The paperback cover for Elantris.

The paperback cover for Elantris.

In a follow-up to my last post about the impending release of the next Wheel of Time book I’ve decided to brush up a bit on Brandon Sanderson, the author who is taking the reins for the last three planned books.  I hadn’t been keeping up with the fantasy genre outside of Robert Jordan’s new releases around the time that Sanderson published his first book, Elantris, or I might have known more about him when it was announced he was taking over The Wheel of Time.

Now that I’m finished with my Masters and back to reading what I want to read all the time rather than trying to squeeze it into periods when I’m not reading what other people have assigned me to read I feel that it’s as good a time as any to catch up on Sanderson’s work and see just how good he is.  After all, being picked by Robert Jordan’s wife and editor to continue her late husband’s work seems like a ringing endorsement for a newly minted fantasy author.

Sanderson’s first book, Elantris, debuted in 2005 and is available in paperback at most major book retailers.  I’ll also have a link up to the book at Amazon in the sidebar by the end of the day if you’re interested in picking it up online.  I grabbed a copy yesterday and made it through the first hundred pages.  So far it seems to be quite promising.  He has a unique voice and a definitive writing style that doesn’t fall into the common fantasy dual pitfalls of being either too simple or too elaborate.  And the main hook of the story, while not something I’m going to give away here in the interest of preserving some sense of surprise for anyone who wants to read it for themselves, is definitely a big enough mystery to keep me flipping pages.

So far so good for Mr. Sanderson.  I just hope that Elantris continues to live up to its excellent opening.  But I do have to say that it looks like The Wheel of Time is in safe hands.