Elantris
by Brandon Sanderson
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Elantris.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
This book is not in any lists. Go add it to a list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 861)
I remember reading about <em>Elantris</em> a while ago and not being too impressed with what I read. Then it came in my Amazon recommendations, and I took a closer look, and decided to give it a try. I had coupon, so even in hardback, the price wasn't bad. And I'm glad I did.[return][return]It's a good fantasy novel, and inspirational to boot (it's the author's debut novel, so there is hope for me). The world is well built and easily imagined. The characters are fleshed-out enough th...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2005
This was a first novel by Brandon Sanderson, and when I picked it up I thought that like many other books, I was about to be taken in by a well done cover and that it would languish on my shelf for several months before I finally got around to reading it.
I was wrong, I finished the book in four days.
It's a story about a city of a fallen people, Elantris. In the glorious days of the past, the Elantrians were a proud and noble race of near-people, commanding long lifespans and powerful mag...more
I was wrong, I finished the book in four days.
It's a story about a city of a fallen people, Elantris. In the glorious days of the past, the Elantrians were a proud and noble race of near-people, commanding long lifespans and powerful mag...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I never would have picked up this book, normally, because I usually base my fantasy reading on referrals rather than random browsing, but this was an exception. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me tell the story from the beginning:
My last semester at BYU I took a How To Write Sci-Fi/Fantasy class as a relaxing, fun, end-of-college class to balance out all the yucky quantum physics. The professor was none other than Brandon Sanderson, who had just had his book, Elantris, accepted for pu...more
My last semester at BYU I took a How To Write Sci-Fi/Fantasy class as a relaxing, fun, end-of-college class to balance out all the yucky quantum physics. The professor was none other than Brandon Sanderson, who had just had his book, Elantris, accepted for pu...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Fantasy Readers
My first review!
I read this book in two days during finals week. Sure, it distracted me from studying, but I had trouble putting this book down.
Elantris is a fallen city of god-like people. People would transform into Elantrians at random, a transformation called the Shaod, and their skin would glow, their hair would turn silvery-white, and they were able to do complete magic runes and were blessed with super healing, strength, speed, and longevity. About 10 years ago, the Reod struck, a...more
I read this book in two days during finals week. Sure, it distracted me from studying, but I had trouble putting this book down.
Elantris is a fallen city of god-like people. People would transform into Elantrians at random, a transformation called the Shaod, and their skin would glow, their hair would turn silvery-white, and they were able to do complete magic runes and were blessed with super healing, strength, speed, and longevity. About 10 years ago, the Reod struck, a...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Breanne by:
Adamrecommends it for: Lauren
So I found a gigantic hardcover copy of this at the library and brought it home and - BAM! I finished the book. For some reason the small paperback books are less appealing for me to read. They're lighter than hardcovers, but the hardcovers can just lay open while you read them - very appealing for me.
On to the book: Have you ever read a book where when you finish, you just sit there for a few moments and bask in it? That was me last night. I loved this book. It did take me awhile to ge...more
On to the book: Have you ever read a book where when you finish, you just sit there for a few moments and bask in it? That was me last night. I loved this book. It did take me awhile to ge...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This book.... Wow. Elantris came highly recommended by a librarian. It also has very high praises through reviews on the cover. The story definitely has major potential to be really amazing. The plot is of a fallen magical god-like city, Elantris. The city literally glowed and showed bright with magic and glory and it's inhabitants were immortal god-like beings shrouded in glowing white. The book begins with the knowledge of the city Elantris, but it had mysteriously fallen 10 years prior...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
Elantris – Brandon Sanderson
I picked this book up because Robert Jordan is dead. If anyone doesn’t know, Brandon Sanderson has been chosen to complete the Wheel of Time Series with Book 12: A Memory of Light, and publish it in the Fall of 2009. So here is this author that is completely unknown to me and HE will be writing the final book of what I have read time and again for the last 12 years?? So I HAD to read something by this author to see if he will be okay or if it will totally suck...more
I picked this book up because Robert Jordan is dead. If anyone doesn’t know, Brandon Sanderson has been chosen to complete the Wheel of Time Series with Book 12: A Memory of Light, and publish it in the Fall of 2009. So here is this author that is completely unknown to me and HE will be writing the final book of what I have read time and again for the last 12 years?? So I HAD to read something by this author to see if he will be okay or if it will totally suck...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
I picked this book up when Sanderson got tapped to complete the WOT series, just out of curiosity, and found it difficult to put down. It is an excellent stand-alone story of a world 10 years after a major upheaval--the fall of revered demi-gods and the abolishment of the established way of life. You can find more details in other reviews, but I found this to be a story of people dealing with the aftermath of an enormous culture shift, trying to make sense of the tragedy while simultaneously m...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2005
recommended to Ruth by:
Thomas
This is a rare bird, a fantasy one-off. Princess Sarene arrives at the land of Arelon to discover that the fiance she has never met, Prince Raoden, is dead, and that she is now left in the nebulous political position at that court as the widow who was never a bride. Unknown to her, Raoden isn't actually dead, merely left for dead in the nearby quarantine ruined city of Elantris, after apparently contracting a fatal disease. The story is told in alternating viewpoints as Raoden and Sarene both...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
people interested in social-justice-meets-fantasy who can forgive occasionally clumsy writing
This one is a tough one for giving stars -- I found the story very engrossing and unpredictable: grade B+ ; the characters engaging, rarely caricatures: B; and the writing itself didn't do the plot justice in at least two ways -- first, it was clogged with all sorts of unnecessary elements (that sounds picky, but it really gets sluggish to keep reading "he said in a happy tone" and "the source of the attack was one that surprised him" when he could have just skipped the flour...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
I just found this story hard to swallow. It was completely predictable and the two main heroes, well, left a lot to be desired. The princess who is supposed to be smart and opinionated, moans patheticly about her lover-less life, and while as a female that may ring true to me at some levels, it didn't really fit with the rest of her personality and it added an eigth-grade SVH feel to the story. The prince on the other hand was TOO perfect, thus making his character completely unbelievable. My...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
2 comments
Read in September, 2006
recommends it for:
Fantasy/Sci-fi lovers
My good friend Mike told one day at school that he just red one of the best books in the world. I asked him what it was and he replied with the word Elantris. I picked up the book a few months later and began to read. It was good at first and I found it an interesting read. I'm an extremely slow reader and it took me a good two months to read the book. But when I finished I put down the book and said, "What in the world did I just read?" I was completely blown away and not second...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
New fantasy readers
I was really looking forward to this book based on reviews and reading a sample chapter. It looked like it was going to be a good, serious fantasy novel.
However, five chapters in, I gave up on this book.
The overall tone was just on this side of cutesy. If anything, it reminded me of David Eddings' Belgariad series. There was no danger to any of the characters until you got to the big climax, and then characters would be in danger only if they were about to give their lives in a noble...more
However, five chapters in, I gave up on this book.
The overall tone was just on this side of cutesy. If anything, it reminded me of David Eddings' Belgariad series. There was no danger to any of the characters until you got to the big climax, and then characters would be in danger only if they were about to give their lives in a noble...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
One morning, the prince of a kingdom wakes up to find that he's been afflicted with a magical sort of leprosy that stems from the fall of Elantris, which was once the home of near-gods but is now a ghetto of the diseased. Within a day, he's been shuffled off into exile in the fallen city, and has to adapt to his new life as one of the living "dead".
In the meantime, two people arrive in the kingdom -- a priest of a militant religion who wants to convert the kingdom by any means he ...more
In the meantime, two people arrive in the kingdom -- a priest of a militant religion who wants to convert the kingdom by any means he ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone looking for some fantasy that's a little different
Having started the Mistborn trilogy before reading Elantris, I was able to see how much Sanderson has progressed since his first novel. Elantris is still very engaging and original, but lacks a lot of the polish that we will inevitably see from this great author.
The plot of Elantris flowed well but I was a fair bit into the book before I started caring. The characters don't change much, they are who they are, except for Hrathen. By the end of the book he had become the most intriguing cha...more
The plot of Elantris flowed well but I was a fair bit into the book before I started caring. The characters don't change much, they are who they are, except for Hrathen. By the end of the book he had become the most intriguing cha...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Very good for a debut. The book is tale of magic, political, and religious intrigue in a world with a fascinating magical system. The story is told through the eyes of three main characters on three opposite side of the playing field in the battle for one of the few countries still maintaining independence. This would have rated higher if two of those three main characters were irritating and way too perfect. The third character (The priest) is stunningly well written, deep and interesting.
...more
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
Fantasy Lovers
An excellent and atypical book, it makes a nice change from the regular epic fantasy. I greatly appreciated that it was a stand alone novel as well.
Elantris is set in and around the fallen city of Elantris, where the Golden age ended ten years before.
Raolen was an excellent character. I liked that he never gave up, not even when taken by a living death. His desire to make the world a better place was inspiring.
Sarene was a little too abrasive for my taste but I did enjoy seeing ...more
Elantris is set in and around the fallen city of Elantris, where the Golden age ended ten years before.
Raolen was an excellent character. I liked that he never gave up, not even when taken by a living death. His desire to make the world a better place was inspiring.
Sarene was a little too abrasive for my taste but I did enjoy seeing ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
Elantris is a well plotted and fairly well paced fantasy novel with a strong female protagonist and a well thought out world; the fact that this is a debut novel would mark Brian Sanderson as someone to watch if he hadn't already established himself as an excellent talesmith.
I'll pause for a moment to let grammarians and those with short attention spans recover from that sentence.
R...more
I'll pause for a moment to let grammarians and those with short attention spans recover from that sentence.
R...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
I was in a graduate folklore class with Brandon, which is why I decided to read this book. We didn't know each other, but I was curious about his writing abilities. I was very pleasantly surprised. The plot of this book, though it takes 30 or so pages to get going, is complex and fascinating. I read it in just over 24 hours, and that's while taking care of my 1-year-old! I highly recommend it.
Also, before I read Elantris, I had doubts about Brandon's ability to complete the Wheel of Time se...more
Also, before I read Elantris, I had doubts about Brandon's ability to complete the Wheel of Time se...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
There are several reasons I didn't finish this book. For one thing, the dreaded point of view switch between chapters. The interesting storyline was definitely Raoden's dark tale, yet the story persisted in bogging the reader down with political details through other characters. I can understand how the politics might have been essential to the plot, but they were boring.
It didn't help that these sections were told through the perspective of a woman, Princess Sarene, given that apparently i...more
It didn't help that these sections were told through the perspective of a woman, Princess Sarene, given that apparently i...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
