In 2022, Brandon Sanderson announced four "Secret Projects," which resulted from his extra time during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The projects were released to fans over the span of 2023, dubbed the "Year of Sanderson." While they've now all been released to the public, those who backed his record-breaking Kickstarter campaign had each Secret Project delivered in advance in special, editions. The unprecedented success Sanderson saw in 2023 is a testament to his continuously growing audience and his ability to engage with them via his online presence.

Amid the intense writing process of The Stormlight Archive book 5, Sanderson has found the time to write an entire additional novel, which has been referred to as Secret Project 5. The book is set to be part of the Cosmere and is purchasable through his new Backer campaign for the leather-bound edition of Words of Radiance. However, the release of Secret Project 5 is still roughly one year away. In the meantime, there are plenty of Sanderson novels to catch up on, including the already-released Secret Projects, most of which are also in the Cosmere.

5 Tress Of The Emerald Sea (2023)

Tress Of The Emerald Sea Is A Vibrant Seafaring Adventure Within The Cosmere

The first release of Brandon Sanderson's Secret Projects is Tress of the Emerald Sea, which has been praised by Cosmere fans and general readers alike, as it's jam-packed with Cosmere references but accessible enough to be read as a standalone. Unlike other installments in the Cosmere universe, Tress of the Emerald Sea is an in-world story, meaning it's fiction within the world it's told. The book is narrated by Hoid, who Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive fans will know as the mysterious being who traverses the Cosmere, often enlightening protagonists with puzzling stories.

Tress of the Emerald Sea is clearer and more engaging than the generally mystifying Hoid stories, yet he still brings his amusing personality to the table as the narrator. On the planet Lumar, a young woman named Tress adventures out to rescue her beloved, who's been captured by an antagonist referred to as the Sorceress. As its name would imply, the Sanderson novel resembles a fairy tale but is approached with adult themes and ideas, making for an engaging story that can be enjoyed by YA or adult readers.

All of Sanderson's Secret Projects have received acclaim, with Tress of the Emerald Sea earning a 4.4/5 from readers on GoodReads. The book has been praised as a heartwarming, imaginative fantasy experience that's filled with Cosmere easter eggs. However, while world-building excitement may be one of Sanderson's main appeals, the reason so many readers have fallen in love with his stories is due to his outstanding, emotionally-driven character work, which the novel excels at. Above all, Tress of the Emerald Sea is a touching love story.

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4 The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England (2023)

The Frugal Wizar'ds Handbook Is A Jason Bourne-like Thriller Set In Medieval England

Out of Sanderson's Secret Projects, The Frugal Wizard's Handbook received the least attention, as it's the only one that isn't part of the Cosmere. Sanderson's writing career hasn't been restricted solely to his fantasy universe. He also writes a sci-fi series called Skyward, several YA books, and completed The Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan's ing. The Secret Project standalone is one of his most unique stories, with absurd comedic elements blending with the sci-fi/fantasy premise.

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook begins with a man who's lost his memories and wakes up in medieval England, having time-traveled to get there. The mystery thriller ensues as the man realizes he's being chased by other time travelers, resulting in a Jason Bourne-like fight for survival where the protagonist is trying to retain his memory and purpose. The standalone is one of Sanderson's more hit-or-miss novels, as he tries something new without many of the elements that have proven successful for him time and again.

Brandon Sanderson's second Secret Project is one of his most comedic books, meaning it hones in on an aspect of his books that he's previously received mixed response for. Sanderson has great moments of humor, particularly in The Stormlight Archive, in the dynamics between characters like Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin. Still, it's not his greatest strength as an author, and the bizarre humor of The Frugal Wizard's Handbook resulted in one of the Secret Projects' more divisive responses.

3 Yumi And The Nightmare Painter (2023)

Yumi And The Nightmare Painter Embraces The Supernatural Side Of The Cosmere

Like with Tress, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is a colorful, imaginative installment to the Cosmere that's told as an in-universe story by Hoid, which takes place on the planet Komashi. Sanderson wrote both Tress and Yumi initially as experiments in working with Hoid's voice in preparation for the Dragonsteel book series, which will become one of the main stages of the Cosmere, examining Hoid's past. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter takes inspiration from Japanese media, including Final Fantasy X, making it another unique entry to Sanderson's oeuvre.

Out of the four initial Secret Projects, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter has the highest score among audiences on GoodReads, with a 4.49/5. The novel centers around supernatural elements, with, Yumi and Nikaro, two characters in different locations, whose jobs focus around spirits, are connected to one another. Nikaro is a nightmare painter who captures nightmares to protect the people in his city. Yumi is a priestess who can summon spirits for various purposes in her land.

Sanderson's novel brings two unlikely protagonists together to solve a unique body-swap situation, resulting in a dramatic, emotional, romantic narrative. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter can be enjoyed by Cosmere readers or those who love anime, manga, and other Japanese media. It's one of Sanderson's most soulful and creative literary experiences and his best Secret Project so far.

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2 The Sunlit Man (2023)

The Sunlit Man Glimpses At The Futuristic Space-Aged Era Of The Cosmere

As a standalone story, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is perhaps the best work to come from Sanderson's Secret Projects. However, The Sunlit Man, which was just released to the public in March of 2024, could be the most exciting experience specifically for Cosmere fans. Occurring on the planet Canticle, The Sunlit Man offers a glimpse at the futuristic world of the Cosmere, where book series like Mistborn seem to be headed with technological advancements.

Sanderson is keen on refuting the norm where fantasy worlds remain static, and though the Cosmere will likely stay in the fantasy genre through its themes, science fiction elements will eventually become more frequent. The Sunlit Man, following the character Nomad, offers an early glimpse at that. Due to an affliction, Nomad cannot cause harm to others, which creates a challenge in his adventure, where he's pursued by a group called the Night Brigade across various planets in the Cosmere. The Sunlit Man is simultaneously a terrific standalone novel filled with gems for long-term Sanderson readers to embrace.

The Sunlit Man has significant ties to The Lost Metal, one of the best Mistborn books and one of the most Cosmere-connective novels so far. While it can be enjoyed without that context, the added enjoyment of those references is what makes The Sunlit Man such a highlight of the Secret Projects. Sanderson has also recommended that the book be read before reading book 5 of The Stormlight Archive, hinting at even more cohesion between series soon to come.

1 Isles Of The Emberdark (2025)

Secret Project 5 Will Happen In Emberdark, A Location Familiar To Cosmere Readers

According to Sanderson's YouTube chapter preview, Secret Project 5 will be titled Isles of the Emberdark and will contain a significant volume of Cosmere connectivity. Isles of the Emberdark is the first Secret Project not connected to the original Kickstarter campaign but is instead purchasable via Sanderson's Words of Radiance leather-bound edition Backer. With that in mind, there will be some time before the book releases, though Sanderson has predicted 2025. For now, The Stormlight Archive book 5 takes precedence.

The term "Emberdark" has been mentioned before in the Cosmere, and The Stormlight Archive fans will recognize it as a location within Shadesmar. Shadesmar, also known as the Cognitive Realm, is a location used by characters like Hoid to traverse the Cosmere. Stormlight Archive protagonists like Kaladin, Shallan, Jasnah, and Adolin have visited Shadesmar, though the Emberdark area is yet to be seen in any of Sanderson's work. The 2025 novel will re-introduce Dusk, a character from the Cosmere novella Sixth of the Dusk, as he travels to Shadesmar and the Emberdark.

Brandon Sanderson has truly outdone himself by announcing another Secret Project. The Mistborn author has already impressed readers with his dedication to speedily writing dense fantasy novels on a consistent basis, but the possibility of whole extra books popping up now and then proves just how fulfilling it is to be a Cosmere fan. Sanderson claims that he's still written Isles of the Emberdark with non-Cosmere readers in mind but encourages reading at least some of his fantasy universe before diving into the book.