Elantris

Escrito por Brandon Sanderson

Narrado por Martin Untrojb

Elantris era la capital de Arelon:gigantesca, hermosa, literalmente radiante, llena de seres benevolentes que utilizaban sus poderosas habilidades mágicas en beneficio de todos. Sin embargo, cada uno de estos semidioses fue una vez una persona común y corriente hasta que fue tocado por el misterioso poder transformador del Shaod. Hace diez años, sin previo aviso, la magia fracasó. Los elantrians se volvieron criaturas sin poder, como leprosos, y el propio Elantris oscuro, sucio y desmoronado. La nueva capital

de Arelon, Kae, se agacha a la sombra de Elantris. La princesa Sarene de Teod llega para un matrimonio de Estado con el príncipe heredero Raoden,con la esperanza - basándose en su correspondencia - de encontrar también el amor. Ella descubre en cambio que Raoden ha muerto y es considerada su viuda. Tanto Teod como Arelon están amenazados como los últimos holdouts restantes contra las ambiciones imperiales de los despiadados fanáticos religiosos de Fjordell. Así que Sarene decide usar su nuevo estatus para contrarrestar las maquinaciones de Hrathen,un sumo sacerdote fiordo que ha venido a Kae para convertir Arelon y reclamarlo por su emperador y su dios.

Pero ni Sarene ni Hrathen sospechan de la verdad sobre el príncipe Raoden. Golpeado por la misma maldición que arruinó Elantris, Raoden fue exiliado en secreto por su padre a la ciudad oscura. Su lucha por ayudar a los miserables atrapados allí comienza una serie de eventos que traerán esperanza a Arelon,y tal vez revelar el secreto de Elantris mismo.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: BookaVivo
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 15 dic 2021
• ISBN: 9781638110569

Brandon Sanderson

BRANDON SANDERSON (Nebraska, 1975) es el gran autor de fantasía del siglo XXI. Tras debutar en 2006 con su novela Elantris, ha deslumbrado a más de cincuenta millones de lectores en casi cuarenta lenguas con el Cosmere, el fascinante universo de magia que comparten la mayoría de sus obras. Sus best sellers son considerados clásicos instantáneos, comola saga Mistborn, la decalogía El Archivo de las Tormentas y otras novelas, como Trenza del mar Esmeralda, Steelheart o Escuadrón. Con un plan de publicación de más de veinte futuras obras (que contempla la interconexión de todas ellas), el Cosmere se convertirá en el universo más extenso e impresionante jamás escrito en el ámbito de la fantasía épica. Sanderson vive en Utah con su esposa e hijos y enseña escritura creativa en la Universidad Brigham Young. Curso de escritura creativa es el libro que recoge sus valiosos consejos.

Comentarios para Elantris

[Fátima RP · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Todo en este libro es interesante y está bien hecho: es contexto político-histórico, el sistema de magia, los personajes, las intrigas políticas.
Es simplemente una de los mejores fantasías que he leído.

[pedro Diaz · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

El mejor libro ? con ambientación súper interesante ? y sobre todo personajes divertidos.

[MatiasIgnacioDailleRamírez · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Voy en el cap 7 y estoy enganchadisimo, la construccion del mundo es una maravilla.

[Leslie Riveiro · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Es difícil escribir "qué me gustó" limitándome a no dejar spoilers, pero lo intentaré de todas formas.
Nos muestran un mundo que es atemporal, como si mezclasen lo mejor del pasado con adelantos futurísticos (aunque, claro, mágicos). El llegar a una "respuesta" en donde todo se conecta, todo encaja como piezas de rompecabezas. El que podamos ver el punto de vista del protagonista, sí... pero también el del villano, el de esa chica que se volvió mujer. Ver todas las facetas de una misma persona y... en serio ¿Qué esperan para leerlo?
¡Cierto! la narración es una maravilla.

[Sandy · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is the second time I read this book, and I enjoyed it so much. I recommend this story.

[oreseur · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Holy crap, I have no words! What a wonderful read! I was instantly hooked by this book but Part II shit gets CRAZY. I loved all three POVs - These characters are wonderful (btw, Hrathen is my favorite). Sanderson managed to write a book centered around politics/religion that didn't make me feel bored. That in itself is an achivement lol.

Mistborn, here I come!

[davisfamily-1 · Calificación: 1 de 5 estrellas]

This was one of the most boring things I have ever tried to listen to.. DNF Maybe an actual read in the future?

[comfypants · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

A princess tries to thwart a priest's political schemes, while an exiled prince learns about magic.3/4 (Good).The world-building is great. And the story never slows down too much, especially for a 600-page epic that's largely about politics. I had some problems with the ending; a number of plot threads didn't have a satisfying payoff, and a lot of new stuff comes in out of nowhere at the last minute.

[zoes_human · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I cannot sing the praises of these GraphicAudio editions of the Cosmere books enough. Pure radio show/book joy!

[enhypen-667858 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Holy crap, I have no words! What a wonderful read! I was instantly hooked by this book but Part II shit gets CRAZY. I loved all three POVs - These characters are wonderful (btw, Hrathen is my favorite). Sanderson managed to write a book centered around politics/religion that didn't make me feel bored. That in itself is an achivement lol.

Mistborn, here I come!

[mybookloveobsession · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Should have been a 3.5 star rating but I do know this Sanderson’s first novel (or one of) and the writing is not as great as his later works. What pushed it to a 4 was how the story wrapped up and the world building. The pace was a little slow and all of the political lost me here and there. Overall, I’m happy I finally read it.

[jazzbird61 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I had to go back and read it because of Arcanum Unbounded. Still as good as ever. The audiobook doesn't disappoint either.

[lexilewords · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Where do I begin? I think since I read the Mistborn books before this (his fantasy debut) it gives me a bit of an edge. I can see some of the theories and ideas that he formed in Elantris taking fuller life in the Mistborn books (especially in regards to religious ideals and political upheavel). Though Elantris has nothing to do with Mistborn beyond its the same genre and author, at their core I think they dealt with the same things. How religious fervor can blind followers, how unstable a government is with a weak King (or ruler), how even seemingly evil men can be shielding a far worse menace.

There are some troublesome spots, or at least character motivations that weren't fully developed. Dilaf, a Derethi priest, for instance gets an eleventh hour change of status that is plausible (given the overall nature of the Fjordell government), but his blind hatred of Elantris is only given a cursory glancing. The reason is mentioned earlier in the book offhandedly by Raoden, but the connection to Dilaf isn't made until very close to the end of the book. There is also the matter of Adien, one of Sarene's cousins, who gets a brief 'This is why he was like this all this time' and then 'Now he's better'. The question of the Aons is also left dangling--where do they come from, how are they made?

Throughout we 'see' events from three different third person viewpoints. Raoden, stuck in Elantris after he is struck down by the mysterious Shaod. Sarene, after she arrives in Arelon to find herself a widow before a bride. And lastly Hrathen, a High Priest of Derethi who is determined to convert the populace of Arelon quickly to avoid the bloodshed that could follow otherwise. This gives us a rounded view of events occuring throughout all of Arelon, but also offers insights when paths intersect (or collide in some cases). Where Sarene sees the game of matching wits with Hrathen as a game necessary to save others, Hrathen sees her as an opponent who challenges him and makes him think. He respects her even as he curses her interference. Where Sarene thinks giving food to the Elantrian citizens is a helpful offering, Raoden bemoans the bad timing of the charity.

In the end I enjoyed the book immensely and can fully appreciate everything that Sanderson took from this and expanded upon in the Mistborn books.

[scolgo · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This is a very good first novel that features decent world-building and character development. I enjoyed the perspective being split into chapters featuring Raoden, Sarene, and Hrathen. I also appreciated Hrathen being a villain with shades of grey instead of being a bad guy simply for the sake of being evil. The pacing is a bit slow at times and there are a few too many deus ex machina moments but I still found myself carried along as the story progressed. After the first couple of chapters, I pretty much knew how this would end, but the journey getting there was still worthwhile.

[dinahmine · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I’m glad to have read Elantris; it was very fun to experience Sanderson’s debut.
However, I had a very hard time getting through this novel and very nearly DNF’d several times. Much like Final Empire, Elantris turned positive for me at about 85% and the ending was fantastic. I like the magic system and many of the main characters a lot - not sure why most of the novel was such a slog.
Glad I read it, do not plan to return.

[judygibson-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I was a bit surprised at how much I liked this fantasy novel. It had a very interesting world/magic (or was it?) structure, many layers of action (some of them truly horrid), and characters with a bit of depth. Still, unsatisfying in several ways, particularly the climax event which I didn't understand at all.

[bangerlm · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Very enjoyable reread.

[kslade-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Pretty good long fantasy novel.

[ruskoley · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Honestly, this is closer to 3.5 stars. Main reasons it is not a 5: safe writing (no risk taking, not lively, overly measured pacing), Hrathen could have been one of the all-time greats of Fantasy, but he just comes in as a helluva character, instead. I think his story is immense and also if Sanderson wanted to work on prequels - this is the pivot point.

I recommend it to all fantasy readers. Its an above-average novel with plenty of soap opera moments and the pacing is slow enough to make you regret your choice in books by page 250. However, in for a penny-in for a pound, there are rewards to be had here and most soaps feel interminable, right?!

[wren73-89184 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Very interesting. It was very depressing at the beginning, but was much better as I read along.

[lucky2loki · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Engrossing, and the three character point of view tag-team (with wildly, and yet perhaps not that dissimilar, goals and motivations) really helps carry the narrative along. The plot is skillfully presented, and I get all the clues I need to put things together without the twists and reveals ever feeling so anticipated or obvious that they aren't very satisfying. The characters, at times, felt a tiny bit more like stereotypes and thus less real than I would have liked for an otherwise fairly grounded fantasy novel, but all three protagonists are surprisingly likable, impressive and endearing -- including the cynical and antagonistic high priest sent to take over the city on behalf of his tyrannic emperor prophet. And the supporting cast is largely the same. The book also has a satisfying conclusion, as well as a great pay-off in faster pacing once the steady build-up of the first 60% or so of the book is past, a trait I really appreciate in 600+ page novels. That's not to say the book is slow until then -- in fact, considering all the exposition it is doing, it reads rather breezily from the get go -- but it takes on a page-turner-like vibe towards the end that I greatly enjoyed. Two thumbs up.

[nosborm · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Simply amazing. One of Sanderson's first published books and, I think, one of his best. There were several days where all I wanted to do was go home so I could read this book and it took a lot of willpower to put it down every evening. If you love Brandon's other books (I've only read Mistborn), you'll love this. If you haven't read any of his other stuff but like fantasy, you'll love this. Heck, I'm pretty sure if you like books period, you'll love this. The only (extremely minor) complaint I have is that this book was published 10 years ago and there isn't a real sequel! Brandon really hooked me with the characters and worldbuilding and I was settling down for another trilogy in progress when I realized at the very end this was the only proper Elantris book! I hope he does get around one day to expanding Sel and in the meantime, I plan to read The Hope of Elantris and The Emperor's Soul before moving on to other worlds in Sanderson's cosmere.

[nicole_13-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

It’s an interesting concept, and the characters are likable; but so much of the story felt incomplete and too many of the situations too contrived.

[noeshia · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Elantris was a bit of a wild ride, but a good one. I like that Serini is more realistic and down to earth and that Raoden is the idealistic scholar. This was not your average cookie-cutter fantasy, but instead a fantasy set in a world that is very grounded. Yes, there's also a romance, but it's not a high flowery big deal, it's more like the kind of romance that happens when people are as much friends as romantic partners. Some people don't like that because it lacks the flash of high romance, but it hits the spot for me. The magic system has rules, but the people who knew them are gone, and so you learn them haphazardly alongside Raoden, which is kindof nice, if frustrating at times. All-in-all this is a good book.

[dogcopter · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

So first off this is a Brandon Sanderson book so it’s super awesome. But I found a lot of things working against it, I think mostly because it’s one of his earlier books and so isn’t quite as masterfully written. The pacing isn’t quite as on point (e.g., it’ll spend too much time describing how much food Sarene is eating or how fat someone is in a way that’s distracting). And there were some (small, not *too* distracting) plot holes (like, who is it that no nation except Fjordell gives any thought to defense a whole 10 years after the fall of Elantris, and how has Fjordell not crushed it yet? And how is *nobody* interested in how Elantris fell and magic disappeared before now?) It also felt like it relied too much on archetypes and not enough on characters— the only people who have any depth to them are the three POVs, and of them, only Hrathen had a compelling inner life with interesting and dynamic motivations. Raoden’s thoughts were all “dang, it’s hard to be perfect all of the time” and Sarene is all “it’s too bad nobody will ever love me because I’m too smart and capable and an actual person unlike all of these other women around me who are completely thoughtless and flat and that’s what men want, I guess I’ll just run this city and sigh a lot.” Hrathen was totally rad, though I wish I had more insight into where his (and other people’s, for that matter) faith in his god/religion came from, since this world doesn’t have active gods.

All that said, dangggg what a story. I’m super into rediscovery of lost magic and old mythology type situations, and because it’s Sanderson this happens all in the midst of a pretty interesting global political situation and it all comes together pretty smoothly and is engrossing the whole way.

[pdcread · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Raoden was the heir to the throne when he was struck with the shaod, and disfiguring and muscle wasting disease, and banished to the city of Elantris. Elantris is the former city of the an almost god like people and has gone from being great and majestic to a filth ridden city full of despair. His betrothed arrived to find her husband to be no more, and settles into court life with her new adopted family.

Raoden is a natural leader, and in Elantris starts to build friendships and alliances with the other factions in this ruined city. In Kae, Raoden’s betrothed, Sarene, is making waves and causing ripples in court life. Her outspokenness is not always appreciated, and she makes friends and enemies in equal measure. As her influence grows she clashes with Hrathen, a priest who wishes to make the land of Arelon subjects to him religion. As part of her widows trials, she deceides to take food to Elantris, and meets with Raoden, thought she doesn’t know it is him. Raoden starts to discover more about the city and the lore and magic of the Aons, and how they may offer a cure from the shaod.

I thought this was an original fantasy work, that did not follow the form of most in the fantasy genre, which is a refreshing change. The characters were believable, and I liked the way that he describes court life and the intrigue, the double crossing and the building of alliances. I thought that the magic was original too.

[otownshorty · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This had a rather dry start, with many words in an alternate world to learn, which made it slow going. However, it definitely picked up mid-book, and the last 4 to 6 chapters were simply galloping on! I left those last chapters for another day, or I would have been reading into 4 am (again!). I am interested in finding out where he is taking this story. For a first novel, this is quite an achievement. I'm going to say 3.5 stars, because of the words, and names, can be rather much. Well-plotted, and characters were believable throughout.

[thegreatape-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Not as amazing as Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, but a great story nonetheless.

[mattries37315 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The city of Elantris was home to magical individuals that ruled Arelon for centuries then the magic died and there was chaos. Elantris the first novel by Brandon Sanderson follows a cursed Prince, his “widowed” Princess bride, and a foreign Priest come to Arelon to convert it from it’s pagan ways before judgment falls.

Raoden, the beloved Crown Prince of Arelon, wakes up to find himself transformed in a “cursed” Elantrian and escorted into the city by the priests with funerary offering as he is considered already dead. Days later, Princess Sarlene arrives from Teod to find out that her betrothed is dead and due to the marriage contract she is now the daughter of the Arelon King but sees the arrival of the Derethi priest Hrathen came to convert the Arelon in three months or it would be destroyed. As Raoden comes to grips with is now fallen home, Sarlene and Hrathen duel one another for the future of Arelon until eventually Elantris and its residents become part of their political game. Meanwhile Raoden has used his political savvy to begin “New Elantris” within the city to make life worth living among the cursed inhabitants and gives him time to find out the old magic still works but weakly and begins trying to figure out what went wrong. Through numerous interactions with another Raoden figures out what happened to the magic and begins “repairing” it thanks to Sarlene falls in love with him then learns who he is only to be separated thanks to Hrathen who is almost able to convert Arelon and Teod only to learn they were meant to be murdered because only citizens from those two nations can become Elantrians. Raoden is able to “cure” the Elantrian magic and now empowered goes to Teod to save Sarlene and battle the Derethi warriors alongside Hrathen who feels betrayed by his religious superiors.

Unlike Sanderson’s future books, the plot literally starts at the book’s beginning without a little buildup which was both different and nice. Yet this is a first novel and has problems that go along with it as Raoden and Sarlene are essentially perfect with any mistakes they make coming back to work out in the end while Hrathen’s inner struggle between having faith in his god and the leaders of his religious shows the maturity of writing that Sanderson would show in future books. Another quality that Sanderson is known for is connecting everything together at the end is present here making a very engaging finish to the book.

Elantris is the first novel of the prolific career of Brandon Sanderson that has an engaging plot that has a quality climax. While having some problems that are typical of a first novel there are the wonderful writing elements that Sanderson is known that makes you want to read the next book he writes if this is your first.

[faith_murri · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

This was so very disappointing. DNF on page 108

I think the biggest issue with this was the hype surrounding it. I went in expecting to astounded, to be completely and utterly blown away by the world and the characters. Instead, it was a whole lot of meh and some bad writing. I honestly do not see what 96% of people see. What on earth was good about this?

The dialogue was the biggest sin for me. Sanderson used my personal favorite method of conveying exposition, via dialogue, and somehow managed to fail completely at it. I could do better than he did. The only way for spoken exposition to work is entirely dependent on subtext. What the character says versus what they don't say. How they say it. Why they say it. What it says about them that they are the one saying it. What it says about them that they leave things out. What questions are answered in any given conversation and what new questions are unresolved. Dialogue isn't just to get info across about the world. It's to build characters and dynamics. It's the driving force of the narrative. None of it was done well.

It honestly felt like Sanderson was an overly enthusiastic DM who really wanted to tell about the cool lore he made, so he made a wiki about it and printed out the web pages. That's what the dialogue felt like. It said nothing about the characters conveying the information, except that they lacked personality. The unanswered questions lacked mystery and intrigue. I felt like I was playing the tutorial of an RPG and couldn't skip. It was mindnumbing.

The syntax of the dialogue was also bothersome. It felt anachronistic to me. Maybe I'm just pretentious, but I expect a certain level of...pretentiousness in my epic fantasy speech. These characters all spoke like normal, modern day people, with the occasional ~fancy~ word thrown in, just in case you forgot the setting.

The characters were forgettable. I only sort of liked one of them, Hrathen, and only because he had a hint of nuance. Most of them behaved like parodies of themselves, especially the king. Sarene was ridiculous and acted like a 90's feminist character. Raoden was too nice. Sometimes characters would just speak all their thoughts and motivations, usually to a Seon and usually Sarene, which just made them all seem like complete imbeciles. It would have been funny if it wasn't so annoying and unnatural. Again, a lack of subtext.

The world itself was alright. There were aspects of it that intrigued me, but not enough to continue reading on their merits alone. If I wanted a world without a story, I'd read his wiki. Overall, the world lacked presence. It didn't feel populated, didn't feel fully realized. It felt like the only people who existed were the people currently on the page, the only cities the ones currently being written about. This whole book took place in a proverbial white room and I hated it.

It just wasn't written well at all. It baffles me that this is so well-regarded because I feel like I was reading a different book than everyone else. Perhaps it's just because this was Sanderson's debut, but it was really bad. I'm not giving up on him, though, and hopefully his writing improves in later works. I am giving up on this book though. After the prologue, it was all downhill.