Background
Published in 2005, “Elantris” was Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel. It introduces readers to the once-glorious city of Elantris, a magical place whose inhabitants, the Elantrians, were revered as demigods. However, ten years before the story begins, a mysterious event known as the Reod transformed the city into a crumbling ruin, and its people into cursed, zombie-like beings.
The story follows three protagonists: Prince Raoden, who is unexpectedly cursed and exiled to Elantris; Princess Sarene, his betrothed, who arrives to find Raoden presumed dead and becomes embroiled in the political intrigue of the kingdom of Arelon; and Hrathen, a high-ranking priest seeking to convert Arelon to his religion or see it destroyed.
My Thoughts
I’m glad I didn’t hear the book was about “zombie lepers,” as the author described them, before I started reading it. I might not have actually read the thing as I’ve never really care for zombies. In fact, only the book I ever enjoyed about zombies was Jim Butcher’s “Dead Beat” and the Max Brooks book “World War Z.” And the latter was only read because Brooks was approached by the CDC on modeling a possible pandemic and we were briefed on it back in 2011.
Anyway, back to Elantris. This was a great novel and more particularly since it was Sanderson’s first. He has said that it sold 400 copies in it’s opening week and about 400 every week since then. If that’s true, this has been quite the gold mine for him and effectively paved the way for the rest of the books I’ve enjoyed since I’d found him. Let’s go Brandon! Sanderson also shared excerpts of previous manuscript revisions with Raoden’s insane brother Eto. That must have been hard to sacrifice after all the blood and tears that went into those drafts. However, I agree with the edits as it made a more streamlined narrative.
Recommendation
Great book and worth the time.