Warbreaker by: Brandon Sanderson

 

While I had read most of the novels in the Cosmere when discovering Brandon Sanaderson, I initially discounted Elantris and Warbreaker.  Elantris since it was his first published novel and Warbreaker because it was a standalone novel.  Interestingly, Warbreaker is a book that serves as a perfect introduction to the Cosmere and the writing style of Brandon Sanderson.  While not always set to be a standalone, Sanderson intending to write a direct sequel at some point, it works as a standalone especially since it’s been over a decade since publication and the sequel hasn’t happened.  There are some greater connections to the larger Cosmere, especially The Stormlight Archive which began publication the year after but they aren’t enough or necessary to understand the plot or characters.  It’s mainly characters and ideas from Warbreaker leaving their setting and making appearances in other books.  This is also a special novel as it was not originally published in print, but on Brandon Sanderson’s website where it can still be read for free to this day, something that may be intended for the sequel.  The free version has no difference from the version in print, though it was published the year before and includes extensive notes on revisions Sanderson made during the writing process that are not present in the print version making it a useful tool for potential authors in and outside of the science fiction and fantasy genres to see what a book from a professional goes through.  If you are not a writer, while they may be of interest and I am glad they are there, it is not something that is necessary to look into when reading.

 

Warbreaker has a fairly simple plot especially for a Brandon Sanderson story, focusing in on the lives of two sisters, Siri and Vivenna, who have their life paths switched when their father, a king of the nation of Idris on the planet Nalthis, decides instead of sending Vivenna who has been trained to be the bride of a God King, Siri is to be sent completely unprepared.  The arranged marriage is to prevent a war between the respective countries and this decision terrifies Siri, and much of the early section of the novel is from her perspective as she adjusts to an unprepared life in the court.  While Vivenna is essentially the other major point of view character, it is Siri who has more time devoted to her with the sequel being more devoted to Vivenna and her story after the events of Warbreaker.  Now, the use of an arranged marriage is a trope in fiction and fantasy fiction that I generally dislike, it’s one where female characters lose their agency and are generally traumatized somehow by a poor author, and while that isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s not due to the God King, it’s due to the decision to force someone mentally unprepared into an arranged political marriage and the court members essentially keeping Siri in the palace.  The God King, Susebron, is actually kind of a fascinating character as a lot of Warbreaker includes examinations of faith and the idea of someone becoming a god as a real thing and it is eventually revealed his tongue has been cut out and he’s actually quite nice.  This isn’t some Beauty and the Beast style a couple has to learn to love each other, instead going down a more traditional romance of two people loving each other as they get to know one another.  Siri is spontaneous and free spirited while Suseborn is kind and caring making an interesting dynamic once the romance gets going.

 

Vivenna’s plot also follows her forming a sense of identity after losing what should have been her source of purpose and meaning in life, expecting to use her political acumen to keep the peace.  This is something that Sanderson uses to point her naivety in the face of the rest of the world where she is taken advantage of and has to learn to connect with the regular people.  It’s a simple role reversal for the sisters as established in the opening chapters, but it’s one that works.  Vivenna’s plot is also far more active and widespread as Siri is stuck in the palace for most of the book (though not inactive).  Vivenna deals with the underclasses while coming to terms with the magic system that her people in particular have outlawed the use of.  She also meets Vasher, a man who escapes a dungeon in the prologue and carries the sword Nightblood (Sanderson’s classic cursed sword trope though with his own sense of sarcasm), and this is where the magic system really works.  As in Elantris and Mistborn, Warbreaker has a unique magic system, this time connecting sensations, especially color, with Breaths that can be used to animate and give life to anything.  While this doesn’t have as much of an exposition dump as Mistborn in terms of explanation, it is still one with clear rules that stands out as essentially connecting the magic to color and life.  It adds a sense of artistry to the system and the book itself as there are deeper parts of the magic system as part of the worldbuilding.

 

Overall, Warbreaker is perhaps one of Sanderson’s slower works focusing in on the main characters and a very small scale story, but it is still an integral part of the Cosmere as well as being perfect for newcomers to the author’s work.  The slow pace is something different for Sanderson and something very nice to actually see happen putting this on par with some of the best of the Cosmere.  9/10.