The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

The Emperor's Soul (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?

Reviewed by Tobin Brown on

5 of 5 stars

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The Emperor's Soul is an incredibly written short-form story that takes place in Brandon's Cosmere. For anyone looking to get a feel for Brandon's magic systems and writing style, this is a very quick introduction to both.

Instead of a weeks or months commitment, this story will only take up an afternoon! Being able to sit down, learn an entire magic system, instantly love the main character, and complete a story in just a few hours was very refreshing.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a quick intro to the Cosmere and look forward to more short stories like this from Sanderson.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 June, 2021: Finished reading
  • 8 June, 2021: Reviewed