Peripatos reviewed Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (Elantris, #1)
A good book with a few huge flaws
3 stars
You get why this is Sanderson's debut. It's more of a raw gem than a fully fleshed out epic story.
The characters are a little flat, the solutions to problems a little too deus ex machina. Especially the politics are rather dull and the characters who should be the Machiavellian schemers are more politic lightweights. A few scenes are way too long and obnoxious and if you're listening to the book rather than reading, oh boy and girl, you gonna have a bad time. There are dozens upon dozens of fantasy names, pretty unrecognizable, too, because they sound alike.
Sounds rather bad, but in the end I match it against the first three Mistborns which are way better in presenting the characters, pacing, action and worldbuilding.
Religion on the other hand is represented alright and it's still Sanderson's forte. The magic system is nice and I miss …
You get why this is Sanderson's debut. It's more of a raw gem than a fully fleshed out epic story.
The characters are a little flat, the solutions to problems a little too deus ex machina. Especially the politics are rather dull and the characters who should be the Machiavellian schemers are more politic lightweights. A few scenes are way too long and obnoxious and if you're listening to the book rather than reading, oh boy and girl, you gonna have a bad time. There are dozens upon dozens of fantasy names, pretty unrecognizable, too, because they sound alike.
Sounds rather bad, but in the end I match it against the first three Mistborns which are way better in presenting the characters, pacing, action and worldbuilding.
Religion on the other hand is represented alright and it's still Sanderson's forte. The magic system is nice and I miss that we don't had more time with it. And the world has still a huge potential. My time spent with the books wasn't wasted but just slightly above average.