The Writing Vikings Ep.07 – Tress of the Emerald Sea: Spores, Rats and Dragons!

 

It’s time to talk about Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson’s first Kickstarter project. Warning! This episode is full of spoilers so if you have not read Tress of the Emerald Sea, but intend to, you may want to skip this episode. If not, enjoy!

Lizzie continues Anuhea’s story…

Now, when one imagines a passageway built into a mountain, the first image that springs to mind is likely a long dark cave, lit perhaps by torches or lanterns of mage light. This was certainly what Anuhea had been expecting. Yet, as she found herself sprawled backward against the cold, hard floor, she could not help but be overwhelmed by how impossibly bright everything was.

Twisting around, she discovered that she was at the top of a stairwell. A long staircase of shining white marble stretched down at least eight feet below her, and it would take three times her own height standing from where she was now to reach the ceiling. If one could call it a ceiling, that was. Above her flowed a glowing, celestial river, more brilliant than the sun itself. It seared her eyes to look at it directly, and the light radiating from it bounced off the white walls in a way that made her need to squint to see anything at all.

Further down the hall, twelve statues of the bluest lapis lazuli she had ever seen lined the walls. Her heart caught in her throat. Barely realising it, Anuhea’s hand twitched reflexively to the nape of her neck, to where a tiny gem the colour of the sky was embedded into her skin.

Before she had time to think further, a bloodcurdling screech, like the sound of rusted wheels and a man choking on his own vomit, seethed from the night outside. Anuhea did not want to look over her shoulder, but morbid curiosity dragged her eyes anyway. The Wiladash had hauled its way back up the cliff face and was standing at the edge of the precipice, eyes seething with unnatural violet light. It was wounded, bones jutting out of its limbs at acute angles, yet somehow it still managed to move. A writhing mass of blood, flesh and sorcery creeping ever slowly toward her. Hatred rolled off it in waves. Anuhea was no longer mere prey. She had wounded it, and now it wanted revenge.

Anuhea’s eyes flickered nervously to the door. The massive structure had not finished opening fully and still grinding open against the limestone at a painfully slow rate. Hoping to reverse the motion, Anuhea shoved her shoulder against the edges, but it was no use. The body weight of a single girl could not overcome centuries of mage work. She didn’t know if the Wiladash would be able to pass through into the hallway, but she certainly was not about to wait to find out.

Ven recommends The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

Lizzie recommends Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

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