Hey Jared,
I’ve been eyeing this book ever since finishing Elantris. Finding it in the digital library systems was impossible so I’d either have to pay out or suffer…..I’ll suffer no more! This is a great novella and well worth it.
Title: The Emperor’s Soul
Series: Elantris; Novella
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
ROTS Setting: UU, Magic, Higher Magic, Medieval
Synopsis: Shai is a criminal of the Rose Empire. She’s a Forger with all the amazing and nefarious skills that come along with that. When attempting to steal imperial relics right out of the palace itself, she’s caught and imprisoned. Faced with an immediate or postponed death, she elects for the latter, but must now create the greatest forgery in history. A copy of the emperor’s soul.
Another Sanderson book! I know you’re all probably getting sick of him, but I think he’s amazing. This book is just another excellent example of just that.
Honestly, I’m not normally a fan of short stories, or novelettes, or novellas. There generally just isn’t enough in them for me to be satisfied with the experience. Like the food samples at Costco, as opposed to an actual meal. For some reason, the length of this book was perfect. It told a story and I was left content. Oh, I want more from the world of Sel. Don’t get me wrong. But I don’t specifically want to know what happened to these specific characters.
It should be noted that this novella isn’t a direct sequel of Elantris. It takes place in the world of Sel, the same as Elantris, but the books take place quite far from each other. I quite enjoyed the Asian inspired elements of the Rose Empire and surrounding region. It fit well with Elantris but still gave it’s own unique flavor.
Shai is a deep, well rounded character. It was great to slowly uncover more about her as the story went on. Could be a bit OP (overpowered), but that kind of fits with Elantris too so it balances out in a broader sense. Most importantly, she felt real.
As for this particular Sanderson-ized magic, it’s amazing. A “Forger” creates a seal that when inked and applied to an object can fundamentally alter it by changing the objects “past.” I say past, but it doesn’t alter time or anything just the objects self perceived past. The book explains it all in pretty good detail, so I won’t go much further into it. Although it kind of reminded me of the books from Myst where you need to know and understand something quite a bit or it just won’t work.
Not much more to say. It’s a great book and I wish that there were more just like it. Now I’m off to read some Harry Potter in preparation for W3 (Wizarding World Week) that starts Jul.24.2016 here on ROTS and the much anticipated release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Jul.31.2016.
Robert
Reading Over The Shoulder 