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.