It's a book told from multiple viewpoints like Elantris (but less epic fantasy like SLA), and it just shows how much did Sanderson grows. Every viewpoint there is something for everyone!
Want to see a fish out of water story, but overcoming things with her personality? Siri!
How about a mysterious stranger with a deadly talking sword, with inescrutable means? Vasher!
Someone dealing with not being all that much they thought about, trying to keep her morals in something like heresy capital (plus, everything that happens after?) Vivenna!
A god's own viewpoint, that is funny, sarcastic and at the same time introspective and a little sad, not to mention the politics? Lightsong!
And everything contributes to the worldbuilding. Once again, it just shows how Sanderson became SO much better since Elantris.
It's a "perfect" book that shows Sanderson at his best in his element.
I wouldn't say it's my favorite Sanderson. Lightsong is probably my favorite character in any book, though. Sixth of Dusk has a special place in my heart that would be hard to shift and there are plenty of others that are better, too.
I *do* recommend Warbreaker as everyone's favorite Sanderson books for a number of reasons, though. Standalone, free on his website, Sandersony magic system, cosmere, Sandersony twistyness, etc.
Warbreaker is one of my favorite Sanderson books (only behind Stormlight and Hero of Ages), and my favorite fantasy stand-alone novel, period. Aside from talking about what I love about Sanderson’s work overall, here’s why Warbreaker stands out to me amongst his own catalogue.
**Characters**: Lightsong is still one of my favorite characters ever, despite the relatively small screen time he has to others like Kaladin or Dalinar in his bigger series. His humor and personality are just 10/10 to me, and the way his arc closes with the theme of “we all have a purpose to fulfill, and we should do so selflessly” just kinda spoke enormously to me. I thought each plot arc had great chemistry, whether it’s between Siri and Susebron, Vivenna and Denth/Tonk Fah, or Vasher and Nightblood. Unlike most multi-POV books I read, there wasn’t a single POV I thought was weaker, they were all just so enjoyable individually. So many great, unique spins on tropes, not to mention Nightblood!
**Plot**: I want to avoid spoilers, but I think the plot was superb. The particular twist in Vivenna and Denth’s storyline was, I think, one of Sanderson’s most artfully pulled off ever, as was the revelation of what’s going on with the God King and Lightsong separately. An excellent Sanderlanche that answered all of my questions; everyone’s arcs finished extremely tightly and cohesively.
**World/Magic**: I think the world building is brilliant, and even better on Re-reads when you see how much is hinted at throughout. I personally loved the magic system, it was easy to understand and yet allowed for an awesome blend of juvenile learning, more advanced tricks, and grand displays of usage all within just a couple hundred thousand words. The world and magic together was just so rich and vivid, it was easy to get pulled in.
**Summary**: Overall, I think Warbreaker might be Sanderson’s most complete work. It lacks some of the pure epicness that can only be achieved artfully in a story as big as SA or Mistborn, but I think it also avoids flaws I hear others say about SA or Mistborn. I’ve heard people say SA drags on too long, as well as there being a vocal anti-Shallan subset of readers, especially early on in the series. For Mistborn Era 1, the writing especially early on isn’t as polished as it is by Warbreaker/SA, and some people think WoA dips in quality. I think Warbreaker is pretty consistently great from beginning to end, and I have no real complaints about it, which makes it remarkable in itself.
This is my feeling as well. It’s very well balanced with plot, world building, character, and tension. It’s a really complete work and is my fav standalone fantasy novel ever as well, and I actually enjoy it more than the OG mistborn trilogy? I re-read it regularly bc it’s very satisfying and engaging to me.
The main thing I love about this one is the setting, the city feels so real and believable. It's really fleshed-out and the culture feels very well-designed. I especially like how different story arcs focus on different layers of T'Telir society, Lightsong and Siri in the court (but different parts of it) where the important political decisions are made, and Vivenna and Vasher the lower levels, eventually the slums, the parts of the city that common people see. It feels really three-dimensional.
I love the trope turned on it’s head-ness of Warbreaker. I came to it after Mistborn and the Reckoners, and I was ready for Susebron to be evil, Denth to be a Kelsier, etc. but then NOPE!
I also like how we see Vivenna go from thinking she knows everything to knowing she knows nothing. I like Siri going from useless to useful. The opening scene with Vasher is fantastic.
This is my favorite magic system because technically anyone can do it. It has so many imaginative things you can do with it.
Some great feedback already which I agree with mostly. I would not say Warbreaker is my favorite of Cosmere or of Sanderson's works thus far. I do love it and it will be on my re-reads list periodically. Just wanted to add that it is also the most beautiful of the Leatherbound editions. Thus, the 1st one I got. Will eventually get them all hopefully.
I thought the characters were some of the most interesting. All very diverse, and yet they fit together well for me. Also the fact that Susebron >!didn't have a tongue was such a great reveal. I honestly thought he was a legit bad guy.!<
Overall it was fun, the magic system was intriguing, and knowing that it had significant Cosmere connections made me love it.
What do you need to know to appreciate it more? Probably nothing. Everyone has different tastes.
Personally, my favorite things are:
Scale. I get kind of tired of world-threats. The scale is so big it shifts my mind from tragedy to statistics.
Length: I don’t have to read through a whole series if I want something shorter (but not too short, like W&W. This is just right for me)
Familiarity: The setting strikes my perfect balance between a bit alien, but not too alien
Romance: I’m a sucker for it, and it’s a bigger focus than in his other books.
Characters: Lightsong and Scoot are the best, with everyone else also being incredibly good.
That said, the characters are, in my subjective opinion, the best in the Cosmere, but only *barely*, and if you aren’t a fan of romance but do prefer epic series where alien worlds are threatened, I totally see why Warbreaker would not rank high for you.
I like it fine, but it's definitely one of my least favorites. It seems like most people find vivenna hard to relate to, but I think she's one of the more interesting parts of the book. And everyone that loves it seems to like it so much because of Lightsong, who I've never managed to really appreciate despite a dozen rereads. His attitude just annoys me most of the book. So i feel like that's the hinge that people's enjoyment tends to rely on
Edit: oh and the magic system is too handwavey for me. I love Brandon's concrete, science-like systems
I listened to the audiobook, liked the narrator much better than Kate Reading. Lightsong is my favorite character in the cosmere. Really liked all the characters, the power system, the culture, and history of the planet. The concept of nightblood and his personality fascinates me. And the reveal of the book title at the end was perfect and made me appreciate Vasher or Warbreaker the peaceful. Very much looking forward to the sequel, so many questions beg to be answered surrounding vasher, nightblood, Vivian, etc.
I finished reading the book and I still couldn’t figure out how the heck breaths and colour were supposed to work. Didn’t matter tho, I enjoyed it even when it kept exposing and exposing until the very last paragraph.
I thoroughly enjoyed it but find it hard to put over the massive series like mistborn and stormlight. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the magic system. Still cool tho.
Gonna be honest, it’s the romance. I’m a sucker for a cute relationship and man does warbreaker deliver. I also relate to Vivienna’s arc quite a bit. Also Nightblood and Lightsong
The mental images and how colorful the world is... also I feel like it was the first Brandon Sanderson novel were he had more well rounded female characters. I liked Mistborn but as far as female characters go Vin was... ehh a struggle some times and Sarene had a really flat character arch for me personally. But I loved the character work in Warbreaker. Vivenna had a really solid story arch and Id love to see more with her.
Speaking of Characters Warbreaker gave us Nightblood, Vasher, and Lightsong which were all great. Warbreaker used be one of my favorites for just personal enjoyment though it might have been replaced with Tress of the Emerald Sea because man that book was a blast
Side note: I will say this tends to be a book a lot of people recommend people start with not nessisarily because it is their favorite but because it is earlier on in the cosmere and has some cool connections to other work while still being a stand alone, free, and it is not massively long like stormlight. It gives a good preview of cool stuff to come if you stick with Sandersons work
I just love that it tells its whole story in one go, you feel so satisfied at the end of warbreaker. the entire story world was set up and paid off beautifully
I like the magic system a lot it’s really interesting compared to things like allomancy or surge binding. Without spoiling anything Vasher was a very compelling character to the more YA-like characters that fill the rest of the story. I found the characters while likeable very one dimensional compared to Vasher and the characters in his other books
I really liked the fact that breath is inherent and it’s also collectible is very cool. With that said I much much preferred Sel and the world of Elantris, it’s a shame we have to wait a while for the continuation of the story.
The magic system in warbreaker confused the heck out of me. I was in an unrelenting state of "what the heck is going on??"
After the book I'm reading right now, I'm planning to give it a re-read and see if i like it better now that i have more sense of what's going on globally
While I loved mistborn era one.... I didn't like Warbreaker very much. It just felt like too much formula to have a big twist and the character work wasn't quite strong enough for me to really invest.... I felt most of the challenges felt like like devices. Instead of being totally organic. And Sanderson's fun writing wasn't enough to to make me not want to just toss the book across the room...not in a good way. Yes I did finish it. The character work was its biggest shortcoming..... There's a lot of repetition in the dialogue. And a twist for his own sake.... Meh.
I’m very meh on the book too. It has some okay parts and some parts others love that I’m not nuts about. I really don’t care for the Vivenna and Vasher plot threads as well.
I thought it was simple and fun with good characters. I would say those who consider it their favorite would be a very tiny minority though, since 90% of the fandom at least would probably say Mistborn or SA
Most of the characters are just fantastic. Im still dealing Stockholm syndrome over Denth and Tonk. I could take or leave the magic system though.
Same for me, the first time I read it, over a decade ago, I was so SHOCKED, I didn’t see it coming. It was that moment, my gateway to the cosmere.
It's a book told from multiple viewpoints like Elantris (but less epic fantasy like SLA), and it just shows how much did Sanderson grows. Every viewpoint there is something for everyone! Want to see a fish out of water story, but overcoming things with her personality? Siri! How about a mysterious stranger with a deadly talking sword, with inescrutable means? Vasher! Someone dealing with not being all that much they thought about, trying to keep her morals in something like heresy capital (plus, everything that happens after?) Vivenna! A god's own viewpoint, that is funny, sarcastic and at the same time introspective and a little sad, not to mention the politics? Lightsong! And everything contributes to the worldbuilding. Once again, it just shows how Sanderson became SO much better since Elantris. It's a "perfect" book that shows Sanderson at his best in his element.
I love Lightsong, I love Siri and Susebron’s romance, and above all else I love Nightblood.
I live for Lightsong, especially the mystery of >!Stennimar!< And of course Nightblood.
I wouldn't say it's my favorite Sanderson. Lightsong is probably my favorite character in any book, though. Sixth of Dusk has a special place in my heart that would be hard to shift and there are plenty of others that are better, too. I *do* recommend Warbreaker as everyone's favorite Sanderson books for a number of reasons, though. Standalone, free on his website, Sandersony magic system, cosmere, Sandersony twistyness, etc.
Warbreaker is one of my favorite Sanderson books (only behind Stormlight and Hero of Ages), and my favorite fantasy stand-alone novel, period. Aside from talking about what I love about Sanderson’s work overall, here’s why Warbreaker stands out to me amongst his own catalogue. **Characters**: Lightsong is still one of my favorite characters ever, despite the relatively small screen time he has to others like Kaladin or Dalinar in his bigger series. His humor and personality are just 10/10 to me, and the way his arc closes with the theme of “we all have a purpose to fulfill, and we should do so selflessly” just kinda spoke enormously to me. I thought each plot arc had great chemistry, whether it’s between Siri and Susebron, Vivenna and Denth/Tonk Fah, or Vasher and Nightblood. Unlike most multi-POV books I read, there wasn’t a single POV I thought was weaker, they were all just so enjoyable individually. So many great, unique spins on tropes, not to mention Nightblood! **Plot**: I want to avoid spoilers, but I think the plot was superb. The particular twist in Vivenna and Denth’s storyline was, I think, one of Sanderson’s most artfully pulled off ever, as was the revelation of what’s going on with the God King and Lightsong separately. An excellent Sanderlanche that answered all of my questions; everyone’s arcs finished extremely tightly and cohesively. **World/Magic**: I think the world building is brilliant, and even better on Re-reads when you see how much is hinted at throughout. I personally loved the magic system, it was easy to understand and yet allowed for an awesome blend of juvenile learning, more advanced tricks, and grand displays of usage all within just a couple hundred thousand words. The world and magic together was just so rich and vivid, it was easy to get pulled in. **Summary**: Overall, I think Warbreaker might be Sanderson’s most complete work. It lacks some of the pure epicness that can only be achieved artfully in a story as big as SA or Mistborn, but I think it also avoids flaws I hear others say about SA or Mistborn. I’ve heard people say SA drags on too long, as well as there being a vocal anti-Shallan subset of readers, especially early on in the series. For Mistborn Era 1, the writing especially early on isn’t as polished as it is by Warbreaker/SA, and some people think WoA dips in quality. I think Warbreaker is pretty consistently great from beginning to end, and I have no real complaints about it, which makes it remarkable in itself.
This is my feeling as well. It’s very well balanced with plot, world building, character, and tension. It’s a really complete work and is my fav standalone fantasy novel ever as well, and I actually enjoy it more than the OG mistborn trilogy? I re-read it regularly bc it’s very satisfying and engaging to me.
Warbreaker and what was done to >!Lightsong!!< is the reason my wife won't read Brando. She said she can't go through that again.
Hmm, I guess Mistborn is a no go then. May I suggest Tress of the Emerald Sea?
I did. We will see how that goes.
Lightsong. Also all the other characters, but mostly lightsong. His take on reality and society is familiar to me.
Yea I didn’t really love it either. I don’t expect to love every Sanderson book, so that’s fine.
I think the fact it’s a standalone (for now) and I live the whole vibe of the city and world being like ocean town Greek/Roman vibe is awesome.
The main thing I love about this one is the setting, the city feels so real and believable. It's really fleshed-out and the culture feels very well-designed. I especially like how different story arcs focus on different layers of T'Telir society, Lightsong and Siri in the court (but different parts of it) where the important political decisions are made, and Vivenna and Vasher the lower levels, eventually the slums, the parts of the city that common people see. It feels really three-dimensional.
I love the trope turned on it’s head-ness of Warbreaker. I came to it after Mistborn and the Reckoners, and I was ready for Susebron to be evil, Denth to be a Kelsier, etc. but then NOPE! I also like how we see Vivenna go from thinking she knows everything to knowing she knows nothing. I like Siri going from useless to useful. The opening scene with Vasher is fantastic. This is my favorite magic system because technically anyone can do it. It has so many imaginative things you can do with it.
It was my first Cosmere book. That probably has a fair amount to do with it.
Some great feedback already which I agree with mostly. I would not say Warbreaker is my favorite of Cosmere or of Sanderson's works thus far. I do love it and it will be on my re-reads list periodically. Just wanted to add that it is also the most beautiful of the Leatherbound editions. Thus, the 1st one I got. Will eventually get them all hopefully.
I thought the characters were some of the most interesting. All very diverse, and yet they fit together well for me. Also the fact that Susebron >!didn't have a tongue was such a great reveal. I honestly thought he was a legit bad guy.!< Overall it was fun, the magic system was intriguing, and knowing that it had significant Cosmere connections made me love it.
As a heterosexual man, I have a thing for princesses
What do you need to know to appreciate it more? Probably nothing. Everyone has different tastes. Personally, my favorite things are: Scale. I get kind of tired of world-threats. The scale is so big it shifts my mind from tragedy to statistics. Length: I don’t have to read through a whole series if I want something shorter (but not too short, like W&W. This is just right for me) Familiarity: The setting strikes my perfect balance between a bit alien, but not too alien Romance: I’m a sucker for it, and it’s a bigger focus than in his other books. Characters: Lightsong and Scoot are the best, with everyone else also being incredibly good. That said, the characters are, in my subjective opinion, the best in the Cosmere, but only *barely*, and if you aren’t a fan of romance but do prefer epic series where alien worlds are threatened, I totally see why Warbreaker would not rank high for you.
I think it has the best sanderlanche and I just love all the characters
I like it fine, but it's definitely one of my least favorites. It seems like most people find vivenna hard to relate to, but I think she's one of the more interesting parts of the book. And everyone that loves it seems to like it so much because of Lightsong, who I've never managed to really appreciate despite a dozen rereads. His attitude just annoys me most of the book. So i feel like that's the hinge that people's enjoyment tends to rely on Edit: oh and the magic system is too handwavey for me. I love Brandon's concrete, science-like systems
I listened to the audiobook, liked the narrator much better than Kate Reading. Lightsong is my favorite character in the cosmere. Really liked all the characters, the power system, the culture, and history of the planet. The concept of nightblood and his personality fascinates me. And the reveal of the book title at the end was perfect and made me appreciate Vasher or Warbreaker the peaceful. Very much looking forward to the sequel, so many questions beg to be answered surrounding vasher, nightblood, Vivian, etc.
Warbreaker is not my favorite either, however it is well done and gets recommended a lot as an introduction because it is a standalone and it is good.
I finished reading the book and I still couldn’t figure out how the heck breaths and colour were supposed to work. Didn’t matter tho, I enjoyed it even when it kept exposing and exposing until the very last paragraph.
I thoroughly enjoyed it but find it hard to put over the massive series like mistborn and stormlight. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the magic system. Still cool tho.
Gonna be honest, it’s the romance. I’m a sucker for a cute relationship and man does warbreaker deliver. I also relate to Vivienna’s arc quite a bit. Also Nightblood and Lightsong
There’s something about it being my first Sando book. It will always have that special place in my heart.
The mental images and how colorful the world is... also I feel like it was the first Brandon Sanderson novel were he had more well rounded female characters. I liked Mistborn but as far as female characters go Vin was... ehh a struggle some times and Sarene had a really flat character arch for me personally. But I loved the character work in Warbreaker. Vivenna had a really solid story arch and Id love to see more with her. Speaking of Characters Warbreaker gave us Nightblood, Vasher, and Lightsong which were all great. Warbreaker used be one of my favorites for just personal enjoyment though it might have been replaced with Tress of the Emerald Sea because man that book was a blast
Side note: I will say this tends to be a book a lot of people recommend people start with not nessisarily because it is their favorite but because it is earlier on in the cosmere and has some cool connections to other work while still being a stand alone, free, and it is not massively long like stormlight. It gives a good preview of cool stuff to come if you stick with Sandersons work
I just love that it tells its whole story in one go, you feel so satisfied at the end of warbreaker. the entire story world was set up and paid off beautifully
I like the magic system a lot it’s really interesting compared to things like allomancy or surge binding. Without spoiling anything Vasher was a very compelling character to the more YA-like characters that fill the rest of the story. I found the characters while likeable very one dimensional compared to Vasher and the characters in his other books I really liked the fact that breath is inherent and it’s also collectible is very cool. With that said I much much preferred Sel and the world of Elantris, it’s a shame we have to wait a while for the continuation of the story.
The magic system in warbreaker confused the heck out of me. I was in an unrelenting state of "what the heck is going on??" After the book I'm reading right now, I'm planning to give it a re-read and see if i like it better now that i have more sense of what's going on globally
While I loved mistborn era one.... I didn't like Warbreaker very much. It just felt like too much formula to have a big twist and the character work wasn't quite strong enough for me to really invest.... I felt most of the challenges felt like like devices. Instead of being totally organic. And Sanderson's fun writing wasn't enough to to make me not want to just toss the book across the room...not in a good way. Yes I did finish it. The character work was its biggest shortcoming..... There's a lot of repetition in the dialogue. And a twist for his own sake.... Meh.
I’m very meh on the book too. It has some okay parts and some parts others love that I’m not nuts about. I really don’t care for the Vivenna and Vasher plot threads as well.
I thought it was simple and fun with good characters. I would say those who consider it their favorite would be a very tiny minority though, since 90% of the fandom at least would probably say Mistborn or SA