Saturday, March 2, 2013

Book Review: The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Title: The Emperor's Soul
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Enjoyment Rating: ***
Review Copy
This book would be rated: PG

Shai has one day left to live. She's spent the last week in her prison cell, trying to find a way to escape using her skills as a forger. And then, just when she thinks she's going to be carted off to her death, she's given an interesting challenge-- forge a new soul for the Emperor, whose soul has been destroyed in an attack on his life, within 100 days.

The Emperor's Soul is set on the same planet as Elantris (which I haven't read), and unlike most of Sanderson's tomes, this one is short-- more of a novella than a novel. Sanderson really delves into developing three characters-- Shai, the Emperor, and Gaotona, the councilor who is overseeing Shai's project. While I really enjoyed the character development and the concept of this piece, which isn't a sequel to the Elantris books but more of a companion piece, I did feel like I was missing something by not having read the novels. And I always have to work against my inborn prejudice against men in robes and worlds that are like ours, but not ours.

2 comments:

Wm said...

I've read Elantris and didn't find that it affected my understanding of The Emperor's Soul one way or the other. So rest assured that you aren't missing anything.

But I can't help you with your secondary world fantasy prejudice.

Wm said...

I should add that I understand not being able to get in to secondary world fantasy -- some genres are more difficult to get in to for some readers.