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Warbreaker

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Warbreaker

Written by: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
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About this listen

From the author of the connected universe of the Cosmere comes the standalone novel from which spring characters who later play roles in the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.

In the world of Warbreaker, each person is born endowed with the power of one Breath―which can be sold and collected by others, then used to Awaken objects and even corpses to do their bidding. A few individuals who die in glory return as gods, with the power of thousands of Breath, but no memory of their mortal lives―and are enthroned in the Court of Gods in Hallandren’s capital. To Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris, the abuse of Breath and the claim of the Returned to be gods are repugnant blasphemy. But with one princess wed to the God King of their nation’s enemies in a bid for peace, the other finds she must rely on Breath-using mercenaries to try to rescue her sister from her monstrous husband.

Lightsong the Bold, a lesser god who doubts his own religion, starts investigating mysterious murders in the Court of Gods and uncovers haunting clues to his own forgotten past. He is one of four gods who controls the army of Awakened Lifeless soldiers, and one faction is inciting an invasion of Idris despite the marriage treaty. Vasher―wielder of the sapient sword Nightblood―works behind the scenes against the declaration of war, but Lightsong’s visions of bloodshed prophesy its inevitability. Can the new queen, unaware of her sister’s imminent rescue attempt, persuade Lightsong and also somehow get through to the aloof God King―who she has been forbidden to speak to or even look in the eyes―before her homeland is destroyed?

©2009 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2015 Recorded Books
Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Royalty King

What listeners say about Warbreaker

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  • Overall
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Excellent Listen

Have been a fan of Brandon Sanderson writing for a few years now. This book is no exception to his excellence in crafting a story, and was not disappointed with the reader despite the fact it wasn’t Michael Kramer. I felt Alyssa Bresnahan did an excellent narrative in giving the story life and kept it interesting. In my opinion it’s an excellent listen!

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good!

Interesting magic system, though it took a while to be sufficiently explained.

I truly like Sanderson's voice and world-building. The climatic pay-off was a little less satisfying only because many scenes and situations in the book seemed like they would lead somewhere and didn't. I was left feeling like this book could have be shorter than it was. It is by no means "bloated" because, unlike many fantasy authors trying to be epic, Sanderson's voice and prose are engaging and mostly relevant to the here and now. The scenes and situations always intrigued, but as mentioned didn't always pay-off.

This is my second Sanderson novel. I liked Elantris better. But what I appreciate about both of them is that they are both one-offs. In cases like these I trust the world-building to be relevant to the story and not about setting up sequels and prequels. I think I am now ready to try one of his multi-part epics to see if he can keep me as engaged as he has in the one-offs.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

I have to admit, i started reading this book twice and could not get into it. Listening to the audiobook was attempt number three, driven mostly by Szeth's last appearance in Words of Radiance and a desire to better informed about all things Cosmere.
Brandon Sanderson is a storytelling master - the world is unique, rich and immersive, the characters complex and interesting, the conclusion exciting and satisfying. The only reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because i just didn't jive with the story as much as i usually do with a Sanderson, but you can't please everyone all the time. ;)
The narrator did a fantastic job. Some of the male voices felt a little off, but really there's only so much the female voice box can do. Alyssa Besnahan reads with great inflections, pacing, and lots of emotion.

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Fantastic on all acounts

The story was great. The narrator was wonderful. I admit at first I was hoping for the same narrator as the storm light archives but not only was this narrator great, she was better suited to a female driven plot line. No complaints here.

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Good story, but

“Denth said”, “Denth said”, “Vivenna said”, “Denth said”, etc. I hadn’t realized how well done the other books in the Cosmere have been narrated until I heard all these unnecessary bits in a back and forth conversation between characters when the characters are given distinct voices. Good story though, no regrets.

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Good story but narrator not so much

Perhaps I may be spoiled by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading but I had difficulty with this narrator. She puts in unnatural pauses mid sentence, speaking with a rhythm that doesn't follow that of the dialog of the book and emphasizing words that shouldn't be.

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11 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Another excellent Novel by the author

Slowly going through all of this authors works related to his cosmere universe. Started with Stormlight Archive, then the Mistborn novels of era 1 and 2, then going back to his first novel Elantris and now to this which occurs before mistborn and stormlight archive books.

This novel does a great job at exploring the ways in which you can be groomed for certain life roles your entire life, but life itself has a different path for you. character growth is quite excellent!

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3 people found this helpful

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Great book

Great book, highly recommended.

Anything by Brandon Sanderson is pretty great.

The performer also did a very good job.

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2 people found this helpful

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layers

the different dynamics and completely unexpected plot twists, I really enjoyed all of the dynamics.

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Really great listen

The performance was awesome and I loved the wry humour. Just a great book overall.

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