Tress of the Emerald Sea

Tress of the Emerald Sea is an epic fantasy novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson. It is part of the Cosmere fictional universe and the first book of Sanderson's "Secret Projects" Kickstarter campaign. It was exclusively released on January 1, 2023, by Dragonsteel Entertainment to Kickstarter backers, released online as an ebook, epub, and pdf on January 10, 2023, and officially published on April 4, 2023, by Tor Books.

Plot
Tress grew up on The Rock, an isolated island in the Emerald Sea. She spent her days collecting cups from passing sailors, forming an impressive collection. One day, Tress visited her friend Charlie, the Duke's son, but their bonding was cut short by the Duke's disapproval.

The next morning, the Duke announced his family would be leaving for an arranged royal marriage. Before departing, Charlie promised Tress he would return unmarried and bring her a special cup. A year passed, and the Duke's family returned - but Charlie was missing. Tress learned he had been captured by the Sorceress after being exiled to the treacherous Midnight Seas by a furious King. Determined to save Charlie, Tress set out on a perilous journey. She boarded the smuggler ship Oot's Dream, where she befriended a talking rat named Huck. When the ship was ambushed by pirates, Tress and Huck escaped and joined the crew of the notorious Crow's Song.

Tress quickly endeared herself to the fearful, cursedrewn crew, including the quartermaster Fort, carpenter Ann, and helmsman Salay. She discovered the captain, Crow, was a "spore eater" who used her abilities to terrorize other ships. Tress sabotaged the Crow's Song's attacks to avoid casualties, while also secretly planning a mutiny with the crew. As they neared the Crimson Sea, Tress learned Crow sought a cure for her illness from the dragon Xisis. Tress convinced Crow to take her along, hoping Xisis could also help free Charlie from the Sorceress' clutches. With the crew's support, Tress set out on quest to stop the Sorceress' dark plans.

Three days later, Tress enacts her plan to leave the ship and continue her mission to rescue Charlie. However, Crow undermines Tress' efforts and warns her of the dangers of the Crimson and Midnight Seas. With Huck's encouragement, Tress invents a flare gun that summons the spores. Huck then informs Tress about the Sorceress' lair and the perils she is unprepared for. To confront the Sorceress, Tress must overcome three trials: the Midnight Essences, giant golden statues, and a fortified tower. As two storms approach, Tress uses spore-infused water to conjure a giant protective tree for the ship. Tress, Fort, Ann, and Salay plan to remove Crow, but she exposes their scheme using midnight spores. Crow's cannon master Laggart ambushes them, injuring Salay. Crow then takes Fort and Salay hostage to force Tress' compliance. In Xisis' lair, Tress outsmarts Crow, convincing the dragon to free her. With Crow removed, the crew elects Tress as their captain, supporting her mission to the Midnight Sea.

Tress introduces Huck as her valet, revealing the Midnight spores that can disable the Sorceress' monsters. However, the paranoid Huck secretly sabotages the ship's food using Hoid's magic, causing Tress to distrust and imprison him. Tress plans to take Hoid to the Sorceress' lair, but the Midnight Essences ambush her. Huck then admits he serves the Sorceress, taking Tress captive. At the Sorceress' island, Tress realizes the Sorceress has cursed Charlie, now revealed as Huck. As Tress and Charlie embrace, the Crow's Song crew attacks the island. Fort controls the Midnight Essences, and Hoid halts the Sorceress' curse, forcing her surrender. Five months later, Tress, Charlie, and the crew depart the island and sail off towards other adventures.

Characters

 * Tress: The story's main protagonist and heroine. Her actual name is Glorf, which she considers to be a very unfortunate name. Everyone in the story calls her Tress, after her unruly hair. She is fond of cups and has a small collection (courtesy of Charlie and his many expeditions as the duke’s son) which she carries around everywhere she goes.
 *  Captain Crow: The ruthless ship captain of the Crow's Song. She has a symbiotic relationship with Verdant Spores (a condition colloquially known as being a “spore eater”) in which the spores protect her from harm in exchange for increasing amounts of water. This condition is fatal, but she has already lived past her expiration date, making her nihilistic and overconfident, and therefore dangerous.
 * The Sorceress/Riina: the main antagonist of the story. She came to Lumar because she believed it to be the most vulnerable planet in the Cosmere. She then cursed anyone she met, making hers a very feared name indeed. In the story we meet two people she cursed, one being Hoid (expanded upon in Hoid’s entry) and the other being Charlie (expanded upon in Charlie’s entry)
 * Ann: The ship's carpenter. She loves guns, but has horrendous aim, to the point of comedy.
 * Salay: The ship’s helmswoman. Her goal is to find her father.
 * Fort: A deaf quartermaster who uses a Nathian board for translation. He was the first member of the crew to be nice to Tress.
 * Charlie: The Duke's son. He is most fond of stories and adventures. He is Tress' love interest. His curse from Riina turned him into a rat.
 * Ulaam: A Kandra from Scadrial who was called to Lumar by Hoid (presumably before Hoid got cursed). After seeing Hoid’s state, Ulaam chose to remain with Hoid to keep an eye on him. He now spends his days as the ship’s surgeon.
 * Hoid: A Worldhopper and storyteller, the narrator of this story. Known as Wit, the Drifter, Cephandrius and a myriad other names, Hoid is known have a major role in the overarching story of the Cosmere. He appears in every Cosmere book, nudging the main characters in the right direction. This was not one of his brightest moments, as he was pretty much incapacitated for most of the story due to Riina’s curse, which made him lose his Wits. He wasn’t even capable of forming coherent sentences. In rare moments of lucidity he still tried to help Tress and nudge her in the right direction.

Publication
In spring 2022, Brandon Sanderson announced a Kickstarter campaign of "Secret Projects" to publish four secret and brand-new novels written during the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign reached its goal within a day, and accumulated a total of $41.7 million. Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first of the Secret Projects and is part of Sanderson's fictional Cosmere universe. The novel is inspired by William Goldman’s 1973 novel The Princess Bride and is narrated by Hoid, a recurring character who had appeared in multiple Cosmere series novels and whom Sanderson always wanted to have a book centered on.

Kickstarter campaign backers received premium editions of the novel published by Dragonsteel Entertainment on January 1, 2023, and a standard hardback edition published by Tor Books was officially released on April 4, 2023.

Reception
Kirkus Reviews called the novel "a fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit", and praising it for the engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters and sense of humor.

Lyndsey Luther of Tor.com called the novel "fascinating and completely unlike anything I’ve seen in any other fantasy novel". She described the novel as "a fairy-tale Cosmere adventure filled with fun characters" and said "Sanderson’s gift for creating unique settings really shines".

David Wiley of Open Letters Review praised the novel for its "punchy pacing, witty humor, vibrant characters, and fascinating magic systems", yet he criticized the narrative and too many Cosmere-related subtleties added to the plot.