Helpful Score: 4
I checked out this book from the Library one day. I had never heard of Brandon Sanderson before. I was blown away. Since reading this book I have caught up with all of his other books which are just as fantastic. This particular story is my favorite of his works. He has an unbelievable ability to create entire societies in crisp detail as if they are places he's visited. He sees to every detail and has a real understanding of the workings of religion, politics, and man. He invents new systems of magic in his worlds I haven't seen anywhere else. His writing style is not pretentious or boring. He makes you really care about his cast of characters. This book has shot up to my top 5 favorite of all time. I will continue to follow this author. I highly reccommend it to any fans of magical fantasy or anyone who is interested in the motivations behind governments who create religions and turn men are into gods. Couldn't put it down.
Helpful Score: 2
Top notch fantasy. Very fresh idea and concepts of magic. I enjoyed every page.
Helpful Score: 1
Not as good as the Mistborn series, start there, but a good read. I really enjoy Sanderson's works!
Helpful Score: 1
Even though this book is long I read it in two days, not that I slept much. It is just as good as his Mistborn trilogy. The plot moves right along and the sequence of events and characters are well developed. I thought it was a really great read.
Helpful Score: 1
I've read Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy as well as The Way of Kings, and I really do like his writing style. His dialogue is extremely well written, and his books keep you interested, and keep the pages turning. But nothing much really happens in this book. Lots of conversations about: should two nations go to war, how does the magic system work, and who really are the gods - conversations about these topics, with little action accompanying. The magic system is interesting, but not nearly as much so as his other creations in Mistborn and Stormlight. His writing saves the book, as he really is fun to read, but 200 pages in, and it will dawn on you that, well, very little is happening.
Warbreaker was a very interesting book for a lot of different reasons.
The most unique reason, perhaps, is that Brandon Sanderson released Warbreaker for free online as he wrote it. Early readers were literally able to watch the book grow as it was written, edited, corrected, and completed.
Warbreaker is also Sanderson's counterpoint to Elantris. In the lore of Elantris, normal people were turned into gods at random. However, due to the illness that killed those gods, Sanderson was never able to explore what it must have been like for those people to deal with their new life as a deity. In Warbreaker, normal people are also turned into gods, but this time we get to spend some time inside of their heads and their lives.
In Elantris, a princess is sent from home to marry a foreign prince, but arrives only to find that her fiancée has died. In Warbreaker, a princess is sent to a foreign country to marry a God-King, and has no choice but to accept and deal with her fate.
The magical system in Warbreaker focuses on color and the use of Breath. I was skeptical at first, but the concept quickly drew me in by its complexity and potential. Sanderson develops all of the characters with his usual skill, and it's not until the very end that you truly figure out who it is that you can really trust.
I would have preferred that Sanderson would have taken more time on the ending (like Elantris, Warbreaker also ended in "The Sanderson Avalanche") but that is really my only complaint. In all, it was a very fun book with a lot of great surprises.
Note: While all of Brandon Sanderson's books take place on different planets at different points in time, they are all tied together in a fictional universe that he calls the Cosmere. One common thread throughout all of the books is a character that makes a named or cameo appearance in every single book. When named, he is called Hoid. His overall story arc is still a mystery, but he is obviously important. In Warbreaker, he makes a named appearance on page 373 of the mass market paperback.
Recommended Sanderson reading order (should you be interested): Elantris > Mistborn 1-3 > The Emperor's Soul > Warbreaker > Stormlight Archives 1-2 > Alloy of Law trilogy (Alloy of Law + Shadows of Self + Bands of Mourning)
The most unique reason, perhaps, is that Brandon Sanderson released Warbreaker for free online as he wrote it. Early readers were literally able to watch the book grow as it was written, edited, corrected, and completed.
Warbreaker is also Sanderson's counterpoint to Elantris. In the lore of Elantris, normal people were turned into gods at random. However, due to the illness that killed those gods, Sanderson was never able to explore what it must have been like for those people to deal with their new life as a deity. In Warbreaker, normal people are also turned into gods, but this time we get to spend some time inside of their heads and their lives.
In Elantris, a princess is sent from home to marry a foreign prince, but arrives only to find that her fiancée has died. In Warbreaker, a princess is sent to a foreign country to marry a God-King, and has no choice but to accept and deal with her fate.
The magical system in Warbreaker focuses on color and the use of Breath. I was skeptical at first, but the concept quickly drew me in by its complexity and potential. Sanderson develops all of the characters with his usual skill, and it's not until the very end that you truly figure out who it is that you can really trust.
I would have preferred that Sanderson would have taken more time on the ending (like Elantris, Warbreaker also ended in "The Sanderson Avalanche") but that is really my only complaint. In all, it was a very fun book with a lot of great surprises.
Note: While all of Brandon Sanderson's books take place on different planets at different points in time, they are all tied together in a fictional universe that he calls the Cosmere. One common thread throughout all of the books is a character that makes a named or cameo appearance in every single book. When named, he is called Hoid. His overall story arc is still a mystery, but he is obviously important. In Warbreaker, he makes a named appearance on page 373 of the mass market paperback.
Recommended Sanderson reading order (should you be interested): Elantris > Mistborn 1-3 > The Emperor's Soul > Warbreaker > Stormlight Archives 1-2 > Alloy of Law trilogy (Alloy of Law + Shadows of Self + Bands of Mourning)
Inventive magic system, it's fun to see what Sanderson will twist it to do next. The sword was weird but fit the story fine.
This book was a play on plot twists. Brandon Sanderson has entertained me quite well once again. Siri and Vivenna are sisters, Princesses of Idris, a high mountain, sober town. Vivenna has known all her life that she was betrothed to the God King of Hallandren, a bustling city steeped in color and vice. However, the King of Idris cannot bear to send his eldest, and favorite, daughter. Siri is sent in her staid, much to the shock of all, including the untrained and ill-mannered Siri.
Vasher and his thought-projecting sentient sword Nightblood have a quest of their own, which no one is quite sure about for a good chunk of the book. (I loved guessing on his intentions). Denth and Tonk Fah are dark-humored mercenaries who meet Vivenna shortly after she makes her secret way to Hallandren to rescue her sister. Siri, in the mean time, has been learning to enjoy succulent fish dishes and wear fancy, flashy, sexy gowns. She befriends one of the pantheon of the Court, Lightsong. He has some of the best lines of the book, constantly irritating and making the other gods and royalty laugh. A good chunk of the pantheon and their priests are for war with Idris, which is seen as a rogue city defying the rightful rule of The God King. Oh, and they have some very lucrative mountain passes used for trading with other nations. Just in case you need a monetary reason to go to war.
Vasher and his thought-projecting sentient sword Nightblood have a quest of their own, which no one is quite sure about for a good chunk of the book. (I loved guessing on his intentions). Denth and Tonk Fah are dark-humored mercenaries who meet Vivenna shortly after she makes her secret way to Hallandren to rescue her sister. Siri, in the mean time, has been learning to enjoy succulent fish dishes and wear fancy, flashy, sexy gowns. She befriends one of the pantheon of the Court, Lightsong. He has some of the best lines of the book, constantly irritating and making the other gods and royalty laugh. A good chunk of the pantheon and their priests are for war with Idris, which is seen as a rogue city defying the rightful rule of The God King. Oh, and they have some very lucrative mountain passes used for trading with other nations. Just in case you need a monetary reason to go to war.
