A decade before the story’s open, the vast and glittering city of Elantris suddenly…changed. Once a place of glory, inhabited by a race of humans transfigured nearly into gods, Elantris became a scabrous, slimily decaying slum and the Elantrians became undead demons mottled with black spots, afflicted by unending pain and insatiable hunger. Once considered a blessing, the Shaod—the Transformation from normal human to Elantrian—is now considered a curse, and any displaying the telltale signs of Shaod are thrown into Elantris wearing nothing but burial rags.

Raoden, the crown prince of Arelon, is awaiting the arrival of his bride-to-be, the Princess Sarene of neighboring Teod, when he awakens stricken by the Shaod and is tossed into Elantris. Shocked and disgusted by the hopelessness and bestial fury of the inhabitants, the prince begins to organize the Elantrians, creating order from chaos and giving hope to the people. Meanwhile, he begins studying AonDor, the legendary form of magic once practiced by the Elantrians, in an attempt to understand just what went wrong 10 years ago. Sarene, meanwhile, has arrived to discover that her intended has died—his father the king has hidden Raoden’s curse. The terms of her marriage contract still bind Sarene as Raoden’s widow, however, and she stays, finding herself taking up Raoden’s revolutionary efforts to overthrow the corrupt and unstable government his father has devised. When a group of zealous priests from a foreign religion come to the capital city and begin both preaching against Elantris and also attempting to convert the people of Arelon as a first step to conquest, Sarene and Raoden find themselves working on the same side to protect the people of their country and find the cure for the curse of Elantris.

Complex, well-written, and convincingly detailed, “Elantris” is that rarity in the contemporary fantasy landscape…a stand-alone novel with a well-developed back-story and a resolved plot at the end. It is also a first novel, written by an author who is quickly becoming a star in the field, having been asked to complete the lengthy “Wheel of Time” series after the death of author Robert Jordan. ( )

Much like Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, Elantris is based on a kingdom under the rule of a tyrant. Mr. Sanderson's style is very unique and it is always refreshing to read his very detailed stories.I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the Mistborn series. I would recommend reading the Mistborn series. While Elantris is a very creative twist on fantasy, the storyline lacked the dynamic characters needed for such a densely packed epic.There is a diverse group of characters, but I didn't find many of them to be noteworthy. I was plagued with remembering all the different names of each noble family and towards the end of the book I really lost interest in all about a handful of the characters.Overall, I would recommend this book to someone that is tired of reading traditional fantasy novels. If you want something different that doesn't take a trilogy to explain, try Elantris.Also try [b:Mistborn|68428|Mistborn The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1)|Brandon Sanderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170690764s/68428.jpg|66322] ( )

Interesting fantasy world, willing to try second book from this author ( )

This is a decent fantasy novel with a couple of original concepts. The conflict in the book is mostly political, with a little bit of traditional fantasy violence mixed in, though much less than usual. The kingdom of Arelene used to be ruled and protected by benevolent beings able to make anything with magic, beings that used to be normal people. However, 10 years ago those beings stopped being magical wish granters and instead became something more like ghouls without magical powers. The king's son becomes one himself, and his future arranged wife has to try and keep the kingdom together, protect it from his incompetent father, and save it from religious fanatics. The biggest drawback to this book is that everyone except the princess and the prince are mostl incompetent, which makes it a bit unrealistic. Still a good read. ( )

An enterprising fantasy with realistic characters (I especially loved the feisty, somewhat bitter, unmarried widow, Sarene), a tight plot and a satisfying ending. Sanderson skillfully weaves humour into places where its unexpectedness diffuses the serousness and tension, creating a highly enjoyable read.