Hrathen could very easily have been turned into the 'evil priest' cliche but Sanderson gives him real depth and humanity. That said, his ideas and execution of plot are pretty good. Sanderson is not going to be winning major prizes for his prose, which is effective but somewhat uninspired in places, with occasional over-reliance on exposition. The novel is fast-paced, and generally entertaining throughout. The novel follows the storylines of three characters: Prince Raoden of Arelon, who is unexpectedly transformed into an Elantrian and thrown into the city, where he tries to make a better life for the people of the cursed city Hrathen, the Fjordese priest who has three months to willingly convert the populace of Arelon before a major invasion is launched and Princess Sarene of Tedo, betrothed to Raoden but now immersed in the labyrinth of Arelese politics. Their city, Elantris, stands alongside Kae and is now quarantined, with humans transformed into Elantrians thrown into the city and forgotten about. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the Elantrians are catatonic or totally insane. Unless burned or decapitated, they are also immortal, so a broken back or neck is simply a condemnation to agony rather than death. Every time they suffer an injury, from a stubbed toe to a cut to a broken neck, the pain stays with them permanantly. The Elantrians' magic failed and they were transformed from demigods into cursed wretches who are permanantly affected by pain. Occasionally, humans would be unexpectedly transformed into Elantrians by an apparently random magical process. The more original element of the story is that up until a decade ago, Arelon was protected by the Elantrians, god-like beings with total mastery of magic. Cue a desperate battle in Arelon and its capital, Kae, as various nobles and merchants race to either ingratiate themselves with the Fjordell or find a way of resisting them. The kingdoms of Teod and Arelon is in danger of being swallowed up by their expansionist neighbour, Fjordell, whose religions brooks no rivals. The plot starts off in a traditional manner. Refreshingly, it is not the first book in a series, but a self-contained novel in itself (although there are a few loose ends left dangling for possible sequels). As a result, here is my pre-blog review of his first novel, Elantris (2005), reprinted for your convenience.Įlantris is the first novel by American author Brandon Sanderson. I have received some queries asking about Brandon Sanderson's prior record as a novelist before taking on the challenge of the final Wheel of Time novel.
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