Elantris (2005)

Brandon Sanderson is pretty famous now. He took over the Wheel of Time series when Robert Jordan died, and made some waves with his own Mistborn trilogy (with a standalone sequel coming out next month). Now he's working on the second novel of The Stormlight Archive and he should hurry that up because I made the mistake of reading the first one (The Way of Kings) just after it came out and I have been waiting forever.


*ahem*


But it all started with Elantris. Or, at least, this was Sanderson's first widely released novel. It's good, too. Sanderson says he plans to write a sequel to it, but so far there's been no official announcement or anything. 


Here's the prologue that appears on the back cover of Elantris, pulled from Sanderson's website:

"Elantris 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."

Intriguing, right? Go read it, if you haven't already.




Music


E.S. Posthumus - Unstoppable

   genre: bad-a** orchestral rock
   ideal for: galloping across the wasteland in search of vengeance
  Youtube


Clint Mansell - The Last Man (from The Fountain)

   genre: slow, sad orchestral
   ideal for: plodding home from the aforementioned vengeance-quest, mourning those you've lost
  Youtube