Warbreaker

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Published: 2009 by Tor Books.

Medium: Kindle Edition

Rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis:
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, vigilante extraordinaire.

Review:
My dad has been hounding me for years about reading something from this author, and I, of course, ignored him. It’s not that we don’t like the same kinds of books, because we do! It’s just that, Brandon Sanderson seemed so daunting. One of his series, “The Wheel of Time” (recently made into a series on Amazon Prime) is 13 volumes in length…

I love to read, but that was a little more commitment to one story than I was looking for. And I thought all his books were all like that! Disclaimer*: I was wrong. It is at this point that I find myself asking, “Why is that?,” when I’ll happily sign up to watch 18 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy or another tv series that peaks my interest. I evidently, subconsciously do not feel the same about books. Let’s put a pin in that for now lol.

I recently started a book club up with some friends from my church small group. Our November book pick was Warbreaker. Like me, others in the group scoffed at this choice, saying that’s too long of a series to choose a book from for book club! However, Andrew, who chose this book, informed us that, Brandon Sanderson, does in fact have books that are not entire atheneums of storytelling. WHAT? I know right?!?Warbreaker is actually 1 of 1. (of which a sequel is now being written because he couldn’t just leave it that way?) This being a much easier undertaking, we dove in.

I would describe Warbreaker as a fantasy/mystery/adventure book with dark tendencies and humorous comic relief. The characters are well-written and are all three-dimensional. I will not reveal which is which, so that you may form your own opinion, however, I found myself with a favorite character and least favorite character. Except, my annoyance with my least favorite character softened with each chapter, culminating in a relatability I never expected.

I can honestly say that every single person in our book club LOVED this book. Even those that don’t typically gravitate towards the fantasy genre. I give this book a 5/5 stars. It kept me guessing throughout the story, and even surprised me a couple of times, coaxing out an audible gasp.

A+ Brandon Sanderson. And I’ve already started my next Brandon Sanderson adventure: Mistborn, so stay tuned for that one.