Elantris

Elantris was built on magic and it thrived. But then the magic began to fade and Elantris began to rot. And now its shattered citizens face domination by a powerful Imperium motivated by dogged religious views. Can a young Princess unite the people of Elantris, rediscover the lost magic and lead a rebellion against the imperial zealots?

Brandon Sanderson's debut fantasy showed his skill as a storyteller and an imaginer of baroque magical systems to be fully developed from the start.

Genre: Fantasy

"Elantris is a new Ben Hur for the fantasy genre, with a sweeping, epic storyline and well-drawn and sympathetic characters." - Kevin J Anderson

"Brandon Sanderson is the real thing--an exciting storyteller with a unique and powerful vision. Elantris is one of the finest debuts I've seen in years." - David Farland

"Brandon Sanderson's Elantris is a marvelous, magic monster of a book, packed full of intrigue and daring, based around a killer high concept. When the city of the gods becomes a city of the damned, who and what do you believe in? The story twists and turns, characters bait traps for one another as they vie for secular and religious power, and no one is necessarily who or what they seem. Royal houses rise and fall, the fate of all Humanity is in the balance, and maybe, just maybe . . . the gods are coming back. All this and a genuinely touching love story too." - Simon R Green

"While every new fantasy author is hailed as unique, new, and different, Brandon Sanderson's Elantris does indeed provide an absorbing adventure in a unique, different, and well-thought-out fantasy world, with a few nifty twists as well." - L E Modesitt Jr