It did not take me two weeks to read Elantris. Though I started it and wasn't interested in anything happening by the end of the first chapter so I put it down for a while. I mean, there was a prince so I figured it would get interesting. And there's a girl on the cover so I assumed she'd show up at some point. But the first chapter is all grimy and violent and depressing. Which, is kind of the point, I get. But not fun to read.
Eventually, though, I came back to it and read the second chapter which was much more interesting than the first. And by then the particular Brandon Sanderson way of making you want to see what happens next kicked in and I read Elantris, truly, in like two days.
Brandon Sanderson is good so I enjoyed it. I liked Roadan and Sarene a lot. I liked the secondary characters a good deal as well. I couldn't stand Dilaf, like from the first glimpse despised him and every time he showed up on the page. But, again, I kinda think that was the point. I liked Hrathen more when he was opposing Dilaf and liked him less when it seemed Dilaf was getting the better of him.
The end wasn't really much of a surprise. How it played out was unexpected but I don't think you write a story telling us so much of who the Elantrians used to be without eventually making the half formed versions into the whole. The good part is that I enjoyed the rest of the book enough that by the time I got to the end that wasn't what I was reading for anymore.
I found it interesting how similar certain things were to The Final Empire. Dilaf's use of Dor and the partially metal parts to him were a lot like the Steel Inquisitors. And the theme of the gods and the rewritten history was a little similar. And the seons were a lot like the gloopy creatures that can change shape and live to serve people. Which makes sense because he was writing them sort of in parallel and because they're in the same universe. But I had to keep reminding myself that they're in the same universe when I stumbled on a similarity because it felt a little too the same, but also a little not. It was very subtle.
The thing is, as well written as Elantris is, I didn't love it. There were no parts I wanted to quote or characters I adored or moments that got me especially excited. I might have almost cried at one moment at the end a little, but I'm not being facetious--I honestly can't remember and it was last night. Sanderson's books are always good and always well written but I haven't read one yet that I love or that I need to read again.