I enjoyed Elantris more than Mistborn
#156: Comparing Brandon Sanderson's first two published books
It’s a beautiful day to talk about books. Kolo?
The year of Sanderson is in full swing and there’s no turning back now. I’m 4 books and 3 stories into this journey and have found each reading experiences to be immersive, entertaining, and unique. Sanderson sure has an Imagination! I’m currently reading The Hero of Ages (book 3 of the Mistborn trilogy) and looking forward to starting Tress of the Emerald Sea next. My friend Chris is also reading the trilogy and it’s fun to have a friend on the reading journey!
Today I want to give a little background on Brandon Sanderson’s first two published books, Elantris and Mistborn: The Final Empire (which I’ll refer to as Mistborn from this point on) and explain why I’ve been recommending Elantris to fantasy and non-fantasy lovers alike. I even want my wife (who doesn’t care for fantasy) to read it! I think Mistborn is great and I’m finding the trilogy as a whole to be especially satisfying, but it leans harder into fantasy tropes whereas Elantris is first and foremost a good book with an engaging story.
What are these books about?
Mistborn: The original idea came from two places: Sanderson’s desire to write a heist story similar to Ocean’s Eleven or Sneakers and to write a story that answers the question “what happens if the Dark Lord wins?” It follows a rag tag team of thieves as they try to take down the evil Lord Ruler, who has been in control of the Final Empire for 1,000 years.
Elantris1: The city of Elantris in the kingdom of Arelon used to be magical and blessed but has fallen from grace. The inhabitants of the once glorious city are now cursed outcasts struck by a mysterious illness called the Shaod. What’s worse, the Shaod continues to claim new victims who are then cast into Elantris and kept as prisoners within its walls.
The characters and story
Elantris: I cared about the characters from the moment I met them. The book opens with Prince Raoden discovering he’s been inflicted with the Shaod and must now join the cursed Elantrians. I was immediately invested in his journey as he found allies, took on the Elantrian gangs, and tried to discover the cause of the curse. I loved his optimism and hope and his commitment to study and practice.
Princess Sarene arrives in Arelon as an outsider who follows her curiosity and doesn’t take no for an answer. She also needs allies in order to outmaneuver political adversaries and prevent the kingdom from falling into the wrong hands.
The paths of these two main characters run in parallel and had me highly anticipating when they’d eventually cross. I wasn’t disappointed.
Elantris is part mystery, part political intrigue, part prison break, part religious commentary, with a dash of romance and sprinkle of fantasy action — a highly ambitious first novel that I know you’ll enjoy!
Mistborn: I had a harder time connecting with main characters Vin and Kelsier, who had a lot of power and were up against highly powerful adversaries. Kelsier plays one note for the entire book and I didn’t feel much for him. Vin is a fantastic character with an inspiring journey as she learns about trust. I’ve enjoyed continuing her arc in books 2 and 3.
Magic system and the use of magic
Mistborn: Much can be said about allomancy, the magic system in Mistborn where small vials of metal shavings are ingested and then “burned,” providing supernatural abilities like super strength (think Captain America) or metal pulling/pushing (think Magneto). It is an awesome magic system that gets used in highly creative ways. But to me, it’s a little overly complex and overly used.
In Elantris, the magic is called Aon and it’s very simple: You draw the shape in the air and the specific magic connected to that shape is released. But how bold to have the magic “dead” for 90% of the book! It’s not a spoiler to say that Aon is restored: The question was never will the magic come back, but how. I quite enjoyed the pay off and now I’m dying for a sequel.
The action
I’m an action nut but I think Mistborn had too much action. It got a little exhausting and frustrating to imagine. There is nothing external that activates the allomancy and there’s even a joke between characters that you don’t need to put your hands up to pull or push metal. The mental image of bodies zipping around on allomantic lines and throwing coins entered absurd territory for me.
The action in Elantris is mostly political with a climax in the last hundred pages that felt like it was from a different book. In other words, it didn’t have much action and I was perfectly happy (and think you will be too!).
Thank you for reading and putting up with my fantasy phase!
— Kyle
“I’m supremely proud of this book. Over the years, my prose has improved and my narrative voice has matured, but I find it essential to remember that a vibrant, passionate story about engaging characters is more important than cool magic systems or epic action sequences. Characters and emotion are the true magic. the whisper from Elantris is a warning to me never to forget that.” —Brandon Sanderson
For any nerds out there, it’s important to note that these books take place on different planets in the same universe. The shared universe that ties many of his books together is called the Cosmere.
I recently finished Tress of the Emerald Sea. Anxiously awaiting your thoughts!