What is your favorite Cosmere story? You can buy The Emperor's Soul which can be found in The Arcanum Unbounded collection using my affiliate link: Arcanum Unbounded: geni.us/Arcanum
I do think The Emperor's Soul is Sanderson's best written work, absolutely. Though there are other stories of his that I personally like more, the sheer quality of the writing on display in the novella is fantastic. A great introspective dive into the human psyche. Definitely recommend.
This story put me in an awareness of my many parts (as does the Cosmere as a whole via the many Shards of Adonalysium). Love this story for sooooo many reasons. Other stories from unbound that hit me in my old thump-thumper were Sixth of Dusk and Shadows for Silence. Thank you for, yet, another beautiful video. Knocked it out in expert time.
I think this is his best written work (I know way of kings exists) this book didn't win a Hugo for nothing. The way he used the magic system here is amazing. It didn't just serve as just an interesting feature in world building but it serves as the voice of the theme, a tool that ties the relationships within the story and moves the characters. I would even say that it is the beating heart of the book. Probably his best use of a magic system because it covers all bases, wraps every facet of the story around it, and uses it as a beautiful metaphor and allegory for the nature of identity and art. The system is so integrated in the theme that the story wouldn't function or be the same without it. As someone who is currently studying for a degree psychology and reads a lot of biographies this book really felt like it understood me. Deffo a must read and a 5 stars.
I first read this one years ago and thought it was okay. Nothing too exciting. I was on drugs apparently. I reread it again this year and oh my goodness I honestly think it's one of Sanderson's best and 100% I recommend it as a Sanderaon starting point.
Good thing you reread it! There's been a few books like that for me as well, where I reread it and discovered it was actually super good and I must have just not been in a mood to read it when I did the first time 😅
@@CapturedInWords Excellent. I almost didn't spot myself, which is dreadfully unfortunate, as many misfortunes befall us when we lose awareness of ourselves. I guess the more important question is, did you spot yourself in the story?
This is brandon's best work BY FAR. I'm a relatively critical fan of his writing, but I still read it all (so I still think it's worth the read). This book just shows what he is really capable of; it's a tier (or two) above anything else in his catalogue. I'd quibble with how you describe her as rewriting his "soul" as a little misleading for a person who hasn't already read the book. This isn't the traditional brando magic system and the use of "soul" in the title (which you restate a few times in the video) is a metaphor (of course you know all this), and I worry your description might mislead potential readers. The story is about the deeper question of what makes us a "person" and what makes that "person" "us". The story is so moving because it is at its core about identity in the deepest sense. If a machine system can mimic a person so well that the person and the system are indistinguishable, who is the "true" person? And for that matter, what is a person? These are the types of questions this story asks.
This is an easy question to answer. If I take your $100 and make a copy of it and keep the original but give you the copy, would you be willing to take that copy to use? 🤣 Very simple answer to such a complex problem.
The book is ok but I think I am tired of all this Sanderson craze, there are so many more authors/books to explore and imo his writing is not even that great (I know, people will freak out now). How deep and thought provoking can a 170 novella be? I read it and it is not. As always, people who adore Sanderson, are more in love with the ideas behind the book than what is actually on the pages. This is just my opinion though, but I know booktube is all about clicks and likes ... but it is starting to get less and less interesting, like a broken record.
I just finished it today and am honestly a bit confused by the "this is Sanderson's best work" comments. It's not bad by any means but what exactly makes it so fantastic in so many people's eyes? I mean no offense to anyone who loves this story, everyone's opinion is totally valid, I'm just trying to get behind the praise as I found it just ok - good.
I must re-read this again, I read it so early on my way through the cosmer. A nice note for cosmer fans out there the guy who betrays the protagonist in the emperor's soul is Hoid.
I’m finishing Oathbringer today, and I think emperors soul will be next. It’s so interesting to me that it’s so popular when IMO, the central thing that Sanderson does so well is build to massive complex climaxes. A shorter work? But what about the Sanderslog?
When the "bottle episode" nature of the book was explained to me, I was hesitant. I ended up putting it at the end of the Sanderson group of books I was planning on reading. Kinda disappointed I waited so long. The Emperor's Soul is amazing!
The Emperor’s Soul is legit my favorite piece of Sando writing, and by a pretty wide margin. This is coming from someone that has Stormlight as a top-ten series. Great video Jay!
I already had the Arcanum Unbounded, but I hadn't read this story yet before I watched this video. Finished it tonight and I absolutely loved it. I love Forgery and I definitely felt let down that this is the only story it's in so far. Definitely a lot of potential there. I really loved the artistic themes of the book and how quickly I was invested in these characters and this story. It gripped me very quickly. Planning on finishing up the Arcanum then finally starting Stormlight Archive ☺️😁
Wow! First of all let me commend your channel for highlighting a treasure of a Sanderson work that might be obscured or overshadowed by his more go-to rightly famous works discussed everywhere! And to your viewers who inspire me to pick up this story via the Arcanum with your link!
Technically no- all his stories are self contained and wonderful by themselves. However, if you want to enrich your experience and pickup on the many Easter eggs he leaves in his writing then I would go: 1) Mistborn era 1 2) Elantris 3) Warbreaker 4) Stormlight Archive 5) Mistborn era 2 6) White Sand 7) Arcanum Unbounded Technically you could read the short stories from Arcanum Unbounded after each of their worlds primary stories. But some do fit in between certain books (Edgedancer between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer for example) There are plenty of lists online too you could look at for a reading order
Deffo not but there are a few recommendations I would make since you're starting. Warbreaker - this a good full standalone novel. If you don't want any commitment to a trilogy this is it. I think you would read approximately 500+ pages on this one. The Emperor's Soul - I believe Sanderson's magic system at his best and probably one of his best written work. It's short, its wholesome, intimate and smart. This book is less than a hundred pages, I think you can cut through this in a day easy peasy. Mistborn Era 1 - Quintessential Sanderson. It is great for beginners in fantasy and beginners in Brandon's work. If you have commitment to read all three I say go and take a dive. Took me two weeks to finish this series and I can't put it down because the pacing is good and the style is digestible.
From my understanding the magic system is location based (like all magic on Sel) and wouldn't be able to happen on other planets (unlike Allomancy, Surgebinding, or the Aviar from Sixth of the Dusk). Like how Aon Dor is less strong the further an Elantrian gets from Elantris, forgery wouldn't work away from Sel (possibly even that specific region of Sel, though I'm not too sure of that). So for us to see it again we'll need another story from the same area. :( It's also one of my favourite Brando Sando books, I was so pleasantly surprised by it when I first read it.
The Arcanum Unbounded is so worth it! There's so many great stories all compiled together and some really great info about the Cosmere and each star system
Whoops meant to link that, just updated the description! Here's a link to a spreadsheet with links to the art used: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hbVJUA38tgZoAWSoQP7Qbd0CP5X-jlTFfDX3JqavwHU/edit?usp=sharing
