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Those pesky politically arranged marriages; they can be trouble. What may have started as a good idea to wed two governments together to ensure an era of blissful peace and cooperation can quickly turn sour.
One day, you're a princess, with a bee-hive hairdo and silky flowing garments, gallivanting like Snow White across a flowered meadow, a precious song in your heart, birds twittering on your shoulders; the next, you're married to some God King ruling a rival kingdom, serving as a noble vessel whose only purpose is to provide an heir, a royal Rent-A-Womb.
Soon you discover many in the government who despise your homeland, viewing your people as rebels in need of a good crushing; eager to convince the God King-your new husband-to go to war. A war you may be helpless to stop. A war you're not prepared to stop.
Because you were never meant to be in this position, never meant to marry the God King, never meant for the political wrangling, the behind-closed-doors negotiating, and court intrigue. Never meant to be important. That was supposed to be your older sister, the brilliant bulb in the family, the one with grace and poise, who'd been promised to the God King since birth, and prepared accordingly. Instead, she's back home, safe, for now, her entire life's purpose now yours.
Two sisters. Their places switched. Both struggling to prevent a bloody war that seems inevitable. Both struggling to save the other.
Let's get to the point quickly. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson rocks. Rocks like Jimi Hendrix grooving on the San Andreas fault, guitar screaming to the rock-n-roll heavens, shifting tectonic plates supplying a throaty bass rumble. It's a teeth-rattling, Richter-scale busting seismic shock of a fantasy novel. It's intense, humorous and full of life. And one of the absolute best fantasy reading experiences of the year.
Successful world-building in fantasy often depends on the author's ability to bring alive four important aspects: politics, religion and mythology, history, and the physics of magic. Only in thoroughly detailing and exploring each area does the author give the reader a full and rich fantasy world. Sanderson excels at this, lovingly crafting each aspect, giving the reader some real tender meat on each of these four rib bones. Simply stated, the world-building in Warbreaker is fantastic; it's immersive, complex, and smart.
And while the world-building is sufficiently complex, I found Warbreaker to be one of the easiest and most accessible books. It's one of those rare novels where after only a few pages, you're hooked, caught in the flow; it's the best kind of magic. The kind where a spell's been cast over you, sucking you deeply into the world, submerging you. Taking your breath constantly away.
Political intrigue-with religious overtones-makes up the heart of the story. Warbreaker isn't about silly quests, fancy magical swords, or an all-singing all-dancing troupe of dwarf entertainers. It's about power, raw naked power. And the struggle for it. The plotting for it. The killing for it. It's about lies and deception, trust and sacrifice, and-maybe even-love. It's about people. Real people; not caricatures or clichés. And that's what makes it resonate.
And then there's the magical system Sanderson has created. It's the fantasy equivalent of comfort food, like the warm and gooey inside of a sweet chocolate chip cookie. In the novel, the magical coin of the realm is breath. The more you have, the greater your abilities. Give an object enough breath, and you can animate and control it. Along with breath, color plays an important role as the magical impetus. While breath may give the object life, color provides the spark which gets things started. It's fuel for the fire. Articles of clothing and non-animate objects can be drained of their color to imbue an object with life. While intricate at first, Sanderson's magical system eventually becomes wondrous and awe-inspiring, growing and evolving over the course of the novel. Finally becoming completely unforgettable.
There are books that you can heartily recommend, and then there are the kind of books you want to thrust upon everyone you meet, going so far as to lock them in a room, prying their eyelids open, and demanding they immediately read it. Warbreaker is that kind of book; one that must be immediately read. A novel that doesn't seek an audience, it demands one. Incredible and engaging world-building. Shrewd political intrigue. Awesome characters. Clever magic. And humor that's actually witty. It's all in here.
And it's that which makes Warbreaker rock. Rock on, baby. Rock on!
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