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A review by letrickster
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A great entry into the Cosmere! I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building and magic as per usual, and the characters were well-rounded and compelling. Elantris itself was definitely the highlight, and the scenes there were usually the most compelling. Making it slightly disappointing when it seemed to just get dropped in the final section. The overall plot was very compelling as well, there were a few places where it felt slightly contrived particularly with how quickly the king was disposed of , but the reveals and development in the last section kept me on the edge of my seat. Particularly when Raoden finally figured out that Kae was an Aon for Elantris. Especially with all the hints that had been built up to lead you to the conclusion yourself (I definitely didn't catch it though lol).
While I did enjoy it and found it very easy to get into, it's definitely been improved upon by his later work. Some bits felt a little heavy-handed, and I think more could have been left to the reader's imagination. The characters were fairly good, particularly Hrathen, who I ended up enjoying the most. The other two leads were pretty good, but I think Raoden appeared a little too perfect most of the time. The romance could have used more development as well, I thought Sarene's side of it was a little more compelling, but even so, I think it could've been handled better as it felt slightly forced at times. There were also some unfortunate instances of fatphobia that really rubbed me the wrong way and felt incredibly unnecessary.
Overall I enjoyed it and it's nice to see how his work has improved (in more ways than one) since this release.
While I did enjoy it and found it very easy to get into, it's definitely been improved upon by his later work. Some bits felt a little heavy-handed, and I think more could have been left to the reader's imagination. The characters were fairly good, particularly Hrathen, who I ended up enjoying the most. The other two leads were pretty good, but I think Raoden appeared a little too perfect most of the time. The romance could have used more development as well, I thought Sarene's side of it was a little more compelling, but even so, I think it could've been handled better as it felt slightly forced at times. There were also some unfortunate instances of fatphobia that really rubbed me the wrong way and felt incredibly unnecessary.
Overall I enjoyed it and it's nice to see how his work has improved (in more ways than one) since this release.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia