My Thoughts

I really enjoyed ELANTRIS. I thought Sanderson did a great job of not giving away too much too early. I was constantly guessing and trying to figure out what was going to happen. 

For most of the book, the POV switches between three characters–Raoden, Sarene, and Hrathen. I thought the change in POV between these characters made the story very interesting. I liked being able to see all aspects of the story, and at the same time still trying to put all the pieces together while the story unfolded.

From the very first page, I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know why Elantris, once the city of the gods, was now the city of the damned. I wanted to know how Raoden’s, Sarene’s, and Hrathen’s stories would come together. I also loved how the runes and magic system worked in this story. It was very fascinating and makes me excited to read more books written by Sanderson.

Personal Note

My English teacher taught Sanderson once upon a time. The only reason I’m mentioning this is because of something my teacher said and something Sanderson wrote in his acknowledgments.

When my professor entered the classroom for our last class a couple of weeks ago, I was reading ELANTRIS. He asked me what I was reading, so I told him. He rolled his eyes and told me that he knew all about it, and that Brandon Sanderson was once a student of his. He also told me that he didn’t understand his fascination with writing fantasy books, with making up different worlds. It just didn’t make sense to him.

As I was reading the acknowledgments for ELANTRIS, I came across the following about my teacher: “I’d also like to give special thanks to those teachers who have helped me in my university career. … [A]nd Professor Douglas Thayer, whom I’ll someday convince to read a fantasy book. (He’s getting a copy of this one, whether he wants it or not!)”