Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5013 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-30
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 656 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Sanderson's outstanding fantasy debut, refreshingly complete unto itself and free of the usual genre clichés, offers something for everyone: mystery, magic, romance, political wrangling, religious conflict, fights for equality, sharp writing and wonderful, robust characters. The godlike inhabitants of Elantris, once the capital of the land of Arelon, have degenerated into powerless, tortured souls, unable to die, after the city's magic inexplicably broke 10 years earlier. When the same curse strikes Prince Raoden of Arelon and he's imprisoned in Elantris, he refuses to surrender to his grim fate and instead strives to create a society out of the fallen and to unlock the secret that will restore the city's glory. Meanwhile, Princess Sarene of Kae (Arelon's new capital), who was betrothed to Raoden sight unseen, believes her intended has died. Officially declared his widow, she must use her political savvy and wit to protect Kae from malevolent forces without and within the city, chiefly Hrathen, a leader of the creepy Shu-Dereth faith, who aims to either convert Kae or destroy it within three months. The intrigue and excitement grow steadily in this smoothly written, perfectly balanced narrative; by the end readers won't want to put it down. As the blurb from Orson Scott Card suggests, Sanderson is a writer to watch.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Until 10 years ago, Elantris was the capital of Arelon, inhabited by ordinary humans transformed into magic-using demigods by the Shaod. But the magic failed, Elantris started to rot, and its inhabitants turned into powerless wrecks. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives in Kae, the new capital, close enough to Elantris to constantly remind of faded glory, prepared for a marriage to ally Teod and Arelon against the religious imperialists of Fjordell. But, she is told, her fiance, Prince Raoden, is dead. She and a recently arrived high priest of Fjordell, Hrathen, clash. Sarene tries to retain the freedom of Teod and Arelon, Hrathen tries to incite the populace to convert so that Fjordell can take over. Neither suspects the truth about Raoden. Taken by the Shaod, he struggles to unite the crippled Elantrians and discover why the magic failed. The unrest comes to a head as governments topple, the Elantrians' secrets are revealed, and Fjordell's forces arrive. A surprisingly satisfying, single-volume epic fantasy that invokes a complex, vibrant world. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Not a 5, but a good first novel
I think I may rate books differently than other readers. For me, a book starts out as a 3. That means solid writing, no major plot holes or characterization issues, and an overall satisfying experience: the basics we should expect from a published fiction. A lack of any of those facets means the book is a 2 or a 1; additions like social relevance, emotional resonance, memorable writing, or intellectual stimulation can drive the rating up to a 4 or (for those few books that have all or most of these) a 5. There are very few books I'd rate as a 5, which I think is as it should be.

Elantris on my scale is a 3. The writing is clear but rarely poetic. The main characters are well-defined but two of the three are a little too perfect to relate to and don't experience any inner growth, while the secondary characters almost universally seem to exist in order to provide some sort of surprise loop-back later in the book. The system of magic was interesting but the answer to the central question -- why it had stopped working -- turned out to be something I had a hard time believing wasn't commonly known and understood. The city of Elantris was a well-described setting, a character in itself, but other countries and races seemed rather stereotypical portrayals of Earthly analogues. Overall, while reading the book I never stopped in boredom but also I never paused in wonder, and when finished I was satisfied but it's not a book that I feel any great desire to re-read.

That being said, the author is someone that I plan to keep an eye on and hope to read more from in the future. It's my understanding that Elantris was written some 7 years ago, and much of the above is understandable as "young author/first publication" issues. Despite what I wrote above, the author clearly has a lot going for him: the novel was smartly structured; the inter-relationships between names, glyphs and magic, as well as the setting and basic plot, were all well imagined; genders and religions were dealt with even-handedly; and it was simply refreshing to read a fantasy that was not a multi-volume rehashing of the "orphan boy undertakes journey from one side of the map to the other with party of companions to save the princess/retrieve the object/kill the bad guy" story. I look forward to seeing what the author's intelligence and imagination can do when combined with the further refinement of his craft that only experience can bring. And by all means, pick up a copy of Elantris if the story sounds interesting to you, just don't expect it to be more than it is.

a one volume fantasy? Yep, and it's great!
"Elantris" is the debut novel from Brandon Sanderson. Blurbs on the cover from Orson Scott Card and David Farland say this book is "the finest novel of fantasy to be written in many years" and "one of the finest debuts I've seen in years." When I read a novel I generally do not pay attention to when it was written and I know that I haven't read all of the debut fantasy novels which have come out in the past several years. I do know when I've read a very good book, however, and "Elantris" is certainly that.

The prologue to the novel was all of five paragraphs but it gave all of the information needed to understand the background of what the story would be. It tells of a beautiful city named Elantris which glowed like magic and where amazing magics were possible and commonplace. Elantris was populated by godlike beings who could wield these powers as I might use a pen. But these beings were once regular humans, soldiers and serfs, princes and beggers and merchants. When something called the Shaod came upon them they were transformed into Elantrians and into a newer, greater existence. But ten years ago something happened.

That something is that the blessing turned into a curse and Elantris and its population started to rot away. The city now abandoned except for the poor souls still called by the Shaod is covered in slime and muck and the Elantrians are the cursed, neither dead nor truly alive.

This was a beautiful set up and pulled me right in from the start. Sanderson introduces Raoden, a prince and heir to the throne of Arelon. The city of Kae lies in the shadow of Elantris and the glory of Arelon has fallen with Elantris. Raoden is a man who gives his people hope, but when he is called by the Shaod he is doomed. His father, the king, does not reveal what happened to Raoden, but rather holds a funeral for his not beloved son. Meanwhile, Sarene, a princess from another country has arrived to marry Raoden not knowing what has happened. Her marriage contract considers her married upon the betrothal and even continues after Raoden's death, so she remains in Kae. But Raoden must find a way to survive, such as it is, in Elantris. Sarene is the only one who sees the coming doom from the religion of Darethi and an invasion from Fjordell.

Brandon Sanderson has done something remarkable here. He has created an incredibly original work and unlike so many other works of fantasy this novel is complete in itself. It is not, as I understand it, the first volume of a trilogy or larger series. It is an epic work of fantasy in one self contained novel. It's one of the better fantasies that I have read. Sanderson does a good job in making all of the primary characters understandable, and sympathetic...even the "bad guys". The motivations are explained well and the characters are well developed and revealed. Simply put, with one novel Sanderson has made a fan of me. I was surprised by just how good this book was. If Sanderson writes another, I will definitely read it.

-Joe Sherry

Not Just Another Fantasy Title -- One of the Best
Although this book will likely appeal to a smaller audience than your run-of-the-mill modern fiction or science fiction and fantasy with flashier covers or from popular mainstream settings, it's a damn shame because this is a very exciting, mature, and fascinating book.

At first I was a little put off by the early introduction of foreign slang and foreign terms but they are much simpler and less in number than say, that of Frank Herbert's "Dune" or something more in the vein of science fiction.

Unlike most fantasy books that focus on adventure and often a party of individuals, "Elantris" is a more realistic story of political intrigue that is split between three main characters. These are the two protagonists -- a bright, savvy princess who comes to a foreign country to marry its prince and hopefully secure peace for their side of the continent and the kindhearted, cunning prince who effectively dies on the very first page and before he can meet his fiancée -- and the antagonist, a calculating but remorseful priest from a theocratic empire that very nearly has control of the known world. His orders are to convert the king and/or the entire city in three months or else the city would be violently and forcibly converted.

Besides these three main characters is one character that looms above them all very literally: the city of Elantris and its long-gone people. Elantris was literally a city of people ascended to godhood and had been for as long as known history. But ten years prior to the setting of the book, something inexplicable happened and the Elantrians fell, also literally.

Yes, it sounds fantastical and fanciful but it's not really that much so for 50% of the book, if not more. Pretend it's renaissance France -- only it's on the border of the Holy Roman Empire who is almost done taking over Europe and the Black Plague ate everyone in the next country over ten years ago. Then you're all set.

If you just can't deal with the fantastical aspect of the Elantrians but you like interesting, three-dimensional, characters and some political intrigue, suck it up and try "Elantris" anyway. It's that good. Just look at the first sentence of the book, quoted at the top of the page.