Editing Tress of the Emerald Sea

|cover=Tress US Cover.jpg

|setting=[[Lumar]], [[Cosmere]]

|released=January 1st, 2023{{url ref|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a-k6eaT-jQ|text=Brandon's Announcement Video|site=Youtube|name=AnnouncementVideo}}

|page-count=479

|word-count=[[/Statistical_analysis|107,227]]

'''''Tress of the Emerald Sea''''' is a stand alone cosmere novel, told as an in-world story by [[Hoid]]. It chronicles the journey of [[Tress]] as she travels the world of [[Lumar]] to rescue her beloved, [[Charlie]], after he is kidnapped by the [[Sorceress]]. Unlike other Hoid stories which tend towards more fanciful, Tress' adventures reflect real-world cosmere events that occurred, though the tale still includes artistic liberties added by Hoid as part of his storytelling style.{{wob ref|15423}}

''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' was the first of the secret projects released in 2023. It was released in January of that year as part of a [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonsteel/surprise-four-secret-novels-by-brandon-sanderson Kickstarter Campaign].{{ref|name=AnnouncementVideo}} This was followed by a standard publishing release on April 4, 2023.{{url ref|url=https://www.amazon.com/Winter-2023-Tor-Title-Announced/dp/1250899656/|site=Amazon.com|text=''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' on Amazon|name=Amazon}} It is a cosmere novel set on a new world, with the "craziest worldbuilding" of the four secret projects.{{wob ref|15415}}

On March 3, 2022, Brandon released the first five chapters along with some brief commentary, which can be read [[bws:first-look-at-secret-project-1|on his website]] and listened to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBUVXcIE0E0 on his YouTube channel]. He also did a full spoiler Q&A about these preview chapters, which can be listened to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvXvV3rWsqg on his YouTube channel].

== Synopsis ==

{{quote

|The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

|Tor blurb{{ref|name=Amazon}}

}}

== Summary ==

{{for|/Summary|a chapter by chapter summary}}

The story follows [[Tress]], a girl living on an island in the middle of an ocean of green pollen, one of twelve covering her home planet. A window-washer and an avid collector of cups, Tress is friends with [[Charlie]], who pretends to be the groundskeeper for the [[duke]] that rules the island while in actuality being his son. Over time, Tress and Charlie realize they have feelings for each other and confess. Unfortunately, the duke sees this, and shortly after takes Charlie with him to other islands to marry him off to a princess.{{wob ref|15422}}

Before his departure, Charlie promises to fend off all the suitors and send Tress letters and cups. She receives four of them before Charlie falls silent, so when his ship returns, she ventures out to see what became of him. However, the duke brings back a different heir, while Charlie appears to have disappeared completely. Tress investigates this and discovers that Charlie was sent off to marry the sorceress of the Midnight Sea, and was subsequently captured. Despite the sorceress sending a ransom note, no-one is interested in paying. Realizing that everyone but her has put Charlie out of their minds, Tress decides to set out and rescue him herself.{{wob ref|15422}}

== Main Characters ==

* [[Tress]]

* [[Charlie]]

* [[Huck]]

* [[Hoid]]

* [[Fort]]

* [[Ann]]

* [[Ulaam]]

* [[Salay]]

* [[Laggart]]

* [[Crow]]

* [[Xisisrefliel]]

* The [[Sorceress]]

* The [[duke]]

{{quote

|A world where people sail upon powder or dust, instead of water. A way to start introducing the [[aether]]s to people as a cosmere magic. And the basic premise: What if Buttercup were more proactive?

|Brandon{{wob ref|15423}}

}}

Along with the other secret projects, Brandon wrote ''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' in secret, telling no one except his wife, for whom it was a gift. Since he wasn't doing any touring in 2020, he had more writing time, and so ''Tress'' was created along with four other books. He surprised his team with them all in late 2021.{{ref|name=AnnouncementVideo}}

The story was directly inspired by ''[[wikipedia:The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'', more specifically a watch party of it that Brandon had with his wife and kids. During the movie, Emily was dissatisfied with Princess Buttercup's passive attitude, eventually asking why she sat and did nothing when her love was kidnapped by pirates. This gave Brandon the idea of writing a story similar in premise and tone to ''Princess Bride'', but one in which the girl does set out to rescue her love.{{wob ref|15423}}

The setting of Lumar was a combination of two factors: Brandon's desire to properly introduce aethers into the [[cosmere]], and his fascination with [[wikipedia:fluidization|fluidization]], the process by which granular matter such as sand -- or, in this case, spores -- begins to behave like a liquid under the right circumstances.{{wob ref|15423}} The characters of Charlie and Tress, while not direct self-inserts, have some personality traits taken from Brandon and Emily.{{wob ref|15464}}

== Cover Gallery ==

{{for|/Covers|a cover gallery of Tress of the Emerald Sea}}

== Interior Art ==

{{for|/Interior art|a gallery of the book's interior art}}

== Trivia ==

* The book is illustrated by [[Howard Lyon]].{{wob ref|15434}}

== Statistical Analysis ==

{{for|/Statistical analysis|a full statistical analysis}}

''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' consists of sixty-four chapters and one epilogue. It has a total word count of 107,227.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Word Count

| style="text-align:center" | 107,227

| Excluding postscript.

|-

! Page Count

| style="text-align:center" | 479

| Dragonsteel edition

|-

! Chapter Count

| style="text-align:center" | 65

| Including epilogue.

|}

{{tress}}

[[Category: Tress of the Emerald Sea| ]]

[[es:Tress of the Emerald Sea]]