Mistborn or Elantris

[Singin Hobo]

Hi,
I've read Elantris and loved it, and I've got my bookshelf lined with the Mistborn trilogy ready to go but it's still a few weeks down the line in my reading list.
I'd like to get my brother-in-law a signed copy of one of the books for Christmas, but I'm curious which you all who have read both books would recommend as the best starting place for Brandon Sanderson reading... he's not adverse to a series or anything and he enjoys all of the popular fantasy fiction, WoT, Potter, LotR, etc...

So basically, if I'm only spending $25 on the guy, which is the way to go?  Elantris or Mistborn?

[Chaos]

I'd recommend Mistborn. It is structured a little cleaner than Elantris, and has a much more active magic system than Elantris. I'd call Mistborn the better book between the two.

[firstRainbowRose]

I beg to differ.  I think it would be better to start with Elantris for a couple of reasons.  First off, like Chaos said it's not quite as smooth as Mistborn (it's very minor, but noticeable if you're looking for it.).  If you were to start with mb and then go to Elantris a person might be disappointed.

Also, it's currently a stand alone novel, which means if you give it as a gift they won't have to spend money outside of the present.  I know one of the things that annoys me the most is when someone gives me a piece of a present, and books are the worst.  I might not be able to find one of the sequels, which means I have to wait even longer to finish the series.  So you might want to consider that, and the fact that there have been the distrubtion issues with HoA.

[Chaos]

That's very true. I don't think I would have liked Elantris nearly as much if I read Mistborn first--something about going from a better book to one that is slightly worse, I think. There's definitely something to be said for Elantris being a stand-alone. It's quite refreshing to have one of those with all of the trilogies out there on the fantasy market.

That being said, Elantris is great. You certainly can't go wrong with it. But if your brother-in-law likes a longer read, then Mistborn would be great, too. You can buy the MB1 and MB2 paperback for a mere $13. A surefire way to avoid a lot of these distribution problems for Hero of Ages is to just buy it off of Amazon. You might need to wait a few days, but with distribution issues, it could end up being a lot faster to just wait for the shipping.

Largely, it comes down if you want a long, awesome trilogy or a stand-alone. If you want the trilogy, I can guarantee you Mistborn won't let you down, but if you want a stand-alone, Elantris really is a great novel, too. It comes down to preference.

[GreenMonsta]

I for one vote Elantris. I agree with Rainbow about the plus for it being a stand alone but I disagree with the quality reason. I do understand that Elantris was a first novel an it is a little un-polished but as a novel it was so different than many of the things I've read. The magic system was great and the characters were awesome. Even if the book is a little un-polished and a reader had read Mistborn first I would find it hard to believe that they would be disappointed.

[Singin Hobo]

Thank you all for your input, I went ahead and ordered him Mistborn.  If he's enticed to read others following I think he would consider an introduction to a new series to be just as much a gift as the book itself, so I'm not too concerned about it being any less of a present for not containing the complete experience.

[mtlhddoc2]

Even though you already mad eyour decision, as a "newbie" here, i thought I would chime in.

I read Mistborn first (both books, waiting on HoA) and then Elantris. I think if I had not read Mistborn first, I would have given up on Elantris by the 2nd chapter. elantris started off very rough and somewhat confusing. You have to have alot of patience to make it past the 4th or 5th chapter. but the payoff is worth it. but since I had read Mistborn, I knew how good of an auther Brandon was already, so I stuck with it. New readers of his works may not be so inclined.


A tidbit concerning my fantasy/scifi reading background:
I first read Lord of the Rings when I was about 9 (or close to 30 years ago). Since then I have read several hundred, if not thousands of books. some by the bigger name authors like jordan, Pohl, Fiest, Eddings etc. some by middling, or unknown authors. I consider myself well versed in fantasy novels. I have never read Harry Potter.

[echigo109]

I would recomend Mistborn because it has an active magic system, action, warfare ( as aposed to political intrige), and if he likes it he can get more one of the biggest problems i had with Elantris is when i finished it i was sure there was a sequal, so i started looking around and found out that there isn't one ( although he might right one in the future)

[Natalie Perkins]

On the contrary, I read Mistborn first and followed it up with Elantris.
No one would be disappointed as long as they realize that Elantris IS NOT Mistborn.
So, I vote Mistborn.