Warbreaker A Cosmere Novel

Sisters Vivenna and Siri are princesses. Vivenna has been trained her entire life for her marriage to the God king Susebron, yet when the time has come for her father to send her away, he chooses Siri instead. Vivenna fears for her little sister’s life and decides to go on a rescue mission. Meanwhile, Lightsong, one of the gods that inhabit this world, tries to uncover the secrets to his pasts; for every god loses all memory of his/her life when they enter godhood. Brandon Sanderson again shows his ingenuity with magic systems in this novel: colour and Breath (a soul-like substance) can be used to give life to objects. Apart from the cool magic, there also was a ton of character development in this novel, especially for Vivenna. She starts out as, well, a princess: highly educated, composed and with the idea that she knows better, she soon realises that no education in the world could prepare her for the real world and that her arrogance is misplaced (even though I can't completely blame her, I understand that it must have been hard on her to have trained her entire life for a purpose that is then suddenly taken away from her). The only con I could find was that it took me a while to get really immersed into the story, because there are quite some POV's.

Vivenna, the princess of Idris, grew up knowing that she would be married off to the God King of the neighboring empire. The request finally arrives when war between the two empires seems inevitable. The king of Idris decides to send his youngest daughter Siri instead, knowing that this means sending her to her death. However, Vivenna is determined not to sit idly by. As in all of Brandon Sanderdson's works the world created in 'Warbreaker' is infused with magic: dead matter can be animated and the dead can be awakened at the expense of an inner power called Breath which is fueled by color. Every living person has one breath, but it can be transferred to someone else to increase that persons' power. Admittedly, this magic system is quite silly. The same holds true for Vasher's sword that can communicate telepathically. Such things belong in cheap videogames rather than in books that are to be taken seriously. However, these issues are more than compensated by the very strong characterization. All characters are well fleshed out individuals with distinct personalities. The suspense slowly increases as it becomes clear that there is more to the protagonists than initially meets the eye. At the same time there are fewer over-the-top action sequences as in for instance 'Elantris' or 'The Final Empire trilogy' leaving ample room for truly delightful dialogues that are on occasion nearly laugh-out-loud funny and always very insightful. The people populating this novel will grow on you very quickly. Especially witty characters such as Lightsong, the god that does not believe in his own divinity, and the mysteriously well-informed mercenaries Denth and Tonk Fah are refreshing and original. This, in combination with the same accessible, unadorned but effective writing style that is so typical of Brandon Sanderson's writing makes this novel a real page-turner. If one looks past the somewhat childish magic elements 'Warbreaker' is a very enjoyable novel indeed! Recommended!

Vivenna, the princess of Idris, grew up knowing that she would be married off to the God King of the neighboring empire. The request finally arrives when war between the two empires seems inevitable. The king of Idris decides to send his youngest daughter Siri instead, knowing that this means sending her to her death. However, Vivenna is determined not to sit idly by. As in all of Brandon Sanderdson's works the world created in 'Warbreaker' is infused with magic: dead matter can be animated and the dead can be awakened at the expense of an inner power called Breath which is fueled by color. Every living person has one breath, but it can be transferred to someone else to increase that persons' power. Admittedly, this magic system is quite silly. The same holds true for Vasher's sword which can communicate telepathically. Such things belong in cheap videogames rather than in books that are to be taken seriously. However, these issues are more than compensated by the very strong characterization. All characters are well fleshed out individuals with distinct personalities. The suspense slowly increases as it becomes clear that there is more to the protagonists than initially meets the eye. At the same time there are fewer John-Woo-type action sequences as in for instance 'Elantris' or 'The Final Empire trilogy' leaving ample room for truly delightful dialogues that are on occasion nearly laugh-out-loud funny and always very insightful. The people populating this novel will grow on you very quickly. Especially witty characters such as Lightsong, the god that does not believe in his own divinity, and the mysteriously well-informed mercenaries Denth and Tonk Fah are refreshing and original. This, in combination with the same accessible, unadorned but effective writing style that is so typical for Brandon Sanderson's writing makes this novel a real page-turner. If one is able to look past the somewhat childish magic elements 'Warbreaker' is a very enjoyable novel indeed!

Een hit voor iedereen die van fantasy houdt, of wie wil beginnen in de fantasy-wereld. Een vlot verhaal met goede worldbuilding. Kan gezien worden als standalone, maar een vervolg is wel in de maak -hoewel je die niet hoeft te lezen.

Echt een aanrader!!

Mooie kaft/cover en een super leuk verhaal. Warbreaker werd mij aangeraden als instap voor Brandon Sanderson omdat het een los boek is en een heel klein beetje romance bevat. Zeker genoten van het lezen.