Reviews

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

unfortunatesoul's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

samiredden's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

theresa82's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

wouterk's review against another edition

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4.0

Elantris is a wonderful book. With lots of mystery and a satisfying Sanderlanche at the end. For reference, I've only read mistborn and emperor's soul from the Cosmere, before reading this book. I've loved it, it is engaging, at times was a bit slow for me, and very interesting to read. It deals with themes surrounding faith and governing a country in a very reflective way.

Elantris is a fallen city. It's inhabitants used to be unrivaled magic users and now the magic is gone and the Elantrian descendants/kin are seemingly randomly taken by disease and exiled to the once might city. The city just next to Elantris has taken the opportunity of the fall of Elantris to become a power of its own. A Merchant nation, Kae is lead by wealth and decadence and its less fortunate people are being exploited an repressed. In the background crown prince Raoden is trying to reform the nation towards one that serves the people more.

Meanwhile in the rest of the world A militaristic theocratic nation Fjordell that follows the teachings of Jaddeth is trying to achieve full world domination. Only two bastions remain. One is Kae, mostly because until ten years before the mighty Elantrians were there. The other is Teod, an island with considerable military force and common sense (good medicine against religion/faith). We start Elantris as the Teod princess Sarene moves to Kae to mary crown prince Raoden to form a front against the followers of Jaddeth, but Raoden is taken by the Sheod, the disease that takes the Elantrians since its fall. Thus starts a series of events that keep suprising, make the reader curious, presents you with all kinds of puzzles and takes you along the journey of how these people struggle. Additionally we also follow the perspective of Hrathen, a high priest of Jaddeth, which adds a lot of interesting things to the dynamic.

Will we uncover the secret of Elantris' magic and its disappearance? Will our protagonists be able to prevent world domination by Fjordell? How will Sarene and Raoden deal with disease, love and protecting what is important to them?

Bottom line, it was a great book. What I noticed personally, was the many parallels with mistborn. The story is definitely a different one, but there are many shared elements. There being a strong female protagonist, a male protagonist that is highly intelligent and morally driven to be a good ruler, the starting setting, which I would call hopeful dystopian.

Anyway, it is a great book to read, that probably does not need my praise or critical review, with how many reviews it has. have fun reading it!

nilla_beanie19's review

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4.0

I need to sit on my thoughts but go now I’m giving it a 4.5 stars

patwebb88's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Oh my goodness, this book. The beginning was interesting, drew me in.  Then as it progressed it was just okay..not really into politics (but it's not politics in a way). Then the halfway mark. This is when the ride got real! Buckle your seatbelts. What the heck is happening! And just when you think your ride is coming to an end, surprise! Hidden door!! Pull those straps REAL tight cus you are about to get whip lash by how fast the ride is!!!! 
No joke. My head still hurts.
This book may ruin your life in the best possible way. May as well just cancel your entire week. Don't say I didn't warn you.

krotzenburg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mavisbird's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow! I had a hard time putting this book down!

I knew about some of the issues Sanderson had apologized for before reading it. So I was prepared for them, but everything else was just so much fun! I really enjoyed most of the characters and really digging into the intrigue and magic systems. This is almost more like a thriller/mystery than fantasy at certain points and it didn't dissapoint!

_maymay_be's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

willow_or_wonton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0