Elantris

Elantris has all the hallmarks of a story that is part of a greater whole. Sanderson's signature method of weaving Mormon themes of self-reliance and a touch of Mary Sue-esque qualities in his main characters are present, but not to the point of intrusiveness. Overall, a good introduction to Sanderson's writing style. I would definitely recommend this to fantasy fans.

Mir hat es wirklich gut gefallen. Was sonst über mehrere/viele Bände ausgewalzt wird (nicht, dass ich da grundsätzlich was gegen hätte; an der Wheel of Time Reihe hab ich z.B. 15 Jahre gesessen), passt hier in ein Buch, ohne dass es sich verkürzt oder schlecht ausgearbeitet anfühlen würde.

Besonders nett fand ich in der Jubiläumsausgabe, dass auch ein paar Kapitel im Anhang waren, die in der finalen Fassung nicht mehr enthalten sind inkl. Kommentaren des Autors.

Aber insbesondere bemerkenswert finde ich, dass Sanderson auch hier ein komplettes Magie-System am Start hat, so wie auch z.B. in Mistborn oder Stormlight Archive, aber eben wieder signifikant anders. Und das, obwohl die Magie hier auf der Welt "kaputt" ist. Apropos Welt, es gibt schon Referenzen auf andere Welten seines Cosmere-Universums. Ich bin immer wieder beeindruckt, wie tief und weit man imaginäre Welten ausarbeiten kann.

Elantris er en fin historie, en tydelig førstebok fra en forfatter med mer på hjertet. Boken er splittet mellom forsøk på brudd med sjangeren og åpenbare klisjeer.

Den Sterke Kvinnerollen, en av bokens tre hovedpersoner, er velment, men oser Mary Sue-energi – hun er høy, hun er sterk, hun er frittalende, hun er ikke bundet av samfunnets normer for hva en kvinne skal være (og stolt av det!), men hun er også dypt usikker i hvilken funksjon hun egentlig har uten en mann. Aldri glem at du også er en kvinne.

Sant nok, boka fyller 20 år neste år, både mitt og tidsåndens syn på hva en god, kvinnelig figur er har endret seg, og Sarene er ikke en dårlig figur, hun er bare veldig åpenbar.

På samme måte som at bokens andre (eller første, han har bokens første kapittel, og alt dreier seg jo egentlig om ham) rett og slett er Verdens Flinkeste™, helt fra start. Han er smart, kjekk (med en plottsensitiv asterisk), snill, dyktig, et godt menneske, alt det der. Gary Stu Sanderson.

Igjen, debutbok. Ikke dårlig, jeg er nysgjerrig på Sandersons forfatterskap videre, og den har noen ideer som jeg virkelig viber med. Når jeg skriver dette, klarer jeg ikke å ikke tenke på Steven Kings The Gunslinger, som også er en uerfaren førstebok. Vi får se om resten av Sandersons verk setter like dype spor i meg som The Dark Tower gjorde.

Pues qué se puede decir de este libro? Simplemente me ha encantado, no entiendo a la gente que lo llega a calificar incluso como malo.

Si que se me ha hecho un poco repetitivo por venir de leer Mistborn seguir en un mundo donde la trama se centra en la nobleza y seguir con bailes y todo eso.

Pasando un poco a otros temas Raoden y Sarene me han encantado como personajes y ya ni hablemos de Hrathen y Dilaf, sobre todo este último que tenía algo extraño que no se desvela hasta el final. Uno no se espera que cuando hablan de que hacen demonios sea de forma literal.

El final aunque se me haya hecho igual un poco precipitado y alguna cosa me parece un poco cogida con pinzas ha estado bastante bien para cerrar esta trama. Estoy a la espera de la segunda y tercera parte que se anunciaron hace ya un tiempo para ver cómo se van a enfrentar a la amenaza fjorden y las diferentes formas de interactuar con el Dor que puede dar para mucho.

If you like fantasy you would probably like this book, it's got a good plot, but it wasn't my taste so eh. I prefer his later books.

Lots of characters with individual traits but most of them felt shallow or wasn't interacted with enough. Although having a optimistic protagonist, that really tries to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, was nice for once.

Got bored with the nobleman politics and their religions which are important themes here though (that one is on me for not doing a preview).

Good and bad magic was interesting but didn't have much backstory, would like to read more about the seons for example.

I can see why this book is unfavourably compared to some of the other early cosmere books, but that has more to do with how brilliant they are than anything else. By itself, this is an excellent fantasy novel with an interesting structure and lots to say about the intersection of faith, religion, politics and power.
It is a little frustrating just how few of the larger mysteries of this setting are resolved by the end, and there is some plotting that I'd expect Sanderson to handle with more subtlety these days. While there are plenty of women with potentially interesting characters, all are outshone by the female protagonist in a way that didn't quite seem to occur for the men, which is reminiscent of Vin in The Final Empire but he seems to have improved with age in this regard. There's also a lack of class perspective, and given that the mechanism of Elantris allows for anyone to be promoted into a position of interest, this feels like a missed opportunity.
However, it's still a good story, told well, with plenty of action and intrigue and a mostly sufferable romance to boot.

"Elantris" me ha dejado una impresión duradera. Me cautivó el rico escenario creado por Sanderson, donde los detalles sobre los distintos reinos, facciones y grupos religiosos se presentan de manera puntual pero continua. Agradezco que el autor no dedique largas descripciones a estos aspectos, sino que los introduzca naturalmente a través de los diálogos entre los personajes. Dejo mi reseña en : www.enredandotemas.com/2023/06/descubriendo-la-magia-de-de-brandon.html

I liked it but... I only loved a few ideas that weren't focused on all that much. Like I really liked the concept of elantris as this hell like state and the way Raoden gives people purpose to avoid their pain. I enjoyed his struggle with the decisions he is forced to make. I FREAKING LOVED HRATHEN AND THE RELIGIOUS IDEAS. I loved it. Seeing his struggle with religion, faith, and logic, and his desire to do the right thing but his fucked epistemic framework and situation leading him to make horrific decisions, seeing his conflict in his actions. And then on top of that the religious ideas it is critiquing are explicitly the pitfalls of hierarchy and organized religion. THEN there's the whole concept of how the original religion that all the other religions based off of was based on "unity" which has been interpreted differently by the different branches. Then seeing Hrathen's redemption arc mind view change. And the criticism of blind hatred... And GOD it's so good.

Unfortunately that stuff is basically only 50% of the book if I'm being generous. Seemingly the other 50% is the most mind numbingly boring politics talk ever. And it's not like I dislike politics. I fucking loved dune messiah and Mistborn had it's own massive politic talks. It just feels so hollow in this book. I never cared or felt like any of the characters beyond Sarene were different enough to warrant caring about. The scenes didn't have enough spice to them imo. And ultimately the politic talks don't end up saving the day because Sarene overthrows the king through scandal, not a peasant uprising. Now, that's not a criticism of the plot, I'm just trying to explain why I felt the political sections were lacking, especially coming off of Dune and Mistborn. It was a struggle for me to get through those sections. Like wow that random political guy was the traitor, oh FR? On God? Just like that? I couldn't be bothered to care lol.

I will say though, the except comes when Sarene was outwitting people like when she made the king cry or beat Hrathen in an argument.

For moments I liked besides the religion stuff, the reveal about why the Aon's weren't working was cool and the moment when he puts everything back together with the title drop "Aon Rao. The spirit of elantris" was cool (if maybe kind of cheesy lol).

The part where galladon laments how Raodon gave him hope was cool.

Solid book all in all.

Time to read: 11 hours 47 minutes

This is a very nice, fun read. Compared to his later works, it's clear that Sanderson has grown a lot. The characters here are good, the plot decent, and the setting great, but over the years Sanderson has matured his style a lot and perfected his art. This is still nevertheless, a great read for those looking for a short dive into a fantastical world and are willing to forgive a few rough parts here and there.

For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2022/03/book-review-elantris-by-brandon.html

This is a very nice, fun read. Compared to his later works, it's clear that Sanderson has grown a lot. The characters here are good, the plot decent, and the setting great, but over the years Sanderson has matured his style a lot and perfected his art. This is still nevertheless, a great read for those looking for a short dive into a fantastical world and are willing to forgive a few rough parts here and there.



For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2022/03/book-review-elantris-by-brandon.html

2020 Reread
Nobility is in one's bearing as much as it it is one's breeding. If we act like living here is a blessing, then maybe we'll start to forget how pathetic we think we are.

My thoughts from five years ago stand: a decent book that flirts with an average rating but escalates in a big way near the end and becomes fantastic! It has been long enough that I forgot some character arcs and they were a nice surprise and twist when they occurred.

After all, Jaddeth had created all men - even the heretics.

There was a brief mention of Hoid in here, not enough to suspect he was anymore than a random character in the series but it's still fun to see the breadcrumbs of his life through the Cosmere.

I have a few more short stories in the Elantris world before I set sail for Stormlight.

2015 Original read
Pain lost its power when other things became more important.

The story that started it all for Sanderson, and considering it was his first major novel, he did a fantastic job. There are classic elements of Sanderson in this story but also is light on a complex, large world, which is a nice change and could be seen as a gateway drug in to fantasy or more Sanderson novels for some.

I was entertained by this book and gave it a solid 3/5 rating for most of the read, but the final third of the book escalated and pushed the rating up to 4/5. In a single book Sanderson put together an interesting magic system, a country with political history and enemies, established the good and bad guys and still left a few surprises for the end. I enjoyed focusing on just three character narrations, and through them the entire story of Elantris developed.