Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings - Genesis Game (Retro Fam)

I love the new field of magic Sanderson creates here. Forgery is an amazing concept that each reader will wish they could do themselves. Sanderson once again shows the genius we have come to expect from him. Though referred to as the second book in the Elantris series, I see The Emperors Soul as a great stand-alone novella. Sanderson is free to prove me wrong, and I look forward to a third book in the Elantris series that can weave these two disparate elements together.

A Sanderson novella accomplishes what we fantasy readers want most: complete immersion in another world. Like all of his novellas, here is a world filled with complexities at once both illogical and believable. It is Sanderson's brilliance to craft these fantastic escapes for our enjoyment.If you read Elantris, you will find the tie-in here that may seem to be missing in the novella description. On the other hand, it works as a standalone novella. Of course one should read all if Brandon's works just because.

I really enjoyed this Novella, it has a very different style of writing from Sanderson's other books, but I still loved it. It's definitely longer than his other Novella he released this year, but I still wished there was more to it. I really enjoyed the main character, and would love to see her further develop and show her varied skills in a full novel. The only problem with the length (other than just wanting more) was that some of the supporting cast were pretty shallow, there just wasn't enough time to make interesting villains. The magic system was a little bit of a stretch, and a little tough to visualize, but it's extremely original and interesting. The basic idea is that everything in the world has a soul, and certain people can apply a stamp they create to change the nature of the object (or person). So a Forger can change a decrepit rotten table into a masterpiece, as long as the new form is believable to the table. Sanderson says in the afterword of the book that this magic is inspired by his time in Korea (as an LDS missionary) and his visits to Museums, where important people would place their stamp and works of art they liked.Shai, the main character, is an expert Forger, and she's captured when she's betrayed after successfully completing a heist where a forgery replaced the Royal Scepter (or something like that). She's set to be executed, but after an assassination attempt of the Emperor left him braindead, the ruling party needs her help to attempt to rebuild.

A review in three parts:First, I loved it! It pulled me in at the very beginning with the idea of writing a soul. It asked the great question, what is a person really made of? Sanderson explores that theme throughout the book and does it so well that it should be a primer for fantasy and sci-fi writers. Characters are not black and white; their motivations are never surface level. Seeing Shie trying out motivations for the Emperor and having to go all the way back to his childhood to discover them was not only clever, but accurate. While much of the book was about objects and their true identity, what they were made to be; it is plain that these were allegories for people as well.Second, the magic system was very classy. The idea of ornate magical stamps changing something's identity was truly original. Having read the author's explanation for how and where he got the idea for the system only makes me more impressed.Third, yes I know it is short; I also knew it was going to be short. It is marketed as a novella and the author even has a word-count on his blog. You knew (or should have known) what you were getting into before you started. There really should not be any complaints though. Sanderson packs more story into a short novella then most authors do in a full sized novel.