REVIEW: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

 

I really love how for me, every Sanderson novel is a winner - this man can't go wrong! I don't feel like I have a lot to say about Warbreaker because I think I would be repeating a lot of my review of Elantris.

Compared to Out of Oz which I just finished reading, Warbreaker was such a fast and easy read. I read most of it within three sittings because it was relatively easy to get through 100-150 pages without needing a break.

From the first chapter I was instantly drawn into yet another captivating world by Sanderson with another completely original system of magic, politics and laws. I find this a real strength of his; the ability to almost instantaneously make the story and the characters fascinating without any lengthy exposition. And this story, like Elantris has some really great protagonists. My favourite by far was Lightsong (and his constant companion Blushweaver) for his incredible wit and humour. For Sanderson to come up with half of this banter, I feel he must be incredibly witty himself. This was also the case with the mercenaries Denth and Tonk Fah - another pair of humouros characters who become far more complex as the story progresses.

The branch of the narrative I found most interesting was that following Siri (which was very ill-timed with Apple's release of the same name haha) and Susebron. It was the one that held the most mystery and I could have kept reading about them forever.

I quite enjoy how Sanderson gives equal time to events concerning different protagonists whose stories only come together at the very end. It breaks it up quite nicely and lets the story move fluidly with continuous waves of suspense and revelation.

The use of prose doesn't stand out like that of authors such as Feist of Gregory Maguire, but instead it slides under the radar in the form of understated genius. The fact that you don't even notice it is what makes it so great - it's completely effortless.

The epilogue was a really fantastic ending. I feared that some things were going to go left unsaid or unexplained ... Oh yea of little faith! As if Sandy would pull an N. K. Jemisin on us! For shame. He turned out to be nothing but thorough yet again. A few little tidbits in the final pages were enough to leave me satisfied yet wanting more - and I really believed in his decisions, they make sense and are true to the story rather than taking the 'this is fantasy, I can do whatever the hell I want' approach. *coughTheKingdomofGodscough*

I don't think there is going to be another Sanderson release (other than WoT) until the sequel to The Way of Kings, which is a little sad. On an interesting note, I was standing next to a really cute guy at the bookstore today and he was holding Warbreaker. We had a little conversation about how much we loved Sanderson and how I had just finished Warbreaker. I then recommended that he read The Name of the Wind (mostly because it was also there in front of us, but also because it's AMAZING). When I passed him at the checkout he was holding both books. Job well done!

I've been anticipating moving onto The Gray Wolf Throne, but Book Depository decided it didn't actually have it and gave me a refund. And even though it was published last month, the bookstores don't have it in yet. Any day now though. I was then going to start with The Hunger Games, but I know I will see the movie when it comes out in 9 days and reading the book directly before seeing the movie is a terrible move. Learnt that the hard way with Harry Potter. So I decided to finally get around to Treason Keep. Hope I can actually remember what happened in Medalon.