A Review - Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson

I hadn’t really planned to read Warbreaker, in fact I was as stubbornly resisting the idea of getting sucked into the wider Cosmere. I read Way of Kings and changed my mind because I was told it would be essential reading to understand Stormlight properly and now here we are.

Where to start?

I wanted this book to be better. That isn’t to say it’s bad, it’s objectively very good and I did ultimately end up enjoying it as a whole but it was such a slow start and I started to find it tedious, it doesn’t keep you engaged through the lulls the way some of Sandersons other work does. I also didn’t particularly care for the characters. Vasher and Lightsong have fantastic conclusions to their development but again it just took so long to lift the curtain get there. Other characters, particularly Blushweaver were a bit cringeworthy in the way they’re written. Maybe I’m missing something really poignant but having your breasts and sexual promiscuity be your superpower doesn’t really make for good reading.

It isn’t all bad though, I really enjoyed the magic system and the setting. Sanderson once again proves his proficiency in producing a unique world and culture, though he doesn’t display it as strongly here with quite a lot of earth concepts (Squirrels being an odd one) making it into his distant world.

This book was genuinely heading for 2.5, maybe 3 stars for me. The ending is very, very strong which redeems it slightly, I just don’t think it redeems it enough to get four stars so this will sit at a solid 3.5/5 for me. Maybe more time in the Cosmere will help me look favourably on it but for now I don’t really see the crossover between the novels and I don’t think the final 100 pages vindicate 500 pages of lusty gods and a man learning to read.

Onto the next.

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