Monday, May 3, 2010

Spread the Awesome

Elana Johnson is not only a talented author and a great friend, but she's brilliant. Her latest brain child comes in the form of showing appreciation to the authors we read by praising the paper-form magic they write. I'm not the only one who is onboard with this project. There has been a huge response from the blogosphere. To go backwards, check out Kristi Helvig's review of Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr at http://sistersinscribe.blogspot.com/. To follow the chain in a more traditional manner, follow this link http://lesserkey.blogspot.com/ to Chantal Kirkland's blog where she tells us why As You Wish by Jackson Pearce is so great.
To get a complete list of participants, go here.

This is where I insert whose book I'll be reviewing, but first I'm going to get real honest with you. This is my first book review. I'm actually a bit nervous about what to write. I have done more reading this year than I've been able to do in a long time. Three books stood out to me among a dozen or so. The first was The Dark Divine by Bree Despain and the second was a cute story by Ally Carter called I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You and the third, the one I'll be reviewing, is Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. (See how I cheated and got in a plug for three great books there? Yeah, I'm terrible.)


I've rambled enough, you say? Time to review? Okay, deep breath...


Welcome to the city of the Gods! Sort of... The book begins ten years after this magnificent place has been cursed. No one knows quite what happened, but the lingering effects are deadly. At least, that's what Raoden, Prince of Arelon, and his people have always been told. Raoden finds out the hard way when he too mysteriously contracts this killing curse. A crying shame too, since it happens the night before his soon-to-be bride, Sarene, arrives. Not one to sit idly by with the rest of the ladies and gossip, Sarene pushes her way into the political circles of the court. Not an easy task, as women are looked upon as frivolous in Arelon. Throw in Hrathren, a very devout high priest, hell-bent on converting the whole world to his religion and you have an exciting fantasy novel, full of mystery and intrigue.


Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Fantastic, fast-paced, fabulous ending

Characters: All likeable - strong female protagonist, kind, intelligent male protagonist, wicked awesome villain(s). Fun secondary characters as well.

Content: Clean enough that I'd recommend for 10 and up. No swearing, no sex, mild violence.

Moral: Love conquers all.

World-building: Not only is the world unique and complex, but I never felt overwhelmed or confused by it, making it a great read for someone who is new to the genre. It has more of a fairytale quality to it than full-on high fantasy. Though it has elements in it that make it feel epic as well.

22 comments:

  1. You did good, kid. ;-)
    So good, I have now added it to be TBR tower. *hearts fairy tale fantasy*

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  2. No reason to be nervous at all. Awesome review. My TBR list is getting SO long now but I can't wait to tackle it. :)

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  3. Great review and interesting book. Great job!

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  4. Great review - sounds like a book I need on my shelf! :) Thanks for the tip!

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  5. Nice review. Not my genre, normally, but it may just have to be added to the TBR pile! Thanks, Dani.

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  6. What a neat title for a book! I'll look into this one.

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  7. I'm reading Elantris right now. I'm about 400pgs in.

    My first initial thought about the book: Brandon Sanderson reminds me why I love the fantasy genre so much.

    I'd never heard of Brandon until I started reading The Wheel of Time, and found out he took it over. After I finished a few books I had planned to read I bought Elantris. It's ranked in my top three favorite fantasy books. Sanderson is an author I'll follow as long as he's writing. I believe he could go down as one of the great fantasy writers of our time.

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  8. This was a great review! the book looks really great, thanks for sharing it!

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  9. Love conquers all - one of my favorite themes. I haven't read any Brandon Sanderson books yet, but I want to. This sounds really good and you did a great job reviewing it.

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  10. I liked that book. Love conquers all! I never thought of that as the theme, but of course you are right.

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  11. Brandon is a great guy! Every word that comes out of his mouth - and his laptop - pure gold. ;)

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  12. Good review of a book I really, really enjoyed!

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  13. GREAT review! Sounds like a fun read!

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  14. I loved this book as well. Brandon did an excellent job.

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  15. I love fantasies with fairy tale qualities. Sounds like a great book. Great review!:D

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  16. Thanks for the recommend, Nisa!

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  17. That was a great review! Thanks for the recommendations :))

    Looking forward to following!

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  18. I really appreciate the head's up for 10 and older. It's tough for me to know what's appropriate for my precocious readers. Thanks!

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  19. Great job with your first review!

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  20. Oooo, now I must have this book - great review, Nisa! :-)

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  21. It's been a long time since I read a good fantasy. Actually, I was all set to read Blake Charlton's Spellwright, and then my husband went and left the book behind in a hotel room on one of our travels. I was so disappointed. But this looks like one to definitely consider when I, eh-heh, have to buy my new copy of Spellwright.

    And I must say, wonderful first book review! Well done!

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