Elantris: Chapters 7-10

Welcome back to another installment of Readerspren.


Today we look at Chapters 3-10 of Elantris.

Previously...

We have a group of friends who all like Brandon Sanderson's fictional Cosmere universe.

We've decided to blog while reading or re-reading his works.

We started of with Elantris since some of us have not read it and wanted to see how Sanderson wrote early in his career.


A lot of us found the character introduction of Sarene and Raoden a bit on the bland side compared to how some of his protagonists were introduced in Mistborn and Stormlight Archives.


Chapter 7
AorDon!  Magic!  Raoden tries to piece together why the Elantrian magics failed.  He manages to do some weak Aordon.

Raoden takes action and recruits his first newcomer into Elantris.  We also gain more insight into the inhabitants of Elantris

"I have to keep moving, Raoden repeated to himself. Keep working. Don't let the pain take control."

Raoden asks the new recruit Mareshe to fashion him some new shoes and tells Mareshe he has to make it perfect the first time.  If shoes aren't perfect they will cause blisters that stay forever on Elantrians.

Raoden also takes the name Spirit (a translation of Aon Rao) for himself.


Chapter 8
Sarene continues with her idiot act in front of the king.  She is able to stay inside the throne room pretending she is repainting the paintings inside.

We also find out despite her brilliance she is horrible at painting.  Ashe and eventualy Lukel take turns needling her over the splotch on the canvass.

We get some insights into the king, Iadon.  A good businessman but a bad king.  He had turned the kingdom into one where monetary success was justification for rule.

We also find out that Raoden the prince went out if his way to use the laws of his father against him.

It becomes obvious that the throne is beset by a myriad set of problems.  From the unclear succession to its possible fall due to the upheaval of the societal systems.

This chapter also provides us the first face-off between Sarene and Hrathorn as Sarene cleverly diffuses Hrathorn's sermon on top of the city walls.  Round 1 goes to Sarene with Hrathorn giving her begrudging respect.

Ashe points out that Dalif might be a source of problems later on.

As Sarene looks down into Elantris the reader realizes that the Elantrians she is pointing at are actually Raoden and Galladon.  She does think that she notices something different about the two.

Kaise continues to be a cute distraction.

Oh and we also find out that Raoden had been gathering people to discuss doing something about his father's bad government.

Chapter 9
Hrathorn and Dilaf work out their feelings in the aftermath of Sarene's disruption of their sermon.

Dilaf is frothing at the mouth.  Hrathorn is impressed at Sarene.

Hrathen works on the Kae nobility and starts to foment trouble against the king.  He manages to get Telrii as an ally.


Chapter 10
We shift back to Raoden and Galladon.

The other gangs in Elantris are now convinced that Raoden intends to form his own gang.

3 new Shaod-ed enter the city gates.  Raoden enacts a plan to get all three.  Once again Raoden finds some work for all three.  Once again he pockets a portion of the food that they were carrying.  The reader is not yet told what he'd gotten from the last 4 people who entered Elantris.

We get more insight into Raoden from his actions as well as Galladon's words:
"The newcomers, sul. You made them all think they are of vital importance..."

And in Raoden's own:
"The city needs a sense of purpose."

Galladon is not convinced:
"We're dead sule," Galladon said. "What purpose can we have besides suffering?"

To which Raoden retorts:
"That's exactly the problem.  Everyone's convinced that their lives are over just because their hearts stopped beating."

Galadon finally pieces  together all the clues and realizes who Raoden really is.

Raoden also encounters his seon Ien.  The Shaod had left Ien mindless.


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So I'll this batch of notes at chapter 10.  We are now getting more complete characters out of all the main character.

Brief notes on Elantris Chapters 3-6

Chapter 3
Hrathen is a great character, right from the moment he stepped out from the docks. Discussion from the reading group centered around him having a mission and acting on it (unlike the passive, meandering intro chapters of Raoden and Sarene). With a ticking clock of three months to convert the populace into the Fjordell religion and the empathy to prefer conversion to violence, Sanderson immediately assigns the gyorn with hidden depths.

Chapter 4
Definitely a better Raoden chapter. We see the (pathetic) power structure of Elantris which is currently being ruled by three gangs. We learn about the Hoed, Elantrians who have endured so much pain that they lose their minds. Then, we get a glimpse of some Aon magic. We are also given hints of Raoden's idealism, which is welcome at this point.

Chapter 5
Sarene breaks through in this chapter where we see her as a devious and intelligent woman who has a firm grasp of politics. We see the first meeting of Hrathen and Iadon (the current ruler) and immediately realize holw much of a danger the gyorn poses. We are also treated to the delightful family dynamics of her long-lost uncle Kiin and his children.

Chapter 6
The chapter gives us hints of the gyorn's plans to use Elantris as a key to capture the city's loyalty to his cause. Dilaf is evident here as a overzealous sidekick to Hrathen and another character to watch.

All in all, these 4 chapters get the ball rolling on the conflicts to come. Definitely more interesting than the first two.

(Prologue, Chapters 1-2)
The Mystery of Elantris

The prologue sets up the premise well enough. Elantris seems much like how fiction and occult writers treat Atlantis: as a place of wonder and magic and as a place now lost to the world.

After reading how beautiful the city was, it's a shock to see it despoiled in the next chapter. Here, Sanderson shows us the horror of what Elantris has become, made more effective because of the contrast in the Prologue. It's quite chilling how the city has turned from Heaven to Hell, where you spend eternity where you will constantly feel "every pain, every cut, every nick, every bruise, and every ache" that has happened to you in this ruined city. I would be very, very careful in Elantris.

Sanderson in this early work still manages to evoke a sense of wonder in his world-building abilities. However, I feel that his character development is not in top form.

Chapter 1 is from Prince Raoden's point of view, Chapter 2 from Sarene's, his wife from an arranged marriage. In both chapters, I found their character introductions underwhelming, flat, and uninteresting.

Compare Sanderson's intros in a later book vs this early book:

(Elantris)
Raoden intro: Woke up, asks for breakfast, is damned, gets taken to Elantris, runs away from thugs, stubs his toe, whines about it, bribes a guide.

(Way of Kings)
Kaladin intro: Is talked about in awe by his men, protects a scared young kid, directs battles with tactical communication, takes down six spearmen.

(Elantris)
Sarene intro: First time in city but gives bland description of Kae, walks from the docks to the funeral, gets dismissed by the king, chats with queen, chats with her dad.

(Way of Kings)
Shallan intro: first time in city but creates a vivid description of Khalbranth, prim and proper but speech is brusque and witty, draws amazingly well, sets up her dad as dead and she on a mysterious mission.


The difference is unmistakable. Characters are active and their goals expressed more clearly in the latter work, while characters here seem to just flow with wherever the narrative takes them.

There *is* still much to look forward to though, even with the first character introductions falling flat. The mystery of Elantris, of how a glorious city could fall so far still draws some intrigue. Other questions abound: Where are its original inhabitants? Have they also succumbed to the Shaod? Were they able to flee the disaster? Did they cause it?

I'm also looking forward to the promised "grand tour" that Galladon (a character I like!) will lead. I'm sure more will be revealed, and I'm excited to read on.



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Elantris: First Impressions

Good day all!

As agreed upon by the gang we will look at the prologue and first 2 chapters of Elantris.


A bit of a background:
Elantris is of course one of Brandon Sanderson's earlier works.  I personally got interested in his work strangely through the first book of his Reckoners series: SteelHeart.

As I love comicbooks and superheroes in general SteelHeart pulled me right in.  After that I had to look for more Sanderson.  My brother Rob was the big Sanderson fan so I asked him what would be a good read and I got into the first Mistborn trilogy.  The Final Empire blew my mind.  And I was hooked now on the Cosmere.

After devouring the first Mistborn trilogy and the first Wax and Wayne book I then moved to Stormlight Archives.

Now reading Elantris my biggest fear is that the previous books I've read might spoil the experience of reading  Sanderson's earlier works.

On to Elantris...



Prologue:
The setup is great.  Brandon Sanderson is really great at world building.

It opens with "Elantris was beautiful, once"  and ends with "Eternity ended ten years ago"

Immediately questions come to mind and you want to find out what happened to Elantris.


Chapter 1:
We get introduced to Raoden.  And my biggest thought here was "WHAT THE HECK! ZOMBIES!"

The character introduction here feels a bit tame and bland compared to how the main protagonists got introduced in Mistborn and the Stormlight Archives.

Biggest things on my mind:  "What Zombies???" and "Why is Elantris like this?"

Galladon feels like he will play a big part in this book.


Chapter 2:
We meet Sarene.  She continues the grand tradition of strong female characters for Brandon Sanderson.

We also get to meet Ashe, Saren's Seon.  Ashe feels like a spren from Stormlight Archives.

Just like with Raoden, Sarene's introductory chapter doesn't feel as engaging as say Jasnah's or   Shallan's Stormlight Archives intro.

-----
I'm probably spoiled by Mistborn and Stormlight Archives.  I have to keep reminding myself that Elantris is one of Sanderson's earlier works.  The writing style indeed shows some differences punctuated for me by the use of modern day colloquialisms like Sarene's father going "oh honey..."


Well forward to the other chapters.  I'll probably add some other notes here later on.

-Taleweaver

Welcome to Readerspren!

Welcome To Readerspren!

Welcome all!

Readerspren is a collection of musings on various books set in the Cosmere, Brandon Sanderson's fictional universe, by a group of friends who love his books dearly.

Image from: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/56827-cosmere-maps-au-spoiliers/

The group of friends are:

1. Alecon 

2. Bendix
3. Damon

4. Ron - the Taleweaver

5. Rob

6. Wacky - also known as the highpriest of the cosmere.

We have agreed on Elantris as the first book up for discussion.

Each day we shall try to read 1-2 chapters of the aforementioned book and set down our thoughts about it here.

The preliminary questions for discussion as put forth by Ben are the following:
1. First impressions of the chapter as a first-time reader and/or as a Cosmere-aware reader? 2. Favorite part/passage/quote? What works and what doesn't work for you in the chapter? 3. Comments on the main & supporting characters in the selected chapter? 4. Cosmere-relevant details? Magic system details? 5. Similarities with other books?

We hope that people find something new in the entries to add to their enjoyment of Brandon Sanderson's books.

Excelsior,

Taleweaver

Elantris: First Leg of our Journey

Our readingspren are off to explore Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere, a fictional universe where most of his epic fantasy novels are set!

I'm a first-time reader, and I will be joined by other readers (some also reading Elantris for the first time, some re-reading it) who will be discussing the book. I've read Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series and some of the Mistborn books which, I've just recently discovered, are part of a shared universe.

Sanderson's works have always been great reads, so the idea of exploring his Cosmere books together came about naturally. The plan is to get through 1-2 chapters and have some sort of discussion about the selected book, most of which will be posted in this blog.

Really excited diving into Sanderson's worlds. Onward to the Cosmere!