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Three Fantasies - Tales from the Cosmere: Elantris, The Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker
From the bestselling author who completed Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series, here are three standalone stories, all set in his overarching 'Cosmere' world - the universe which connects the Mistborn books with the Stormlight Archive!ELANTRIS was built on magic and it thrived. But then the magic began to fade and Elantris began to rot. And now its shattered citizens face domination by a powerful Imperium motivated by dogged religious views. Can a young Princess unite the people of Elantris, rediscover the lost magic and lead a rebellion against the imperial zealots? THE EMPEROR'S SOUL - Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Though condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor's sceptre, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Despite the fact that her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead from the attack of assassins. Skillfully deducing the machinations of her captors, Shai needs a perfect plan to escape. The fate of the empire lies in one impossible task. Is it possible to create a forgery of a soul so convincing that it is better than the soul itself? WARBREAKER is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, a lesser god, and an immortal trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Theirs is a world in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city. A world transformed by BioChromatic magic, a power based on an essence known as breath. Using magic is breath can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. But the rewards are by using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be performed.
1462 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 14, 2014
55 people are currently reading
691 people want to read
About the author
Brandon Sanderson
397 books284k followersI’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.
The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.
During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.
Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.
November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.
Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.
I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.
Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!
Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.
I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.
Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.
The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.
During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.
Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.
November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.
Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.
I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.
Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!
Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.
I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.
Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 6, 2021
I just read Warbreaker and The Emperor's Soul from this book because I have a separate copy of Elantris that I read earlier. LOVE Sanderson.
May 31, 2023
Did a re-read in 2023, as I was going to read Warbreaker. Sanderson is an extremely easy author to read, his books are fast paced and enjoyable to different degrees. Links to more detailed reviews.
Elantris - 3⭐
Sanderson's first book. Honestly, I probably would have rated this 4⭐ or 5⭐ if I had only read this before the The Mistborn Saga Era 1 or The Stormlight Archive. In comparison to those 2 great series, this ones seems rather ... lackluster. I guess it fell victim to this thing I did not even know was a word until today.
The Emperor's Soul - 5⭐
This was very interesting reading ... it just got better an better and better and by the end of the Epilogue ... just WOW. Very moving and a master piece in storytelling. This did end up being nominated for many awards, and did win the 2013 Hugo for best Novella.
Warbreaker - 5⭐
Interesting characters, cameo by Hoid (!!), a good story climaxing with a Sanderlanche and let's not forget the REAL reason I love this story so much, the sentient, talking weapon, Nightblood.
Elantris - 3⭐
Sanderson's first book. Honestly, I probably would have rated this 4⭐ or 5⭐ if I had only read this before the The Mistborn Saga Era 1 or The Stormlight Archive. In comparison to those 2 great series, this ones seems rather ... lackluster. I guess it fell victim to this thing I did not even know was a word until today.
The Emperor's Soul - 5⭐
This was very interesting reading ... it just got better an better and better and by the end of the Epilogue ... just WOW. Very moving and a master piece in storytelling. This did end up being nominated for many awards, and did win the 2013 Hugo for best Novella.
Warbreaker - 5⭐
Interesting characters, cameo by Hoid (!!), a good story climaxing with a Sanderlanche and let's not forget the REAL reason I love this story so much, the sentient, talking weapon, Nightblood.
September 17, 2020
Loved all three novels, Warbreaker was my favorite of these, but Elantris and The Emperor's Soul are also amazing!
Can't wait to get read more of Brandon's work!
Can't wait to get read more of Brandon's work!
January 11, 2023
Loved this book, especially the final story. Definitely a must read for fans of Brandon Sanderson.
April 20, 2025
Great standalone stories. strong female characters. winning
October 4, 2025
Brando Sando never disappoints
January 5, 2016
A different style of magic has been used by Sanderson. A nice build up and twist yo the story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews