Book Review-Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Review: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

The original Cosmere novel, that had somehow slipped through my reading list until this week. I was reading an article suggesting some ideas for how to jump into the Cosmere novels and they mentioned that Elantris is the first, but not anywhere near the best, and I am inclined to agree.

Sure, there is the subtle mention of Hoid part way through as a beggar in the streets (I am assuming it's the same Hoid and that this was his very first appearance). Sure there is a good love story, even if a little overwrought. Of course the magic system is strong, and the villains are monsters. But, overall it just doesn't back the emotional punch of some of the other books in the Cosmere.

I literally cried at the end of The Lost Metal. That's emotional punch.

Elantris for me felt like the first painting in a series. Better than the sketches, but not the confident strokes that will make up the later, more compelling pieces in the series.

It was fun, I don't regret the time that it got. But Sanderson has grown and improved since writing it.

Should this be the first Cosmere novel you read? No. Start with Mistborn, or Tress of The Emerald Sea, or even Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. Should you eventually read Elantris? Yes.

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