Elantris

I overall enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would (considering I DNFed this at an early point during my first attempt a year or so ago). The first 25% or so was too infodumpy and at that stage I was thinking I'd give this a max 3 or 3.5 stars, but after reading it through, I've increased my rating to it to about 4, maybe even 4.5 stars. The world was immensely fascinating and so so interesting, even if the set-up was a little clunky. I also had some issues with some characterisation works in this one, but it was palatable enough to read and especially knowing that Sanderson has improved on many of these issues in his later works (which I've already read earlier).

I also get why the book was so expository at the beginning - it's a huge world and Sanderson really needed to give us enough context to appreciate all the political and religious machinations going on, as well as the central mystery surrounding Elantris. All of these was probably my favourite parts of the book, and what really kept me going. The construction of the religious tension within the society, the clash between different cultures, and the fascinating mystery of Elantris was all so rich and engaging that it really caught me and was why I finished most of this book in one day.

I do think his characterization was also a bit rougher than his later works but we had some really good gems here. In particular, I was a little put off by Sarene's characterisation. I felt she was based a bit off the “not like other girls” trope, but also “different girl who thinks she's unattractive but actually many guys think she's hot” and “yearning for love against all odds”. Then we have to reconcile that with someone who is apparently so very politically skilled and intuitive, apparently able to twist all these veteran politicians and businessmen around her finger from as quick as a single conversation. The combination overall just doesn't make sense to me, it just didn't feel like good characterisation to me. Some parts that just didn't make sense to me: I didn't understand why she put on an act of silliness in front of Iadon but then flagrantly disposed of that act in front of almost literally everyone else in Arelon, as if news of that wouldn't reach back to Iadon. we were supposed to think she's politically manipulative by putting on that act of Iadon, but we also needed opportunities to prove how glib and witty she was and have other ppl admire her, so everyone else in Arelon could apparently see through it. a lot of things happened way too conveniently for her (and for Raoden too), like even her acceptance by the other Arelon nobles into their secret club felt a bit too quick and easy. Overall though, I thought Sarene was perhaps a precursor to Steris from Mistborn Era 2, of whom I'm a much bigger fan, so I'm glad that Sanderson at least brushed up on that.

I did really enjoy the character of Hrathen though! His internal struggles were really fascinating to watch - he was powerful but yet suffered enough setbacks to make him human as well. His was perhaps my favourite POV in the whole book. The only thing that didn't make sense to me was him falling in love with Sarene at the end. It just really seemed to come out of nowhere and felt really unnecessary tbh. I didn't see a single interaction between them that would make someone, especially a hardened priest like Hrathen, fall in love with Sarene.

This book worked well as a standalone but there're a lot of things about the conclusion that made me feel like it kept itself open to sequels, and I've also since found out that Sanderson has in fact planned/written sequels to Elantris which would be super exciting. I'd be really interested to see how he brings this world forward with his current level of expertise versus this being his first published work.