Elantris

I was hesitant to read this, as so many reviewers gave it less than glowing reviews, although liking most of Sanderson's other work, but my hesitancy was misplaced. It's his first novel and there are certainly some issues with it, that Sanderson has obviously improved upon in his later works, but overall I still really enjoyed Elantris. All of the hallmarks of Brandon Sanderson's writing are there, including an amazing world, magic and characters that always seem to surprise me, even the so-called ‘bad guys' have me second guessing myself and my own prejudices. I appreciate that in his writing and how much more its grown over the course of his writing career. I also enjoyed the fact that this was a single one off story and not a series. Some secondary characters may suffer a bit for it, but it was refreshing to know that it was all going to come to an end on the last page and not keep me hanging for years to come. Although I wouldn't put this as my favourite of Sanderson's work, it is still well worth the read and better than 75% of other fantasy out there. Ignore some of those first novel follies and sit back and enjoy a novel that was the start of an amazing author's career!