4.5. This is my first Brandon Sanderson novella and, for me, this story and this idea work really well as a novella. I do kind of wish this had a bit more detail to it - maybe a better understanding of the connection Shai feels to the emperor as she's piecing together his soul/personality, or some more detail about Shai's life - but overall I think he did a good job keeping it to what we needed to know, while still managing to give some depth to some of the characters. The magic system Forgery is really interesting. I'm really hoping the Elantris sequels utilize both Forgery and AonDor, and go into detail about how the two magic systems relate to the two shards - Devotion and Dominion - on Sel. (Cosmere stuff). This is good story telling. It apparently takes place in the world of one of his other novels, but I haven't read it. Everyrelevant detail is explained so you don't need to read it first. What makes this most enjoyable is that the main character is a female and not a paragon of virtue that we sometimes encounter. She is, in fact, a thief. Conclusion: read this book. There's never a dull moment.
I'm normally not a fantasy reader. I must say, however, this short story was exquisitely crafted.
—naflower05
Solid - Quick interesting read.Nice creative thoughts, well written and a fun little story.
—laloot1
Only two words can describe the awesomeness of this book: "Brandon Sanderson"...
—trace
Very short, but a nice story with a twist. Refreshing
—kortez99
Loved it!
—lvsburger
