Review by anana_m_v - Warbreaker

anana_m_v 's review for:

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

4.25

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was my first introduction to Sanderson’s work after meaning to get into it for a long time, and it did not disappoint. There was some very interesting and unique worldbuilding and magic system - it did occasionally feel a little opaque to understand but it was explained well eventually. I was also immediately endeared to all the characters, even Vivenna and Vasher - although they weren’t instantly likeable the author had a way of making me see things from their perspective & sympathise with them still. Similarly, I loved all of the character arcs, and all of the protagonists had wonderful development. I adored Lightsong, as he was somehow both funny and introspective about his status as a god, irreverent and yet full of integrity. I also loved seeing Siri and Vivenna grow more alike to each other and grow as characters. Even though Siri started as my favourite, I especially grew to love Vivenna.

I did feel like she could have had more initiative & more redeeming character traits for the first half of the book, but I suppose that was the point of her character development. Even Denth and Tonk Fah were compelling characters - somehow they both worked as amusing (albeit darkly) comic relief in the first half, and compelling and tragic villains in the second. I’m also not really one for romance, even just romance subplots, but the dynamic between Siri and Susebron was very cute, and somehow was the plot I was most enjoying for a good portion of the book.

I can’t believe I’m saying this about a 600 page book, but somehow I feel like the book wasn’t long enough. I would have liked a scene or two more at the end after the main plot climax was completed. Namely, my issue was that the entire climax of the book dealt with the end of the war, and didn’t really address a lot of the other issues that were introduced throughout the book - for example, it introduced the inequality faced by the Idrians who lived in T'Telir, or the extreme class disparity in Hallandren, and these issues felt entirely unresolved, especially when you consider that the main villain’s motives were due to his people’s mistreatment by the two main kingdoms. I would have liked to see Susebron and Siri, now they were actually ruling, to decide to be more influential and try to resolve some of those problems?

This is also a pretty minor point, but I felt like the family dynamics between Siri, Vivenna, and the rest of their family fell a bit flat? Although there was a nice reunion scene, the two didn’t really interact much once they did reunite - I was hoping to get more of a reaction from both characters to the character development the other one went through and how they had been changed by their experiences. Also Siri & Vivenna’s dad just sort of disappeared midway through - you would have thought he’d have a bit of a reaction to finding out everything that went down, but he wasn’t even mentioned. Similarly, their mother was just never mentioned at any point - according to Sanderson’s annotations she’s dead, but it felt like an odd thing to just never mention at any point, especially when it could have provided a cute bonding point between Siri and Susebron.

Overall I really loved the book - that being said it’s a work that has a LOT going on at once, and I kind of found myself wishing that it somehow had the space to explore certain character dynamics etc. more.

Content Warnings