Elantris is Brandon Sanderson’s first major published work. It is also the last main Cosmere entry I needed to finish before Wind and Truth comes out in December. It reminded me why I love the Cosmere so much, it was a fantastic read, and one of my favorite Sanderson books. Elantirs is a really interesting fantasy book, and I think it’s one of Sanderson’s most interesting books as well for one major reason: religion.
I really loved the idea of a dead magic system that is teased out and explored throughout the book, but what the magic system actually is and does isn’t really shown until the last few chapters. Reading this book in the context of being the first Cosmere book is interesting because it really shows the exploration of a magic system that is not only specific to a world, but is tied to the geography and environment of that world.
However, I think the biggest questions, at least to me, that the book explored are religious in general. The first being the idea of theodicy (why do bad things happen to good people), and also a crisis of faith. These two issues are explored through two of the main characters: Raoden and Hrathen.
Raoden is a great character. He was just a good person trying to do the right things, and something catastropic happened to him when he becomes afflicted with the Shaod. We see a genuinely good person make the best of the worst situation imaginable in this world: he will never die, but he will also eternally feel pain (the Shaod makes it so, for exmple, if you stub a toe, that pain will always be with you). His eternal hope of being able to create a better life in Elantris with the rest of those affected by the Shaod is inpsiring. Sanderson’s answer to “why do bad things happen to good people?” is simple: becasue it does; good people aren’t insulated from the crappiness of the world. This fits in nicely with Sanderson’s (and my) LDS theology. The belief in Mormon thought is that the human condition must be one where people are allowed to experience both happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, sorrow and joy. God can intervene, but he won’t always intervene. This might strike some as capricious, but LDS though also views life eternally beyond this mortal life and experience. I don’t personally know Sanderson, and I have no idea if this even crossed his mind while writing a character like Raoden, but it worked for me. I was ready for Raoden to have some huge flaw, but he was just a good dude (not perfect) who had something bad happen to him. He’s also able to restore AonDor and the Elantrian magic system, so that’s pretty cool too.
A crises of faith is explored through Hrathen. Hrathen is easily one of Sanderson’s best bad guy characters he’s written (even with the semi-redemption arc at the end). In the postscript, Sanderson says Hrathen is based on his experiences as an LDS missionary. As someone who also served an LDS mission, Hrathen’s motives and personaly clicked very easily for me. Hrathen could best be described as a fundamentalist priest of the religion Shu-Dereth (I don’t think Sanderson is attempting to compare LDS belief with Shu-Dereth, but a missionary is an excellent archetype for this kind of character). One of my favorite moments of the book is when a priest for another religion asks him “what happened to your faith?”. Putting myself in Hrathen’s shoes as if I was a missionary again, this is a shocking question to ask someone who is actively trying to convert an entire country. Yet the question lingers for Hrathen. He goes through the motions, he’s doing what the head of Shu-Dereth has asked of him, but has that devotion led to an erosion of faith? In the end, Hrathen does not abandon his faith, he rediscovers it. He realizes his devotion is to Jaddeth (God), and not to Wryn (a prophet). As a believer who has experience this many times in my own religion (and continue to experience it), Hrathen’s arc really resonated with me.
Sarene was also fantastic. Great political intrigue. Great character, really enjoyed her in this book, but nothing really resonated with me as much in her storyline as it did with Raoden and Hrathen.
Overall, I really really enjoyed Elantris; it became one of my favorite Cosmere books. I hope we really do get at least one sequel to get more about this world and that we can revisit Raoden and Sarene’s story.