So this was Brandon Sanderson's first published fantasy novel. A novel about fallen gods/zombies, politics, and jihad.

Elantris consists of three character arcs. There's Raoden, the crown-prince of Arelon who has found himself taken by the Shaod. The Shaod, a decade earlier, had once turned lucky inhabitants into godlike beings who then went to live in the magical city of Elantris. However, a massive catastrophe has somehow perverted the magic of Arelon. Now, the Shaod turns its victims into an undead monstrosity that are thrown into the now decaying Elantris. Raoden now seeks to reestablish Elantris and find out what went wrong before the ever increasing pain drives him to madness.

Sarene was betrothed to Raoden, but finds that there is no groom for her arranged marriage. She is told that the prince had died, but her marriage contract binds her to him and she is unable to marry anybody else. Stuck in Arelon for political advantage, she gets involved with a revolutionary group intent on changing the oppressive, cruel mercantile system of rule set up by Raoden's father. But she has to face off with more than the court's intrigue as the third character arch is....

Hrathen, a high priest of the Derethi religion of the East. Derethi is a sort of cross between militant Catholicism and militant Islam and is intent on bringing the entire world under its theocratic rule. Hrathen has been sent to convert the nation of Arelon to Derethi in the space of three months, after which an invading force will either establish Derethi rule or annihilate the unbelieving population.

For the most part, the book is a fairly light-hearted journey as Raoden works to uplift the fallen Elantarians and Sarene works to bring a better system of government to Arelon while acting as a foil to Hrathen's plans of converting the masses. This not only is a refreshing style in a genre that is continually trying to out grim the violence porn industry, it leads to the biggest complaint I have about the book: the tone. It's a little jarring to go from what approaches a campy interaction between characters to the near genocidal final act. Of course, as a flaw, this is a very small dent compared to a lot of what was done right.

First, I was impressed with the fallen state of the Elantrians. Their appearance and ostracization is reminiscent of leprosy while their bodies' inability to heal, be free from pain, and constant hunger take the best from zombie lore while throwing out the silliness of that tired, over-used genre. This, coupled with the mystery of how Elantrians fell from their godlike state make Raoden's sections the most intriguing of the novel. The resolution of the Elantrian mystery, coupled with the resolutions of the other character arches make this a satisfying "stand-alone" novel.

Though this book was written to be self-sufficient, it still has the feel of a first book in a series. The resolution of the character archs still leave a lot of source of danger to Arelon and Elantris. Luck for us, Brandon Sanderson does plan to write at least two more novels centered around Elantris...eventually.