New favourite.

This has become my favourite Sanderson book. I love it. I fell in love with all the characters and cared about their struggles.

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Sweet treat to eat

A delight to listen to. Elusive magic systems and great character direction. Some surprising twists too. But most of all I find the magic in this magical epic fantasy comes from the characters, their interactions and developments. so far this is my favourite story in the cosmere (and I've just about read them all)

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Narrator is fantastic and story is amazing!

Loved listening to this book. Story wise, I can see why people dub this as Sanderson's weaker novel. There just wasn't enough world exploration that made it feel very small. I loved the character development though, even if only for the main ones.

The narrator was really good, I can clearly tell apart the different characters by the voices he used. I plan to listen to more of his narrated books.

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Not first book I read in the Cosmere but damn was this a good one!

Wasn’t a fan of it at first but wow this book really stood out! Highly recommend it

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A wonderfully executed story

I loved listening to this book. I found that the conservation of plot elements was complementary to the flow of the story. I also found it to almost be the inverse of Mr. Sanderson's later work the Way of Kings in density of world building, although I do not consider this a negative for this book.

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The first book in a huge universe

I started with the StormlightArchive and was blown away, then read the Mistborn books and was also blown away by era 1. Therefore it's only natural to finally get to the this first book within this shared universe.

This book dives into the characters and their growth. A good man facing a horrible situation, a woman who fights to cast off the shackles of how society perceives her, and a priest who is in conflict with his faith (doing what he knows to be right compared to what he is taught to be right). This book is different from the others I mentioned above, however, it just as much magical.

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only slow if you let it be

a lot of reviews called the first half of this book slow, and while I was initially opposed to that, I began to agree at the 1/4 to 1/3rd mark. However, the final chapters proved me wrong. nearly every single detail in the first half of the book foreshadowed something very important in the second half, and spending the effort to speculate ahead will pay massive dividends in your enjoyment.

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Great Paced Fantasy

Finally got around this debut Sanderson and was not disappointed. Really enjoyed the pace of the story and development of the plot.

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Elantris

I will have to admit I spent the first half of the book wondering if I was reading a zombie novel. Perhaps, even longer than that; until the reference to magic runes and such. By then, I'd invested so much time into the novel, I forged ahead. I think the most interesting character was Hrathen as he had a complex inner struggle and ideology that drove him. He was also the character that showed emotional growth; he sacrificed himself even though it went against everything he'd known.

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Totally Engaging!

I'd read reviews of this book saying that because it's Sanderson's earliest published book, his narrative style hadn't yet developed and it wasn't as enjoyable. I read all the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive books before Elantris, and yet I still found it totally engaging - couldn't stop listening! The Cosmere connections may not be quite as defined, but they're there. The magical system might be a little more obscure, but it's fascinating and awesome.

I love how Brandon Sanderson can write books that eschew fantasy conventions; it's spellbinding to be introduced to new fantasy concepts that you couldn't even imagine. At the same time, he does a great job of building worlds and developing characters.

Whether you're a seasoned Sanderson veteran or a first-timer, I'd recommend this book.

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