Warbreaker

Sanderson, Brandon ~ Warbreaker ~ TOR, 2009 ~ 58 chapters, front matter map, prologue, epilogue, table of the heightenings, 652 pages ~ Audience: adults, some teens ~ Rating: Excellent.

Opening:

“‘It’s funny, Vasher thought, how many things begin with my getting thrown into prison.’ The guards laughed to one another, slamming the cell door shut with a clang.”

“Warbreaker” is a special name for Vasher.

Publication History:

While Warbreaker is a stand-alone novel with a satisfactory conclusion, it could certainly be part of a series with both prequels and sequels.

Setting:

The helpful front matter map shows the city of T’Telir. A larger map showing Idris and other surrounding locations would be helpful. Idris is rather plain and mountainous. It’s people worship a single god and life is simple and straight-forward, even plain. T’Telir is bright, colorful, and much more forgiving in culture and habit. The two cultures are notable different and that contrast plays an important role throughout the story.

Technology is ancient with weapons limited primarily to swords and such.

Little is said about the economy or trade. Priests govern in the name of the gods who show little interest in day-to-day matters although four gods control the “lifeless” armies.

Magic is based upon breath. Breath may be given away so that some may have many breathes. As the number of breaths held grows, the individual’s ability to see color and sound depth increases. With training, those with many breaths may also perform magic such as animating inanimate objects. Those without breath are “drabs.”

Plot:

Some time ago, the royal family was forced to leave T’Telir. They settled in Idris which is very different from the lush, tropical T’Telir. Idris has a small population, but does control key mountain passes essential for trade as well as important mines. By now, those in Idris have hatred for T’Telir, its culture, and especially the “gods” who exist by receiving [taking?] breaths from their subjects.

A treaty signed long ago requires the King of Idris to send his {oldest} daughter to T’Telir to marry the God King and give him a son who will be the next God King. Instead of sending his eldest daughter, he sends his youngest and prepares for a war that his small kingdom cannot win.

Characters:

1. Siri is the youngest daughter. She is athletic, attractive, and often boyish in style and manner. Siri is not interested in statecraft, politics, or typical female tasks. She enjoys being outside, riding, and simply being free. As you might imagine, she often gets into trouble with her father.

Siri has a very negative attitude toward T’Telir, the God King and the Hallandren culture. Somehow, she must adjust to her new and unexpected situation. In particular, she hopes to convince the God King to prevent a war with her homeland. At the same time, she must deal with the priests who actually are in charge.

2. Vivenna is the eldest daughter. Her life has focused on preparing to be married to the God King. Impulsively, she decides to go to T’Telir and rescue her sister from a terrible fate. Unhappily, her tutoring has not prepared her to be a secret agent and she encounters difficulty after difficulty. The contrast between her actions and failing self-confidence and her sister who grows in confidence and determination is a crucial theme throughout the story.

3. Vasher begins the story and plays an important role throughout. However, the reader learns little of his background until the very end of the story.

4. Susebron is the God King. He is not at all what Siri expected and their growing relationship adds much to the story.

5. Lightsong is the God who receives the most attention. He is light-hearted, doesn’t take his godly status seriously, and provides considerable insight into the nature and role of the gods. Note that all of the gods were once human beings who have been reawakened, given the needed breathes, and then given theoretical responsibility for an important aspect of governance.

Physical Book:

I read the mass-market paper edition. Print and font are satisfactory. See through and paper are typical of current mass market fiction.  Binding is weak and this volume is not likely to stand much use. The front matter map is nicely done by Shawn Boyles, but is too reduced in size to be as useful as might be. Jacket art shows Siri with her hair turned white [royal’s have the ability to change hair color to match their emotion with white showing fear]. The sword at the bottom of the image is Vasher’s sword Nightblood which is both animate and extremely dangerous. 

Recommendation:

Sanderson is perhaps the most famous of the contemporary heroic fantasy authors both for his own work and for completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Any of his works is an automatic library selection, likely in multiple copies.

Sanderson is especially notable for his ability to create novel and persuasive magical schemes. He has certainly done that here with what I will call breath magic and the aura that is created as well as the ability to share “life” with others and objects.

While there are some individual and group fights, this is not really an action novel. Rather, it is about introducing the reader to a complex, interesting culture and the politics behind it. In particular, why are the gods being pushed toward war with Idris? Who is behind this? What do they hope to gain?

There is a surprising amount of humor here, especially between Lightsong and his chief priest but also between Siri and the God King.

While the story ends satisfactorily, it’s clear that a sequel Or prequel would be most enjoyable.

Recommended for nearly all fantasy collections. While a hard cover edition would be best, that should not discourage libraries from purchasing.