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Emperor's Soul: Book summary and reviews of Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Emperor's Soul

by Brandon Sanderson

Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson X
Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
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Book Summary

From the bestselling author of the Mistborn trilogy and co-author of the final three books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series comes the tale of a heretic thief who is the only hope for the survival of an empire.

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?

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Book Awards

  • award image Hugo Awards, 2013

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Sanderson, the best-selling author of the Mistborn Trilogy and The Way of Kings, has set this novella in the same world as Elantris, one of his earlier novels, but it is totally independent. Fantasy fans will love both the compelling story and the creative magical setting." ―Library Journal

"Sanderson proves to be an exceptionally talented writer in the pages of this book ... The Emperor's Soul is one of those rare high fantasies that feels fresh and is filled with a sense of wonder." ―Fantasy & Science Fiction

"The Emperor's Soul ranks among the best work by Brandon Sanderson over his incredibly prolific career." ―Grimdark Magazine

"A fascinating study of clashing beliefs, another inventive magic system, and highly entertaining action sequence, The Emperor's Soul is the book I would recommend to anyone who wants to find out for the first time what Sanderson is all about." ―Fantasy Book Review

This information about Emperor's Soul was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson has hit the New York Times Bestseller List more than fifteen times, most recently at #1 with Rhythm of War. Brandon has written bestsellers in epic fantasy, science fiction, children's and young adult fiction, graphic novels, gaming adaptations, and more. His series works include Mistborn, Infinity Blade, Legion, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, the Reckoners, Skyward, and more. He has sold more than twenty-one million books internationally, and his books have been published in more than thirty-five languages. In 2022, Brandon launched a $40 million, record-breaking Kickstarter for his latest projects. Despite his busy schedule, Brandon continues to teach this creative writing focused on science fiction and fantasy. He is also one of the hosts of Hugo Award–winning writing advice podcast Writing Excuses. Brandon lives in Utah with his wife and children.

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