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The Emperor's Soul

(Elantris)

Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads Author)

4.35 · Rating details · 47,593 Ratings · 3,571 Reviews

Also available in Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection.

A heretic thief is the empire’s only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris.

Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, s ...more

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Paperback, 175 pages

Published October 11th 2012 by Tachyon Publications

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Oct 15, 2016 Petrik rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

(I read this in Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection)

Incredible… 105 pages, that’s apparently the minimum amount of pages Sanderson needs to create a fantastic story with strong beginning, character development, great climax and satisfying conclusion. The Emperor's Soul is one of the best NOVELLA of all time for me, it has the quality of a fully fledged novel, it even surpassed a lot of fantasy novels these days.

I won’t go into any details on what the plot is, it’s only 100 pages, try to ju ...more

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May 16, 2018 Anne rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2018, short-stories

What if you could create anything?
Or more specifically, what if you could change the history of an object and essentially recreate what it believes it is?
All you need is a little Titanium White...

description

Ok. Maybe not.
Shai is a Forger who got pinched by the Imperial po-po while trying to steal some of their shit, and now, in exchange for her freedom, she's been tasked with recreating the Emperor's Soul!
Which, in case you were wondering is why the book is titled, The Emperor's Soul.
Now, she's got to do ...more

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Oct 13, 2017 Iryna (Book and Sword) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, epic-fantasy

"The Emperor's Soul" deserves all of the stars. All of the praise.

“There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn't take on step, then find yourself in a completely new location. Then you stopped paying attention as you drifted farther and farther away. ”

You know what this book's only flaw is? It's way too short.
Oh, don't worry, the story is all perfectly wrapped up and beautiful. There just needs to be more of this because "The Emper ...more

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Oct 12, 2016 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, favorites, year-2016, 5-star

My only complaint about this book is that it should have been longer!

Shai is a forger, meaning that she can rewrite an object's history, thus making it into a new object. Such magic is considered taboo within the Empire, that is until they find themselves enlisting Shai's help to try and forge the soul of their fallen Emperor, Ashravan.

I don't know why I loved this so much, I think I was just completely entranced by the magic system. It depends wholly on the plausibility of any given thing to b ...more

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Jan 31, 2014 Robin (Bridge Four) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-5-stars, awesome-audio, fantastic-fantasy, kick-ass-heroines, ya

Audible Daily Deal Sale until 28Jan18 $1.99

Buddy read with fellow Sandersonitis afflicted friends Athena & Alexa, and newly wrangled in buddy reader Katie

4.5 Soulful Stars

Just 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 Audible Daily Deal Sale until 28Jan18 $1.99

Buddy read with fellow Sandersonitis afflicted friends Athena & Alexa, and newly wrangled in buddy reader Katie

4.5 Soulful Stars

Just 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. ...more

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May 11, 2016 Haïfa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, owned

I read this novella in the Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection along with my fellow brigdemen (and bridgewomen?) : Celeste, Petrik, Sarah and Mary

No matter how good you were, someone was better. Live by that knowledge, and you would never grow so confident that you became sloppy.

This is a re-read of the Emperor's Soul and while it was just good the first time I read it, this time I found it to be an exceptional masterpiece!! I'm truly speechless and I never experienced this feeling bef I read this novella in the Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection along with my fellow brigdemen (and bridgewomen?) : Celeste, Petrik, Sarah and Mary

No matter how good you were, someone was better. Live by that knowledge, and you would never grow so confident that you became sloppy.

This is a re-read of the Emperor's Soul and while it was just good the first time I read it, this time I found it to be an exceptional masterpiece!! I'm truly speechless and I never experienced this feeling before! But this time I truly took my time, savored every word, paid attention to every detail and put the book down from time to time to ponder some retorts or deep thoughts. This was one of the most quotable books I've ever read ! With his simple, yet elegant writing, Brandon Sanderson delivered a remarkable reflection on the complexity of human nature, on the passions that stir; forge or define a person, on the passing of time and how it changes us, remodel us and stifle the fire and dreams of our youth.

There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person’s life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn’t take one step, then find yourself in a completely new location.

In a little over 100 pages, Sanderson created a new Empire, a new magic system, new complex and compelling characters, and managed to include a brilliant philosophical reflection and detailed explantations and links to the Cosmere. My only complaint about this book is that it is short ! Too short ! And I think my frustration at its length was what made me give it 4 stars the first time I read it. But if you can write 100 pages and include this amount of information, details, complexity, thoughts and feels, than you deserve all the stars, and all the praise that can be given !!

“I suspect,” Gaotona said, “that a life full of lying makes reality and falsehood intermix.

I don't want to say more about the magic or the characters lest I spoil the surprises of the novella but really if you're fan of Sanderson and his Cosmere, this is an absolute must! And if you love philosophical reflection in your Fantasy, or if you're fond of Fantasy with complex and original magic system, this book is for you!! ...more

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Oct 01, 2017 Dana Ilie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Too damn short. Sanderson what is wrong with you? I want more~!!!

https://vipera2015.wordpress.com/2018...

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Nov 29, 2012 Eric Allen rated it it was amazing

The Emperor's Soul
By Brandon Sanderson

A Review by Eric Allen

Due to his work on The Wheel of Time, Brandon Sanderson has not had much time over the last few years for working on his own books. As such, he has elected to write several novellas as sequels to his already published works to tide his fans over until he is freed up from his obligations to the Wheel of Time, and can put his focus entirely back into his own works. The Emperor's Soul is one of these books. Though not actually a sequel, it ...more

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Mar 19, 2017 Celeste rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, best-books-i-ve-ever-read

Original review can be found on Booknest.

I am an unapologetic Sandersonite. I’m completely in love with the Cosmere Brandon Sanderson has created, and so far I’ve adored every story he’s crafted that is part of that greater whole.

One of the things I love so much about his writing is the size of the books, and the knowledge that he’s a prolific writer, so I never have to wait too terribly long for more of the story. And yet, somehow, this tiny novella is now one of my favorite things he’s writte ...more

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Jul 12, 2016 ☽Luna☾ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: good-shit, badassery, written-by-the-hand-of-god

5/5

“Her aunt Sol had once told Shai to smile at the worst insults and snap at the minor ones. That way, no man would know your heart.”

I know this quote is so over-used however it is my favorite quote from this book and quite possibly one of my favorite book quotes ever.

One of my favorite short stories by Brandon Sanderson. It's literally only 105 pages long so it is very short. I can remember reading it for the first time and loving every second of it, on the reread I noticed a few things I ...more

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Aug 03, 2017 Deborah Obida rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, fantasy, favorite-books

Each person was a puzzle.

My first official read of 2018, read this first cause I know I'll love it and I wanted to start the year with something I'll love.

This book is perfect, am still marveled by the fact that its even a novella, the way the plot unravels, and that ending, I did not see that coming, then again its Brandon Sanderson, I shouldn't be surprise, he is a genius.

World building and Writing
Once again Brandon Sanderson wowed me, the world is so well depicted even though its a novella ...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Nimrod Daniel rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Rating this book would be difficult, especially because it's a short novel so I'll go through some points:

Characterization – the book is focused on two main characters, and that's probably what made it possible to portray them so well. The characterization in this book is superb, sanderson even managed to develop these two characters throughout the book in a very believable way, and considering the length of the book he did an excellent job.
Just don't look for humor, as there's no funny characte Rating this book would be difficult, especially because it's a short novel so I'll go through some points:

Characterization – the book is focused on two main characters, and that's probably what made it possible to portray them so well. The characterization in this book is superb, sanderson even managed to develop these two characters throughout the book in a very believable way, and considering the length of the book he did an excellent job.
Just don't look for humor, as there's no funny character here, unlike other books by Sanderson. There're a lot of witty dialogues though :)
Definitely 5 stars here.

Magic system – This book has a unique and very imaginative magic system. For the matter of fact, throughout the first half of the book there're a lot of explanations of how forgery works and there're also some explanations about its mechanics in the second half. Forgery is relatively a complex magic system (it's more complicated than Allomancy or Feruchemy for instance), and it would have benefited being included in a longer novel, as Brandon could have developed it more than what could be done in 170 pages.
4.5 stars (It's a 5 stars magic system, and any other author would get the fully 5 stars here for being imaginative, but considering what Brandon could have done with this magic system in a longer book I reduced half a star).

Plot – it's a short novel and it includes a relatively complex magic system, so the plot that can be squeezed in a 170 pages is quite limited, though the storyline here is good. Most of the book occurs in one room so don't expect for too much action.
The story has a fully closed ending (unlike Legion), and it's a very good one.
4-4.25 stars here.

The Verdict – This story is more about characterization than anything else, and it's very well written. It's so clear that it's a Sanderson book, I'd have easily figured it up if I didn't know who wrote this book.
All in all, it's a very good short novel. Highly recommended to any Sanderson fan.

4.25/5 ...more

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Jan 22, 2014 Choko rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brandon-sanderson, fantasy

Exquisitely lovely!!! I did not expect anything else!!!

*** 5 ***

This story is "The Emperor's Soul " from the World of Elantris and is about a master craftsmen forger, Shai, who can meticulously copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic, knowledge and will. The concept is that an object can be "persuaded" do believe ti is different to the point that it changes itself and could even become something completely different. However, that something has to be believable t ...more

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Jan 20, 2014 Eon ♒Windrunner♒ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites

Absolutely FLAWLESS novella. Take note other authors.

description

Picture above by Dominik Broniek

Just realized I never wrote a review on this one, but I am not going to either as my friend Alexa's thoughts on this one mirror my own perfectly. Check it out here

Addition as posted on Brandon's website.

The Emperor’s Soul Deleted Prologue: Imperial Fool

Note: It’s best if you have read The Emperor’s Soul before you read this deleted prologue.

Shai pressed her fingernail into one of the stone blocks of her prison ...more

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Dec 12, 2016 Kainat 《HUFFLEPUFF & PROUD》 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brandon-sanderson

“There are times when one must accept the aid of darkness
in order to contain a greater darkness.”

Brandon Sanderson has done it again!!

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Feb 16, 2015 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, library-has

Wow--this was a marvelous short novel. I absolutely loved it. Wan ShaiLu, a magical forger, is captured and put under sentence of death for her crimes. But Shai is given an opportunity to escape her sentence: she is charged with magically forging a new soul for the kingdom's assassinated emperor, whose body had been repaired but whose mind was destroyed by the attack. Shai is given only a hundred days to accomplish this near-impossible task. And there are those waiting to kill her if she makes a Wow--this was a marvelous short novel. I absolutely loved it. Wan ShaiLu, a magical forger, is captured and put under sentence of death for her crimes. But Shai is given an opportunity to escape her sentence: she is charged with magically forging a new soul for the kingdom's assassinated emperor, whose body had been repaired but whose mind was destroyed by the attack. Shai is given only a hundred days to accomplish this near-impossible task. And there are those waiting to kill her if she makes a wrong step, or trying to subvert her task for their own selfish purposes.

It was all fantastic: the characters, the complex motivations, the layered storytelling, the intricate magical system built on Chinese-type stamps.
description

There are some fascinating touches that add depth to the story. One of my favorite bits is how Shai uses her Forging talents to turn her grim prison room into a lovely chamber, including a cracked glass window:

Attempts to Forge the window to a better version of itself had repeatedly failed; each time, after five minutes or so, the window had reverted to its cracked, gap-sided self.

Then Shai had found a bit of colored glass rammed into one side of the frame. The window, she realized, had once been a stained glass piece. It had been broken [and] rather than repairing it as it had been meant to be, someone had put ordinary glass in the window and left it to crack. A stamp from Shai in the bottom right corner had restored the window, rewriting its history so that a caring master craftsman had discovered the fallen window and remade it. That seal had taken immediately. Even after all this time, the window had seen itself as something beautiful.

Or maybe she was just getting romantic again.

I love what this book has to say about the nature of art, and souls, and how people affect each other.

He found himself weeping.

Not for the future or for the emperor. These were the tears of a man who saw before himself a masterpiece. True art was more than beauty; it was more than technique. It was not just imitation.

It was boldness, it was contrast, it was subtlety. ... It was the greatest work of art he had ever witnessed.

I'm also amazed at how much Brandon Sanderson packed into 167 pages. I would have enjoyed reading more, but really, this felt like the perfect length for this story. ...more

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Dec 20, 2016 Jo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-love, gr2016, heroines-i-love

What a brilliant imagination Brandon Sanderson has!!! This book was AMAZING!

Wan ShaiLu, was more than a simple con artist. So much more. She could change the nature of reality itself.

Imagine a world where there are Forgers who can change/rewrite the nature of objects and even of a person by using a Soulstamp.

Wan ShaiLu is such a forger, one of the best there is. And when she’s caught replacing a famous painting with her almost flawless forgery, instead of being executed she’s offered a dea

...more

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Mar 14, 2017 Tweebs♥️ (semi-hiatus) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-that-killed-me-and-my-ghost

“Her aunt Sol had once told Shai to smile at the worst insults and snap at the minor ones. That way, no man would know your heart.”

Well, shit.

*screams*
*flips a desk*
*karate chops the air*
*flips another desk because why not*

I just

The Emperor's Soul, has been on my radar for quite awhile AND I thought it'd be a great idea to pick it up during the most crucial time of my life : Exam week. I'm 1000000% sure I'm going to complain about why I did this to myself BUT you know what ??? I have no r ...more

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Nov 15, 2015 Layla ✷ Praise the sun ✷ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Wow. Just wow.

Where does this man get all his fancy ideas from,
and how can he fit them, like in this case, on not even 200 pages?

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Jul 31, 2018 Coffee&Quasars rated it it was amazing

I buddy read this with Maggie!

I’ve heard good things about Brandon Sanderson for years and it’s been a while since I’ve read any good fantasy, so I decided to give this a try. Needless to say it hit the spot. Not immediately. It took about 6 or 7 pages.

The premise in a nutshell: Shai (incidentally one of my favourite protagonists in recent years) is a Forger, capable of rewriting the history of an object (provided the new history is plausible and shares some common branching off point from the o I buddy read this with Maggie!

I’ve heard good things about Brandon Sanderson for years and it’s been a while since I’ve read any good fantasy, so I decided to give this a try. Needless to say it hit the spot. Not immediately. It took about 6 or 7 pages.

The premise in a nutshell: Shai (incidentally one of my favourite protagonists in recent years) is a Forger, capable of rewriting the history of an object (provided the new history is plausible and shares some common branching off point from the original) or indeed, with a great deal of work, the history of her own being, remaking herself into someone with different skills, memories, thoughts and feelings.

With an affinity for replacing priceless artefacts with her own Forgeries (which she considers an art in itself), she’s caught and given a choice: do the impossible by reforging the assassinated emperor’s mind in only 100 days, or be executed.

In terms of the idea, the world and the magic, this could easily have been explored in a novel many times longer, but for this particular story, the length was perfect. Packed into a little over 100 pages, we have considerations of fate, choice, the nature of art vs plagiarism, authenticity, deceit as a way to tell the truth, telling the truth as a means of deceit, what it means to truly know a person, what it means to rule, what it means to be human and the difference between the kind of linear stories we tell about ourselves that approximate the truth, and the real thing. As Shai herself says:

“A person was like a dense forest thicket, overgrown with a twisting mess of vines, weeds, shrubs, saplings, and flowers. No person was one single emotion; no person had only one desire. They had many, and usually those desires conflicted with one another like two rosebushes fighting for the same patch of ground.”

I really appreciate Hard Magic systems over Soft, as I feel it makes for better storytelling when the rules are comprehensible by the reader and the hero isn’t allowed to pull just anything out of their ass at the last second. When someone goes deep into their craft, fictional or otherwise, I feel I’m able to sympathise with them, and/ or enter their world on a more intimate level. This book delivered on that front. There was another magic introduced called Blood sealing, considered separate from and far more nefarious than your typical Forgery. Though I can only speculate, there was one passage that for a brief moment made me wonder if they might both be different expressions of something deeper.

In all, this was a 9.73 - Highly recommended. I’ll definitely be reading more Brandon Sanderson before the year’s out. ...more

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Apr 11, 2014 TS Chan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: brandon-sanderson, re-read, dr-reading-challenge, favorites, audiobook, physical-owned

Upgraded to 5-stars upon re-read. Initial read probably suffered from my post-Words of Radiance hangover.

Little wonder why this novella won the Hugo Award, so beautifully written and delivered, this story speaks to your soul - pun entirely intended.

Sanderson created yet again another imaginative magic system, Forgery, which is in short, imitation of the highest degree that requires a rewriting of history of the target. And what could be more complicated and masterful than that of the forgery o ...more

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Jun 28, 2013 Armina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Armina by: Gavin

Shelves: great-expectations, fantasy, audio, buddy-reads, my-audios, short-stories

4.5 STARS

“I wish that I could know you. Not your soul, but you. I’ve read about you; I’ve seen into your heart. I’ve rebuilt your soul, as best I could. But that isn’t the same. It isn’t knowing someone, is it? That’s knowing about someone.”

Yet Shai completed her task perfectly! This story is mostly about two persons. Shai - a Forger, a con artist - caught replacing an important empire relic with her nearly flawless forgery, now she must bargain for her life. And Gaotona - an elderly politicia
4.5 STARS

“I wish that I could know you. Not your soul, but you. I’ve read about you; I’ve seen into your heart. I’ve rebuilt your soul, as best I could. But that isn’t the same. It isn’t knowing someone, is it? That’s knowing about someone.”

Yet Shai completed her task perfectly! This story is mostly about two persons. Shai - a Forger, a con artist - caught replacing an important empire relic with her nearly flawless forgery, now she must bargain for her life. And Gaotona - an elderly politician - Shai's only possible ally, one of her captors, the emperor's most loyal councillor, who struggles to understand her true talent. The novella is focused on these two main characters and that probably made it possible to create them so so good. The characterization in this book is superb! Sanderson managed to develop the characters throughout the story in a very believable way and considering the length of the book he has done an excellent job.

An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. Shai is given an impossible task: to create - to Forge - a new soul for the emperor in less than one hundred days. The Forgery - Sanderson's magic system in this book - is unique and very imaginative. Its explanation takes most of the first half of the novella but it's never boring. Forgers use complex magical transformations to duplicate and recreate any item by rewriting its history. The magic here is based on a system of writing glyphs and creating stamps.

"You could tell a lot about a person from the way they designed their seals."

The idea of rewriting one's entire history sounds incredibly complex, but a Forger can do so simply by stamping themselves with an Essence Mark. Fascinating and strange, but consistent enough to be plausible, and quite thought-provoking.

This story is short, but rich and it has his strong fully closed ending. Sanderson says that the story is set in the same universe as his debut novel, Elantris. Now I'm very eager to read Elantris :). The Postscript in the eBook is fantastic and there Sanderson explains what experience inspired him to write this novella.

I read this book by switching between audio and eBook. The audio narrator - Angela Lin - did a great job and to all the audiobook lovers I strongly recommend to read the Postscript which is not included in the audiobook. ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Phrynne rated it it was amazing

This is Brandon Sanderson at his best even though as a novella it is much, much too short! Within only 175 pages he manages to build a new world with previously unexplored magic and introduces characters we can care about. His major skill is that he never stops to explain anything. No info dumps from this author! Nevertheless he manages to explain and inform as the story progresses so that the reader is always able to be part of the action. I loved every short minute of it. Did I mention it shou ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Scott Hitchcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, sanderson

Read as part of Arcanum Unbounded.

What amazes me in Sanderson's shorter works is how quickly and simply he creates a world. There's nothing superfluous or verbose about it yet it is engrossing and thought provoking. Definitely worth the read.

The postscript in Arcanum Unbounded about how the idea came about was very interesting after having the story just unfold.

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Oct 11, 2016 Jarek "the Mistborn" Dąbrowski rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brandon-sanderson-read, read-in-2016

This was an awesome read. Set in the world of Elantris but not really connected to the main story arc. The magic system was genius. How does he come up with this stuff...:D It was a quick engaging read. A fine adition to Sandersons work. 5 stars

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Nov 04, 2015 Kells Next Read rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, ebook, brandon-sanderson, fiction, fantasy, magic

You know I'm going to Love this because it's from Sanderson right? Right!!!

Nothing but ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

~Going to read Legion Now~

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Apr 14, 2018 Thomas J. Benedict rated it it was amazing

Sanderson did it again.
Impressed, I was. What a magic system. How does he do it?

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Jul 30, 2013 Alexa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: awesome, fantasy

Buddy read with my two partners in crime: Robin and Athena; and introducing Katie our new addition to the Sanderson marathon!
_______________________________________

Before I start this review let me tell you something: this is my favorite Sanderson book. And considering how good his other books are, that's a freaking huge statement right there.

It's almost impossible for me to explain all the things I love about this book without ranting, so I'll do a short version first:

This is shorter than you ...more

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Mar 05, 2017 Holden Johnson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brandon-sanderson, short-fiction

This was the best piece of short-fiction I've ever read.

What a beautiful and incredible short story. If anyone could put this much thought, emotion, and soul into a 120ish page book, it would be Brandon Sanderson.

The magic system is so unique and interesting that I'm longing and hoping that we get more "novellas" or full length novels about Shai and this piece of Sel.

Maybe in a sequel to Elantris?

One can only dream =).

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Jul 02, 2018 samantha (books-are-my-life20) rated it it was amazing

This was my first Brandon Sanderson book, and I loved it! Very well written, with intriguing world-building, suspenseful plotting, and an engaging protagonist. I love the way that history and knowledge of lineage are key components in the book. I will definitely be looking into his other works.

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
MJC 18S212: Book review on the emperor's soul	1	2	Mar 24, 2018 10:50AM
Play Book Tag: The Emperor's Soul, by Brandon Sanderson--4 stars	1	10	Jan 29, 2018 06:08AM
Year of Cosmere : Day 97, Day 98, Epilogue: Day 101	13	62	May 30, 2015 11:11AM
Year of Cosmere : Day 59, Day 70, Day 76, Day 85	2	27	May 30, 2015 09:23AM
Year of Cosmere : Day 17, Day 30, Day 42, Day 58	2	25	May 30, 2015 07:28AM

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Brandon Sanderson

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Brandon’s major books for the second half of 2016 are The Dark Talent, the final volume in Alcatraz Smedry’s autobiographical account of his battle against the Evil Librarians who secretly rule our world, and Arcanum Unbounded, the collection of short fiction in the Cosmere universe that includes the Mistborn series and the Stormlight
Archive, among others. This collection features The Emperor’s S ...more

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Elantris (3 books)

Books by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

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Trivia About The Emperor's Soul

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Quotes from The Emperor's Soul

“There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn't take on step, then find yourself in a completely new location. You first took a little step off a path to avoid some rocks. For a while, you walked alongside the path, but then you wandered out a little way to step on softer soil. Then you stopped paying attention as you drifted farther and farther away. Finally, you found yourself in the wrong city, wondering why the signs on the roadway hadn't led you better.” — 70 likes

“Control yourself, she told herself forcibly. Become someone who can deal with this. She took a deep breath and let herself become someone else. An imitation of herself who was calm, even in a situation like this. It was a crude forgery, just a trick of the mind, but it worked.” — 39 likes

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The Emperor's Soul

(Elantris)

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