People may say this is Brandon Sanderson’s weakest novel, but his weakest is still better than many other’s strongest.

I, personally, did not enjoy Elantris. I believe this opinion is more because of the order I chose to read Sanderson’s books, than the quality of this book itself. I read this book after already finishing Stormlight, Mistborn (Era 1 and Era 2), Frugal Wizard, and Tress. Because I started off knowing what he was capable of writing, I was underwhelmed. He has come a long way since 2009.

The Cons

From the beginning to the last couple dozen pages, the plot is ploddingly slow.
The characters are one dimensional (at least relative to someone like Shallan or Tress or Dalinar). They have their “trait” and stick to it.
There is so much politicking. I normally don’t mind scheming over action, so much of the book focused on scheming for it to not pay off well in the end.

The Pros

The magic system is, of course, wonderful and unique.
The last dozen or so pages explode in your typical Sanderson-esque finale. I think this makes the plod through the rest of the book worth it.

All-in-all, I’d recommend Elantris to anyone willing to read his other books as well, or to those looking to understand this particular magic system. If this is going to be your only Sanderson book ever, maybe try Mistborn.

Content Warnings

yeensy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-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

4.0

I’ve been told that this isn’t Sanderson’s best work, but his “worst” still stands pretty high above the rest.

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aleyajo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

It’s Brandon Sanderson, it’s gonna be good. Some stuff was predictable for Brandon, Dilaf was also a bit too caricature-evil. Good romance, not to ton of action. Excellent world building.

Content Warnings

simmonsj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

After reading Mistborn Era 1, I could definitely tell Elantris was Sanderson's debut novel. Elantris moves slower, less descriptive in some areas and a little too descriptive in others, but maintains good world building and characters throughout.

Elantris is more a focus on politics. We have a king failing, a prince shunned, a political marriage gone awry, and a neighboring country vying for power through religion. There are political maneuvers, political bribes, politics and religion getting mushed together.

In the background we have Elantris. Elantris was a great fallen city with an interesting premise. The city and its people are well described. The magic of Elantris, AonDor, is not as well described - better at the very end, but not really during the book as a whole. There are some Aon examples at the back of the book, but sometimes the ones described in the text are not in the index. Some of the text descriptions do not match the index drawings either. It was a little bit of a struggle to wade through AonDor passages until the end when things finally started clicking.

The niggle about the magic system aside, I really enjoyed this book. Good writing, plotting, and world building kept me entertained even though I don't always enjoy politics-heavy novels. Characters were fleshed out and believable, and Galladon's "Doloken" might be my new favorite book "swear word."

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mkaiww's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

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livid_olive's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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lakinglaze's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t believe it, but Elantris is now kind of my favourite book by Brandon Sanderson (that I’ve read so far). I absolutely loved it. I loved the quiet struggles and political intrigue. The characters were so varied and fun. The whole mythos surrounding everything was constantly a mystery. And Sarene as a character was just kind of perfect, honestly! I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for future stories to come!

Content Warnings

auliarach's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

3.0

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