672 pages
English language
Published July 6, 2011 by Orion Publishing Co.
After bursting onto the fantasy scene with his acclaimed debut novel, Elantris, and following up with his blockbuster Mistborn trilogy, Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is today’s leading master of what Tolkien called “secondary creation,” the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own.
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 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 …
After bursting onto the fantasy scene with his acclaimed debut novel, Elantris, and following up with his blockbuster Mistborn trilogy, Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is today’s leading master of what Tolkien called “secondary creation,” the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own.
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 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.
The straight-forwarded prose makes the world-building and characters shine and ties the story together brilliantly
This is an other great Brandon Sanderson book, even if it isn't his best. I enjoyed the characters, especially Lightsong, and the mysterious magic of Breaths and BioChroma. The magic feels far more incomplete than, for example, Mistborn or Elantris, but it feels deliberate as I'm sure Sanderson will return to this world in the future. I reread this book because of two elements in it that appeared in Words of Radiance. It's interesting to see how Sanderson is starting to link the Cosmere books together. I look forward to reading from all his series and spotting the connections!
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-warbreaker-by-brandon.html
