Elantris was the city of gods on
earth. When ordinary people were taken by the Shaod, a random state of
transformation, they underwent the transition from human to all-powerful deity,
and moved into the glowing white city of Elantris. There, they were able to
provide the people of the surrounding nations with healing, food and guidance,
and they lived as the glorified gods they had become. Elantris was a thriving
metropolis whose beauty and power was unrivalled, and the Elantrians were benevolent,
unsurpassed leaders.
Ten years before the story
begins, the Reod occurred. Instead of transforming random people into beautiful
and magical Elantrians, the Shaod now seems to turn them into animated corpses.
Elantris faded from brilliant white to black, and its walls, once iridescent
with an innate glow, are now covered with black sludge.
Prince Raoden of Kae is taken by
the Shaod a week before his politically advantageous marriage to Princess
Sarene of Teod. Thrown into Elantris, he endeavours to lift the quality of life
for the people trapped inside, and slowly establishes a revolution. Meanwhile,
Princess Sarene, bound to Raoden despite his apparent death, travels to Kae to
formally mourn the husband she never met. While there, she herself begins a
revolution of sorts, albeit a quieter one, seeking to overthrow the capital-driven
King Iadon and to implement a more utilitarian government for the people of her
new nation. Add to this a maniacal religious faction seeking to seize control
of the nation’s reign, and the scene is set for some serious political
conflict.
I very much enjoyed Elantris as a
novel. However, it didn’t come close to meeting the high expectations I had
established for Sanderson after reading Mistborn first. While characterisation
was undoubtedly a strong point again, I felt that several characters were close
to becoming clichéd. This was particularly true of Sarene, tall and rebellious
princess of Teod. I admired Sanderson’s
obvious intention in creating a strong, independent female character, but I
feel that the value of this was depleted by how
strong and independent Sarene is. Compared to Vin, who is strong and brave, but
who is also realistically flawed, Sarene seems a little exaggerated. She’s
prone to entering into political arguments with her male companions, teaches
the silly, vapid women of court how to fence instead of cross-stitch, and is
intent on establishing herself as a political powerhouse amongst the men of
court. Of course, these are noble attributes in a female fantasy character –
they just aren’t unique. I was further disappointed in Sarene when her
self-doubts began to surface; she is self-conscious about her gangly frame and
outspoken, rebellious nature, and fears that no man will ever want to marry
her. Despite her apparently prodigious fencing ability, she is in constant need
of physical protection from men in a variety of situations. Although she has
political aspirations, and is successful in nurturing the seeds of dissidence
amongst potential rebels, Sarene seems incapable of actioning her political
ideas. Rather, it is the men in the novel who carry out Sarene’s work for her,
undermining her capacity for political success. During many of the
conversations she has with male antagonists, she puts on an air of stupidity, feigning
ignorance instead of standing her ground as an equal of the men in the novel.
And, to top it all off, when she finally reveals her intelligence to the king
she has been fooling, she does so in a fit of hysterical screaming.
As for the plot, Elantris is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
action-packed. Somehow, in about 600 pages, Sanderson manages to cover off the establishment
of New Elantris, the decline of Old Elantris, the political overhaul of Kae,
the threatening of Teod, the religious domination by the Shu-Dereth and the
romance (yup, romance) between Sarene and Raoden. With such a rich social,
political and religious background to explore, it felt a bit rushed being
squeezed into a stand-alone volume. I feel that it may have been more immersive
if it were lengthened into a trilogy. I know Sanderson has mentioned a planned
sequel to Elantris, but I feel that the novel alone has enough in it to
substantiate a trilogy in and of itself.
As you can imagine, my response
to Sarene did put a dampener on Elantris for me, but that’s not to say that I
didn’t enjoy the book at all. Much like
Mistborn, it’s highly accessible fantasy that is character driven, and that
features an interesting magic system.
It’s very important to note that
Elantris was Brandon Sanderson’s first novel. This allows for a somewhat
different interpretation of Sarene; Sanderson’s intention of creating a strong,
vulnerable and accessible female protagonist is only tentatively explored in
Elantris, but realised in Mistborn, so I still see Elantris as a highly valuable
part of his catalogue, and an excellent book overall. I am glad that I read it
after Mistborn, so that I can understand the development Sanderson underwent as
an author between the two books. He remains my favourite author currently.
I am currently reading Warbreaker
(and have already made some interesting observations about his female
characters in this volume!), and intend to move on to Way of Kings shortly
after. Before my Sanderson material runs out, however, I may squeeze in the
first of the Dark Tower books, or perhaps Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy.
After tossing up whether to read 1Q84 for a few weeks, I decided on downloading
the audiobook as a middle ground. I also treated myself to Tamora Pierce’s
Lioness Quartet, and am looking forward to some lazy nostalgic reading later in
the week.
Tell me – how did you feel about
Elantris? Do you think I was too harsh on Sarene? Do you think it would have
been better as a trilogy?
