Have you ever wondered if storytelling could save the world?
Before you roll your eyes at me for the absurd thing I say, I must tell you they can. But you’re right, stories might not change everything on their own; they’re just a good start. Where do you think money came from? Trees? Last I checked, a sheet of paper is worth less than a dollar.
That’s right, money started off as a story, not an objective reality.
Welcome to my odd review series, where I categorize how much novels question our beliefs about life, and how much they merely take them for granted.
W H A T I S E L A N T R I S ?
Elantris, a city in the midst of a nation called Arelon, was previously inhabited by gods. These gods, as grand as they were, would not see their damnation coming as it did. Once, anyone would have been welcome on its streets as deities, now, ten tears later, they are cursed to roam them as living corpses.
As Elantris plummets, the neighboring city of Kae seizes power over the region. King Iadon holds the throne, but with his rule, the nation slowly falls into disrepair. Prince Raoden, King Iadon’s son, is Kae’s only hope. Much to their dismay, however, Raoden dies suddenly, leaving the despot King without descendants. Sarene, princess of Teod, comes to a grim picture; she never married Raoden but was bound by her marriage contract to become his widow. Faced with nothing but time at her disposal, she decides to do what she knows best. Get involved in court play.
A despot would not be the best option for Arelon. Much more so because Fjordell’s incessant thirst for conquest wouldn’t just stop at Areleon, it would go all the way up to Teod if Sarene did not take the matter into her own hands.
Her foe; Hrathen of Fjordell, a priest with dubious intentions.
What they don’t know, however, is that Raoden is not dead.
Well, not too dead.
He became an Elantrian, after all.
***
Starting the Cosmere is a daunting task.
Knowing where to start was not as easy as one may think. In the end, because I’m such a perfectionist, and because I want to read it in the best order possible, I roamed the internet until I found a list that satisfied me. Rafoo’s order.
That being said though, I decided to start with the first book Sanderson wrote. My reading history is filled with one bad book after another—apart from Skyward—so I bet on Elantris being a good read. Besides, it would only go up from there, right?
Turns out I wasn’t wrong.
At least with the first part of my statement.
Can’t vouch for the second yet.
***
This will not contain spoilers! Only mentions what the themes are and what they conclude, but nothing of the plot or characters is revealed beyond what is said in the synopsis. Enjoy!
F U N
Despite my initial thoughts of Elantris being a great start to the Cosmere, it did not have a great start.
I found myself going over some clichés of what people usually say about how not to start a novel, and in Elantris it was all in a neat pack. The protagonist wakes up from a dream in the first chapter, the bombarding of names and places all in rapid fire, and a great deal of exposition.
Perfect start, eh?
Then, slowly it all came into place.
I found myself intrigued by the court politics, the magic system, and Hrathen.
It was a surprise to me that, in all that I liked about the book, nothing had a semblance to character arcs. Maybe because there was only one, or a few, but only one that caught my attention— which is way below my standard. Hrathen ended up being the most interesting character, mainly because the other characters paled in comparison. Raoden and Sarene were much too perfect for me. Sarene was way more passable than Raoden, but I felt she did not quite fit for me. Something to do with her supposed arc relying on getting married put me off a little. Not because she is not allowed to get married, but because the worry seemed out of character. But I digress.
In terms of plot, however, the book shines.
There were several surprising moments, and the back-and-forth between Sarene and Hrathen was spectacular; Raoden’s parts being a bit dull for me. Okay, I did say the book’s peak is on plot, but I warn you there are some deus-ex machina moments, and those that did not make any sense. Few and far between, but it did break my suspension of disbelief.
For that, I will give it a half-star.
Verdict? M A Y B E
W E L L W R I T T E N
Given that the book did have the moments I just mentioned sprawled all over, I am led to follow up with a negative on this category.
I totally would’ve kept this star empty, but then I remembered other books I’ve read before, and I couldn’t possibly say it was as bad as those. It has problems, yes, but nothing too bad to make me punish Elantris as terribly.
The pacing was off at some parts, mostly Raoden’s parts in my opinion, but there were some very interesting moments and a very well-crafted story in general; the plot did have an impact at the right moments and exemplified the themes of the story, much as the themes themselves having perfect cohesiveness with the characters and the magic.
The way Sanderson links the magic system, with the religious elements and the court intrigue was pretty great and I have to give it the praise it’s worth. And the more I look at all it did, and how well thought out it all was, I tend to increase the value of the story much more than the regular person would. I guess my weakness lies in depth.
…and this book had plenty.
Verdict? M A Y B E
T H O U G T - P R O V O K I N G T H E M E S
I mean, if I didn’t give Elantris a star here, I’d be crazy.
I did say before that the depth of this book was everywhere. Well, part of it is the way everything—meaning magic, plot, and characters—connects to form a unity in the narrative. The other? The themes themselves.
…Which also seem to revolve around unity, curiously.
This book is about the unity of people under one common thing. It doesn’t discuss if unity is good or not but discusses the methods to achieve it. If you know the union of the people is in everyone’s best interest, how do you go about doing that? How do we chase a common goal? How do we unite?
The answer the book proposes is simple; through love and empathy, and maybe a sense of duty. A sense of duty motivated by the same empathy and love for the other. Both love and duty are personified in Sarene and Raoden, which is why I did not mind them not having arcs all that much, to be honest.
Now it is something to ponder, not because I question that love and duty can be good ways to unite people, but because of what the opposite can look like.
What would happen if people united through hate?
It certainly brings some déjà vu.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
C R I T I C A L C O M M E N T A R Y
The commentary here stems from the previous category.
If people unite through hate, we’d have something eerily similar to what we have now.
And now more than in 2005—when Sanderson published the novel—because…have you seen social media?
Prime example.
But also, throughout history with nationalist governments or cults. Hate rallies people through passion to destroy that which is foreign to them. And not the positive kind of passion either. Sometimes it’s directed to eliminate a whole nation of people, and sometimes, it can be a whole race altogether.
Could relate to much lighter topics too, so, pick your poison.
There’s a whole spectrum out there.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
P R O P O S E S A L T E R N A T I V E S
While Elantris does want to go ahead and propose love and meaning as a way to unite people, it does offer a weird way of doing so.
Although weird might not be the right word. Mostly because we’ve believed the same thing for ages; the benevolent King will rule the people right, and that will be the end all, be all of our problems.
…But I have one tiny issue with that though.
I’ve never really seen it work…?
So maybe it’s nothing like a new proposal, but more of a good idea to gather around. I do believe love and meaning are the things we lack the most in our day-to-day lives, so why not advocate for more?
Still, the road to that feels a little off.
Verdict? M A Y B E
To make a long story short, this book got:
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