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badbadwolf's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Child death, Death, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
imskylow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
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
3.25
It was good. I enjoyed it. It didn’t wow me like the Stormlight Archive series does but this is also one of Brando Sando’s earlier books. It did, however, help me understand a certain aspect of The Rhythm of War. It’s cool to see all the different worlds of the Cosmere and how and where they cross over.
I sure do wish Brando could give romance a bit more flavor in his books 🙃 like, I don’t need them to be romantasy but give me a bit more chemistry and one good smooch in these dictionary sized books. That’s all I ask. That isn’t too much, is it?
I sure do wish Brando could give romance a bit more flavor in his books 🙃 like, I don’t need them to be romantasy but give me a bit more chemistry and one good smooch in these dictionary sized books. That’s all I ask. That isn’t too much, is it?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, and Confinement
Minor: Murder and Misogyny
elwh's review against another edition
4.25
I really ate through this book after getting into it. Great worldbuilding and a unique premise. I was happy to predict certain parts, and it was fun to speculate as I listened. The writing’s easy to follow, and the characters are well-defined and easy to like. I wish many of the descriptions had more detail rather than referring to broad notions and vibes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Misogyny, and Death
Minor: Suicide
kpiedmonte's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny
mahra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 ⭐️ That was so good! I really enjoyed this book. The world and the magic systems were beautifully crafted. I really enjoyed the characters.
However, the pacing was a bit off. The story took a while to pick up certain characters (not the main character, though). I liked the ending but not the way it was written. The POVs were changing very rapidly and it was not enjoyable to read. I also had a few issues with the prose.
However, the pacing was a bit off. The story took a while to pick up certain characters (not the main character, though). I liked the ending but not the way it was written. The POVs were changing very rapidly and it was not enjoyable to read. I also had a few issues with the prose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Colonisation, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, and War
proza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, War, Terminal illness, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Abandonment, Child death, and Misogyny
Minor: Blood and Cannibalism
ericarao's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Genocide, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexism, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Suicide and Body shaming
rynaissanceenby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Overall, this was a decent book and worth reading. I was routinely pretty disappointed by the lack of strong female characters, though. Sarini is great, but she's the only important female character in the whole book, it seems like.
There also seemed to be a few too many twists. Every time you started to get comfortable with the plot progressing, there was some major twist thrown into it. Normally, twists bring excitement and intrigue to a book, but in this case, it almost started feeling monotonous because of how many there were.
I also find it very dubious that Sarini wouldn't recognize Reoden even after spending that much time in extremely close proximity to him .
Despite it's flaws, I still enjoyed the book. I think it had some interesting reflections on the role religion can play in a society and the inner conflicts it can incite in people. There was also political intrigue galore and rich cultural worldbuilding. It was fun to see little Easter eggs from Sanderson's other Cosmere books.
There also seemed to be a few too many twists. Every time you started to get comfortable with the plot progressing, there was some major twist thrown into it. Normally, twists bring excitement and intrigue to a book, but in this case, it almost started feeling monotonous because of how many there were.
I also find it very dubious that
Despite it's flaws, I still enjoyed the book. I think it had some interesting reflections on the role religion can play in a society and the inner conflicts it can incite in people. There was also political intrigue galore and rich cultural worldbuilding. It was fun to see little Easter eggs from Sanderson's other Cosmere books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
oldladysadie's review against another edition
I made a decent effort to get through this book to become fully caught up on the Cosmere, but the pacing is a bit too slow to keep my interest so far and the worldbuilding is a bit more than I can keep up with right now. I may try to read it again at a later time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Body horror
zea_d_writing's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This was my 2nd read through of this book.
When I first read Elantris, I loved it. I was fairly new to Sanderson’s work at that point and was kind of blown away by it all. The worldbuilding is detailed. The magic system is unique and interesting and complex and visual. The plot is a slow burn full of political intrigue that builds to a fairly satisfying crescendo of a climax before wrapping up nice and neat.
I was also in a fairly different place in life when I first read it; physically, mentally, and socially.
So I picked Elantris up again this year as the first book in my big Cosmere re-read and had…a very different experience of this book the second time around.
I still generally enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. But it very quickly became very obvious that this was early in Sanderson’s career before he not only grew as an author but also (hopefully) as a person.
The story itself is not as clean as I’ve come to expect from Sanderson’s work. The worldbuilding isn’t as deeply intricate nor as subtly incorporated in this book as with his others. The plot and pacing are much slower and kind of stagnates in places. And the characters…the characters in this book are Sanderson’s weakest.
Sarene is damn close to being a Mary Sue without the self insert aspect nor a tragic backstory. She’s damn near perfect and isn’t shown to have many flaws (if any) that actually affect her arc and actions within the story. Sure, she seems to have some self-esteem issues. But that never stops her from being proud of herself, being confident, standing up for herself, etc. Sure, she claims that she isn’t attractive and no one wants her…but goes on to charm every single male character in the book including the antagonist. She can sword fight better than anyone, she’s an expert in politics and intrigue, she can solve puzzles and see patterns, she’s amazing at making public speeches at a moments notice, and the list goes on and on. She doesn’t read as a realistic human. She reads like an idealized independent yet feminine woman.
It gets nauseating at some point.
And I can’t say Raoden is much better, despite the fact that he’s my favorite of the three main POV. Something about him just made him pop off the page a little more than the others.
Hrathen I also found more interesting as a character and I feel he also had more internalized weaknesses and faults that actually impacted his arc and story, but he still didn’t feel entirely consistent. And honestly his “turning point” in the book, while not entirely out of the blue, also didn’t feel entirely earned either.
ALL OF THIS ASIDE, the poorer characterization isn’t actually what made me so disappointed in this reread.
What really caught me off guard during this reread was the blatant ableism, sexism, fatphobia, and racism throughout this book.
I knew, in the greater discussion of Sanderson as an author, that his earlier work contained a lot of biases he held before he very publicly started having discussions with his fan base about these issues, listening to the affected groups, and started implementing sensitivity readers. I knew all this, but I also hadn’t read his older work in a good long while in order to remember the extent of it.
As a disabled individual, I think there could be some really interesting discussions had about the Elantrians. How the Shaod can happen to anyone, at any time, without warning. How, instead of taking care of the Elantrians and giving them the tools to be able to take care of themselves, they are cast out of society and expected to fend for themselves within a system that intentionally isolates and impoverishes them.
I think there are really solid discussions to be had here. And I have no doubt this was the intention on Sanderson’s part.
However, the execution of exploring disability through this lens fell flat for me. Overshadowed by the blatant ableism displayed by all of the characters, how the aspect of chronic pain was “solved” in the narrative, and the use of the magical cure trope and how it applied to the only autistic character.
And I found that that was a theme throughout the book in regards to both the casual and overt sexism, fatphobia, xenophobia, and racism. The book tried to address SOME of these issues but always failed to do so with any nuance or authenticity. In many cases these problems weren’t being addressed at all and were simply there in the text or, worse, acknowledged and even joked about.
I’m not going to go into full detail on the long list of examples for these issues (the autistic coded character, the autistic character being magically cured, how both Shuden and Galladon are often referred to by their race instead of names, how Raoden - a pale skinned character - puts on an illusion to make him appear to be the same race/nationality as Galladon - a dark skinned character - and has Galladon pose as his servant, the rapey joke made by Roial, the numerous fatphobic jokes…etc) because if I did the review would be too long but the list is unfortunately far longer than I expected it to be upon going into this reread.
Overall, this book has a lot of problems. I like the plot and the story as a whole. I think some of the characters are interesting. And the magic system is easily the best aspect of the book.
It was also fun to see the first appearance of Hoid in the Cosmere.
If I didn’t already know that Sanderson is learning to do better, has taken steps to mitigate further harm, and improved in these specific areas in future books, I wouldn’t continue reading him based on this book alone.
Thankfully, he has. So, for now, I’ll continue to read.
I just might not be revisiting this one again.
And hopefully, when Sanderson finally gets around to writing in Sel again, he’ll fix some of these problems when he does.
When I first read Elantris, I loved it. I was fairly new to Sanderson’s work at that point and was kind of blown away by it all. The worldbuilding is detailed. The magic system is unique and interesting and complex and visual. The plot is a slow burn full of political intrigue that builds to a fairly satisfying crescendo of a climax before wrapping up nice and neat.
I was also in a fairly different place in life when I first read it; physically, mentally, and socially.
So I picked Elantris up again this year as the first book in my big Cosmere re-read and had…a very different experience of this book the second time around.
I still generally enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. But it very quickly became very obvious that this was early in Sanderson’s career before he not only grew as an author but also (hopefully) as a person.
The story itself is not as clean as I’ve come to expect from Sanderson’s work. The worldbuilding isn’t as deeply intricate nor as subtly incorporated in this book as with his others. The plot and pacing are much slower and kind of stagnates in places. And the characters…the characters in this book are Sanderson’s weakest.
Sarene is damn close to being a Mary Sue without the self insert aspect nor a tragic backstory. She’s damn near perfect and isn’t shown to have many flaws (if any) that actually affect her arc and actions within the story. Sure, she seems to have some self-esteem issues. But that never stops her from being proud of herself, being confident, standing up for herself, etc. Sure, she claims that she isn’t attractive and no one wants her…but goes on to charm every single male character in the book including the antagonist. She can sword fight better than anyone, she’s an expert in politics and intrigue, she can solve puzzles and see patterns, she’s amazing at making public speeches at a moments notice, and the list goes on and on. She doesn’t read as a realistic human. She reads like an idealized independent yet feminine woman.
It gets nauseating at some point.
And I can’t say Raoden is much better, despite the fact that he’s my favorite of the three main POV. Something about him just made him pop off the page a little more than the others.
Hrathen I also found more interesting as a character and I feel he also had more internalized weaknesses and faults that actually impacted his arc and story, but he still didn’t feel entirely consistent. And honestly his “turning point” in the book, while not entirely out of the blue, also didn’t feel entirely earned either.
ALL OF THIS ASIDE, the poorer characterization isn’t actually what made me so disappointed in this reread.
What really caught me off guard during this reread was the blatant ableism, sexism, fatphobia, and racism throughout this book.
I knew, in the greater discussion of Sanderson as an author, that his earlier work contained a lot of biases he held before he very publicly started having discussions with his fan base about these issues, listening to the affected groups, and started implementing sensitivity readers. I knew all this, but I also hadn’t read his older work in a good long while in order to remember the extent of it.
As a disabled individual, I think there could be some really interesting discussions had about the Elantrians. How the Shaod can happen to anyone, at any time, without warning. How, instead of taking care of the Elantrians and giving them the tools to be able to take care of themselves, they are cast out of society and expected to fend for themselves within a system that intentionally isolates and impoverishes them.
I think there are really solid discussions to be had here. And I have no doubt this was the intention on Sanderson’s part.
However, the execution of exploring disability through this lens fell flat for me. Overshadowed by the blatant ableism displayed by all of the characters, how the aspect of chronic pain was “solved” in the narrative, and the use of the magical cure trope and how it applied to the only autistic character.
And I found that that was a theme throughout the book in regards to both the casual and overt sexism, fatphobia, xenophobia, and racism. The book tried to address SOME of these issues but always failed to do so with any nuance or authenticity. In many cases these problems weren’t being addressed at all and were simply there in the text or, worse, acknowledged and even joked about.
I’m not going to go into full detail on the long list of examples for these issues (the autistic coded character, the autistic character being magically cured, how both Shuden and Galladon are often referred to by their race instead of names, how Raoden - a pale skinned character - puts on an illusion to make him appear to be the same race/nationality as Galladon - a dark skinned character - and has Galladon pose as his servant, the rapey joke made by Roial, the numerous fatphobic jokes…etc) because if I did the review would be too long but the list is unfortunately far longer than I expected it to be upon going into this reread.
Overall, this book has a lot of problems. I like the plot and the story as a whole. I think some of the characters are interesting. And the magic system is easily the best aspect of the book.
It was also fun to see the first appearance of Hoid in the Cosmere.
If I didn’t already know that Sanderson is learning to do better, has taken steps to mitigate further harm, and improved in these specific areas in future books, I wouldn’t continue reading him based on this book alone.
Thankfully, he has. So, for now, I’ll continue to read.
I just might not be revisiting this one again.
And hopefully, when Sanderson finally gets around to writing in Sel again, he’ll fix some of these problems when he does.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Classism, Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Colonisation, and Eating disorder