The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Link to The Emperor’s Soul on Amazon

Can we talk about Brandon Sanderson for a minute? Brandon Sanderson is one of my absolute favorite authors. You’ve probably heard of him, but if you haven’t, he finished the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan after the author’s death (which I haven’t read, actually) and his own work has been best-selling as well. I love his books Elantris, Warbreaker, The Mistborn Series, The Way of Kings, as well as this novella, The Emperor’s Soul. This won’t be the last time you’ll see him on my blog. I’ll definitely be reviewing more of his books, though they fall into the “Full Price but Worth It” category. He builds amazing worlds and always comes up with unique systems of magic for them.

I’m starting with The Emperor’s Soul because at $4.99, it’s priced lower than the other books and is novella length. So if you want to dip your toe in, this is a good place to start.

Shai is a thief and a Forger, which means that she can change the nature of something or create a perfect replica – of furniture, priceless treasures, or even people, though it’s forbidden. When she’s caught in the Palace replacing the Moon scepter with a copy, she discovers that the Emperor has been attacked by an assassin and left comatose. His advisors need her to replicate his personality and stamp it back onto his body. If she can’t do it, she’ll be executed. If she does by some miracle pull it off, they might execute her anyway…

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Also, how about this cover? Who is the artist of this? It’s amazing. I can’t figure it out, does anybody know?

The 19 Dragons by S.M. Reine

Link to The 19 Dragons on Amazon

The 19 Dragons is a short novel (a novella!), which as you can tell by the cover image, has steam-punk elements, but is much more than just a stream-punk story. It is truly unique. The story is written in present tense, and the author seems to be speaking right to you. Even the page formatting is creative, with empty spaces and pages that have only a few words on them and are very poetic.

The story itself is about 19 dragons. Each of them is a “pillar” of the land, which means that if they die, the land itself disappears. The dragons are immortal and can be reborn, as long as they have The Device. The Device is stolen in the first chapter, and the 1st Dragon is killed. Slowly the world begins to disappear as the dragons try to recover The Device and save the people who are still left.

Right now this eBook is free!

But if I had five chocolate cupcakes, I would trade all five for this book. (Yes, I’m a foodie. Sue me.)