paperback, 794 pages
Spanish language
Published Dec. 11, 2018 by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial.
In 2005, Brandon Sanderson debuted with Elantris, an epic fantasy unlike any other then on the market. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Tor is reissuing Elantris in a special edition, a fresh chance to introduce it to the myriad readers who have since become Sanderson fans.
This new edition begins with a preface by author Dan Wells, the first person to read the completed novel, and a new afterword by Sanderson explaining how he came to write the book and its place in the Cosmere, the unified universe of all his Tor novels.
Also included is an expanded version of the "Ars Arcanum" appendix, with more of the technical details of the book's magic that fans can never get enough of.
Elantris was truly a milestone both for Sanderson and for the genre of epic fantasy. It deserves this special treatment, something Tor has done only once before, with Orson …
In 2005, Brandon Sanderson debuted with Elantris, an epic fantasy unlike any other then on the market. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Tor is reissuing Elantris in a special edition, a fresh chance to introduce it to the myriad readers who have since become Sanderson fans.
This new edition begins with a preface by author Dan Wells, the first person to read the completed novel, and a new afterword by Sanderson explaining how he came to write the book and its place in the Cosmere, the unified universe of all his Tor novels.
Also included is an expanded version of the "Ars Arcanum" appendix, with more of the technical details of the book's magic that fans can never get enough of.
Elantris was truly a milestone both for Sanderson and for the genre of epic fantasy. It deserves this special treatment, something Tor has done only once before, with Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Sanderson fans old and new will be excited to discover it.
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (Novella) Oathbringer (forthcoming)
The Mistborn trilogy Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning
Collection Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent
The Rithmatist series The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners Steelheart Firefight Calamity
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Tras opinarlo en el club, se queda con estas estrellas. Me ha gustado mucho la ambientación y el sistema de magia; la historia es entretenida pero quedan muchos temas en el tintero.
No obstante, probaré otros libros de Sanderson, a ver si el asunto mejora.
It reads like a first novel. It also reads like an early Sanderson, in that it's too long and there is no character development. The writing is simple and the story trope-y. But after the Austen-like mess that was Strange & Norrell it was just the right thing.
3.5* -- I ended up reading Sanderson's books backwards so it has been a neat journey seeing how his prose and character development have evolved. I can see the beginning of it all and now finally see the cosmeres outline and really enjoy what has been crafted.
The storytelling here is solid, the character development is 90% there. Some things go missing, simple things that should be noticed by a character are missed and thus let the plot develop how it is wanted to but some of that frustrated me. Again though, I reflect that this was a first, an origin, and I can forgive any shortcomings.
I enjoyed the 10th year anniversary edition. I always love it when an author gives us a sneak peak, a tour behind the scenes to understand motivations or cut dialogs & characters, etc.
If you haven't read any of Sanderson's work I really …
3.5* -- I ended up reading Sanderson's books backwards so it has been a neat journey seeing how his prose and character development have evolved. I can see the beginning of it all and now finally see the cosmeres outline and really enjoy what has been crafted.
The storytelling here is solid, the character development is 90% there. Some things go missing, simple things that should be noticed by a character are missed and thus let the plot develop how it is wanted to but some of that frustrated me. Again though, I reflect that this was a first, an origin, and I can forgive any shortcomings.
I enjoyed the 10th year anniversary edition. I always love it when an author gives us a sneak peak, a tour behind the scenes to understand motivations or cut dialogs & characters, etc.
If you haven't read any of Sanderson's work I really would start here. Let its stand as a prologue to some of his best work and enjoy.
The Short Version: Interesting concept, clever well-constructed magic system wrapped up in a solid story. In other words, it's a Brandon Sanderson book :).
I never read the original release of Elantris. My introduction to Sanderson's work was the Mistborn series. By the time I got around to reading Elantris it was the 10th Anniversary Edition, and I had already read the Mistborn books (through Alloy of Law). Unavoidably, I have a somewhat skewed perspective of this work.
That said, I liked Elantris a heck of a lot. I liked it a bit more than Alloy of Law, but a bit less than the original Mistborn trilogy. That's a gross oversimplification of course. I couldn't avoid seeing the roots of Mistborn characters or themes in this book. While the magic system is quite different, it felt logical that it came from the same mind that gave us Allomancy. The backstory …
The Short Version: Interesting concept, clever well-constructed magic system wrapped up in a solid story. In other words, it's a Brandon Sanderson book :).
I never read the original release of Elantris. My introduction to Sanderson's work was the Mistborn series. By the time I got around to reading Elantris it was the 10th Anniversary Edition, and I had already read the Mistborn books (through Alloy of Law). Unavoidably, I have a somewhat skewed perspective of this work.
That said, I liked Elantris a heck of a lot. I liked it a bit more than Alloy of Law, but a bit less than the original Mistborn trilogy. That's a gross oversimplification of course. I couldn't avoid seeing the roots of Mistborn characters or themes in this book. While the magic system is quite different, it felt logical that it came from the same mind that gave us Allomancy. The backstory and mystery surrounding Elantris and Elantrians pulled me in early and kept me interested until the end.
Brandon has an interesting talent for making magic feel like science without sucking the wonder out of it. Now he's been doing that for ten years. I can't wait to see what will come our way in the next ten.
This was a good book, and I enjoyed it, though not as much as his later books. As usual the world building was interesting and the system of magic lively and well formed and every bit as much a character of the story as the main characters. As a story it is an average offering – he explores his usual themes of power and responsibility very well but the personal story of the characters is shallower than his later works. The ending is bang up though!
The story starts slow. At the point that I was considering quitting I was invested enough to want to know what the main characters were going to do.
Two of the main characters have only superficial flaws, and they offer little in growth, but have much to offer in terms of conflict.
A third main character, much darker, and brutal in many respects to the first two main characters, offers a more interesting view into the twisted human psyche, and his growth is the most fascinating of the three.
Its a good read, but not one that I'll revisit.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Brandon Sanderson! I've been meaning to read it for some time now, after finishing the Mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings. I knew right off that this was Sanderson's first novel. I felt like the characters and plot were less complex than his later novels. As a writer, I enjoyed the simplicity of the story structure. The plot felt like a lot of concentric circles of ideas. This one simple event occurred, which struck off a ripple of complication, which created another ripple. These ripples collided with ripples from another set of complications, creating new ripples. The characters worked backward through the complications to determine what caused the big overlying issues of the story. I think I could use this technique in my own writing. I really appreciate Sanderson's writing for this reason alone. He uses simple techniques to create complex worlds and characters, …
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Brandon Sanderson! I've been meaning to read it for some time now, after finishing the Mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings. I knew right off that this was Sanderson's first novel. I felt like the characters and plot were less complex than his later novels. As a writer, I enjoyed the simplicity of the story structure. The plot felt like a lot of concentric circles of ideas. This one simple event occurred, which struck off a ripple of complication, which created another ripple. These ripples collided with ripples from another set of complications, creating new ripples. The characters worked backward through the complications to determine what caused the big overlying issues of the story. I think I could use this technique in my own writing. I really appreciate Sanderson's writing for this reason alone. He uses simple techniques to create complex worlds and characters, and builds idea upon idea for a logical story structure.
SPOILERS
As I mentioned previously, I did feel that this novel's characters were less developed, or maybe just less complex than his later characters. Their motivations and masks were two-dimensional. The most complex character was Hrathen, who was the only character to go through a significant transformation by the end of the novel. His history, personality, and motivations were hidden further beneath the surface than the rest of the characters. I had trouble deciding whether I liked him or not, throughout the novel, and I'm not sure if that is because of Sanderson's writing, or because his character seemed wishy-washy. Was the character insecure and undecided, or was Sanderson undecided about the character? At times, I felt that I should hate Hrathen. But at the end, he came through for the characters I was rooting for when the real villain came to light. I kept mistaking Hrathen for the cold-hearted conqueror, and then getting thrown every time he showed remorse or regret for his actions.
I really enjoyed Mistborn and wanted to find out what his first book was like. I enjoyed reading it a lot. What I noticed is that the story is a lot simpler. The premise straightforward. The writing is just as good as in the later books. A bit too simple in the end. A bit too happy-ending like. There are a few open-ends that look like a sequel was possible but then came Mistborn with much more potential ...
I got into Sanderson's work by randomly picking up Mistborn: Final Empire last summer. I'm so glad I finally got around to checking out his debut.
Sanderson is an absolutely wonderful author. His use of magic as a plot device is extremely well done. We learn the rules of the world as the characters do, his worldbuilding combining with character development to carry the reader through to the end.
The story of Elantris is one of a fall and redemption, both for the city of Elantris and for a certain Derethi monk. Sanderson's characters are as human as can be, with faults and redeeming qualities to be found in all.
I really recommend Elantris to those desiring a great fantasy read.
I really liked this book, I enjoy the style of the writer, but I have to say that I LOVED mistborn, this book is good but pales in comparison.
