Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker (Cosmere Universe)

by Brandon Sanderson

WARBREAKER is the story of two sisters - who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, a lesser god, and an immortal trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.

Theirs is a world in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city. A world transformed by BioChromatic magic, a power based on an essence known as breath. Using magic is arduous: breath can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

But the rewards are great: by using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be performed.

Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is a master of what Tolkien called 'secondary creation,' the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own.

Reviewed by adamfortuna on

4 of 5 stars

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Warbreaker was one of the first books written by Sanderson, yet it still feels the same as his most recent works. The magic system revolves around "breath" - which has a similarity to peoples souls. The more "breaths" you have drawn from others (by way of them giving them to you), the more unique and powerful abilities you'll have. The way this concept is expanded on, as well as giving and taking breath to others and physical objects makes for a depth of ways to explore this idea.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 December, 2017: Finished reading
  • 21 December, 2017: Reviewed