“On the three-hundredth anniversary of my birth, I finally managed to conquer the world.”

This novella is about Kai, an emperor who, after having waged wars and conquered many regions, has a bit of an existential crisis. He is required by higher authorities to procreate, and this makes for very awkward conversations and an awkward narrative. As events unfold, Kai is forced to grapple with reality in unpleasant ways and tackle unforeseen challenges. The story is as fantastical as Brandon Sanderson’s books get, and while it has interesting characters, it doesn’t quite measure up to other stories by the author. Perhaps a few more chapters would have prevented it from being underwhelming. 

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  10 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore: A few references to wars; secondhand report of death; several characters are involved in a gunfight; a character breaks another’s wrist; in an extended non-explicit scene, property is destroyed and people are killed; a character gets injured; a character commits suicide.

Sex/Nudity: The central theme is the pressure on characters to procreate and this is discussed a few times without explicit detail; vague references to a character’s philandering; reference to having a harem; a character dresses provocatively; a character undresses in a sexual situation; a character has sexual thoughts about another.

Mature Subject Matter:

Wars, suicide, procreation.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

A character drinks alcohol.