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.
| LoC Classification |
PS3619.A533 .W37 2009 |
| Dewey |
813/.6 22 |
| Cover Price |
$7.99 |
| No. of Pages |
676 |
| Height x Width |
6.8
x
4.2
inch |
| Original Publication Year |
2009 |
|
|
Warbreaker (2009) 652 pages by Brandon Sanderson
The kingdom of Idris is trying to avoid a war with Hallandren. Hallandren has vastly superior forces and can gain valuable northern trade routes, and eliminate any claim to the throne from the royal family in Idris.
Hallandren is ruled by gods, who are Returned [from the dead individuals]. Returned will live for one week, but can extend that by a week by getting a BioChromatic breath. Everyone is born with one Breath, and it T'Telir, capital of Hallandren, the populace provides the gods with enough Breaths to sustain them.
A treaty between the kingdoms from twenty years ago states that Idris will provide a Royal daughter to marry the god king on Vivenna's 22nd birthday. When that day arrives, the king instead of sending Vivenna, who he can't bear to lose, sends his younger daughter Siri.
The story has three main plotlines, following Siri, Vivenna, and Lightsong. Lightsong is one of the gods. A god who doesn't believe he is a god. He is always making jokes, is self-deprecating, and claims to be useless. Siri has interaction with the god king, Susebron, the priests, and others in the royal court. Vivenna comes to T'Telir to save Siri from the fate which should have been hers.
We get to follow the growth of those three characters. As the story unfolds there is intrigue, secrets are revealed, building up to the climax. The book was really good. An original premise with the BioChromatic breath, good character development, humor that made me laugh, characters that were likable, good flow to the story. Excellent.
