So I bought a new bookmark right before I started this, but I never even used it once. Just read this sucker straight through. What is this guy’s brain. Honestly, I’m trying to think of a reason NOT to give this five stars, and I can’t? Help.
It really and truly does not compute in my head how Brandon Sanderson is able to keep inventing these really awesome, really well thought out magic systems, and on top of all that, still give us great characters, character arcs, and satisfying plot movement. Not that I’m complaining, because MORE PLEASE, but just, HOW!?
The Emperor’s Soul is a novella set in the same world as his first published novel, Elantris, although you don’t have to read that one in order to enjoy this one. It features a different magic system and different characters entirely. I just like to mention these things because I am a huge nerd, and knowing that Sel is also the home of a previous story I enjoyed makes me happy.
Our main character in The Emperor’s Soul is Shai, a forger, who has the ability to affect change on objects and people by essentially re-writing their history. This ability, particularly in relation to human souls, is considered a great sin by those in power, and yet it is precisely those people who come to Shai to strike a deal. Their Emperor has sustained a head injury in an assassination attempt that left him brain-dead, and they want her to create (or re-create) his soul/personality before their political enemies catch wind of it and oust them from power. She has 100 days (the period of mourning for the Emperor’s also-dead wife) to make the Emperor a new soul, a seemingly impossible task. Even for a forger of her caliber — and Shai is a true artist of the form — such a thing would normally take years. And she has to do it not only in a shortened time-frame, but with treacherous political advisers breathing down her neck and planning her demise.
It was a super fun read.
Shai also has a nice emotional arc that I won’t spoil, and she develops a relationship with one of the advisers that I really liked. I almost wished it was full length novel instead of a novella, but after thinking about it for a while, I think it was just the right size. Sanderson has proved he can do novels of pretty much any size at this point, and do them well, from 1000 plus page monstrosities to 100 plus novellas. I think it would make me angry if I didn’t like his writing so much.
My only regret at this point is I wish I had bought a copy instead of borrowing it from the library.
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