The Emperor's Soul: A Cosmere Novella (Cosmere Universe)

by Brandon Sanderson

From the bestselling author of the Mistborn Trilogy and co-author of the final three books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series comes the tale of a heretic thief who may be an Empire's only hope for survival.

Shai is a Forger: a foreigner who can flawlessly re-create any item by rewriting its history using skillful magic . . . although she's currently condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor's sceptre, she has one last opportunity to save herself. The emperor has barely survived an assassination attempt, he needs a new soul and, despite viewing her skill as a Forger an abomination, her captors have turned to Shai for help.

Skillfully deducing her captors plans, Shai know the first thing she needs is a perfect escape plan. but in the meantime, her fate and that of the empire lies in completing an impossible task: is it possible to create a forgery so convincing that it's better than the soul itself?

• ISBN10: 057511603X
• ISBN13: 9780575116030
• Publish Date: 21 March 2013 (first published 10 October 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 128
• Language: English

Reviews

[zyarose]

What can I say that probably isn't always said about Brandon Sanderson?

The magic system is, as usual, amazing. Slowly revealing the magic system's in the way he does is a treat, watching the pieces unravel before you feels decadent at times. The Emperor's Soul was a simple book, comparatively speaking to a lot of other Sanderson books - not too many overly complicated politics, or mysteries are revealed. Instead we follow the life of a magic user who has been jailed in a world where the magic is all but outlawed. She gets given a second chance (of sorts) to save the Empire. I loved the main character and the way her evolution was shown and how her thinking was laid out so you could read and watch her transition.

The descriptions of the forging and the complexity of the magic will stay with me, as well as the weight of the book. For something so simple, the religious discussions, the discussions on belief and reality, and the idea of the self were fantastic and weighty.

[jnikkir]

And we have another winner!

Review to come, but for now my 5 stars should say enough.