From the bestselling author of the Mistborn Trilogy and co-author of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series comes the tale of a heretic thief who is the only hope for the survival of an empire.
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 councilor 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?
Wow, how did this one slip by me? Before you get too excited (or heated because you’re desperately waiting on the sequels to The Way of Kings, this is a ‘short novel’ from Sanderson, about 30,000 words, so less than half the length of The Alloy of Law. Now, with that out of the way, it looks like this story is set in Sanderson’s Cosmere universe, meaning it will have ties (though not necessarily directly) to his other novels in that universe, including The Way of Kings and Mistborn, and should fit into the overarching narrative he’s constructing throughout his various series. The ‘novel’ itself sounds like it has all the juicy magic that we’ve come to expect from Sanderson.
And how gorgeous is that cover? I’ll be sure to post a larger version if I come across one.
The Emperor’s Soul will be released by Tachyon Publications (a great coup for the small publishing house) in December 2012.
Good lord, where did this come from? I follow Sanderson’s blog and stuff, but I must have missed any word on this.
Where does he find the time . . .
Yeah, it caught me by surprise, too. I thought I was up to date on all of Brandon’s stuff. He’s always full of surprises (and projects), isn’t he?
I’ve read Sanderson pretty religiously. I have absolutely no idea what your talking about as far as the stuff connecting it.
Not that it doesn’t exist i just haven’t caught it i guess. What exactly are you referring to? It has been a while since i’ve read any of his stuff.
Prepare to have your mind blown, Josiah. The Cosmere.
30,000 words? It wouldn’t surprise me if he wrote it on the plane flying from one country to another, like his novella “Legion”.
Uh, wow. Didn’t see this coming. It’s interesting that the story is part of the Cosmere. I would think that Tor would have a problem with that. Or is the whole Cosmere thing just background enough to not really matter? I confess I have no idea how this sort of thing works in the publishing industry.
@David H — Nah, he told me that he wrote it while waiting in queue at the bank.
Currently Tachyon has it priced at $14.95….seriously for a 30,000 word novella? That’s a bit ridiculous – I hope the ebook is priced reasonable or they will be torn to pieces.
Didn’t see this one either. Thanks for the heads up!
@Michael Sullivan I think if it were anyone other than a really big name like Sanderson that would be true. I think he could probably still sell the crap out of 14.95. No that I think he should, mind you. I’d like to see it a little lower in price myself.
@Michael & Bryce — $14.99 for a nice, SubPress-style hardcover would seem alright to me. Then an eBook released at $3.99 or so for those that don’t want it for collection purpose.
Well, if it’s as stylish as a SubPress hardcover, than I’m definitely okay with paying $14.99. It’s a little light on the wordcount, but I really only buy paper books these days for show anyway. ;)
This looks like it’ll be an awesome book, but I’m still waiting for the next Stormlight Archive book.
Click on the link guys..
“December 2012 / $14.95 trade paperback / 192 pp
No hardcover
Sorry, I meant my response as more of a hypothetical situation where I’d be happy to pay $14.99 for a 30,000 word novella.
I totally thought this was an April Fools joke until I checked the date. Wow! Cool but not sure about how short it is.
Any particular reason why I can’t seem to purchase it off of the publisher’s website? I do not see a purchase button anywhere on the site for this book….
It’s not available for preorder yet, Kenny.
Whoa. I’m not gunna lie i didn’t pick any of that up by myself. But in all fairness i was only 12 when i read elantris and mistborn.
Oops! Meant to say “but not sure CONSIDERING how short it is”. My comment otherwise seems pretty dumb -_- Obviously I know how short it is as Aidan told us! Silly me >.< This is why I shouldn't post when sleepy.
So this is why he was asking people for ideas about giving ebooks away along with the printed books.
Can’t wait!
Well, at least the character isn’t called Wax. :P
nice site…I’m glad to be here….:)
Thanks, ratzone!
Love Sanderson. Surprised that I missed this.
[…] Title: Cover Art and Synopsis for The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson, previewed by Aidan Moher – “From the bestselling author of the […]
[…] example that this can be an interesting length is The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson, estimated to be approximately 30,000 words in length. It’s a nifty story, well told and well-rounded, […]