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littledidheknow's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Having read a lot of Sanderson’s catalogue before this, the writing, tone and story all feel a little less refined than his later work. But there is no doubt that this is still brimming with his style - from the intrigue to the interesting cultural and philosophical examinations.
tinaangst's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
mattiewimberly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.25
trinityb2021's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 ⭐️
I really love the world this is set in. The magic system is so creative and unique. I love the location of a tropical port city.
Lightsong is my favorite character. He is witty and curious about everything around him. I love a good mystery plot and his POV focuses on this. The idea of a god not believing in his own religion is both existential and funny. Vasher is so interesting and I want to know so much more about how breaths works with investiture!
I liked the story overall! However, this is definitely not Brandon's best work but it was pretty fun. It had a lot of room for improvement. The ending in this felt rushed and is begging for a sequel. A good mystery can make me invested in a book no matter how mediocre the rest of it is. Awakening and Breaths is still one of the coolest magic systems ever. And Nightblood is so sick. He was such an interesting part of Oathbringer and it was cool to learn its origins.
I really love the world this is set in. The magic system is so creative and unique. I love the location of a tropical port city.
Lightsong is my favorite character. He is witty and curious about everything around him. I love a good mystery plot and his POV focuses on this. The idea of a god not believing in his own religion is both existential and funny. Vasher is so interesting and I want to know so much more about how breaths works with investiture!
I liked the story overall! However, this is definitely not Brandon's best work but it was pretty fun. It had a lot of room for improvement. The ending in this felt rushed and is begging for a sequel. A good mystery can make me invested in a book no matter how mediocre the rest of it is. Awakening and Breaths is still one of the coolest magic systems ever. And Nightblood is so sick. He was such an interesting part of Oathbringer and it was cool to learn its origins.
mes0pelagic_fan's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
classic brandy sandy— a fun adventure, cool magic, some political intrigue, mildly witty banter, the works. bonus points for having more women characters than mistborn!! even if there were a few lines of wildly mormon ideology lmao
zaharya's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rachelreads15's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
wouterk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved this book. It looked big, but was fast-paced and full of Sanderson's wonderful and clear storytelling. There are so many mysteries to uncover and so many plot twists! All characters have distinct voices, personalities and character development. Warbreaker truly sweeps you off your feet and takes you into a fascinating world with a unique magic system that also feeds into some very interesting theological and cultural disparities within this world.
As Idris is being threatened by their powerful neighbour Hallandren, Idrian princesses Siri and Vivenna dive into an adventure to try and stop this war. While Vivenna was trained and promised to be married to Hallandren's God King, Siri, who is wild and has no knowledge of Hallandren court, is sent in her stead. As Siri is married to te God King we get to learn about the Gods of Hallandren, court politics and the absolute wealth that they live in. Simultaneously, Vivenna travels to Hallandren's streets to try and save her sister from the God King's grasp and try and stop the war from behind the scenes.
I really loved how the plot was set up and how the sisters but also the other characters develop. The God King is great, but also Lightsong the Bold, a god that we follow from the start. Special shoutout to the extremely funny dialogue that Lightsong has with the likes of Blushweaver, his priest and Siri. Then there's the rough types like Denth, Tonk Fah, Jewels and mysterious Vasher with his sword Nightblood. They are all very distinct with their own motives, past an development, which makes for a really rich world.
Speaking of a rich world, the world building is great. The Idrian and Hallandrian perspectives on the magic system a diametrically opposed. How these perspectives connect to the nations' history and is heavily influential on their religious and cultural viewpoints and practices is very intricate and makes for a really human and relatable world.
The magic system in Warbreaker is one where one can get breaths from other people. In principe, each person has one breath but one can give it away, which has some negative consequences but at least you'll live. On the other side, there's people who have gathered or gotten many breaths and they have increased abilities to perceive colour, feel life, awaken objects, bring a corpse to live and command it and more. The system is more complex than this but these breaths are the key mechanism. The way it relates to colour is wonderful as it makes for some very interesting cultural aspects in the world and creates the opportunity for Sanderson to really make some beautiful descriptions while still being plot relevant. I loved it.
The plot development and character development in this book is great and I thought the ending was great and very satisfying for most main characters and secondary characters. Personally, I did have some trouble with Vivenna's ending [Spoiler warning]. <spoilers>I liked very much how Vivenna started extremely prejudiced and biased from her royal upbringing and really grew to learn more a bout the world. She learns how to take action, how people in different positions can suffer and much more. What does not change is her purpose to help Idris, protect her family and her people, which I thought was very strong. But then at the end she suddenly decides she will not go back and just get out with Vasher. It is the ultimate expression of her character having been liberated from her strict upbringing. But it also really diverts completely from her underlying value system. And I think with what she learned she could've done a lot of good for Idris and Hallandren, and I'd say she would be intelligent and engaged enough to realize this and act on it. </spoilers>
That really is my only complaint though, and maybe there was a bit too much overlap in story elements with Elantris and Mistborn. Then again, I love these books as well, so unless this continues throughout the stormlight archive, mistborn era 2 and the other Cosmere stuff I need to read, this is a minor gripe.
I would definitely recommend this book and feel like I will read it a second time after finishing most of the Cosmere.
As Idris is being threatened by their powerful neighbour Hallandren, Idrian princesses Siri and Vivenna dive into an adventure to try and stop this war. While Vivenna was trained and promised to be married to Hallandren's God King, Siri, who is wild and has no knowledge of Hallandren court, is sent in her stead. As Siri is married to te God King we get to learn about the Gods of Hallandren, court politics and the absolute wealth that they live in. Simultaneously, Vivenna travels to Hallandren's streets to try and save her sister from the God King's grasp and try and stop the war from behind the scenes.
I really loved how the plot was set up and how the sisters but also the other characters develop. The God King is great, but also Lightsong the Bold, a god that we follow from the start. Special shoutout to the extremely funny dialogue that Lightsong has with the likes of Blushweaver, his priest and Siri. Then there's the rough types like Denth, Tonk Fah, Jewels and mysterious Vasher with his sword Nightblood. They are all very distinct with their own motives, past an development, which makes for a really rich world.
Speaking of a rich world, the world building is great. The Idrian and Hallandrian perspectives on the magic system a diametrically opposed. How these perspectives connect to the nations' history and is heavily influential on their religious and cultural viewpoints and practices is very intricate and makes for a really human and relatable world.
The magic system in Warbreaker is one where one can get breaths from other people. In principe, each person has one breath but one can give it away, which has some negative consequences but at least you'll live. On the other side, there's people who have gathered or gotten many breaths and they have increased abilities to perceive colour, feel life, awaken objects, bring a corpse to live and command it and more. The system is more complex than this but these breaths are the key mechanism. The way it relates to colour is wonderful as it makes for some very interesting cultural aspects in the world and creates the opportunity for Sanderson to really make some beautiful descriptions while still being plot relevant. I loved it.
The plot development and character development in this book is great and I thought the ending was great and very satisfying for most main characters and secondary characters. Personally, I did have some trouble with Vivenna's ending [Spoiler warning]. <spoilers>I liked very much how Vivenna started extremely prejudiced and biased from her royal upbringing and really grew to learn more a bout the world. She learns how to take action, how people in different positions can suffer and much more. What does not change is her purpose to help Idris, protect her family and her people, which I thought was very strong. But then at the end she suddenly decides she will not go back and just get out with Vasher. It is the ultimate expression of her character having been liberated from her strict upbringing. But it also really diverts completely from her underlying value system. And I think with what she learned she could've done a lot of good for Idris and Hallandren, and I'd say she would be intelligent and engaged enough to realize this and act on it. </spoilers>
That really is my only complaint though, and maybe there was a bit too much overlap in story elements with Elantris and Mistborn. Then again, I love these books as well, so unless this continues throughout the stormlight archive, mistborn era 2 and the other Cosmere stuff I need to read, this is a minor gripe.
I would definitely recommend this book and feel like I will read it a second time after finishing most of the Cosmere.
_hannachew's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0