Isabel

I have no words.
This book wrapped up the whole series in the most surprising, unexpected, sad and satisfying way.

I cried, I laughed, I raged. And in the end I found peace.

The hero of ages, much like The Final Empire, and to a lesser extent The Well of Ascension, did a tremendous job of making the reader attempt to figure out the truth, the pieces falling onto place once the final clues are revealed. Hints and clues in the text let's you realize where this is going just before the characters does. The book doesn't have to spell it out, and you really feel like you're discovering the truth alongside the protagonists. It has given me a bond and kinship with these characters I've rarely felt before.

Still, the end was the best part. Even though that meant parting with these amazing characters I've grown to love.

I can't wait to reread the series and see what clues I've missed and get acquainted with my favourite characters again. Sanderson is without doubt a master planner, and an enormously skillful writer, to have been able to pull this off.

It shows that this is Sanderson's first book. Not necessarily a bad thing, and I think this book would have been a 4.5 if I didn't know it was Sanderson. But the plot, the pace and the writing is not what you would expect having read his other works.

It is great, catching and exciting. You fall in love with the characters, it really is his strong suit. But the pacing and the elements that bring the story forwards feels a bit forced, and possibly at times a bit juvenile.

That said, I love the setting of the book, and especially that the main characters are not teenagers. They feel a lot more mature in the way they think and talk, which I think is a conscious choice by Sanderson. While I enjoy a good coming of age story, I have read quite a few of them by now. It was refreshing to have an adult point of view from the beginning.

I really hope Elantris will have a sequel, as I feel we've barely scratched the surface of what this world has to offer.

I couldn't put this book down. It had me from the first few pages and throughout.
You really get invested in the characters, their opinions, thoughts and relations to one another.
I love Sanderson's take on “magic” in the book, and how the reader is presented these rules and limitation, only to be left questioning and a bit confused in the end - just as the main characters are.

Some twists and turns I did see coming, while others I speculated about and expected from hints left by the author, sometimes quite obvious ones that the characters missed. This kind of writing can often get frustrating because you feel like the characters are dumber than they should be, but that's not the case here, somehow Sanderson makes it feel like you're JUST ahead of the characters. It made me read the book much more closely, often going back and looking for clues again.

The word building, while exciting, feels a bit lacking. You only really see a small part of the empire, and different groups feels a bit simplified and too uniform to be believable. This I hope is fleshed out in the following books of the series, because the world and story really has potential to be as enticing as the characters and their abilities.

I didn't get that into this book as I did the previous. That said it really picked up in the later half of the book. The character development is great in this one, but I'm missing some of the interactions between minor characters.

It feels like a filler between the previous and the next book, perhaps a bit dragged out, but well worth the read due to the characters you've learned to love.

Talking about character you love, I really felt like the deaths in ending were too rushed. I wanted more reactions and consequences before the book ended.

Can't wait to read the next one!