Elantris

I haven't read much fantasy in my life. I'm making up for it these days with my lover. After being rather disappointed by the Shadow and Bonetrilogy, we wanted to try out a safe bet: Brandon Sanderson. The author of an impressive number of novels (he writes so many that I couldn't get a number), he has apparently sold over 21 million copies as of early 2021. He's a pro. And it's a pro we wanted.

Summary

Elantris was once a magnificent city. Its inhabitants, immortal and endowed with magical powers, were revered as gods by the population. But ten years ago, a mysterious evil struck its inhabitants, reducing them to the living dead and preventing all forms of magic from manifesting. The surrounding cities, weakened by the fall of Elantris, are threatened with invasion by distant cities.

It is in this context that Sarene, princess of the kingdom of Teod, arrives in Arelon to marry Raoden, the prince of the city. But on her arrival, she learns that her future husband, whom she has never met, died under mysterious circumstances. The reader, however, knows that Raoden is not dead, but rather has been stricken by the Shaod, the evil that has ravaged Elantris and its inhabitants, and has been confined to the city. While Raoden tries to instill hope among the unfortunate inhabitants and discover the source of this strange disease, Sarene, officially widowed, tries to understand the political intrigues at work, the situation in Elantris, and what lies behind the death of the man she had hoped to love.

Impressions

This book is a relief. Remarkably well-written, you feel you have quality in your hands. The characters are charismatic and well-developed, the universe is rich, and the story is gripping. The whole package.

If you like action, you'll get some. But I warn you, it doesn't come right away. At the beginning, the pace is quite slow, and that's very important: it's so that you have time to get acquainted with the universe, to get to know the characters and to like them, and that's what makes the novel so good. Once the immersion is complete, the rhythm accelerates drastically and it becomes impossible to stop.

We both really enjoyed our reading. We were looking forward to reading Elantris in the evening, and we were sad when it ended. We bought the Mistborn trilogy (53 hours of reading time according to the Kindle!) I'll definitely let you know about it.