Warbreaker

If there is one thing Brandon Sanderson does well (besides writing some of the best fantasy novels ever penned), it’s imaginative magic systems. The Mistborn books have their unique use of metals, the Stormlight Archives have said stormlight that permeates every aspect to the world that Sanderson has created, and now Warbreaker has ‘breath’, a magic system based around colours and souls. I won’t go into it in too much depth about its various ins and out as there is a whole lot more to this book than just this inventive new magic system, but suffice to say that Sanderson has once again knocked it out of the park. When I first started the book I was a little sceptical, with the breath system appearing a little wishy-washy and not rooted in the usual cause-and-effect systems I had come to expect from Sanderson’s amazing magic generating mind, but by the end I was not only fully invested but yearning to see what else he could do with this novel approach. So with that little splurge out of the way, let get into the book itself.

Warbreaker follows two princesses, an immortal who is worshiped as a god, and a mysterious killer in another example of Sanderson’s trademark multiple perspective story telling. True, this story doesn’t have as much action as, say Stormlight Archive, and it doesn’t have an expansive set of locations, but by the end of the book I feel like the civilisation that he has created is a living breathing entity. He once again does a fantastic job writing extremely varied characters of both genders, producing fleshed out individuals thrown into testing, turbulent, and often terrifying situations. By the end I genuinely felt a deep connection with both the characters and the beautifully crafted story our protagonists find themselves within.

Now for the story itself. It does start a little slow. I was worried after the first couple of hours that it wasn’t going to dig its claws into me like Sanderson’s other works. I was a little concerned that, due to it being a standalone novel in an entirely new universe, I wouldn’t get the full hit of top-notch story telling due to so much ground-work needing to be laid. I was wrong. So very, very wrong. True, this is far more of a political thriller than it is an action adventure, but I found myself enjoying it just as much as his other works if not more so for its cleverness. There were moments that genuinely had my adrenaline pumping, and spade-loads of twists and turns that you never see coming that have you constantly on the edge of your seat. This book is not heavy on action, but then it really doesn’t need to be. There is enough of the old fighty-fighty stab-stab to keep my bloodlust ticking over, but it’s the ins and out of the various plots and schemes that kept me listening. I genuinely wasn’t sure how much I was going to like this book by about five hours in, but by the end I really don’t think he could have done it any better.

In conclusion: strong characters, a beautifully crated and novel magic system, and a compelling and enticing plot. All in all Sanderson has created yet another fantastic piece of prose. I hope there will be more books set in this universe, but even if there isn’t, it won’t take away from the extremely enjoyable listen I had (after researching, I now know that a sequel is well on the way!!). This is a solid novel.

The narration was top quality. Nothing that will blow your mind, but a range that left every character with a separate personality in both accent and tone. A solid performance from Alyssa Bresnahan.

Personal score: 4.25

Professional score: 4 stars