Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - part two
It has been a week since I started the book, when I was excited about starting the journey.
And the journey did not disappoint. It lived up to the expectations!
Why did I enjoy this story so far (because I am a few pages away from the ending but I still wanted to share the hype!)?
The themes and the tropes are key in this process. I love the concept of gods among men in general and, specifically, how it is realized in this story; and that a whole religion system is based after gods reincarnate (in the state called Halladren). It is really well executed. Gods are indispensable for the political system in T’Telir and they hold audiences for their people. These audiences are different god by god, yet there is one commonality: each god is allowed to grant one wish, their life in exchange for the wish. So these audiences are quite straining on the gods and give hope (false hope maybe?) to the worshippers.
The system is also based on the God King; a man who is able to live for long periods of time and he is quite remote from everyone.
Yet this is not the only religion available in this world and this becomes particularly interesting, when people serve under a god and do not believe in their godly nature.
The magic system is a hard magic system; there is a clear process on how this works and it is very structured. Each human has a Breath and people can dispose of it; the Breath can be transferred (it needs to be willingly transferred) to others. So some people can go around and are able to collect Breaths (no prerequisite to be able to collect and use them). And more Breaths allow for the ability called Awakening, which is to infuse magic into inanimate or formerly animate objects. This means that dead humans can be brought back to life (and they are either Returned, when they return with their personalities, like the gods in Halladren; or they are Lifeless when they return to only respond to commands of their Awakener); the people who lose their Breath are called Drab and they tend to go undetected (by people who can wield the Breaths). Now, there are also cleverly used approaches to this magic system, like parking one’s Breaths into inanimate objects (to walk around incognito) and retrieve them.
The other element that I love so much about this story are the main characters of Siri and Vivenna, princesses to the neighboring country, called Idris. I loved them the first time around but I love them again in the re-reading. I love their personalities and how they are forced to get out of their comfort zones to become a better version of themselves. As they need to be able to improve themselves to deal with their own challenges.
Siri, the reckless sister, needs to step up her game and be able to play politics in an unknown stage (the stage of the capital of Halladren, T’Telir) against experienced politicians. Now, while I believe that Siri was misunderstood in Idris and was not enabled to work to her full potential, I also find her ability to politic at the level of experience people too extreme. It would normally not be possible (one should only think about Sarene in Elantris and how Sanderson went a long way to explain that she is an expert politician and his is why she was so effective in her role in a new country. So I think we dropped the ball here but it is still quite enjoyable!
Vivenna, the serious and inflexible one, needs to learn to accept differences and take a look at matters from a different perspective to be able to help herself in her quest. And I love her journey especially; for example, she is very modest and she goes through a journey to be more practical rather than modest and I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the character development.
In a fascinating turn of events, they both have the same goal, to stop Halladren from waging war against their own country, Idris. They are both aware that a war against the two countries will leave Idris exterminated and conquered in a short window.
The plot is also quite captivating. The pace is relatively slow (especially at the beginning, it almost feels that we are not moving); I do not think Sanderson really works on fast paced novels and this allows his readers to explore the world with him. Yet, the plot is advancing continuously, every page is another brick added to the construction, and there are no stops into the build up of the story.
I do not remember Sanderson using cliffhangers so much in this writing (and it might be purely because I never paid enough attention to this aspect until now) but I also find the use of this tool quite effective here. Sanderson’s writing also does not disappoint: I never feel like his sentences are complicated or convoluted. He has an ability to explain complex situations in clear and concise ways. This is also what makes his stories so accessible to so many people. Not to mention that he uses quite a lot of violence in his stories but they do not linger on the gory side of things.
When I started reading Sanderson years ago I did not fully understand why people like his stories so much; yes, I found them intriguing and interesting but I did not find myself being a fan of the author. And while I do not think I am a fan (for example, I will not defend work to the detriment of others’ opinions or persona), I consider Sanderson an author I will always buy. In fact, I participated in his kickstarter and I am truly looking forward to seeing what comes in secret project number 2!
In a nutshell, I think this is a book that is quite accessible to many readers. While there is enough complexity, it is a simplified complexity (the number of characters and points of view is limited, the world building is well explained, the plot is quite straightforward, although it has detours and depth, so more experienced fantasy readers can find a lot of value, the characters are interesting and relatable) to enable a wide range of readers. Think about Disney movies that appeal to young and old; I feel that Sanderson, more than any other author, is able to deliver the balance between accessibility for all and complexity to appease the more experienced readers.
Have you read Warbreaker? What did you think about it? What are the interesting things about the story that really speak to you? Would you recommend the book to other readers? Feel free to comment below with a hair emoji!
