Elantris and Warbreaker

Elantris and Warbreaker:

I bought this book based on whim. My friend told me I would enjoy it, but then again, another friend told me I would enjoy Twilight. So I make it habit to be very selective when listening to friends. However, the cover if this book stated "Elantris is the finest novel of fantasy to be written in many years..." Normally that would mean nothing to me, I mean, how many movies are advertised as "The Movie of the Year." What made this different is that the quote was attributed to Orson Scott Card.

It's no secret that Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite writers, so I bought it.

I was not disappointed, and soon afterward, I was not disappointed again when I read Warbreaker. Brandon Sanderson has quickly become one of my favorite fantasy writers. In a world of typically lame formulaic fantasy stories about elves and dwarfs he transcends stereotypes with truly unique stories and settings. Sanderson is an innovator in the genre. As much as Frank Herbert did for science fiction, Brandon Sanderson has the potential to do for fantasy.

Elantris tells an intensely dark story about a damning curse that has come over a once glorious city and its people. It's scope is grand but its characters are personal. It draws on deep religious questions while telling an engaging story full of intrigue and mystery.

The only criticism I had was that the structure of the story was somewhat mechanical. The writer bound the chapters to groups of three, where each of the three chapters was about one of the three main characters. This repeated throughout the whole book, which in no way ruined the book, but it did make some of the chapters feel forced.

Warbreaker improved on and practically eliminated the negative aspects of Elantris. While Elantris was one of the more enjoyable books I've read, Warbreaker was even better. This book contains some of the most enjoyable characters I've ever read. From the God who doesn't believe his own religion to a sentient sword who's only purpose is to destroy evil, even though it doesn't seem to know exactly what evil is. The story is fast paced and gripping, mixing the genres of political conspiracy and mystic fantasy.

Warbreaker has climbed to my top 5 list of totally awesome books. Everyone should read it, even if you don't like fantasy, this would be a good place to start.