The Emperor's Soul

The Emperor's Soul
by Alexander Nanitchkov
Released	November 1 2012
Publisher	Tachyon Publications
ISBN	9781616960926

The Emperor's Soul is a stand-alone novella by Brandon Sanderson, published in November 2012 by Tachyon Publications. It won the 2013 Hugo award for best novella.

Setting

The book is set in the cosmere, taking place in the same world as Elantris, though in a very different region and without any of the characters from Elantris. It tells the story of a woman named Shai, a thief and a Forger; or person capable of rewriting the pasts of objects in order to change their present.

Summary

For a chapter by chapter summary, see /Summary.

“

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 scepter, 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.
Delving deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councillor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that her forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.
Skillfully deducing the machinations of her captors, Shai needs a perfect plan to escape. The fate of the kingdom 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?

”

—Blurb from Tachyon Publications

The story follows Shai, an imprisoned Forger. She attempts to recreate the soul of Emperor Ashravan with the help of his councillor Gaotona. Hoid appears in the sample chapter.

“It tells the story of a woman named Shai, a thief and a Forger—a person capable of rewriting the pasts of objects in order to change their present.
She starts off in prison, but instead of being executed, she is offered an opportunity. The emperor has been wounded in the head by assassins, and has become a vegetable. His attendants have hidden this from the empire and will trade Shai her life in exchange for creating a Forgery of the emperor's soul, hopefully making it seem like the attack on his life never happened.”

—Quote from Brandon's post on the book