Warbreaker

by Brandon Sanderson

WARBREAKER was the first Brandon Sanderson novel I read. He had it available on his website and I found myself reading it on my lunch break instead of the book that I brought with me. If you want to see if you would like Sanderson's novels this might be a good place to start with because it is a stand alone novel that gives a good example of the variety of characters as well as the unique magic system.

WARBREAKER starts out in a prison with a man named Vasher. Though it might not make sense what he is doing you get an idea that the magic is cool. Everyone is born with a Breath. That Breath can be given away, not taken, but you can live without your Breath. Breath is use to animate objects. The more you have the more you can do. The two main characters are two princesses, Siri and Vivenna. Siri, the youngest daughter takes Vivenna's place to marry the heathen God King to bring peace to the two nations. Vivenna, not sure what to do with herself, decides to go rescue her sister. In addition to the God King, there are plenty of other gods running around the city. Gods are beings who have died and then come back. They need a Breath every week to survive so their follows sacrifice their Breaths for compensation.

One of the reasons why I like WARBREAKER is because of the variety in characters. I can also say one of my all time favorite characters comes from this book. His name is Lightsong and what he brings to the story is a lighthearted look at serious topics. The idea that a god is questioning his divinity is something that I haven't come across very often.