Elantris by Brandon Sanderson is a fantasy masterpiece - combination of politics, religion, relationships, a land on the brink of destruction and a complete world created out of a great imagination.
Sarene, Princess of the island nation of Teod, is on her way to Arelon to meet her finance - Prince Raoden of Arelon. While the marriage is a political one to give Teod an ally and Arelon a navy, Sarene and Raoden have been communicating and are looking forward to getting to know each other better.
But when Sarene arrives, a few days early to surprise Raoden, the King tells her that he is dead and that according to the contract, she is officially married to the deceased Prince.
Prince Raoden, is not dead, but has been afflicted by a transformation - one that used to make the gods of Elantris, a city within Arelon that used to govern but somehow when wrong ten years ago. Now when a person is chosen they do not become god-like, they become spotted with an apparent disease and are considered dead - thrown into the city of Elantris with the gate locked behind them. But, as Raoden discovers, they are not dead.
While Sarene tried to find out what happened to her prince, forces are at work to prepare the people of Arelon to a religious take over by a priest whose country controls all lands except Arelon and Teod. Sarene must work with the royalty - the lords who before Elantris fell were the merchant class - to try to save her new kingdom.
Sanderson has created a land of intrigue, a web of politics and religion, and a world where magic has died. This is a great book set in a similar world to his book Warbreaker but at a different time.
Sanderson, Brandon. (2005). Elantris. New York: Tor.
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