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.
I read Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson in September 2021 as part of the Cosmere Conquest book club, which has now become The Oasis, an SFF themed book server on Discord. Consider joining us!
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About the Book
Warbreaker
Warbreaker Book One
by Brandon Sanderson
Published 31 March 2010
Tor Books
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Page Count: 688
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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 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.
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My Review
My Rating: 5 Stars
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I read Warbreaker along with a monthly Cosmere themed book club in September 2021 after we spent most of the year in Mistborn, then started the Stormlight Archive briefly only to divert to this. I’m not entirely sure if I was just very used to Sanderson by now or if this is genuinely a good entry point to Sanderson, but Warbreaker feels like a great place to start if you haven’t tried Sanderson’s book yet and aren’t starting in Mistborn.
All of the world’s magic, and everything that makes the world tick, is based on Color and Breath. The royalty of one group of people have a particular amount of blessed extra Color, and the ability to control it. Their hair, if not strictly controlled, acts like a mood ring. Princesses are expected to dress in drab colours and always control their appearance, keeping the Color humbly in line and unseen. The other group of people in this world, the ones who believe the holders of Color are the problematic uprisers trying to disrupt their way of life when they are, in fact, the foreign conquerers of the land, have Breath. Their gods walk among them, Reborn individuals among them to did something so brave in their previous lives that they deserve an immortal second life, who must be fed the Breath of others on a regular basis in order to survive. Those whose Breath has been taken continue to live, but their spark, their soul, is gone.
Warbreaker revolves around a God who doesn’t believe he’s all that special and the princess of Color who was promised to him (changed at the last moment from her older sister) but also features bits of storyline from said elder sister who sets off to rescue her sister, who learns that not all of her father’s informants were as honest and noble as they appeared, and that she too can wield the power of Breath.
This book has a lot of high fantasy concepts that are both entirely unique to this world and also feel familiar and like a cool spin on something we’ve all seen before if you’re even a little bit into high/epic fantasy. If you already love fantasy in general, regardless of whether or not you’ve read other Sanderson titles, you’ll feel right at home in this one. Although this book is long and does a whole lot of worldbuilding legwork, it’s an easy read. I listened to the audiobook version in between several other books I had reading deadlines on and this only took a week as that extra, in-between read. If I had just sat down to read this one, I would have gladly made it a 2-day book!
I think what I love most about this book is all of the questioning society and old traditions that the lead characters do. Although they’re all coming from different starting points and have different selfish and unselfish motives, every main “good guy” starts to question everything about the way their people think the world works and how it should run. This is the origin story of a revolution and all sides are sympathetic in their own way.
Siri was definitely my favourite character to read. The bubbly, unconcerned youngest sister of the king who was never taught or expected to lead and suddenly finds herself the ambassador of her people and betrothed to a God in another kingdom, yet she manages to handle it all with more grace than anyone expected and quickly begins to make important allies as she figures out what’s deeply wrong and horrifying about this new kingdom she’s found herself in. She’s bright, intelligent, and has a fierce will not only to survive, but to save someone she owes nothing to.
Older sister Vivenna strikes off on a mission to save her naive, innocent little sister and discovers that she is, infact, the more naive one. She trusts the wrong people, picks the wrong paths, and ends up in a worse position in life than her worst nightmares ever put her in. Poor, penniless, lost in a strange place, and forced to do things that violate her moral compass.
I very much look forward to reading the rest of what’s available in this series and catching up before it ends. I want to be in on the hype for the newest title!
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