In this newsletter:

• Brandon’s new novella The Emperor’s Soul is out now!
• December signings
• A Memory of Light book tour schedule
• Other events

Hi there. It’s Brandon’s assistant Peter again (plus a few words from Brandon).

Brandon’s new novella, The Emperor’s Soul

Brandon says:

I’m extremely proud of this novella. I think it’s my best piece of short fiction to date, and stands as one of the best complete works I’ve done of any length. It reads more like a short novel than it does a long short story, and does a lot of what I do in my longer fiction—it has a great magic system and cool characters.

So what is The Emperor’s Soul? It takes place in the same world as Elantris, though in a very different region, with only a few ties to Elantris. So you definitely don’t have to have read Elantris to appreciate it. (Though if you have, you should be able to see some fun ties between the magic systems.) It tells the story of a woman named Shai, a thief and a Forger—a person capable of rewriting the pasts of objects in order to change their present.

She starts off in prison, but instead of being executed, she is offered an opportunity. The emperor has been wounded in the head by assassins, and has become a vegetable. His attendants have hidden this from the empire and will trade Shai her life in exchange for creating a Forgery of The Emperor’s Soul, hopefully making it seem like the attack on his life never happened.

I always hate coming up with descriptions of books. I like them to stand on their own, with the text I wrote for them. So I’ll leave the description there, and instead just say that I am in love with this story, and think it’s among the best pieces of writing I’ve ever done. If you’ve liked my works in the past, I hope you’ll give this one a try.

As with Legion, I will personally send a copy of the ebook to anyone who buys the print version. See details below.

Peter says:

The ebook can be found on Kindle, Nook, iTunes, Kobo, and Dragonmount. Links are listed here There is also an audiobook from Recorded Books (currently not available in UK/Commonwealth countries). The trade paperback from Tachyon Publications is available in most bookstores in the US. There will be a Gollancz omnibus of The Emperor’s Soul and Legion released in UK/Commonwealth countries next summer. If you buy or already bought the Tachyon Publications trade paperback and want a free copy of the ebook, email your paperback receipt or a picture of yourself holding the book to [email protected]. We’ll get the ebook to you within a couple of days.

Local Signings in December

This month Brandon is doing a few local signings. If you’re not local and just want to know about the A Memory of Light signings starting in January, scroll down.

12/6/2012: West Jordan, UT
Barnes & Noble – Jordan Landing @ 6:30 p.m.

12/13/2012: Orem, UT
Dragons Keep (48 W 300 N) Magic draft @ 6:00 p.m., signing @ 9:00 p.m.
Brandon says: This one will focus on all of my books, and while there might be a few copies of the Adventure Game for sale, this is my holiday signing for Utah Valley. Because of that, we’ll bring a lot of copies of various things to sell.

I will probably do a Magic Draft first, then a signing right after. So the signing probably won’t be until nine, though if you wander in after eight I will also sign books then—but the signing won’t start for real until 9:00. The Magic draft will be limited to 16 slots, so sign up early.

12/15/2012: Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City Library’s Worlds of Fantasy event.
12:00 noon, Nancy Tessman Auditorium
“Fantasy Literature and the Re-imagined Myth with Brandon Sanderson”
1:30 p.m., Lower Urban Room
“Brandon Sanderson Q&A: World Building”
3:30 p.m., Night-Flight Comics at Library Square
Signing, with bookplates for A Memory of Light

12/22/2012: Probably West Valley City, UT but maybe Lehi, UT
Epic Puzzles & Games, signing @ 1:00 with Magic draft after 3:00.
Peter says: I’m pretty sure it’s at the Epic Puzzles & Games store in West Valley, but if I can find out for sure before I have to start sending this newsletter, I will change the info. Sign up for the Magic draft early.
Brandon says: This signing will focus on the Mistborn RPG.

A Memory of Light book tour

The book signing tour has now been announced. Brandon will be at the cities below, and Harriet will be joining him at the beginning and end of the tour. For more details on each signing, please see the events page.

Note that the two Canadian signings are not yet totally confirmed, but seem to be pretty solid right now. We’ll put the location details on Brandon’s events page as soon as we have them.

1/8/2013: Provo, UT
The BYU Bookstore @Midnight (With Harriet McDougal)

1/8/2013: Minneapolis (Roseville), MN
Barnes & Noble @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

1/9/2013: Chicago (Skokie), IL
Barnes & Noble @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

1/10/2013: Dayton, OH
Books & Co @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

1/11/2013: Lexington, KY
Joseph-Beth Booksellers @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

1/12/2013: Charleston, SC
Barnes & Noble @ 2:00 p.m.. Signing located off-site at Addlestone Library / College of Charleston (With Harriet McDougal)

2/1/2013: Salt Lake City, UT
Weller Book Works @ 7:00 p.m.

2/6/2013: San Diego, CA
Mysterious Galaxy @ 7:00 p.m.

2/7/2013: Los Angeles (Huntington Beach), CA
Barnes & Noble @ 7:00 p.m.

2/8/2013: Sacramento (Citrus Heights), CA
Barnes & Noble @ 7:00 p.m.

2/9/2013: San Francisco, CA
Borderlands @ 3:00 p.m.

2/11/2013: Portland, OR
Powell’s (Beaverton store) @ 7:00 p.m.

2/12/2013: Seattle, WA
University Books @ 7:00 p.m. (off-site; University Temple United Methodist Church)

2/14/2013: Vancouver, BC
***NOT COMPLETELY CONFIRMED YET*** Watch Brandon’s events page for details.

2/15/2013: Toronto, ON
***NOT COMPLETELY CONFIRMED YET*** Watch Brandon’s events page for details.

2/16/2013: Milford, NH
The Toadstool Bookshop @ 2:00 p.m. (off-site; The Amato Center for the Performing Arts)

2/18/2013: Baltimore (Hanover), MD
Books-A-Million @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

2/19/2013: Philadelphia, PA
Free Library @ 7:30 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

2/20/2013: Raleigh, NC
Quail Ridge Books @ 7:30 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

2/21/2013: Atlanta, (Norcross), GA
Eagle Eye Books @ 7:15 p.m. (off-site; Norcross Cultural Arts Center in conjunction with the Gwinnett County Library system) (With Harriet McDougal)

2/22/2013: Birmingham, AL
Books-A-Million @ 7:00 p.m. (With Harriet McDougal)

Other Events

See Brandon’s events page for details on the following:

4/19–21/2013: Atlanta, GA
JordanCon

5/23–26/2013: Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Comicon

8/9–11/2013: Spokane, WA
SpoCon

Brandon also plans to go to Hartford, CT this summer and to the UK (and possibly elsewhere in Europe) sometime this year, but plans are not final. There will also be book tours and probably other conventions in conjunction with the YA novels The Rithmatist and Steelheart, which are coming out in May and September. And if Brandon is able to finish writing the second Stormlight Archive book in April, it will come out before Christmas and Brandon will tour for that book as well.

Happy reading, and Brandon hopes to see many of you soon! If you’re on this list and want email reminders when Brandon is signing near your house, email us your city and state if you haven’t done that already.

Best,

Peter Ahlstrom
Assistant to Mr. Sanderson