★★★★☆ An honest con artist

The Emperor's Soul

Brandon Sanderson

The Emperor's Soul won Brandon Sanderson his first Hugo Award, Best Novella 2013. It is, in my opinion, a well-deserved honor. Although The Emperor's Soul is set in the same world as Elantris, it is not a sequel, but a standalone. You needn't read Elantris to follow it, and you can read the whole in 90-120 min.

Shai is a forger. That means more than you probably think it does. Although Shai is expert in the kind of forgery you know of -- producing deceptive documents and works of art -- she also is expert in the magical art of forgery, which in the empire means convincing an object that it is something other than what it is, so thoroughly and convincingly that it becomes for all intents and purposes the forged object. To Shai, this is High Art, to the leaders of the empire, it is a criminal abomination.

But the empire needs Shai. The Emperor, hurt by an assassin, is unconscious. The arbiters of the Heritage Faction, who currently hold power, need the Emperor restored to hold on to their power. They need Shai to forge a new soul for the Emperor's body so convincingly that it will appear as if the Emperor was never hurt. And they need it done in 100 days.

Shai is as trustworthy as a nine-dollar bill. She is not an idiot and knows that the arbiters want to use and discard her. This results in a fascinating cat-and-mouse game, told from Shai's point of view. In the end it becomes, unexpectedly, a story about art, and honesty, and honesty in art. Highly recommended.

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