The Emperor's Soul
Ratings570
Average rating4.4
Read this book ages ago. Such a fun little novella with an interesting magic system to explore
This was my second time reading this book, this time, I re-read it along with a friend who gifted me this book for Christmas. It had been over a decade since I read this book the first time, and I had forgotten most of the story. This meant I fell in love with the book again, almost like it was my first time reading it. I really need to re-read it more often, as Sanderson packs a lot into this novella. There are just so many philosophical statements he drops, yet he leaves it up to the reader to come to his own conclusions on how we feel about the topics he brings up. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's an especially good entry-point book if someone just wants to sample a Sanderson book.
Absolutely amazing novella and one of my favorite stories by Brandon Sanderson. If you are looking for a quick introduction into how Sanderson introduces worlds and magics with an amazing self contained story, this is novella is perfect.
Sanderson rocks. I have no idea how he keeps coming up with such interesting magic systems.
One of those little vignettes into the Cosmere that add texture to the wider universe.
Menuda maravilla, amo a Shai, de los mejores personajes del Cosmere. Después de tantos libros está claro quién es el bufón
3.5 stars!
thoroughly enjoyed the magic system of forging. got emotional, got moved at some points as well. felt like a read that i need to give some time post-finishing it for me to wholly appreciate it!
I love this. Such an awesome spot contained story that is both philosophical and reflective. 10/10
Audiobook - I listened at work thanks to Libby. It was a quick listen. about 4 hours at 1.4x.
The core concept was really interesting idea, and I think I may need to just read it again to flush out my views. After watching some review videos on it, I think I grasped most of it. The existential question about what is a soul was super interesting.
My review skills are poor at best. I will have to think more on this subject and revise.
Where the magic system in Elantris had let me down, this one delivered.
A quick read, fascinating magic and high stakes - everything I could have wished for in a novella.
Me impresionó para ser un relato de menos de 150 páginas. no es una sanderlancha tan sanderlancha pero en términos generales está muy bien construido. te genera una tensión en el primer capítulo y hace un giro que es imposible de esperar al final. el sistema de magia se convirtió en uno de los favoritos. increíble.
4.50/5.00
Never have I read a story so perfectly written. In just 127 pages, Brandon Sanderson has managed to create two (or three including the Emperor) of the most fascinating characters I have ever read in Fantasy. I don't know if I want more or not, but I got what was perfect. Brandon created a beautiful and concise magic system, that is so well explained and developed in such a short story! This is my favorite story from the Lord Ruler.
This is the first and only book I have thrown a perfect character score.
SPOILERS!!
Story/Plot -> This is a short story, and hence the story is rather simple, but perfectly chosen for the concept. A little reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes in a heist story, but with perfect character flaws.
Worldbuilding-> For a short story the worldbuilding is good, the magic system is very well done, better than Elantris by far, which begs the high score here. If it wasn't for the “skeleton” soldiers, I might have given a higher score.
Character Development -> Shai is wonderfully flawed, and this is story is totally competence porn for this character. I loved the relationship between the Gao and Shai, I actually teared up when she mentioned her “grandfather” idea. It highlighted her loneliness, and how much she connected with him.
Prose/Dialogue -> Great writing, super competent and perfect for this story.
Emotional Impact -> I enjoyed it very much, nearly teared up a point. Great Short story! Except for the skeleton warriors.
A very thought provoking short fantasy story. A very slow start in a good way, with strong careful, well unfolded character development leading to an explosion of an ending which brought all the threads together. I didn't mean to finish it so fast. When I got my hands on it I just intended to open the file and check the font size etc. I ended up reading the first chapter before I could stop myself. Later I decided to read the next chapter. That was when I read the rest of the book in one sitting in one of those “I don't care if the building is on fire, I'M READING!” moods.
So yes, this was a really good read and to those who have read it, I say: I refuse to throw this book on the fire.
Great story and very interesting concepts built up and developed, and all that in such few pages. You can not go wrong with this book.
Impressionante como o autor consegue criar esses mundos inteiros com sistemas de magias bom mesmo em poucas páginas. Perfeito!
A great read to dive into after finishing Elantris. This Novella takes place in the same world as Elantris, just on the other side. There are some minor concept spoilers for Elantris here, so I'd recommend reading that book first.
Terminé Elantris hace escasos días, y no quería esperar más para leer este relato corto ambientado en el mismo planeta.
Pues bien, el relato consta de unas 170 páginas. Una obra muy corta si lo comparamos a la media de páginas de cada libro de Sanderson. Aun así, en menos de 200 páginas, me he encontrado con una historia que me ha embaucado casi como la que más lo ha hecho de todo el Cosmere que he leído hasta ahora (Mistborn Era 1 y Elantris).
El Alma del Emperador presenta la historia del encarcelamiento y la condena a pena de muerte de Wan ShaiLu, la mejor Falsificadora de todo el Imperio Rosa.
Para empezar, he de decir que las historias que empiezan con un protagonista fuera de la ley que ha sido capturado me encantan en lo personal, y en este caso no fue para menos, desde el primer momento ya me enganchó la idea. Ni corto ni perezoso, Sanderson nos suelta en este relato el cuarto sistema de magia de Sel, que dista mucho de lo que yo había visto previamente en el Cosmere. El sistema de magia no me impresiona tanto por la forma como por el concepto de cambiar la historia detrás de cada ser u objeto, alterando así su pasado y llevándolo por otro camino de “lo que podría haber sido”. Este punto es el que, en lo personal, más me ha gustado y llamado la atención de la historia, pero la cosa no se queda ahí.
Habiéndonos presentado este sistema de magia, una historia muy original se desarrolla, casi en su mayoría, en un único y reducido espacio que va cambiando a medida que la protagonista va avanzando en su gran proyecto. Hablando de la cual, Shai es un personaje que ha casado bastante conmigo y con mi manera de ver las cosas, a pesar de no haberme gustado ni transmitido tanta profundidad como Gaotona. No sé muy bien a que se debe, si a su forma de dubitar y escuchar a alguien, al principio tan contrario a él como pudiera ser Shai, o que simplemente es un arquetipo de personaje que está hecho para que el lector o lectora simpatice con él. Por h o por b, Gaotona se lleva la palma como mi personaje favorito de esta historia.
El cierre de la historia también me parece perfectamente conveniente, en el que podemos ver los poderes de Shai en acción, el Alma del Emperador restaurada de la mejor manera posible y a Gaotona deshaciéndose del cuaderno de apuntes sobre el Alma después de emocionarse contemplando la mayor obra de arte jamás presenciada, cambiando así de opinión sobre la labor a la que se dedica Shai y cerrando la historia en un círculo muy cercano a ser perfecto.