With 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

THE EMPEROR’S SOUL
10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

by
Brandon Sanderson

ISBN: Print: 978-1-61696-402-3

Published: November 2022

Available Format(s): Trade paperback

An excellent fast read, highly recommended for readers looking for unique story worlds and magic systems. It won the 2013 Hugo Award for a Novella, and that really says it all.

—Flight of the Dragon

New content:

• Deleted prologue “The Imperial Fool” by Brandon Sanderson (alludes to Sanderson’s bestselling Mistborn series)
• Prologue commentary from the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses
• An original introduction from the publisher about the origins of the book

With 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

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan comatose, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos.

Shai is given an impossible task: to create—to Forge—a new soul for the emperor in fewer than one hundred days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. She is confined to a tiny, dirty chamber, guarded by a man who hates her, spied upon by politicians, and trapped behind a door sealed in her own blood. Shai’s only possible ally is the emperor’s most loyal councillor, Gaotona, who struggles to understand her true talent.

Time is running out for Shai. Forging, while deducing the motivations of her captors, she needs a perfect plan to escape…

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