brandon sanderson – Little Bird Book Blog

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Publisher: Gollancz
Publication Date: 01/05/2005
Length: 590 pages
Genre: Fantasy

CW: human sacrifice, sexism

Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Arelon’s new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping — based on their correspondence — to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.
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Monthly Wrap Up – December 2020

I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of 2020, it’s insane to think about when how long this year felt back in the Spring! I hope you all managed to enjoy the holiday period despite the pandemic. I haven’t read as much this month which was to be expected with Christmas and New Year, plus I have been working on getting blog content ready for 2021, however I did still manage to read some great novels this month!

Books read this month

This month I read a total of 6 books (6 physical and 0 ebooks)

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
Sorry It’s A Girl by A.A. Khan
little scratch by Rebecca Watson
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Favourite books read this month

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
I doubt that this comes as a surprise as all as both of the instalments before this one have made it to this section in previous monthly wrap ups! As you can tell from my previous review, I could talk about this book for a while so I will keep this brief: this is a great end to the series. It was brilliant and bittersweet. I’m genuinely sad that this series is over but it has spurred me to read many more fantasy series in 2021!

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
This is one fantasy series that I will be continuing in 2021 after loving this first instalment. Although I’ve been reading more fantasy novels this year, I have been slightly disappointed with the lack of fantastical creatures in them (even if the novels were still great) so when I came across this novel all about fantastical beasts and caring for them I was thrilled. I loved the characters in this book and even though it is a title from Pushkin Children, it is one that I would encourage everyone to read no matter how old you are.

little scratch by Rebecca Watson
My full review of this novel will be coming out in a couple of weeks, so you’ll be able to see read my gushing then! Just know that this is a very challenging novel due to its content and the writing style and I loved every page of it. It’s a very raw and refreshing read that I’m still thinking about even now.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
In 2020 I rediscovered my love for fantasy novels and my last book of the year became one of my favourites of the year when I read Brandon Sanderson for the first time, after his books have been recommended to me for quite some time. Filled with brilliant characters in an expertly crafted world with such fascinating lore. I’m very excited to read more of his work in 2021.

Did you manage to get much reading in December? Was it a race to meet your reading challenge goal or did you fit in reading time around what festivities you were able to have? Let me know in the comments!