hi! i stumbled across one of your tags on a post back in august mentioning that reading Tress and Yumi was your introduction to brandon sandersons works.
since reading them both, i felt that they'd be incredible standalone works to introduce someone to the Cosmere superseries but i've so far refrained from recommending them to anyone "green" due to how referential they are to his earlier writing, as i feared this would make the fun less accessible.
would i be able to get your perspective on what going into Tress/Yumi first was like? how did you find the narration and the way it glosses over the existence of other worlds and magic? were you introduced to the books by someone/people who could answer any questions, or was the info in the text itself enough?
looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!
Okay, so the background info is that my roommates are big Sando fans and have read most of his books and so they know lots about the Cosmere. Through hearing their conversations, I may have been able to recognize some references to other Cosmere things in Tress and Yumi more than someone with zero knowledge of his other works. Didn't mean I got the references, just recognized them. I really don't think either book relies on the reader to have a working knowledge of the Cosmere to enjoy them, I'd say they're great gateway books for someone wanting to get into his various works. It was easier for me to commit to than a big series.
I have since started a 3rd Brando Sando book, Warbreaker, which is a favourite of one of my roommates, and I am enjoying the different narrative style (not Hoid). But honestly, Hoid as a narrator is also just so, so great. Everyone should know that joy. I don't even really know who or what he is, he's just really cool.
I hope that made sense. TL;DR - You don't need knowledge about the cosmere to enjoy Tress or Yumi, they are both amazing books, Hoid is great, and Warbreaker is also pretty great so far.
