From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

Elantris (Elantris, #1)

Brandon Sanderson

Start date: November 13, 2011

Finish date: January 2, 2012

Discussion: 2011 Reads

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2011 Reads

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What Members Thought

Nov 25, 2011 Adrienne marked it as abandoned

Shelves: library, fantasy, sword-and-laser

I got 75 into this book and can't imagine reading the rest of it. It's dull. The characters don't feel like real people, probably because the third-person viewpoints feel very removed to me and they're just not interesting. We're also told a lot of things in a very "Oh, by the way!" sense (e.g., Sarene's nickname, immediately after it was used the first time). Those are little tidbits that can be worked into the dialogue without making the narrator spend full sentences explaining them. I've got ...more

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Jun 09, 2014 Emily rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club, fantasy

This was a book club pick - we got to choose between three different books, all by Sanderson and we landed on this one.

There were a lot of things that I enjoyed about this book. I think that the author did an amazing job world building, and into very small details. The Aons he created and the words he made from those runes were clever. If you looked up words along the way (or the rune at the beginning of every chapter) you'd get a little more insight into who that character was and what would h ...more

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Jul 31, 2011 travelgirlut rated it liked it

An entertaining read, but definitely not Sanderson's best. I liked the world and the "magic" system in it and definitely wouldn't be against seeing more books based on it. I think Sanderson writes amazingly believable characters, and this book was no exception. I did feel like the story took a while to get going. There was more politics than anything in this book, especially at the beginning. The ending seemed to rush to make or for the lost time at the beginning. But it still moved along and ke ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Alec rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Excellent writing and exceptional world building. It's only flaw is that the ending was severely rushed. ...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Chris C rated it really liked it

Great character development, plot pacing, world building and storytelling. Hard to believe that this is is a first attempt from an author and I have to say that it is a lot better than much of Sanderson's later novels. I enjoyed the magic system and my only criticism is that the series hasn't continued. ...more

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Sep 29, 2010 kvon rated it liked it

Shelves: librarybook

Started off good, I borrowed it from the library and liked the parts I'd read that after I returned it part read I bought my own copy. But then it started dragging in the middle. Good characterizations. Lots of politics, often in a boring way. The magic system was interesting, part explained and part not. The main characters all competent leaders, in very similar ways which got a bit boring. Long ending. ...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Eko Prasetyo rated it really liked it

A Classic Sanderson.

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Jan 06, 2011 Joby Walker rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Finally got around to reading Sanderson's first novel and it is just as good as I hoped. The reveal is a bit obvious but it is classic Sanderson with a wonderfully flavorful magic system, interesting world with more layers than even the characters know. Well worth reading. ...more

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