From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in … live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.
By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
Collection
Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener’s Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity
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I truly loved WARBREAKER and got my daughter hooked on Sanderson with this one as well. Admittedly, I got a little frustrated trying to figure out where the title fit in, but as expected, Sanderson nailed it toward the end. Another title of Sanderson’s I’ve bought in multiple editions–hardcover, audio, and leather-bound edition.
So I read my first Brandon Sanderson. I saw this rec in a bookstagrammer’s “fantasy for beginners” video. As it happens, I found a dramatized audio adaptation on Scribd and decided to give it a try. I didn’t even read the blurb. I didn’t even consider that there may be a reading order. Fortunately, no harm was done. Apparently, there are a lot of entry points into the Cosmere (the magical universe where most of the author’s books are set).
Let me just tell you that this author is really good at twists and turns and describing fighting scenes. And the decision to make a dramatized audio adaptation was the right one. It helped me a lot to picture the scenes in my mind and made me feel as if I was watching a very compelling movie.
Warbreaker is set in the Cosmere, in a world ruled by magic. The action takes place in T’Telir, the capital of Hallandren, a country very rich and powerful due to its dye commerce. Hallandren is ruled by Returned Gods. Once, Hallandren and Idris were the same country and the Idrian royal family ruled. After the Manywar, Idris and Hallandren separated and became enemies.
This part of the world is ruled by a very interesting magic system based on colors and soul (Breath) manipulation.
Hallandren is very colorful and loud. There are a lot of people living in Hallandren, all of them worshiping Gods. These Gods are people returned from the Death for a reason no one knows. They live in the Court of the Gods, are served by Priests and servants and are kept alive by consuming a Breath every week.
Idris is the exact opposite of Hallandren. Idrians wear only white and gray. They are austere and live in the mountains under frugal conditions. They worship the dead god Austre and are against Hallandren’s beliefs.
There are 4 separate story lines in this book, all converging in the same point at the end and all happening in the context of powerful political turbulence in Hallandren and the menace of war against Idris:
– the story of 17 year old Siri, the youngest child of Idris’s king. Siri was never good at following Idris’s rules. She was always viewed as a rebel. So when time comes for her father to honor a 20 year old bargain and send a daughter to be married to the God King, he chooses to sacrifice Siri instead of his eldest, Vivenna. In spite of her lack of decorum and innocence, Siri manages to find her way and thrive in T’Telir, gaining the heart of the God King
– the story of Vivenna, who was prepared all her life to be the wife of the God King and when it doesn’t happen she feels her purpose in life disappeared and she decides to single handedly save her sister from certain death
– the story of Vasher, an enigmatic and powerful character, with undisclosed intentions and incredible knowledge of the magic system
– the story of Lightsong, the Returned God of Bravery, who is always mocking, takes nothing serious but slowly turns out to be a key character in how the events unfold
I liked a lot each of the characters arcs, the slow unraveling of the political events and machinations and the plot twists. The book ends in a bit of a cliffhanger but the ending is satisfying enough that it can be counted as a standalone. There is also a bit of romance mixed in and it was quite sweet. I had a bit of a hard time with the pacing which was a bit too slow at times but the audio kept me engaged and interested.
Safety: 14+ due to some graphic violence scenes; no sexual content scenes
I loved this book. I’m heartbroken all my favorite people turned out to be people I didn’t expect them to be. The attention to detail was great and I can’t wait to read the next book to see what happens next.
What I loved: Oh, the characters! Oh, the magic system! Let’s be honest though – the magic in this book is weird. At first I thought, no way can anyone make this a cool system, Sanderson finally has a dud. But I was so wrong. The magic is weird, quirky, and little difficult to wrap your mind around, but the payoff is great. And if you read this, you’ll set yourself up for some nice reveals in Sanderson’s other Cosmere books.
This was probably my favorite book so far by Brandon Sanderson. I listened to this one thru Audible and the voice actors was awesome! I loved the voices.
The story was so full of action and unpredictable. I loved the characters and how well developed Sanderson always makes his characters. He doesn’t make them perfect and he is never shy to have them grow from those imperfections.
Wow. This is my first Sanderson novel, and I gotta say, it did not disappoint! Political intrigue, character growth, unique magic, talking sword, I loved it all. I listened to the audiobook, and there were two moments when I had to stop the book so I could bask in the moment and process what had just happened or been revealed. I haven’t done that for an audiobook (or any book, for that matter) in a long time.
I LOVE the magic of this book it is very different and very intricate than any magics I have seen or read about. One of my most favorite books that Brandon Sanderson has wrote.
I have enjoyed many of Brandon Sanderson’s books but this ones was just too weird and hard to get interested in. I did finish it but was dissapointed.
I’m totally a Sanderson junkie. There isn’t a bad book in the lot. And Warbreaker in particular he showcases the lessons he learned writing the original Mistborn trilogy.
This one caught me by surprise and made me do something I seldom do: began reading it again as soon as I finished it. I wanted it to last “just a little longer”
LOVED IT!