A Look at Elantris (Book) Part 3 

Fascinating character this Hrathan is

Great look at one of the most interesting and complex characters in the Cosmere! And now that the main players are established.... time to see them all clash together!

I could listen to you all day!

I enjoyed this review as always, Chuck 🙂 thank you! Looks like there are more parts to come! Hrathen is one of Brandon's most interest characters, and Brandon, as a Mormon who performed missionary work, said he based him on his own fears of what he could become in trying to do, what he sees, as the right thing.

"A man has an idea. The idea attracts others, likeminded. The idea expands, the idea becomes the institution. What was the idea?" - Top Dollar, from the 1994 film The Crow

This is one of those series that requires a glossary of all the proper nouns, isn't it?

Hrathen is an excellent example of someone who's part of a bad organization, but is doing their utmost to, if not reform it, at least steer it in less harmful directions.

To be blunt, Hrathen is the character that saved this book for me. I found Raoden and Serene to be just too cookie-cutter in their personalities to be interesting, even though I found the concept of the Reod interesting... although the execution was a little lacking for the potential horror. However with Hrathen, I saw somebody who was from the story's perspective supposed to be the antagonist, but all of his motives and aims were based from an altruistic position. With the book cycling through the three leads chapter by chapter (for the most part), I was always waiting for his PoV chapter to come back, and in the end Hrathen made the ending of the story, and by extension the entire story, work.

Hrathen actions toward the rogue priest didn't make sense to me. He basically owned him and came from a religion that values domination over everything. He had opportunity and means as well as a lot of incentive at many points to shut him down but he acted like he was dealing with an equal and a peer.