Thoughts on Elantris

[Ale the Metallic Conjurer he/him]

This is truly a baby Sanderson work. Nothing about the book is written atrociously, but it lacks polish compared to the Mistborn Trilogy. The potential for something great is there. Raoden's optimism is a breath of fresh air from the grim outlook of Kelsier's crew, and Sanderson was great at writing about the importance of hope and perseverance. Hrathen is a complex antagonist while Dilaf's presence is absolutely terrifying, especially during the Sanderlanche™. You can see hints of Sanderson's ability to write lovable relationships between protagonists. I appreciate that Sanderson gave AonDor a lot of mystery and intrigue, limitations and rules, even though it's a soft magic system. Dakhor is a unique and terrifying system that reminds me of a certain system from Mistborn. 

But it's not refined. The worldbuilding is very shallow compared to the workings of the Final Empire, Raoden has no flaws, and Sarene's writing is in a weird spot. The book starts off with Elantris as an place fitting for a horror movie, but then the pacing stagnates once Raoden becomes ruler and Sarene gets more screentime. Then the magic systems are very underwhelming. AonDor has several intricate explanations but many of its powers are bumped up to 100 during the last few chapters without proper setup. Dakhor and ChayShan feel like devices for the climax, being crammed inside with brief to zero explanation.

If it wasn't Invested in the Cosmere, AonDor, and the Fjorden plots I would've DNF'd months ago. 

Pros
- The AonDor magic is a relatively soft magic system that has a healthy balance of power, versatility, and limits.
- Dakhor, despite its rushed screen time, is terrifying. 
- Raoden’s optimism and friendship with Galladon
- Hrathen and Dilaf are the emotional core of the story IMO.
- The Cosmere-wide implications present in the Ars Arcanum and Hoid’s post-credits chapter, especially for a Mistborn fan. Who is Hoid? Who are the other Shards of Adonalsium? Who or what is Adonalsium itself? How did the Dor’s Shards die?

Cons
- Raoden and Sarene are really boring.
- Shallow worldbuilding and lore
- Weird timescale
- Side characters (except Galladon and Karata) aren’t fleshed out
- Dialogue, pacing, inner thoughts, and narrative lack polish
- The magic systems needed more time to simmer

I give Brandon Sanderson's Elantris a score between 2.5 and ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

 

 

 

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, Ale the Metallic Conjurer said:

Pros

Spoiler

- The AonDor magic is a relatively soft magic system that has a healthy balance of power, versatility, and limits.
- Dakhor, despite its rushed screen time, is terrifying. 
- Raoden’s optimism and friendship with Galladon
- Hrathen and Dilaf are the emotional core of the story IMO.
- The Cosmere-wide implications present in the Ars Arcanum and Hoid’s post-credits chapter, especially for a Mistborn fan. Who is Hoid? Who are the other Shards of Adonalsium? Who or what is Adonalsium itself? How did the Dor’s Shards die?

Cons

Spoiler

- Raoden and Sarene are really boring.
- Shallow worldbuilding and lore
- Weird timescale
- Side characters (except Galladon and Karata) aren’t fleshed out
- Dialogue, pacing, inner thoughts, and narrative lack polish
- The magic systems needed more time to simmer

 

While I won't disagree wholesale with your review - I would like to mention that it is important to note:

• The story is meant to be an intro to the Cosmere, and is light on worldbuilding for that reason
  • Sel is also "weird" in the Cosmere, so there was no place or characters for this story to explore those eccentricities
• Dakhor was meant to be a light intro because no viewpoint characters know much about it and it was set-up for the sequel
  • ChayShan was also light, but I felt it was included more as a reread bonus based on the adage "two is coincidence, three is a pattern" and having the comparison of Aons > Dakhor > ChayShan to show how the Dor is tied regionally is the main reason for its inclusion
• I don't think Raoden is flawless so much as his arc for this book is meant to be external conflict (re-"discovering" AonDor and his relationship with the Reod Effects) and trying to include internal growth would have weakened both arcs.
  • We had Serene and Hrathen for the Character-driven stories (and to an extent, Serene's arc suffered from trying to have both internal and external confict arcs in the same viewpoint)
• I don't think Adonalsium or the Shards are really mentioned in Elantris - nor should they have been that early in the Cosmere reading order. This does affect the enjoyment for people who read this story late in their Cosmere journey.
  • The addition of that name in the 10th anniversary Edition is, to me, also a re-read bonus.
  • Note that the original Elantris did not have an Ars Arcanum penned by Khriss (just the "Glossary of Aons")

To me, Elantris is a solid 4/5 with the caveat that when recommending the Cosmere to new readers they should be warned before starting that it is "action-lite" until the Climax - so if they prefere a more cerebral story - start here; but if they prefer a more action story - start with Mistborn (and read this either after the first trilogy or after Warbreaker - but the "first 4" should generally be Elantris, Mistborn Era 1, Warbreaker, Emperor's Soul - in whichever order best suits the reader's preferences).

Edited August 1, 2023 by Treamayne
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