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.

I like fantasy, but I don't always like Epic Fantasy that takes itself Very Seriously. So I groaned a little inside when I ran across words like Shaod and Arelon in the very first pages. However, my concern was unwarranted, because Brandon Sanderson's story is full of humor, romance, and intrigue and isn't overshadowed by the world or words he's created. Highly recommended. ( )

Pre09:

Great great stand alone.

Characters: The leading male is still my favorite and I remember him well to this day.
Plot: Fit together like puzzle pieces. Just amazing.
Style: Ever so slightly dry, but full of enchantment. ( )

Elantris used to be the city of the gods. Those who woke up as Elantrians were worshipped. Then, one day, Elantris fell. What once was beautiful began to decay.

When the crown prince of Arelon, Raoden, becomes Elantrian, he decides to rebuild the city from within. Meanwhile, his betrothed Sarene battles outside the once great city to keep it safe from Jaddeth fanatics, in particular one bothersome priest: Hrathen.

I really liked this story. It was a unique fantasy and even better, it was only one volume (though the ending did hint that there could possibly be a sequel). There was plenty of angst, but it was balanced nicely with plenty of humor. Sanderson did a marvelous job of tying up all the loose ends by the end of the book so there were no details that made you go "But wait! What about that one thing!"

The only thing I really didn't like about this book was a lack of character depth. Sarene was a very good character but she had very few faults. The biggest thing was she was too smart in a time where feminism was looked down upon. Raoden had zero faults. He was loved by all. He's funny, witty, and charming. Everything he does contributes only good. It's actually quite annoying. The only characters who were really interesting were Hrathen and Dilaf, both bad guys. Hrathen was the standard bad guy who didn't really want to hurt anyone and Dilaf had been driven crazy by the death of wife. Both interesting backgrounds, but when one's a stereotype and one is just an excuse to be completely evil, it doesn't produce the best story.

In short, throughout the entire book, I kept thinking to myself: "This is really, really good but something is just...off." I still think it's worth reading because for some reason, it's fairly easy to overlook the lack of character depth. It is only Sanderson's debut novel and I plan on reading his Mistborn trilogy soon. Hopefully, he will have improved upon this point. ( )

Somewhat predictable but not totally formulaic. A beautiful city and it's beautiful people suddenly begin to rot and deform. Ten years later, the surrounding cities are still trying to cope with the loss of Elantris's beneficence. Matters worsen with the influence of evil kingdoms, politicians, and religious fanatics. Prince Raoden will fix all this, but, whoa, he gets hit with rot and deformity and is banished to the diseased Elantris. The strength of this book is the strong characterization and the intriguing environment. Even knowing how it would have a happy ending didn't keep the plot from flagging.One note of difficulty: I listened from CDs and hearing all the "R" names was confusing at first, especially Raoden and Hrathen. It became clearer as the story progressed. A note of information: I also checked out the hardcover book, which I often do with recordings, to help with any missed listening. It had illustrations of the hand gestures used by the former beautiful Elantrians to perform their magic. They are totally unnecessary to understand the story but might be of interest to some readers.A note of interest: On the author's website you can download a short chapter that he uses to explain some of the rapid action at the book's close. Again, totally unnecessary, but some readers felt the author rushed to finish on time and left out some details. Nobody does that do they?Note of mild regret: I forgot I'd read this, so the review is several weeks removed and a bit sketchy. ( )

Somewhat predictable but not totally formulaic. A beautiful city and it's beautiful people suddenly begin to rot and deform. Ten years later, the surrounding cities are still trying to cope with the loss of Elantris's beneficence. Matters worsen with the influence of evil kingdoms, politicians, and religious fanatics. Prince Raoden will fix all this, but, whoa, he gets hit with rot and deformity and is banished to the diseased Elantris. The strength of this book is the strong characterization and the intriguing environment. Even knowing how it would have a happy ending didn't keep the plot from flagging.One note of difficulty: I listened from CDs and hearing all the "R" names was confusing at first, especially Raoden and Hrathen. It became clearer as the story progressed. A note of information: I also checked out the hardcover book, which I often do with recordings, to help with any missed listening. It had illustrations of the hand gestures used by the former beautiful Elantrians to perform their magic. They are totally unnecessary to understand the story but might be of interest to some readers.A note of interest: On the author's website you can download a short chapter that he uses to explain some of the rapid action at the book's close. Again, totally unnecessary, but some readers felt the author rushed to finish on time and left out some details. Nobody does that do they?Note of mild regret: I forgot I'd read this, so the review is several weeks removed and a bit sketchy. ( )

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. ( )

A fairly unique first offering, writen in an interesting style, with some unusual plot ideas, this unusal work of fantasy is slow to get going, but builds to breakneck finish.

Set around three characters - Raoden, Sarene and Hrathen, the chapters strictly cycle in point of view. This is at time annoying in that one doesn't get to develop a rapport with any character, it is also quite gripping in that the same event is percieved in new lights.

The plot is centered around the city of Elantris, formerly undisputed ruler of a kingdom, a terrible catostrophe struck 10 years ago and their magic was cast into oblivian and the residents cursed. Now the residents of the outlying cities manage as best they can. Holding to their religion even as competing factions in neighbouring lands attempt to convert them.

The story is initially very slow to get going, as we follow Raoden with his curse, Hrathen's attempts at conversion and Sarene's politicing. However by about halfway through the events start to pick up and the action speeds up. Sarene's wit finally manages to overcome some of Hrathen's obsticles, and Raoden is capable of some surprises too.

The plot twists in the final section are superb, if possible overdone. There are many! I enjoyed the moral doubts of many of the characters, although Sarene could have doen with a few rougher edges. The ending is gripping, apart from the obvious sequel dropping hints.

Overal, dense and enjoyably readable although convoluted at times.

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At one of my favorite websites for readers, Readerville, we were recently discussing why fantasy always seems to come in trilogies or, even worse, open-ended series of six or ten or an unending number of books. Since each entry in a fantasy seems to run close to 600 pages, one more or less commits to reading at least 1800 pages when diving into the first in a series, sometimes a wearisome prospect when all one wants to do is read something diverting. It’s not a problem limited to fantasy – Norman Spinrad discusses the same problem in the science fiction realm in the October/November 2006 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction – but fantasy does seem especially prone to multiples. Writers complain that publishers require them to write in multiples rather than merely in 750 page blockbusters, because it’s more profitable to market three 600-page books. The result is that we wind up with Charles Stross’s The Merchant Princes trilogy, delightful books but with too much padding; or Gene Wolfe’s The Knight and The Wizard, a single book arbitrarily divided into two volumes. Art must be sacrificed for commerce.

Fortunately, authors still occasionally write stand-alone fantasies. One of the more recent, and more promising, in this category is Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris. Sanderson’s first novel is self-contained, even if its ending does hint at more to come in the same universe. The book is engagingly written, with plenty of intrigue, events spinning out of control, favorite characters in peril, and a magic that works rather like a science. Best of all from my perspective, one of the three primary viewpoint characters is a smart, competent woman who changes the fate of a kingdom and of her world.
Sanderson’s Elantris begins when Prince Raoden of Arelon wakes early one morning to find that he’s been transformed while he slept. In the past, this curse would have been a blessing; now it means his exile from his city into Elantris, a neighboring city when the dead live. For that is what he is now: dead. His family “buries” him – actually, some poor sap who resembles him – as his “corpse,” his heart not beating but his mind as alive as ever, is forgotten.

As Raoden is being escorted to the gates of a sort of hell, Princess Sarene of Teod, his betrothed, is arriving in Arelon to meet him. Although the marriage was arranged for reasons of state, Sarene and Raoden have been communicating through their Aons (bodiless beings who serve humans of their own accord), and Sarene is eager to meet her bridegroom. The unhappy news of Raoden’s death greets her at the dock. Sarene immediately understands that this means, for political purposes, that she is a widow, for the treaty between the two nations provided for an immediate marriage to be recognized if anything should happen to either of the parties. Although Sarene is a wholly political creature who understands and accepts her fate, she is disappointed that she is a widow without ever having been a bride for more reasons than one.

Sarene plunges into the political life of Arelon, quickly learning that the theoretical threat she and her father had perceived from Fjordell, a neighboring country that is rabidly committed to Shu-Dereth, a religion that demands ultimate obedience. Fjordell – or, more properly, the powers that be in Shu-Dereth – have sent Hrathen, a very high priest, to convert the nation, and quickly. Arelon’s king ignores the threat, but Sarene attempts to subvert it instead, a high stakes game with the fate of nations at stake.

Raoden is busy as well, in his far more limited universe. In Elantris, he tries to bring order to chaos, to give the people there a reason to rise above their savagery. He also studies the magic that used to make Elantris run, and to determine why that magic became a curse. He does his best to resist hunger and pain, for hurts do not heal in this city.

It’s a complicated, many-stranded tapestry that Sanderson weaves in Elantris. We read chapters from the viewpoints of Sarene, Raoden and Hrathen, and learn of all manner of skullduggery, wisdom and ambition. The plot and its devices are sufficiently different from the run-of-the-mill fantasy to make this book something special; you won’t find a quest or knights or horses or dragons here, merely humans struggling in a world that happens to include magic. The writing is bright, witty and engrossing. Sanderson is a writer to watch.

It really is too bad, though, that Sanderson had to throw in those teasers for another novel in the same universe. Readers apparently can’t get enough of the universes they love, and publishers profit, but writing itself suffers when a book is incomplete. Sanderson has found a way to make Elantris stand on its own, avoiding the pitfalls of too many trilogies – or quartets, or decologies – in which the first and intermediate novels end in cliffhangers. It would be nice to say that he’s managed to resist the lure of the multi-volume epic, but his new book, Mistborn, is explicitly the first of “The Final Empire.” Sanderson’s website doesn’t say how many books will make up this series, always a frightening sign. Much as I look forward to reading Mistborn, I hate the thought of starting a story I necessarily can’t finish, possibly for years to come. As usual, capitalism and art seem to be incompatible.

So this may sound confusing but I have to say I was both impressed and dissappointed with this book. I really like the fact that it's a one shot. I hate having to worry about the commitment of reading a bunch of books just because one looks good. I was also very impressed with the plot not being a "quest plot" instead it was very original and left out many of the trappings of "high fantasy" (elves, dwarves, orcs, magical items etc...) The writing was competent/good - no gaffs but nothing that really stuck out as especially memorable. Characters were likeable, if a little shallow for 600 pages. I'm very over the "tough princess" stereotype but I think it's really hard to make female heroes NOT fall into that category.

My biggest problem is that I wanted it to be darker and more mature. The dark part happened a bit in the last 100 pages and it was very cool. But for the other 500 pages I got the feeling that I was 12 again, reading Xanth or Terry Brooks books where sex can only be hinted at vaguely and real adult conflicts don't exist. It was just too "lite" for me. I found myself wanting to read some Tanith Lee afterwords just to balance things out.

In the end I guess I would definitely recommend this book to teens looking for something that's not typical "high fantasy". ( )

I really enjoyed this novel. As one of the few stand-alone fantasy novels I've ever read (and maybe in existence?), it was great how everything wrapped up in this single volume. The world of Elantris was fully developed, the mystery was clear and solved by the ending, the characters were interesting... I'm glad I started with Brandon Sanderson on this novel, his first, because hopefully things can only get better! ( )

(Amy) Further pursuing my goal of sussing out Sanderson's style before the last Wheel of Time book comes out, I have now read this, his debut novel. I do in fact heartily recommend this book to all readers of fantasy. I also suggest that no one read the blurb text, for the sake of not thinking this recommendation is entirely made of crazy. I gotta say, if this is what debut novels get for blurb writing, it's a wonder anyone ever sells a second novel.

Anyway, the book itself is solid. Unfortunately, it's been long enough since I read it that I have very little by way of detail to offer, but it was a very gripping read when I was in the middle of it, and what I'm left with at this point is a memory of a well-crafted and enjoyable story, engagingly told. Go ye, and read.

But remember what I said about the blurb text. It lies.

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )

Elantris was the city of the Gods. A magisterial city of unparalleled magic and a populace of silver-skinned, radiant beings capable of channeling mystical energies to do whatever they commanded: heal the sick, grow food out of garbage, appear anywhere seemingly instantaneously.

Then, ten years ago, something happened. The Reod. Elantris began to crumble and rot away. The blessed denizens of the city similarly crumbled and rotted within their souls. No longer living and not dead, they are cursed, as are those who undergo the transformation of the Sheod, which is where the novel Elantris begins, as Prince Raoden of Arelon wakes up one morning to find he has been afflicted with the Sheod, and must by law be banished behind the gates of Elantris, where no one has stepped foot for the last ten years.

The debut novel by Brandon Sanderson, picked as the one to complete the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, is a solid stand-alone fantasy novel, a rarity in these days of never-ending sagas and almost requisite trilogies. Its stand-alone, one-volume uniqueness allows the complete, engrossing story to unfold without having to worry about waiting 2 years to find out what happens, but it also has the pitfall of rushing a few things, so the ending comes up on you in a big "whoosh" and then just stops.

Focusing on three main characters and using the chapters to divide their narratives, Sanderson creates a vivid world ruled by merchants and religion in equal measure. And although one could argue that the main story lies in Raoden's challenge of surviving in Elantris and figuring out what caused the cursed Reod and how to reverse its effects, Elantris places equal emphasis on its supporting stories: Sarene, the Toed princess bound by marriage to Raoden even though he "died" before she ever got a chance to meet him, is faced with stopping the crushing "conversion" of the Arelon people to the Derenthi religion, where a war-like devotion to God means that those who do not convert are decimated. And in Hrathen, the Derenthi gyorn, or high priest, whose mission it is to convert Arelon before the Derenthi soldiers wipe the country off the face of the planet, Sanderson presents us with an engaging, fleshed out antagonist, and the one character who really undergoes a change throughout the course of the novel. Hrathen's passion for his faith, coupled with his desire to have everyone convert is at odds with the faith's doctrine of killing all those who will not submit, and his choices made in the novel bring a weight and morality that is much more realized than with Elantris's other characters.

This is a really solid debut, given bonus points for telling a complete story in one volume. Sanderson just completed his Mistborn trilogy (sigh), and is currently working on the Wheel of Time series. Definitely a writer to watch as he matures and comes into his own. ( )

Honestly, I am not sure which is better, the characters, the world building, or the unique magic system, they are all delightful. The entire story takes place over a two-month period and yet reads like a novel that covers years. The pace is as smooth as silk, the type of book you read in one setting, even if that means staying up until dawn. The main characters are well fleshed out, as are the secondary characters. The cast is large without being so large that you cannot keep track of each personality easily. The world comes alive with believable economic, religious, and governmental systems and the complicated magic system, which is not really covered in detail until later in the book, is unique and well crafted

Full Review Here:
Old Bat's Belfrey ( )

Elantris has good concepts, but is let down by mediocre writing. It's quite obviously a first novel, and will never be considered a classic, but Sanderson shows potential in his worldbuilding.

The novel begins strong, the legendary magic of Elantris failed 10 years ago and the Elantrians turned overnight from living gods into cursed, tortured, and diseased outcasts, imprisoned in the ruins of their once great city. Prince Raoden finds himself thrust among them, while his bride to be must deal with a potential invasion by the neighboring theocracy.

"From prince to beggar" makes a nice change from "beggar to prince", but Raoden and his betrothed are both irritatingly perfect characters, while their quest to restore an "enlightened" despotism of the magically gifted that made me root for the theocratic invaders, particularly as the main "enemy" is portrayed in a sympathetic light. As a result, I found it difficult to work up much sympathy for the plight of our heroes.

The strongest element is the worldbuilding, the magic system is well thought out, issues of politics and religion are reasonably balanced and complex - it's a shame the characters seem something of an afterthought. I haven't read any others of Sanderson's works, but my hope is that they prove more balanced, because he has ideas that are worth exploring. ( )

I really enjoyed this book; once I got started with it, I could barely put it down, and it took me only a day, day and a half to read it. I thought the characters had depth, the plots intertwined convincingly, and I really liked the resolutions. ( )

Well done Science Fiction / Fantasy novel. Redemption of a whole world by the hero with help from others. ( )

An excellent fantasy novel, Sanderson has a talent at story telling and surprises. I just wish I could find more authors like him. ( )

Read this book three years ago and I still remember the major plot points, characters, and even some dialogue. Wonderful! ( )