Elantris
BRANDON
SANDERSON
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK
New York
PART 1 - THE SHADOW OF ELANTRIS
PART 3 - THE SPRIT OF ELANTRIS
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are
used fictitiously.
ELANTRIS
Copyright © 2005 by Brandon Sanderson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Spot illustrations throughout by Stephen de las Heras
Book design by Milenda Nan Ok Lee
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sanderson, Brandon.
Elantris / Brandon Sanderson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 0-765-31177-1
EAN 978-0765-31177-1
1. Blessing and cursing—Fiction. 2. City and town life—Fiction. 3. Princesses—Fiction.
4. Princes—Fiction. I. Title
PS3619.A533E43 2005
813’6—dc22
2004063765
First Edition: May 2005
Printed in the United States of America
0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to my mother,
Who wanted a doctor,
Ended up with a writer,
But loved him enough not to complain
(Very much).
First and foremost, I would like to thank my agent, Joshua Bilmes, and my editor, Moshe Feder, for helping me squeeze the fullest potential out of this manuscript. Without their masterful editorial vision, you’d be holding a very different book right now.
Next, high praise and thanks must be offered to the members of my various writing groups. Alan Layton, Janette Layton, Kaylynn ZoBell, and Ethan Skarstedt. Daniel Wells, Benjamin R. Olsen, Nathan Goodrich, and Peter Ahlstrom. Ryan Dreher, Micah Demoux, Annie Gorringe, and Tom Conrad. (You guys were a writing group, even if you didn’t know it!) Thank you all so much for your work and suggestions.
In addition, there are dozens of people who read this book and others during my years struggling to get published, and I am inexpressibly grateful for their enthusiasm, criticism, and praise. Kristina Kugler, Megan Kauffman, Izzy Whiting, Eric Ehlers, Greg Creer, Ethan Sproat, Robert ZoBell, Deborah Anderson, Laura Bellamy, Mr. M, Kraig Hausmann, Nate Hatfield, Steve Frandson, Robison E. Wells, and Krista Olsen. If I forgot anyone, I’ll get you in the next book!
I’d also like to give special thanks to those teachers who have helped me in my university career. Professors Sally Taylor, Dennis Perry, and John Bennion (who worked on my master’s thesis committee). Professor Jacqueline Thursby for her faith in me. Dave Wolverton, who sent me out into the world, and Professor Douglas Thayer, whom I’ll someday convince to read a fantasy book. (He’s getting a copy of this one, whether he wants it or not!)
Finally, I’d like to thank my family. My father for buying me books when I was a kid, my mother for turning me into a scholar, my sisters for their smiles, and Jordan for putting up with a domineering older brother. You can check out his programming skills—along with Jeff Creer’s amazing artistic design—on my Web site,
www.brandonsanderson.com
.
Thank you so much, everyone, for believing in me.
PROLOGUEElantris was beautiful, once. It was called the city of the gods: a place of power, radiance, and magic. Visitors say that the very stones glowed with an inner light, and that the city contained wondrous arcane marvels. At night, Elantris shone like a great silvery fire, visible even from a great distance.
Yet, as magnificent as Elantris was, its inhabitants were more so. Their hair a brilliant white, their skin an almost metallic silver, the Elantrians seemed to shine like the city itself. Legends claim that they were immortal, or at least nearly so. Their bodies healed quickly, and they were blessed with great strength, insight, and speed. They could perform magics with a bare wave of the hand; men visited Elantris from all across Opelon to receive Elantrian healings, food, or wisdom. They were divinities.
And anyone could become one.
The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation. It struck randomly—usually at night, during the mysterious hours when life slowed to rest. The Shaod could take beggar, craftsman, nobleman, or warrior. When it came, the fortunate person’s life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, mundane existence, and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshipped for eternity.
Eternity ended ten years ago.
CHAPTER 1Prince Raoden of Arelon awoke early that morning, completely unaware that he had been damned for all eternity. Still drowsy, Raoden sat up, blinking in the soft morning light. Just outside his open balcony windows he could see the enormous city of Elantris in the distance, its stark walls casting a deep shadow over the smaller city of Kae, where Raoden lived. Elantris’s walls were incredibly high, but Raoden could see the tops of black towers rising behind them, their broken spires a clue to the fallen majesty hidden within.
The abandoned city seemed darker than usual. Raoden stared at it for a moment, then glanced away. The huge Elantrian walls were impossible to ignore, but people of Kae tried very hard to do just that. It was painful to remember the city’s beauty, to wonder how ten years ago the blessing of the Shaod had become a curse instead….
Raoden shook his head, climbing out of bed. It was unusually warm for such an early hour; he didn’t feel even a bit chilly as he threw on his robe, then pulled the servant’s cord beside his bed, indicating that he wanted breakfast.
That was another odd thing. He was hungry—v
ery
hungry. Almost ravenous. He had never liked large breakfasts, but this morning he found himself waiting impatiently for his meal to arrive. Finally, he decided to send someone to see what was taking so long.