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hyzerchan's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. I'm already a big Bran San fan and was interesting in going back and reading his first book. It starts very slowly but the back-half is awesome. Full of what I now know are the Sanderson trademarks like, plucky sidekick with interesting dialect, group of people trying to overthrow the government, fun magic system and religious turmoil. I'd recommend it, but not to a first time Sanderson reader, Mistborn all the way for that.
pat_philpott's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
beaktastic's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for the group read for the Fantasy Fanatics group.
Elantris focuses around the future of the magical city of Elantris, once home to men who were blessed and turned into god-like beings, until 10 years ago when it changed into a curse, and now men turn into undead creatures whose hearts don't beat and injuries don't heal but slowly drive the person insane. The story is told from the POV of 3 people - Raoden, prince of Arelon (where Elantris is located), who wakes up one morning to discover that he has turned into an Elantrian and so is locked in the city. His transformation is concealed by his father and everyone is told Raoden has died. Then there's Sarene, Raoden's fiance from neighbouring Teod who arrives in Arelon for the wedding to be told Raoden is dead and she is now considered his widow, and struggles to adapt and find her place in this strange new city. And finally there's Hrathen, a gyorn (a high, powerful priest of the Derethi religion) who has arrived in Arelon to convert it to the Derethi religion in 3 months, otherwise the emperor Wyrn will come and convert it by force.
I actually really enjoyed this book, a lot more than I was expecting to be honest. The book starts off at a break neck speed, throwing you straight into the action, and the pace barely lets up. There are a lot of twists throughout the book, some of them were somewhat expected but there were many I did not expect at all. I was gripped throughout the book, and for the last like quarter of the book so much happened that I seriously couldn't put the book down!
Sanderson had obviously thought out the world thoroughly, and it showed in his world building and plot, which I liked. But at the same time, he had a tendency to just introduce terms and ideas without really explaining them. Whilst this did feel a bit immersive and realistic (because we don't explain every term we use), but at the same time it was a bit confusing.
The characters were a big plus for me. I loved the main 3 characters and their storylines. I liked Raoden's optimism and determination to make Elantris a better place,. Sarene was a good, strong and intelligent woman, who was basically a bit of a detective trying to suss out everything that's going on in the Arelon court and trying to save the monarchy, . Hrathen was also an interesting character, one that I expected to hate in the beginning but who grew on me throughout the course of the book, . One thing that did annoy me a bit about all the main characters was the sort of implication that they were the only ones intelligent enough to see and understand most of what was going on in the novel.
Most of the novel was taken up with debates about religion etc., and full of political intrigue which I loved but I know won't be for everyone. There isn't much action at all in the novel until the end. I also felt that, while the ending was gripping, it did all happen fairly quickly and there was a bit of unexplained deus ex machina going on to fix everything and give everyone a happy ending. There were some things left unexplained as well, or people who's endings we didn't really get to discover which I found kind of annoying but I can forgive. Especially since Sanderson is apparently working on a sequel (even if it won't be available for a few years yet). 7
Overall, I thought the book was really enjoyable and interesting, even if it wasn't perfect, and it could be quite confusing at times with all the different names and terms just thrown in.
Elantris focuses around the future of the magical city of Elantris, once home to men who were blessed and turned into god-like beings, until 10 years ago when it changed into a curse, and now men turn into undead creatures whose hearts don't beat and injuries don't heal but slowly drive the person insane. The story is told from the POV of 3 people - Raoden, prince of Arelon (where Elantris is located), who wakes up one morning to discover that he has turned into an Elantrian and so is locked in the city. His transformation is concealed by his father and everyone is told Raoden has died. Then there's Sarene, Raoden's fiance from neighbouring Teod who arrives in Arelon for the wedding to be told Raoden is dead and she is now considered his widow, and struggles to adapt and find her place in this strange new city. And finally there's Hrathen, a gyorn (a high, powerful priest of the Derethi religion) who has arrived in Arelon to convert it to the Derethi religion in 3 months, otherwise the emperor Wyrn will come and convert it by force.
I actually really enjoyed this book, a lot more than I was expecting to be honest. The book starts off at a break neck speed, throwing you straight into the action, and the pace barely lets up. There are a lot of twists throughout the book, some of them were somewhat expected but there were many I did not expect at all. I was gripped throughout the book, and for the last like quarter of the book so much happened that I seriously couldn't put the book down!
Sanderson had obviously thought out the world thoroughly, and it showed in his world building and plot, which I liked. But at the same time, he had a tendency to just introduce terms and ideas without really explaining them. Whilst this did feel a bit immersive and realistic (because we don't explain every term we use), but at the same time it was a bit confusing.
The characters were a big plus for me. I loved the main 3 characters and their storylines. I liked Raoden's optimism and determination to make Elantris a better place,
Spoiler
and I liked how he gradually uncovered the reason why Elantris fell and fixed the Aons etc, even if it did feel a bit easy at the end when he needed it. Also I felt his recruiting of all the other Elantrians and elimination of any threats was a bit easy tooSpoiler
but at the same time, Sarene's pride annoyed me a bit in the way she would keep going on about how she was so much more intelligent than everyone else and stuffSpoiler
and I liked how Hrathen slowly doubted his mission and his religion and stuff, but was still intelligent and cunningMost of the novel was taken up with debates about religion etc., and full of political intrigue which I loved but I know won't be for everyone. There isn't much action at all in the novel until the end. I also felt that, while the ending was gripping, it did all happen fairly quickly and there was a bit of unexplained deus ex machina going on to fix everything and give everyone a happy ending. There were some things left unexplained as well, or people who's endings we didn't really get to discover which I found kind of annoying but I can forgive. Especially since Sanderson is apparently working on a sequel (even if it won't be available for a few years yet). 7
Overall, I thought the book was really enjoyable and interesting, even if it wasn't perfect, and it could be quite confusing at times with all the different names and terms just thrown in.
ijustreallyliketrees's review
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Started off slow but by the time I got to the end I was invested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Minor: Suicide and Slavery
anabelabeille's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jzkeen32's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
thecrazyromcom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lmkennedy's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I struggled with this book unlike any other Sanderson book. I normally feel like Sanderson’s writing is very accessible and easy for all levels of readers and that the payoff at the end with his well thought out writing and plotting is always so well done, that doesn’t really happen here. While I liked the characters there was no one that truly stood out who I loved.
willjacks's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best Sanderson novel, but there are some brilliant original ideas here.
What lets the book down are the inconsistent narrative pacing and inconsistent character belief systems.
Raoden is supposed to be the perfect embodiment of virtuousness and Sarene always roots out liars and schemers… but when Raoden lies multiple times for weeks on end, she doesn’t really care. At one point she was even like ofc! How silly of me!
I would love to see where the Sanderson would take this world 20+ years after the first book.
What lets the book down are the inconsistent narrative pacing and inconsistent character belief systems.
Raoden is supposed to be the perfect embodiment of virtuousness and Sarene always roots out liars and schemers… but when Raoden lies multiple times for weeks on end, she doesn’t really care. At one point she was even like ofc! How silly of me!
I would love to see where the Sanderson would take this world 20+ years after the first book.