enjoyable, but the Mistborn series is much better. ( )

http://www.piruett.se/2009/04/03/elan... ( )

Reading the Mistborn series, I looked up Sanderson's other novels, and this one turned out to be quite good. A bit formulaic overall, but the characters are interesting, as is the world and its mechanics. Good enough to finish it in several sittings. ( )

I started this novel partly because it was only one volume. When I finished the novel, I was disappointed that there were no sequels. The characters were interesting and likeable; the villain, in particular, was more sympathetic than usual, while still retaining his villainy. ( )

Since Sanderson is the author tasked with the job of finishing the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan's death, I wanted to read some of his other works to get a feel for him. I picked up Elantris since it was a standalone novel, something that seems to be a bit of a rarity these days in the fantasy world. This started out strong as we're introduced to the characters and setting. The book is broken up into a triad of chapters. There are three viewpoint characters and we rotate through them every three chapters. Only one of them held my interest for the first half of the book. This is mostly a political themed book and there is little action in the first 200-300 pages. Plenty of important setup though and considering the story and where we are headed, it was needed to tell the story. While I typically enjoy a bit more action in my fantasy novels, I appreciate that Sanderson didn't sprinkle in some just to satisfy they "we must have massive battles every few pages, just to fill in the gaps between the story" trap that a lot of fantasy novels fall in to.

However, the second half of the book was worth the wait. There is a bit more action, still not a ton, but the pacing picks up and wow the twists. Branderson has a way of leading you in seemingly one direction only to throw a twist at you that at least I didn't expect. Everytime I thought I had the story figured out, I was wrong. That style of writing I enjoy. Well done. This is one I would definitly recommend to anyone and I will be picking up the remainder of Sanderson's books and anticipating his finale of Jordan's mammoth series. ( )