SOOOOO… I wrote this entire review and then my website went kaput for three days until Justine swooped in and fixed it. For whatever reason, everything was saved just fine EXCEPT for the great review I wrote of this book. BLARGH.
So, because of that, this review will be a little short and maybe not so sweet. I’m so annoyed by the entire situation that I know I won’t be able to re-type it sufficiently, I’m sorry!
I have never read world building like Brandon Sanderson’s world building. Woah. What’s great is that he lets the magic develop the story, not the other way around. He doesn’t throw the world at the reader with instructions and then develop the story; the reader figures out the magic as the story goes along and the story ends without it ever being completely solved. The characters don’t even understand it fully themselves! I really liked that about the book but I have heard from others that it was nothing but confusing and frustrating.
I have nothing against long books but the amount of effort you put into a book as to match the output you get. So, I have higher standards for the long books I read. Warbreaker didn’t disappoint. Sanderson is great at pacing this book, it rarely felt like it was going too slow. In fact my only criticism would be that it was almost a little too quick at the end. Sanderson set up this very elaborate problem and the solution almost seemed to come too quickly.
With that being my only criticism I still give this book 5 out of 5 stars. The characters were outstanding and out-of-the-box, the setting was unique and described in rich detail that wasn’t ever over-done.
I’d recommend Warbreaker to anyone, especially those who are already fans of fantasy but also those who are on the fence about the genre. What are your favorite fantasy novels?
