Grams per square metre

I work for a company that provides outsourcing services for print & mail functions. We print bank statements, power bills, registration forms - that sort of thing. Every month, millions of pages go through our laser printers. So, as you might expect, we talk about paper from time to time - sizes, weights and things like how shiny it is or how many sheets will fit in a maxpop envelope. We talk about paper aesthetics too. Sadly this is one of the more interesting things about my job.

I am relating this to you so that when I say that Elantris by Brandon Sanderson is printed on the cheapest nastiest paper I have come across in a book, you can be confident that I know what I am talking about. The paper is light, low density rubbish. It isn't even all from the same batch as it changes colour part way through. The book is 600 pages (300 sheets) long and yet the paper is so flimsy that it folds more easily than the ASIMs that arrived the other day. The quality of the binding and cover are just as shoddy. The poor quality manufacture is my single strongest impression of this book.

In case you are interested in the other stuff, it is a pretty decent piece of epic fantasy. Strong characters and good writing of political intrigue offset somewhat by a predictable overall story. I'm not necessarily going to actively seek out more work by this author for myself but would recommend it to people who have a particular interest in the "courageous noble fighting to save their kingdom from evil outsiders" corner of the fantasy genre. I wouldn't lend them my copy though - it would probably fall apart.