A review by jadejade
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This has to be the first shorter fantasy story that I was actually invested in.

I read this novella in the [book:Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection|34226341]. I have a very bad track record with short/er story collections. When I tried shorter fantasy stories in particular I'd get to the end and feel like it wasn't worth the journey: it would always feel to me like the author just wanted to show off their fantasy world. But a cool world is not enough for me as a reader. There needs to be a point, and the story itself needs to be interesting. <i>The Emperor's Soul</i> introduced its characters, world building and conflict in a way that made me want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens in the end.

As this is quite short I won't elaborate further except to note that the author identifies The Fool in the deleted prologue available on his website, which will be of interest to fans of the author's work. That said, this novella can be read alone, with no knowledge of the author's other works.
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