Book Review: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Elantris is Brandon Sanderson's first published novel and one that I've read now maybe 3 times. It's a standalone fantasy which makes it easy to pick up. The particular version I first got was a paperback whose blurb was very character-centric with almost no premise to the story. It wasn't until I read the short prologue that I actually picked it up to read. Regardless, after reading it a few times I realized I hadn't written a blog for it. So here it is.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

As Sanderson's first published novel this one is a bit rough. It still is a fun read, with good characters, decent plot, and an intricate world, but it falls so short of his later works and suffers from a few minor flaws. Despite it all, it is a short single novel which means if you want a quick dive into a fun book this is actually pretty good. I prefer my longer novels but sometimes it's refreshing to have a quick adventure like this.

Plot

The story of Elantris is told primarily through the three main characters. Sanderson uses an interesting technique of alternating each chapter between them- first you read a Raoden chapter, then a Sarene chapter, then a Hrathen chapter, and then it repeats. While this does give all characters roughly equal time, it does break up the pace quite a bit and you sometimes end a chapter in a cliffhanger and don't want to read about another character instead. This is primarily noticeable towards the start, where the story is a bit slow and it takes a while for each chapter to reach a good point. Towards the end, everything is happening so fast that the chapters first start getting shorter, and then start splicing in all the characters together breaking apart the initial model. A lot happens towards the end of the book all within a few dozen pages.

Characters

As previously mentioned, Elantris focuses on three main characters- Raoden who has been cursed as an Elantrian, Sarene a princess from another country come to wed Raoden, and Hrathen, a Fjordell priest sent to convert the people to his faith. All are interesting, but after reading through The Stormlight Archive I can't help but see them as rough prototypes for Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar. Raoden/Kaladin both have an arc of being unjustly punished and how their optimism and leadership brings them and their allies out of it; Sarene/Shallan are ambitious, scholarly women who break their stereotypes to make their mark on the world; Hrathen/Dalinar are authority figures who struggle with their faith. While the characters are not bad in Elantris, they are far superior in The Stormlight Archive.

Setting / World Building

This is a Cosmere book, which means it has a common universe with many other of Sanderson's novels, though the specifics of how things work are unique for this world. The most interesting aspect here is the magic of Elantris. This is a magnificent city that glows with light and has magic all over the place. People can randomly wake up transformed as Elantrians, which turns their skin silvery and their hair white. Elantrians can use magic to heal, to travel great distances, to create food and water. It was a paradise. And something went wrong. The story starts 10 years after the fall of Elantris. People can still transform to Elantrians, but now they become something more like zombies with a ravenous hunger, sickly skin, the inability to heal, and a growing pain that will not fade. It's a torture to be an Elantrian in the present day story and investigating what exactly went wrong is one of the great aspects of the story.

Final Thoughts

This is a very nice, fun read. Compared to his later works, it's clear that Sanderson has grown a lot. The characters here are good, the plot decent, and the setting great, but over the years Sanderson has matured his style a lot and perfected his art. This is still nevertheless, a great read for those looking for a short dive into a fantastical world and are willing to forgive a few rough parts here and there.