Blurb

Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Arelon’s new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn’t recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It’s also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.

My Review

I’m in a few nerd-related Facebook groups. One name that routinely popped up in those groups as a must-read was Brandon Sanderson. He is most known for the Mistborn series, but someone mentioned reading Elantris first, as anything else is a tough follow after reading Mistborn. So, with Elantris I did start. If Mistborn is better, then I eagerly anticipate reading those, because I thoroughly enjoyed Elantris.

At first, the Chapter Bounce seemed gimmicky (each chapter followed one of the three main characters, rotating throughout the book), but by the end I grew to appreciate the structure. The three characters were not developed at the same pace, but all three got there for the most part by the end of the book, with of course a few twists and turns along the way. This was mostly a character driven fantasy book, not action. The strength was in the three mains and what drives them as people, not just their action and deeds, even if we don’t get a ton of background on why they became the people they did before the book started. Perhaps the most fleshed out background belonged to the antagonist–Hrathen, which made his ultimate fate and story more fun.

I was planning on going back and re-reading the Dragonlance series for my next fantasy series, but if Elantris is the “weakest” Cosmere book, I may have to stick to this world for a while.