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Elantris

By: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Jack Garrett
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Publisher's Summary

Elantris was built on magic, and it thrived. But then the magic began to fade, and Elantris began to rot. Now its shattered citizens face domination by a powerful Imperium. Can a young Princess unite the people of Elantris and lead a rebellion against the imperial zealots?

Brandon Sanderson's debut fantasy showed his skill as a storyteller and an imaginer of baroque magical systems to be fully developed from the start.

©2005 Brandon Sanderson (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC

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Woeful narrator.

The drole narrator made the story impossible to bear.
I have tried and tried to listen but can’t bear it beyond chapter 3

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18 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I can't get past Jack Garrett's voice.

It feels like being read to by Troy Mclure.

Story is okay so far. I'm going to get the book as I can't stand the voice acting.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book tasted like a friendly person

Elantris is, essentially, a book about humanity, being a good person, and what that even means. It was one of Branderson's earlier works, and there are a few edges that are a little rougher and less refined than fans of his later works might be used to, but that's not to say it isn't a solid and recommendable work. The world (Sel, another Shardworld for those Cosmere fanatics out there) isn't as alien or unique as some of ol' Brandy's other worlds (lookin' at you, Roshar) but its got its own charm, and several systems of magic that, in opposition to Bran's usual style of meticulously logical and systematic magic, are rather undefined in many ways, and instead of that solid analytical crunch they inspire a sense of wonder, whimsy, fear, and, once or twice, genuine horror.

The book follows the struggles of the kingdom of Generic Fantasy Kingdom Name: Arelon. It is a country that built its power and prestige around the city of Elantris, a magical walled city in which powerful Elantrians lived and were worshiped by the people of Arelon as gods. You notice I was using past tense for that sentence? Yup. That's cause Elantris fell. Nobody knows why, but a while back all the magic stopped working and the Elantrians lost their powers and became... basically zombies, as far as the people of Arelon are concerned. No one has any clue why, their best guess is that is has something to do with them being heretics maybe? Either way. This is pretty bad, for a number of reasons, not least of which is that they now have no powerful god magic Elantrians protecting them from the powerful Fjorden Empire. The Fjornden reckon its their divine duty to make all the world follow their religion, and they're perfectly happy to kill anyone who doesn't submit. Now in order to resist the Fjorden Empire, the neighboring country of Teod wants to form an alliance with the country of Arelon so they can combine their forces, or whatever. So they make a treaty in the standard way; the king of Teod sends his daughter to marry the prince of Arelon. Seems reasonable? Sure. But there's some stuff going on in Arelon, and the prince might not be in a state to do much at all, let alone marry some random chick. Also, the Fjorden have their eyes firmly set on Arelon, and they aren't going to let it wriggle out of submission. So, they put their best man to the job of converting the whole place, otherwise they'll have to send soldiers or whatever. This best man is a bloke by the name of Hrathen, and he is one of my favourite anti-hero's in all of fiction. Like, he's just cool. In a serious, no nonsense, I'm not sure I have a sense of humour sort of way. Anyway, so Hrathen's there, ready to convert everyone. Serene (the Teod princess) is there, trying to work out what she's even supposed to do (she's also, like, a political genius btw). Raoden, the crown prince, is... dead? Don't worry about that; he still gets to have load of fun adventures. In a "oh god when will this horrible adventure stop" kind of way.

The characters are well written, although the female lead feels a little flat at times, an issue The Bran himself has pointed out in the past. Three characters share the spotlight, and alternate chapters between them in an interesting way; the next chapter often begins slightly before the previous one ended, thus letting you see the same scene from multiple perspectives. Far from being boring and repetitive, this technique is employed as a pretty neat tool to contrast the characters with one another; all of them are understandable and relatable, even the more villainous one as we get to know him, but they all have very different perspectives on many of the issues raised in the book, and seeing them disagree in one of the most satisfying ways to grow to understand them.

The narrator, Jack Garret, is solid enough. He doesn't bring anything awe inspiring to the work, but nor does he in any way detract from it. Just think "generic white guy voice". That's what he sounds like.

Anyway: in conclusion, this book is pretty good. It works very well stand alone, and is probably one of the better introductions to the Cosmere (Branner's big universe whatsit thingo that all his worlds are in) as well as Sanderbran in general. You should buy it right now and read it, unless there's a version of this audiobook read by Michael Kramer out there, in which case you should buy *that* and right *it*.




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11 people found this helpful

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  • MR
  • 14-04-2017

Disappointed

What disappointed you about Elantris?

I'm normally a big fan of Brandon Sanderson however this story was too long and not that intriguing. There was not enough magic or action during the story. Everything was left to the ending which was somewhat predictable. I like the princess's character but the other characters were average. Also I was not impressed by the narrators voice although it did grow on me by the end of the book.

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9 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The narrator makes all the difference

Admittedly, I can't really review the story itself as I didnt listen much beyond the first couple of chapters. The writing was okay but a bit formulaic but the real reason that I couldn't get into the book was that the narrator's accent and voice ruined it for me. It didnt suit the style of the book at all. It seemed more suited to an action book like Matthew Reilly than a fantasy.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Kai
  • 10-02-2019

I grew to love it! as is BS style.

It was well worth it!!
I was put off by the other reviews in regards to the voice actor. While I agree the voice actor isnt the best choice. I think his accent and the multitude of similar sounding names like Rayoden, Raythen and Aoden (not sure on spelling) can be hard to follow at the best of times but he dose his best.
Not long into it and the story shines through~ plus BS style is to keep you hanging till the last few chapters to wrap it all together in a perfect bow. By that point you feel enthrawled by the world and it's that much more heart breaking when it's over. So don't miss out and give it a go! You won't be sorry.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Childish when I was expecting nuanced

The plot was a bit slow and had some minor holes but what really annoyed me was the childish one dimensional characters. There was no nuance or exploration of interesting motivations or anything other than what I'd expect from an early teens fantasy.

Other than that, an interesting premise and a fairly so-so narrator.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sorry I can't put up with the voice

I love Brandon Sanderson but whoever thought this voice was a good idea needs their head examined.

The whole book is read in the tone of a blockbuster movie announcer voice

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Ben
  • 31-05-2020

Some good ideas

This is very nearly a great first novel, but unfortunately it doesn't really break out of some archetypes that leave it too often predictable and occasionally cliched. The first two thirds of the book have a real 'Just Talk' issue, and the primary antagonists aren't that remarkable, a young princess overcoming prejudice with exceptional wit and tenacity is not exactly new, but is still more interesting then the almost archetypal Mary Sue we get in the prince character who is immediately loved and respected by everyone who meets him and is very good at everything. That said they aren't poorly written and are humanized well enough, so you do root for them, they just aren't anything new. The third protagonist was my favourite. His character explores the political and religious aspects of the world the most and has his own personal obstacles, that's why its a bit annoying we spend by far the least time with him.
In terms of the narrators performance; I don't think its terrible, but his voice is aggresively American, which is very distracting. And he affects something like a bad Mexican accent for characters from a certain region, and it never stops being grating and is always annoying to listen to.
Its not amazing, and not hugely memorable, but its been good enough for me to want to move on to the next of Sandersons work, so its by no means a failure.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Long winded

Too much conversations going round in circles. Plot takes forever to unravel. Story hard to follow because of too many changes. Not for me.

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