The Emperor's Soul

I've read this before, maybe 10-15 years ago, I remember liking it. I like this author's work a lot!Turns out I still really enjoy it. I enjoyed the idea of ( Spoiler Alert) everything having a soul from rocks to windows yearning to be their best. The two main characters were enjoyable to me because they were able to strongly disagree about spirituality yet look beyond that issue to the admirable traits of the other.My only complaint is that it isn't longer. That's selfish because the story is long enough to feel complete.

4.5 Soulful StarsJust a reminder that Brandon Sanderson is probably my favorite fantasy writer I’ve read 9 full length books by him and 2 novellas, he consistently never disappoints so I might be a little biased, but deservedly so. His worlds, his imagination, his magic systems, his surprise twists always amaze me. The Emperors Soul was no different, it is a complete story with another strong female character and I was totally drawn into the story immediately.Even though this is set in the Elantris world it stands on its own. You could read this without knowing anything about the Elantris story line and be okay and probably enjoy it just as much. Again Sanderson made up an entirely new magic system and showed it beautifully throughout the story. He made characters that were complex and interesting as well as sympathetic. Shai is another strong female character and I loved getting to know her in this.-- "No matter how good you were, someone was better. Live by that knowledge, and you would never grow so confident that you became sloppy."Shai is a forger, she has been trained to use specialized images in stamps to rewrite the past and change things in the present. The Emperor has been damaged beyond repair and Shai is the only hope to create a new soul for him. It is the hardest task she has ever been given and if she fails her life will be forfeit, hell if she succeeds they will most likely kill her too. Shai must figure out how to finish her task and stay alive.-- “We may feel in control, but we never truly are unless we understand people. Controlling our environment is no longer about blocking the wind, it’s about knowing why the serving lady was crying last night, or why a particular guard always loses at cards. Or why your employer hired you in the first place.”Again another great story from BS, I could hardly pull myself out of the story to even submit a status update.If you have never read a Sanderson book and you are wondering ‘would I like this author?’ this is a great book to try and just get a taste of how wonderful the magic, worlds and characters he creates are.

Brandon Sanderson, popular author of various epic fantasy works can certainly be called “prolific”. He has, in just a few short years, written numerous books. Some short novellas, but most lengthy novels – between about 600 to 1,000 pages long – each of which usually take a couple of years a piece for most writers. What's more, the quality doesn't suffer at all. His work is really good. I have not heard this from his mouth personally, but I wager that he genuinely loves writing, and that that is why he can put out so much material.He has done it again in his novella *The Emperor's Soul*. The story takes place on the same world in the “Cosmere” - the universe where all of Sanderson's works (not including his novels completing Robert Jordan's *The Wheel of Time* books, which takes place on a future/past earth) take place – as the novel *Elantris*. In an empire in a different location of that world, a “Forger” named Shai has been arrested in an attempt to steal the Emperor's scepter. Forging is essentially a system of magic whereby one can create various “stamps” that, when applied to an object or an animal, will rewrite the history of what is stamped, in order to make it something else. This can work on people as well, but this is *much* more difficult and prone to error. The only caveat is that the new “history” must be something believable about that which it affects, or it will not take. As a side note, Sanderson has stated that he got this idea from the seals that he saw stamped onto some ancient artifacts when he visited a museum on a trip to Taiwan one time.The penalty for such an attack (such as Shai's attempted theft) on the person or attire of the emperor is execution. But Shai is offered a chance to survive. It is revealed to her by the Imperial advisers (called Grands) that assassins from a rival political faction have murdered the Empress and rendered the Emperor vegetative. If she can rewrite his past to forge him a new soul during the 100 days in which he is officially “in mourning”, so that his state of health is not discovered, then she can go free. If not, she is to be executed.Shai sets to work, but she doesn't believe the Grands for a minute. She knows that they will kill her anyway. Whether this be when she is finished, or beforehand when she is far enough along to have another forger complete her task, she isn't sure. But she is already planning her escape. Then the unexpected happens in that she begins to care about the welfare of the Emperor she is tasked with restoring to life, and about the one honest Grand who assists her in her work. Can Shai finish her task and escape before she is quietly executed?This book is not so much action as it is a work of philosophical and psychological suspense. I say philosophical in a specific way. Sanderson does not engage in the level of commentary that he does in the *Mistborn* novels (not even that of *The Alloy of Law* the similarly short *Mistborn* novella). His commentary applicable to our society is brief. This isn't a preachy book at all. What I mean is that the story of Shai and how she uses her magical “art” to set about restoring the Emperor and escaping is tied up in philosophical and psychological aspects of that specific plot. It really is interesting. It's like some films that have a person mostly in one room undergoing days, weeks, or months of adversity, but the difference is that this story has a happy ending. I hope that's not too much of a spoiler to say that. ;)The characters, other than Shai, the one kinder Grand, and the Emperor, were not exactly well-developed, and these three were not given a ton of development either. Of course, given the brevity of this story, that is not surprising, and it is certainly not the negative it would be for a longer work. They received sufficient attention for the needs of the story.Once again, Sanderson designs a rather ingenious system of magic. While Sanderson does have his faults in that he can be a tad too wordy (just like the late Robert Jordan could be), and he sometimes doesn't give the proper “breathing room” of some positive aspect amidst the darkness of some more depressing stories (see the first of his *Stormlight Archive* novels, though his *Mistborn* books don't fall into this trap), but he is ingenious at developing characters just enough for what the story needs, and at creating unique and interesting systems of magic.I would actually compare Sanderson's impact on modern epic fantasy in terms of how he handles magic to Isaac Asimov's impact on science-fiction in how he handled robots. I'll be the first to say that the man has faults, and to roll my eyes at some of the more extreme Sanderson fanboys that apparently think he is some sort of god of fantasy literature, but he does deserve his due as a prolific, talented, and creative author. *The Emperor's Soul* makes this abundantly clear.Highly Recommended.

That is one of my favorite fantasy books ever, EVER!I'm in shock. Such a short and powerful book, capable of surpassing many others with far more pages. It's impressive how Brandon was able to create an entire world, intriguing characters, a plot and a conclusion with so 'little'. I can only think of recommending this story to every person who crosses my path.

Es un libro de pasta dura bonito y de buena calidad, hace que me dé gusto tenerlo en físico. El libro en sí es muy ligero de leer y te atrapa desde el principio.

La storia si svolge tutta all'interno di una stanza e i personaggi la fanno da padrone. Ce ne sono una manciata, ma tutti ben caratterizzati nonostante le poche pagine.Prima tra tutti la protagonista Shai, una Forgiatrice. Questo termine indica chi utilizza una particolare forma di magia presente nel mondo, in grado di riscrivere il passato di un oggetto o dell'anima di una persona. Infatti Shai dovrà cercare di ricreare proprio l'anima dell'Imperatore ormai ridotto in stato di coma a seguito di un attentato alla sua vita.Come al solito Sanderson da questo punto di vista non si smentisce, questo sistema magico è particolare, interessante e nuovo. Non ho mai letto nulla del genere.Da questo libro si evince poco e niente del mondo (che dovrebbe essere lo stesso di Elantris) ma spero in un proseguo perchè "The Emperor's Soul" penso sia uno degli scritti più belli di Brandon. Intrigante, veloce ed emozionante.

It arrived in wonderful condition, just finished Elantris and found out this book was set in the same world, I just had to get it. I've not read it yet but will update this review when I have.Update: Dear lord how did he manage to perfectly pace and convey such a gripping and fulfilling tale in 130 pages? This is one of the most original, unwaveringly detailed and beautiful works of literature I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I read this alongside the GraphicAudio audiobook and it enhanced the experience greatly. I can see why people want more, but I think focusing on someone other than Shai would be preferable, it's such an intriguing world, rich with potential, it would be a shame if he doesn't plan on revisiting the world of Sycla (Opelon). Buy this, it will leave you fulfilled!

I have no idea how this author fit so much content into such a small story. This book was fantastic.