Legion and The Emperor's Soul is
a very short book, its author is Brandon Sanderson. At
200 pages, this little book contains two novellas; Legion, and
The Emperor's Soul. These two novellas are very different to
each other in terms of themes, genre, and settings. I read this whole book in the space of one day. I was so impressed by this book, that I have decided to add it
to my list of favorite books. Today, I would like to share some of my
thoughts about this book in a review. Let me start this review, by providing a
synopsis for this book:
Synopsis:
Legion
Have you ever had experiences where you hallucinated? Are hallucinations results of unhelpful
mental disorders, or can it bring positive benefit(s) to a person?
Stephen Leeds
suffers from a unique mental condition, where it enables him to
generate multiple personae in the form of hallucinations. Each of his
hallucination has his/her own personal traits, but they also
possess a spectrum of highly specialized skills. Stephen is nicknamed
“Legion” for this unique condition he is in. However, because Stephen can access the unique skill sets possessed by his legion of
hallucinations, he became a man who is highly skilled in
virtually every field ever existed, making him a renowned detective
with unparalleled problem solving ability.
One day, a
client seek out Stephen's help. This client brought a mysterious photograph. The story behind
this photograph, could open a window to new ways of accessing information that
will rock and change the entire world...
The
Emperor's Soul
An assassination
attempt was made on Emperor Ashravan of the Rose Empire. The emperor
suffered a head injury, leaving him without consciousness. Meanwhile,
Shai, a master forger, failed an attempt to replace the Moon Scepter with her forgery. She was caught and
subsequently imprisoned. For her crime, Shai was sentenced to
execution. However, the emperor's arbiters offered Shai freedom, on
the condition that she must complete an impossible task: Forging
Emperor Ashravan's soul within 100 days.
Being confined
to a tiny room, and spied by politicians from the imperial court, Shai
embarked the monumental task to forge the emperor's soul, knowing
that failing the task would mean her ultimate demise. What will
be Shai's fate?
What I think about this book:
My first
experience with Brandon Sanderson's works, was Mistborn
trilogy. Although Mistborn wasn't my cup of tea, but I did
like Sanderson's style of writing. However, I much prefer Legion
and The Emperor's Soul instead. This is a short and sweet book.
The writings are descriptive and clear. The story is full of energy,
while the characters and scenery are portrayed in vivid details. The
pace of story development in (both) novellas flowed at a good pace.
The storytelling felt natural and not forced, with unexpected twists
and turns which led to thought-provoking conclusions.
In my opinion, while Legion and The Emperor's
Soul are equally as good. Yet, they are very different tales. Where
The Emperor's Soul is a fantasy novella, set in a fantasy
world that resembles the Asian culture, Legion is a
detective/mystery thriller set in our world at the present time. I
found Legion to be thought-provoking, because this 80 page
novella explored a variety of themes; from mental disorder, politics,
religious faith, to how technology impacts the human
civilization. Sanderson managed to tell a full story that is packed
with actions and thrills, while exploring the whole spectrum of
thought-provoking subjects, all in the space of 80 pages! I think
this is an impressive feat, Sanderson is very good at what he does.
On the other
hand, The Emperor's Soul is a very unique fantasy novella.
While most modern fantasy fictions are set in worlds resembling
medieval Europe, The Emperor's Soul is set in a world
that resembles the medieval, eastern Asia. This is a refreshing change. The
invention of “stamps” played an important role in this story, and
Sanderson shared that the inspiration for The Emperor's Soul
came into his mind, when he visited National Museum of History in
Taipei. I have visited this museum in the past. This museum has an
immensely large collection, containing fascinating artifacts that
spanned over thousands of years of Chinese history. If you ever visit
Taiwan, I would strongly recommend that you stop by, and visit
National Museum of History.
I was really
impressed with The Emperor's Soul, because in a short space of
140 pages, Brandon Sanderson managed to successfully build an entire
fantasy world, that is fully established with its own culture and history. At
the same time, while the story is entertaining, but it is also embedded with interesting, philosophical subjects such as personal identity, and
the meaning of art. Personally, I would really like to see Sanderson
continue with the story from The Emperor's Soul, and
write sequels in the future.
I had a great
time reading Legion and The Emperor's Soul. This book proves
that fictional novella is not dead. In fact, because the stories in
this book are short and sweet, I can see myself re-reading this book in the days to come. In the world today where so many
books appeared in the form of series, this one feels refreshing. If you are
looking to read a book with an engaging story, but do not feel like
picking up a whole series, then I recommend Legion and The
Emperor's Soul to you. This book will not disappoint.
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