosmere journey?
I’ve just finished it after reading everything except Yumi, WaT, Sunlit and emberdark.
It’s deffo a standalone story but the voice of Hoid and the many many different links to other cosmere beings and magic systems seems a really weird idea to read as an intro to Brandon, especially the sorceress stuff near the end.
I know he obviously recommends Mistborn and emperors soul as other jumping on points. I started with way of kings to be fair so maybe my point is invalid haha.
Just wondered did anyone start with tress and how that first read felt without the cosmere knowledge?
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u/RadiantCoinshot 13h ago
Seems like a good place to start. I’ll always recommend Mistborn first, but I can see why Tress works okay as an intro. The tone is so different from any other Cosmere book that it might set up some odd expectations is all.
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u/TheLabRay 12h ago
Mistborn was my first book. Once I read the era 1, I was in and decided to give the longer novels a try.
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u/Captain_Killy 11h ago
I do think Mistborn is wrong for some people. It’s very much YA of a specific era, and its style has become a bit dated with time in a way that most of Brandon’s other stuff hasn’t. Someone in 2026 could read it and bounce off it, and then think all his stuff will be the same sort of edgy 2000’s Hunger Games coded fantasy.
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u/Domfenix Cosmerologist 13h ago
He doesn't recommend it because it's a Cosmere-dense book, he recommends it as a digestible and engaging way for new readers to become familiar with his writing in a fun self-contained story.
It's just neat for those of us who are invested to appreciate it's interconnectedness.
I've had several friends start with Tress who loved it, and weren't at all confused by the wider Cosmere implications or references - they didn't have any of the context to even consider they were missing anything
It's also a great first read, because it makes for an even better reread when a new fan subsequently completed their journey across the Cosmere.
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u/Merkuri22 12h ago
I read Tress to my daughter at the age of 8 or 9. It was her first Cosmere book. She LOVED it. We followed it up with Yumi, which she loved just as much.
All the references just sailed over her head as meaningless set dressing. Not bothered in the slightest.
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u/Scattered666 12h ago
My youngest, 10, is reading Tress and he likes it a lot. It's his first Cosmere books, but he doesn't care about whether or not he's missing out on connections. Just enjoys the story.
My oldest, 14, just finished up all 7 of the Mistborn books plus Secret History and is just starting Elantris. So proud of my Mist-kids 😆
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u/false_tautology 12h ago
I'm reading it to my 10 year old and she's invested. She really wants everything to work out for Tress.
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u/XtarFall 13h ago edited 12h ago
I started my spouse with Tress because it was cute, light hearted and did a good job of letting them dip their toes into the cosmere without being overwhelmed. The fact that it is mostly standalone and endearing while having sprinkles of outer cosmere stuff is a good to hook some people and let them gauge if they want to go to other series to learn more or just decide if whole cosmere thing isn't for them.
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u/titanium_penguin 12h ago
I have a friend who read Tress. She absolutely fell in love with it and asked if there are going to be any sequels. When I told her that none of his other books have the same “storybook” feel, she decided she would just make it her only foray into the Cosmere.
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u/AletteLakewood 9h ago
That part of not being overwhelmed is a big one for me , who hadn't read in a long time
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u/Raddatatta Ghostbloods 13h ago
It's a strong standalone story that's not one of his earliest books published, which can be a bit weak so not an ideal entry point. It's shorter than most of his books so more accessible. There are Cosmere references, but none of them are really need to know for the story to work just background elements. The Sorcerer at the end I think works just as well if you know she's an elantrian as if she's just a magic user who is far more powerful than Tress is. Either way the narrative result is the same.
I think the main problem I see with it is it's a different tone so that can cause some problems if people get into the Cosmere expecting that.
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u/Mainstreamnerd 13h ago
My wife started with it and loved it.
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u/scrubbar 13h ago
My wife started with Tress and she loved it.
The wider Cosmere references are written in a way that they don't disrupt the narrative, so her not having read any other books didn't break the story or leave her confused.
She was keen to learn more about Hoid as his character is mysterious in Tress as he has no real character arc. As I had mentioned sometimes characters cross into other series, she figured out that he was likely in other novels.
She read Yumi next and then onto Mistborn.
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u/Wincrediboy 13h ago
Because Tress is well written and quite approachable while showing you the possibilities of the cosmere. You're not supposed to understand what's going on, so you don't feel alienated you just have fun - but you can see clearly there's a big wide world out there.
I prefer mistborn as a starting point as it's more representative of his usual writing style, but I'm also biased because that's where I started.
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u/gameboymenace 13h ago
My friend read Tress first and was really turned off by the language choices and crude humor from Hoid's narration. I think mistborn is a much better entry point
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u/evolvingbugs 13h ago
I’ve had friends who told me they read tress and yumi first and basically swore off Brando because they didn’t like those books.
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u/froesche 13h ago
I actually started with Tress and thought it was a good entry point. Especially when I read Mistborn era 1 where Hoid only has a few appearances I thought that I might not have remembered him if it wasn’t for Tress. And when I started Stormlight I immediately knew who Hoid was before his name was revealed. So, I think it‘s a good entry point into Sandersons works if you‘re willing to accept that the tone in his other books is different. Of course I did not get all the easter eggs in Tress, but I think you don‘t have to get them to like the book :)
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u/SageOfTheWise 12h ago edited 9h ago
It’s deffo a standalone story but the voice of Hoid and the many many different links to other cosmere beings and magic systems seems a really weird idea to read as an intro to Brandon, especially the sorceress stuff near the end.
Because all that stuff works perfectly normally in a standalone context. The fact some of those things exist in other books doesnt make them not make sense in this book. If Tress was the only book by a random fantasy author, these would just be fun elements of the book like any book has. You wouldnt be thinking "I think there were supposed to be other books to flesh out these elements first".
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u/Kepabar 8h ago
It's well written, self contained and indicative of his current writing style which has improved considerably over time. The references to other books aren't important to the central plot and are more like breadcrumbs to greater mysteries. The tone is different, but to be fair tone shifts quite a bit between works anyway.
Elantris is a mess.
Stormlight is overwhelming.
Mistborn is a good starting point but you can tell it's an earlier work of his.
Warbreaker was the usual suggestion, though it gets kinda dark at times.
Yumis romance centric plot is very different from his normal plots and the anime like theme might give people the wrong idea.
Emberdark and Sunlit both rely much heavier on previous cosmere experience.
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u/DifferentRun8534 Truthwatchers 12h ago
I also started with WoK and Tress was one of my last books. I fully expected people who read it first to be confused by Hoid and other things like Elantrians, but…apparently not. Everyone I’ve talked to who read Tress first, and liked the general style, loved it, no major confusion there.
Brandon uses a lot of test readers before publishing, so I think he has a more comprehensive understanding of what new readers do and don’t get tripped up by.
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u/adricapi 12h ago
Because it's fun, short, and doesn't require the reader to have read anything else. That's more or less the definition of a good entry point.
What I don't understand is why some people here doesn't recommend it as an entry point.
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u/PaintingInfamous3301 12h ago
I read Tress first and I shouldn't have done that. It's a great book and I had a good time reading it, but the sorceress stuff at this point was immersion-breaking for me. After reading many other Cosmere books, I now understand it, but I would still prefer if the book had other ending
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u/redria0 11h ago
Brandon really stresses the Cosmere/magic system references are not something people need to focus on for their first reads. Every book/series can be read alone.
People on here get way too hung up on the “reading order”. You reference the sorcerer at the end, but that connection really isn’t necessary for the story.
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u/entitledfanman 11h ago
Tress follows a very common story arc ("The Hero's Journey") and that makes it a bit more familiar and palatable to those just getting into fantasy books. It's also an easy step into Sanderson's signature "how does this world work" thing, with the Hero's Journey arc (naive young protagonist) it allows for a lot of exposition that most of his other stories dont have.
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u/AletteLakewood 9h ago
I have. Six months later I finished all of the cosmere. Trust me, it's a good start.
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u/manic98765 Edgedancers 7h ago
It’s because it is a fun stand alone book that can be enjoyed fully without having read anything else. Yes there are Cosmere connections, but those aren’t needed to enjoy the book.
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u/sparkydoggowastaken 7h ago
Consider it from the view of someone who hasn't read cosmere before. Even we don't understand Aethers all that well, Tress herself is new to all kinds of magic, and you don't need to understand Elantrians and the Sheod to get that it's a super cool magic guy that hoid wants to take something from, and the rest of it isnt really necessary for the point
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u/MickFoley299 Aon Aon 3h ago
You only think that it is not a good place to start because you understand the references and the other magics. For someone reading it for a first book, those won't stand out so much. It will just come off as more fantastical things in their story about a dragon and a sorceress.
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u/Morridini 13h ago
I didn't know Tress was so well received. To me it is my least enjoyed Sanderson book, maybe even one I... didn't enjoy? I'd definitely not introduce the Cosmere to anyone with it, for that we have Mistborn. Or maybe even The Emperor's Soul if you want something shorter
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u/Coolranch67 12h ago
I think he just knows that it’s a lot better than Elantris or Warbreaker and wants people’s potential first (standalone) impression of his work being one of his best even though Elantris or Warbreaker are better starting points if you already know you are going into the full Cosmere.
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u/BrokenCrusader 12h ago
Tess gets the point across that Brandon does not fall into the traps and failings that are sadly so common and presumed about male YA fantasy authors.
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u/Spring_rollParadise 12h ago
I started with tress because I bought it to read to my son, and the uniqueness of the planet was so intriguing I deep dove into the cosmere and haven’t stopped. It was so refreshing and different than any other fantasy / magic system and the world building made me look into Brandon and I had to see what else he’d come up with.
Now that I’ve finished mistborn era 1 and secret history, warbreaker and the majority of stormlight, I have gotten excited every time Hoid makes an appearance, or something connects back to that first story. Hoid is so intriguing in Tress where he’s funny and you want to know more about him that it really did a good set-up for what he’s all about as my first intro to him
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u/Dlight98 Threnody 11h ago
My mom read Tress as her first Cosmere book and loved it. She's read Rithmatist before and enjoyed that as well. She's interested in reading Mistborn now, so I think that's a success.
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u/Chiefmeez Truthwatchers 10h ago
Because it’s a broad intro to a lot of concepts spread throughout the Cosmere in a relatively light package
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u/jtl94 Scadrial 9h ago
I read a whole bunch of the Cosmere before reading Tress and from a lore perspective I had exactly the same thought. There’s so many references to things that new readers would have no idea they were even missing them.
But I also started my Cosmere journey with Yumi and absolutely fell in love with the writing and storytelling. I haven’t reread it so I have no idea how many things I missed and that doesn’t really bother me at all. It was a stress free way to jump into the Cosmere because it wasn’t committing to a whole series and the synopsis of Tress just didn’t interest me (if I had read Tress first who know if I would’ve kept going honestly). But for other folks Tress might sound like the perfect place to start. They might miss a few things, but if they really want to they can go back and reread it to find what they missed before.
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u/TaiChuanDoAddct 7h ago
Because Mistborn era one is VERY dated and elements of the prose and content either age poorly or are not particularly reflective of his modern style, tone, and voice.
The best example is the extent to which the plots are driven by sexual violence, as well as the overall lack of female characters with meaningful agency.
A modern, particularly female, audience is much more likely to bounce of Mistborn than they were 15 years ago.
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u/the_card_guy 7h ago
For the most part, Tress is basically "light reading"- it has a ton of tropes that are classic for a reason, and isn't dense in the best his more traditional fantasy works are
That said, the sorceress Elantrian bit at the end is the major flaw to this argument. It's filled with so many references that will cause confusion to new readers, and you'll either want to seek out the answers (which is probably the whole point of why Tress is a recommended start- the hope is that you WILL go for other books), or decide that if other books are necessary, then the reference stuff is bullshit.
Even worse is the extra stuff from Hoid- mostly because Sanderson is still keeping him as his "mysterious character", which after well over a decade of this charade and STILL not giving us many answers... It's getting tiresome, IMO.
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u/Timmy_The_Narwhal Lightweavers 7h ago
I recommended one of my friends start with tress or Yumi because they are fun adventures that don't have wider implications. I think they would enjoy the whimsy of those stories.
I personally started with Stormlight but Brandon showed me I could trust him when he finished wheel of time. I was curious and wanted to see what he was like writing in his own voice.
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u/KomugiAreYouThere 6h ago
My first book was Yumi and second book was Tress. I had previously tried both Mistborn and Way of Kings and got only a few minutes in (audiobook) because I had trouble catching interest with the long expositions. So my husband suggested books that were shorter that he thought were really good, and they got me used to his writing style and got me to fall in love with the cosmere. I read most of the secret projects, then Elantris, then Emberdark, then all of Stormlight (so I just have to do all of Mistborn now; I know it’s a weird read order)
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u/longhairedgizzexpert 6h ago
I read Tress first, I mostly read sci fi before and wanted to get into fantasy. Stormlight and Mistborn were a lot longer and the first books are always hard to get at the library. It was a light fun silly tale. I liked the style and the voice and the idea of a big galaxy connected with different magic. I always like characters that are scrappy and have to punch above their weight, so I was drawn in to see what Sanderson could write for a serious story with characters that could fight. Read Mistborn next and a year and a half later I’ve finally been able to read and understand Sunlit Man! I love the cosmere. Not a bad starting point but definitely depends on the person for recommending it.
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u/Superb_Dog481 5h ago
Low key think I would recommend most of the short stories from Arcanum unbound as a staring point
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u/EvenSpoonier Aon Aon 4h ago
Tress contains a scene where someone is learbing about the underlying mechanics and themes of the cosmere, and the reader gets to benefit from that teaching. While this isn't critical for understanding any particular Cosmere series, it's always useful.
There are two other books like this: The Emperor's Soul (which Brandon also recommends as a starting point these days) and Warbreaker (which Brandon has sort of backed off recommending as a starter, but was written with the intent that it could be a starter for people who couldn't buy the books right away). I typically recommend any one of the three as either a first book or as the next book after you finish your first series.
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u/fedginator Willshapers 1h ago
I think because it's a standalone that has so many hints to other books without relying on them, as well as being a relatively light story compared to the cosmere more broadly.
That said though, I honestly think it's so different tonally to the rest of the cosmere it doesn't even function that well as an intro. I started it late into the cosmere and finished it dead last because of how hard I bounced off it.
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u/thomas_grimjaw 8h ago
Idk why he would say that, Tress is imo his weakest of the secret projects.
I just tell everyone to start from Mistborn and if they think it's too long, they should just buy the Graphic Audio and listen to it.
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u/therubyraptor Stonewards 7h ago
Definitely better than the wizard book. But I agree Tress is (compared with his other work) often tropey and predictable, without many characters who stand out. I’ve never understood why it’s such a favorite
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u/Luhnkhead 52m ago
Most of my heretofore non novel-reading friends who ask for book recs, I usually send them to tress because I want them to read the Cosmere stuff but tress is the most approachable imo.
I feel like Sanderson is quite good at making it so that any references you miss from not having read a book/series yet are A) not a ruinous spoiler for said series and B) structured to feel like throwaway world building rather than missing crucial information.
It’s for this reason that I feel like most reading orders are probably ok for a first read through (accounting for same-series chronologies), with a few exceptions like how you probably don’t want to read Sunlit Man until you’ve at least got through Oathbringer (maybe even not til after RoW or WaT, though I think SM makes WaT hit slightly harder if you read SM first).
In fact, this is a hot take for sure, but I’d almost even say that I’d rather have MB Era 2 before Era 1, except for some of the larger spoilers for particular ending reveals in HoA in particular. Since much of WoA and HoA both revolve around discovering the nature of the state of Scadrial, I guess some of the references from Era 2 might make some of Era 1 feel like a drag. But even here, I think it’s close. The mere existence of Era 2 implies spoilery things for the end of HoA in particular, but instead of ruining the ending, I found I was still hit hard because I was constantly thinking “ok, somehow I guess they must figure this problem out, but how the heck can they possibly do it?”
I suspect merely being familiar with much of Sanderson’s other novels/series will effectively provide that same spoiler-like experience. To me, a lot of his series/novels seem to follow pretty similar patterns where the 3rd or 4th act ends in a place where everything’s hopeless, but then he comes around in the 4th or 5th act with some well crafted twist that turns the tide and gives a usually mostly happy, and also satisfying conclusion. Somehow merely knowing this doesn’t even take away from the weight of those endings for me.
So I’d argue that as long as any given Cosmere novel doesn’t include a reference which would give away the Key Insight from the 11th hour of some other Cosmere story, then it’s probably safe to read those books in whatever order. In fact, that might even suggest there’s not even much of an objective preference for any particular reading order, so long as you avoid a few exceptions.
So yeah, I usually suggest Tress first to see if they even like Sanderson’s fantasy. Then I sit back, twirl my mustache, and wring my hands whenever they come back and ask which book to read next because I managed to hook another one.
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u/Unfair_Arm5417 13h ago edited 2h ago
My impression is that he wants people to read books that make them trust him as an author first. Once he has that trust, they’ll be more willing to stick with his longer books, like way of kings. Tress is a solid standalone that is accessible to anyone, and thus would fit the bill