"Elantris" (2005) Book Review
The Book That Started It All
If there is one solitary element of writing that Brandon Sanderson should always be acclaimed for, it is “the hook.” Other fan-favorite opening lines from his books include “Ash fell from the sky” (Mistborn: The Final Empire [which I will be reviewing next week]) and “Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king”* (The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings). However, one I myself have always appreciated above the others is Elantris’s own: “Prince Raoden of Arelon awoke early that morning, completely unaware that he had been damned for all eternity.”** Damn! Now that is an opening.
With that line, Brandon Sanderson transports us to the world of Elantris, his first published novel. With debuts as finicky as they often are, one would be forgiven for assuming that, in the grand scheme of Sanderson’s impressive bibliography, Elantris would fall low in a general ranking as compared to most of his other books. However, that assumption would be wrong. As it happens, Elantris is one of Sanderson’s strongest books and has one of his greatest characters in the form of Raoden. Just counting the Cosmere books, I would place Elantris as my third favorite, behind only Words of Radiance and Tress of the Emerald Sea in first and second place, respectively.
Elantris has three major POV characters: Prince Raoden of Arelon—who has been stricken by a magical curse called the Shaod—his fiance the Princess Sarene of Teod—and the conflicted warrior-priest Hrathen, who has three months to convert the aristocracy of Arelon to his religion or his nation of Fjordell will invade. Cast into the fallen city of Elantris, which houses all those with the affliction, Raoden must struggle not to survive, but to live, while Sarene and Hrathen wage a quiet war over the fate of Arelon and Teod.
As I re-read the book in question, I thought about the story and why I liked it so much. I have a certain fondness for stories of rebuilding—Robert A. Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky is my favorite science-fiction novel—and Raoden’s storyline in Elantris especially appealed to me for that reason.
The Aonic magic system is also as close to a soft magic system as Sanderson gets in my reading experience, and as a rule I prefer soft magic systems, so that might also have something to do with it.
Elantris also has elements of political intrigue in Sarene and Hrathen’s storylines, and elements of a mystery within Raoden’s storyline, in which he attempts to discover what happened to the once-glorious titular city.
As stated above, the three main characters of the novel are Raoden, Sarene, and Hrathen. There is also a generous amount of interesting side characters in all three of the storylines, from the pessimistic Galladon to the wise Roial to the quietly unnerving Dilaf.
Of the three main characters, it is true that Hrathen has the most obvious and full character arc. As Sanderson’s antagonists go, Hrathen is one of his better ones. However, it would be inaccurate to suggest that Raoden and Sarene do not possess arcs or flaws. Whilst I do try to avoid direct spoilers, I think it is safe to say that the arcs of both Raoden and Sarene are about growing into their respective positions of leadership.
This is not as relevant to Elantris itself, but it is interesting to note how certain characters in the book are written almost as first drafts of future Cosmere characters. Sarene reads almost like a proto-Shallan, whereas Roial reads almost like a proto-Sebarial.
Of all of Sanderson’s books—that I have read, I confess to not having read his entire bibliography—The Sunlit Man may be the only one with a faster pace. Elantris roars forward despite its 600+ page count, wasting practically none of the reader’s time. The three main POVs are juggled evenly throughout the story. Only Sarene’s plotline drags a little, and then only at the start. It is particularly fun whenever any two of the three main plotlines interact with each other.
There is one particularly clever piece of set-up and pay-off in the middle of the book as well. Raoden describes a seemingly innocuous piece of archived information, which at the time seems only there to delve further into the world-building, while in truth and in time it helps explain the motivation of a central character.
The prose is quite witty; something that will not strongly be seen again in the Cosmere until Tress and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. A handful of such lines—which are especially amusing out of context—include: “Hrathen watched with resignation as Elantris’s monsters came placidly, refusing to ingest even a single guard,” and “the women’s eyes shone with an appalling level of bloodlust.” But king among these is the instant-classic which happens to provide both worldbuilding and character work at once, as well as simultaneously describing the curse of being a particularly shy introvert: “Within, however, he was confronted by a disturbing sight—a crowd of people involved in some kind of social activity.”
With the beginning of Brandon Sanderson’s bibliography also comes the beginning of a trend of having unusually quick resolutions. However, the resolution in Elantris is perfectly fine. There are other books in the Cosmere where the whiplash is worse, which I will get to in due time. I think one of the reasons why the ending stage feels more paced out than it actually is is due to how spaced out the dramatic moments across the world of Sel, with half of the events of the climax taking place in the city of Elantris, and the other half taking place in the city of Teoras. The ending also does pay off multiple characer arcs, and resolves everything tightly, despite leaving threads for sequels long-in-the-making. I, for one, am excited to return to the world of Elantris, when those sequels materialize.
Elantris has a likable protagonist, varied villains, entertaining side-characters in all three of the POV storylines, an engaging plot, humorous and heartfelt moments, a quick pace, and a strong, well-written ending. In short: a great story.
Numeric Rating: 8/10: A Solid Read [ASR]
*Yes, I am aware of the fact that this is the opening of the prologue, not of the prelude. My point still stands.
**Yes, I am aware of the fact that this is the opening of the first chapter, not the prologue. My point still stands.