A review by astheplotthickens24
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

5.0

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WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

This novel basically features a paradise gone wrong. ELANTRIS, is a magnificent city full of creatures with silvery skin and hair. These creatures possess the ability to use magic in order to turn dust into food, and stone into a precious metal. But then paradise suddenly ended, turning the once magnificent creatures into a bald, spotted monsters. The curse of Elantris is also called the “Shaod.” Our story starts from there. The narrative features three main characters. The first one is Raoden, who is the crown prince of Arelon. Followed by Sarene, who is a Teod princess that is almost past her prime, but, is very cunning and talented. The last one is Hrathen, who is a priest with a sole purpose to save a country full of heretics.

This is not your typically epic fantasy that features a peasant who suddenly turned into a hero, or a princess who needed help from a shining, shimmering, and glittering prince. This book Is ripe with political drama and strategies that my puny, little mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend. The thing that impressed me the most about this novel is not the twists and turns, not to mention emotional trauma that I went through while reading the story. It’s the way Brandon Sanderson vividly wrote about the experiences of a beloved crown prince who was exiled in a city full of zombie lepers and his struggle to build a functioning society in a place reigned by primal need, chaos and agony. It’s also the way he wrote about a female protagonist who strived to prove that women are not just trophies that men can flaunt and display in parties. And the way he created a priest who is doubting his own faith and was forced to choose between what he believed is right and his duty as a servant of god.

If a city full of zombie lepers, a princess who has the knowledge to overthrow an entire kingdom and a faithless priest, did not pique your interest, then you have a serious problem.

REASONS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU’RE CONTEMPLATING TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN

This is Brandon Sanderson’s first published novel which means that he has yet to find his writing style and is still growing as an author. It may sound a little off on the first few chapters, but it gets better, I swear. Once you’re in the zone, the full epic adventure begins.

It is a privilege as a reader to see where Brandon Sanderson started and how he slowly but surely built the Cosmere Universe. It’s been more than a decade since the publication date of Elantris and I am one of the hundred thousand fans who is hoping for a sequel.