Warbreaker

672 pages

English language

Published July 6, 2011 by Orion Publishing Co.

ISBN:
978-0-575-09746-9
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4 stars (158 reviews)

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 …

16 editions

reviewed Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Sympa mais sans plus

3 stars

Sympa mais sans plus, probablement destiné à un public légèrement plus jeune que moi.

Vasher et Saignenuit ont une relation intrigante, Chanteflamme est souvent drôle, le reste des personnages m'a paru plus cliché, notamment les deux princesses qui m'ont paru fades car facile à prédire.

J'ai lu ce livre principalement pour connaître l'origine de Saignenuit.

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked the theme of duty and hate, and pretty much all the characters. Lightsong is probably my favorite. His interactions and character conclusion are just so good. But Vivennia is also really good, seeing her go from being a mindless sheep that hates what she was always told to hate to going with vasher and becoming an "awakener" was cool. The worldbuilding and lore was cool as well. The magic system is interesting but I wonder about it's limitations because breathes as a concept are inherently extremely limited and the magic system can't even be abused to it's fullest without thousands of them.

Cool book. Not as good as final empire or emperor's soul but still solid. Maybe a little too long for the concepts it plays with.

Time to read: 13 hours 39 minutes

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Easily the horniest Sanderson I've read so far, and also the one that has more substantial things to say about class and status. As I finish up the first phase of the cosmere, some of the complaints I've had about the other books are more than adequately accounted for in others, by having such a broad scope he is able to focus each story on the issues that are most relevant to it. This one might actually have my favorite set of characters in it, and it's a shame there hasn't been more of this world explored yet, but that just means there is plenty to look forward to.

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What an enticing combination of genres:. There's a little bit of mystery/intrigue, a bit of espionage, a bitt of fantastical history, and, of course, sci-fi/fantasy. I read this book because my younger son really encouraged it, emphasizing that although it was fantasy (which is HIS genre), I would probably like the mystery and intrigue. He, of course, was right. I like fantasy, but it's usually not my go to in and of itself, although Levi and I do have a significant overlap, I really am primarily murder mystery and science. This had a consistent scientific basis of its own, not the Earth's, and there was a fair amount of intrigue. Most of the characters were likable, but there were definitely some surprises! And it's LONG – almost 25 hours recorded! But in the end, it's satisfying and, although there are some questions for the sequels, there are no hanging unanswered …

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

2020 Reread

In advance of Rhythm of War releasing in November I wanted to revisit the larger Cosmere. Let's be honest though, I was here for Nightblood and any appearance with Vasher was excellent. I forgot about Hoid's appearance in the story and when the Cosmere tale has been woven his transition from world to world will be fun to map out.

It may be that the magic or world doesn't interest me but I didn't feel compelled to carve out additional time in my day to read the story. Ultimately this is probably my least favorite Sanderson/Cosmere story. True to any Sanderson story it finishes strong and the final 15% is a rollercoaster of a ride and with the hint of another story I'm like "sign me up, this was fun" because I'm quick to forget the days prior to that climax.

Original review from 2016

"I learned it …

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

My second Sanderson book after Way of Kings and didn't come away disappointed; I thought the magic system was particularly interesting as on paper it sounds very disparate and inconsistent like the rules were made by throwing darts at a board full of different arbitrary ideas (color-powered! transferable souls! magic power tiers! commanding inanimate things! people can come back from the dead!), but Sanderson takes those ideas and turns them into genuinely fascinating worlbuilding and magic systems. I also enjoyed the characters and their banter, specially Lightsong's.

Review of 'Warbreaker' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

At this point, I have read a lot of Sanderson books. There are two things that I love in his writing:

1. The complex world building
2. His ability to tie up all loose ends at the end of the book.

Warbreaker is no different. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

To nitpick slightly, I thought that the magic system could have been better explained. I still don't understand the role that color had to play in it. None-the-less, this is a small (by Sanderson terms) and quick airplane read.

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Subjects

  • Fiction, fantasy, general

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