this MIGHT be my new favorite fantasy book...

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:01]Hello everyone. Welcome or welcome back to the channel. Welcome to my weekly reading recap. I'm back. I'm reading a great book that I want to show, share, tell you about. Uh I think it really is for everyone. This one has been sitting on my shelf for a while, multiple years at this point.

[00:00:23]and I knew I always wanted to read it, but I've been in a bit of a reading slump as of the past week or so. I felt like this would be the perfect time to read it. It's a standalone fantasy book, which there aren't too many of those these days, and it is blowing my socks off. I knew I like this author. I knew I would like this book, but it is just very enjoyable. So, let me share with you my experience so far with little reflective cover there. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.

[00:00:54]This is just a really good sort of feel-good fantasy book. It's not too like high up there where you won't be able to understand things. It's pretty easy to follow. Just what I needed coming out of my reading slump. I have read the entirety of the Stormlight Archives, books one through five, plus the two novellas. So, I already knew I would like Brandon Sanderson. Um, this is actually the book he recommends you start with of his in his cosmir universe. I can see why. Um, it's just a really good intro to his writing style.

[00:01:33]And let's talk a bit about his writing style. It's very conversational but rich, if that makes any sense whatsoever. He he has these like beautifully written sentences that sound like someone is talking to you. It sounds like someone is telling you a story rather than you are reading a book which I guess checks out for this book if you have read it before. That is the premise of it. The narrator of the book is actually a character in the book itself without giving anything away here.

[00:02:08]But yes, it it see it feels like a campfire tale in a sense. Someone is just telling it to you and you're along for the ride and that makes it very immersive. I found a similar way to um or I guess it was very similarly told in the Stormlight Archa which I think is why I liked them so much and why I flew through them seemingly is because they are conversational yet rich. They're they're like simple books but they're not boring if that makes any sense. um simply written but easy to understand but not boring. I think that's the way to a good way to put it. If that sounds like it's up your alley, give this one a shot. This one is definitely getting me out of my reading slump 110%.

[00:03:01]So check this one out. I'm only about 50% of the way through it and I'm very much very very much liking it. It has short chapters, so you sort of are able to fly through multiple of them in one sitting. Um, I know a chapter length doesn't really matter to me in a book, but in a in a way to get myself out of a reading slump. I think it does hold some significance to be able to sit down and read for 15 minutes and knock out, you know, a chapter or two feels good in a slump. And this one is delivering on that one in spades.

[00:03:36]a little bit I guess about the book without giving too much away. So we follow our main character Tres who is she's this girl. She is 16 or 17. She lives on this island called The Rock and she is just a poor worker girl um who falls in love with this noble boy who lives on the island.

[00:04:06]Then the noble boy is sent to basically the mainland to marry another noble woman to start his own noble family.

[00:04:16]Word gets out that he gets captured by the evil sorceress in the sea. And now Tres decides to go on this pirating adventure to go try and save him from the evil sorcerer sorceress. It's very it's very much giving like saving Peach from Bowser's castle from Mario, but rolls reverse and I think it's just charming and enjoyable.

[00:04:43]Um there's some twists in like the sea is made of this deadly substance and you can't touch it and there's 12 of these deadly substances and things of that nature but none of it is difficult to understand. Uh another thing that this may sound contradictory that it is easy to understand but Brandon Sanderson doesn't necessarily tell you everything.

[00:05:03]He writes things in a way where you come to your own conclusions about things that are right. And I think that is very enjoyable to read. Like he doesn't really spell out how the world or how the magic works in this world, but he gives you plenty of examples so you can draw your own conclusions that aren't too hard to understand.

[00:05:28]Um, and it's just very immersive in that way. You feel like you're just along for the ride and when things start clicking, it really is enjoyable. None of it's hard to understand. Um, yeah, it's just a really good book. A standalone fantasy that is hitting this high of a mark in 2026 is very good. Like I said, there not too many standalone fantasy books out there that are well regarded. I think this one needs to be on your radar if that sounds like something you are into. Check it out. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Sanderson.

[00:06:06]Speaking of Brandon Sanderson, I've got my next reads lined up. I guess that just goes to show how good I am or how much I am enjoying um this one here I figured I would pick up.

[00:06:18]Well, I already own these, but my next for reading, I think, is going to be Misborn Era 1. I have this box set got for Christmas year ago, I think. Reading this because my older sister is also reading this and she just started it yesterday. So, I want to join her on this journey. Obviously, we start with book one, Misborn. Uh, then the Well of Ascension and the Hero of Ages. I don't really know a whole lot about this. I read the prologue of book one in a bookshop about a year ago. Safe to say I remember nothing about it, but it was good. So, I think now is the time. I'll finish Tres of the Emerald Sea, pick up Misborn, and basically buddy readad it with my sister. I think she got these for Christmas this year, and we'll go from there. It should be a grand old time. I'm back on my fantasy train and back to reading. It definitely feels good. Apart from that, I got two other books in the works. I guess I'm my reading slump is officially over. I'm still chipping through these chess books. I know this is the most riveting subject on all of book, but I enjoy it.

[00:07:27]I am chipping through reading Jose Raul Capablanca's chess fundamentals. I physically sit at a chess board and flip through all the puzzles and things of that nature. Uh I'm I'm liking it. It's going a bit slower than I initially anticipated. Imagine that.

[00:07:46]This isn't the most fascinating book I've read in my life, but I am liking it. Hoping to maybe finish it this week.

[00:07:53]And then my newest book pickup that I think will be my next chess related read. Uh I feel like having like these two different types of books going is good. They sort of engage different parts of my brain, my life. And yeah, I feel like a lot of people do that. read two different types of books or maybe three different types of books at a time just so they're always reading something and that's what I'm doing. So my next chess book I'm going to pick up is this logical chess move by move by Irving Chernv. Uh every move explained in the new algebraic uh edition. If you are a chess player, you know what that means. Yeah, this is just very dense.

[00:08:44]Exactly as it seems. It It shows I believe it's 50, no 33 complete.

[00:08:53]I don't know if they're famous, but just chess games. So, it will have a little blurb about the game and then go into each game obviously move by move and has some commentary after every move to bring some light as to why the move was played. I feel like that's a good way to learn. I feel like in today's day and age where a lot of online learning is done through videos, there isn't a lot whole lot of like granular detail at this level. I think this book will be very instructive in that regard.

[00:09:29]Obviously has some updated diagrams as the position changes. But you can see it will it'll play, you know, play this move E takes D5 and it has like paragraphs on why that was made. I feel like this is a great way to learn and basically be like your own teacher. Draw your own conclusions with the help of others. I guess maybe similar into Brandon Sanderson's works, having it not everything be explained to you, but you make your own conclusions. Very much excited to get into this one. Um, and yeah, add it to my chess book collection up here. If you're a chess player, let me know down below what books have you read. What books were the most helpful?

[00:10:11]I've read a couple. I've read Levy's book one. Uh, How to Win at Chess. I've read I'm trying to just like look at this my books that they're mirrored.

[00:10:20]I've read Grandmaster Seir's Play Winning Chess and then Winning Chess Tactics. I've read Chess for Dummies, which was not good. Uh, what else have I read? And then Chess Fundamentals. So, I think this is my fourth or fifth chess book. So far, so good. But like I said, if you play chess and read these types of riveting books, let me know what you think of them. Maybe recommend me some. Um, yeah, I'm still in the beginner stage.

[00:10:49]around a thousand elochess.com rapid. So any and all tips are appreciated. We will leave it at that. Appreciate you watching up until this point. If you are new here, consider subscribing. Give it a like if you liked it and all that YouTube stuff. Let me know what books are you reading this week down below. I hope it is a great week of reading for you and we will catch you in the next one. Thanks for hanging out, guys. Thank