I’m always happy when a book manages that. There’s a couple refreshing twists in there, even, including one that caught me off-guard. Ergo, the marriage contract.Įverything branches out from here, as Siri discovers some surprising truths about the Hallandren court and Vivenna’s attempted rescue goes horribly awry. The Idrians are afraid the Returned Hallandren gods and their (more or less) undead armies will obliterate them, and the Hallandren don’t seem to especially want a war but they DO want a god with the royal locks (hair that changes color due to emotion/will) back on the throne.

The basic conflict is between geopolitical, between two nations with shared roots and a territory dispute. Warbreaker is pretty long, but I read it all in about two days without really trying. The man plots like a machine, setting up every domino, leading you from one chapter to the next, and before you know it the entire book is gone. Well, like most Sanderson books, Warbreaker is compulsively readable. Meanwhile, Vivenna sets out on an ill-advised mission to rescue her sister, a task that promises to break her if she doesn’t learn how to bend. Suddenly thrown in over her head, Siri must navigate the Hallandren court of Returned gods and her new marriage to ensure her safety and the safety of her people - and everything is not as it seems.

But when the day comes, her father sends her youngest sister, Siri, instead, unwilling to part with his favorite daughter. Vivenna has grown up knowing she’d be sent to the Hallandren court, a sacrifice of sorts. After knocking out the Mistborn Era 2 books (not reviewed here, because hiatus), I finally bought Warbreaker.Īfraid of an impending war, the Idrian king has betrothed his daughter to the Hallandren god-king. This is the last full book in my big Sanderson catchup read! (I came to Sanderson late).

Warbreaker book cover