David

Enjoyed all the time I spent with this the 3 hours just flew by. Great magic system, great characters and some really great philosophical nuggets. I want a longer one focusing on this magic system.

​Elantris was an overall highly enjoyable read, showcasing the brilliant world-building that Brandon Sanderson is known for. The first half of the book is definitely a slow burn, taking its time to lay down the groundwork of the world, politics, and culture. But once the momentum shifts, the second half becomes blindingly quick. In fact, it moves so fast toward the end that I felt a bit shortchanged. The climax rushed past so quickly that I don't feel I quite got the full payoff I was looking for.

​That said, the characters and thematic depth completely sell this book. Sarene might genuinely be one of my new favorite characters of all time, as she is brilliant, proactive, and fiercely engaging from start to finish. I also really enjoyed the character arc of Hrathen; watching his internal complexities and development unfold was one of the absolute highlights of the narrative. Beyond the characters, I loved the reflection on real-world issues woven throughout the plot. Sanderson handles heavy themes like sectarianism, apartheid, and segregation with impressive nuance for a fantasy novel.

​Ultimately, I was just left a bit unfulfilled by the ending. I wanted more: more depth on the magic system, more of the world's rich history, and a clearer picture of its future. Any chance of Book 2, Brandon?

If you are feeling a bit bogged down by the relentless combat filler and lack of answers in the first two books, stick with it! I had my doubts about whether the jeopardy and payoff would ever truly hit, but the ending of this trilogy is breathtaking.

​I read the last 300 pages of the finale in one breath. The scale of the ending plays out like a massive IMAX movie in your mind, packed with incredible twists and turns. Elvar has easily become one of my favorite literary characters of all time. Gwynne perfectly sticks the landing on the buildup, an absolute masterclass in how to deliver a grand finale.

Enjoyed this pretty much from start to end and definitely feel invested into all the characters. Also loved adding the POV from the "bad guys" to show that morality is not always as straightforward as it seems. This does somewhat suffer the same affection as the first book in that alot happens without really feeling like you are getting meaningful answers or plot line conclusions. The pretty much sets up the third book to be absolutely epic, or a great disappointment.

Some great world building and really a great basis for what I hope will be an awesome trilogy. But honestly and king of frustratingly this book gave me more questions than answers.

This was not helped by the fact that the first half of this book is a slog. It takes a while to build a connection with the characters and on top of that there are a lot of well written supporting cast that you are also introduced to to learn aswell. Due to the three POV's I found it hard to keep up, but when I did finally connect to each character and know who everyone was I really started to enjoy this. Also loved the last 200 or so pages, they are definitely a ride with lots happening and some epic scenes for the mind.

However Just felt like we could have a bit more payoff at the end, I will come back and update this review once I finish the trilogy , but as a standalone it was fine. Just not great.