After finishing Words of Radiance and completing missing the reference to Nightblood at the end, I realized I needed to reread Warbreaker before continuing on to Oathbringer. And I am so glad I did!! Not only did I realize that I had forgotten 90% of this book, but I had the absolute best time rereading this book, so much so that Warbreaker is now my favorite novel by Brandon Sanderson.
I decided to listen to the Graphic Audio version, which is 10/10 amazing and I would highly recommend it. The performance, storytelling, and background music were all so acutely tailored to this story that it made for a fabulous experience.
It’s interesting in my original review of Warbreaker I said I liked Elantris better, and while I haven’t reread Elantris yet, I now firmly stand by that I like Warbreaker better. Siri and Susebron are amazing! Vivenna’s character arc is so in-depth. Vasher and Nightblood are super cool. Literally there is no one that I dislike in this story, even the bad guys. They are all morally grey and so well written that I can feel for even them at times, which I think is the mark of a good writer and quality storytelling.
My number one favorite character in this book, however, has to be Lightsong. He is hilarious and sarcastic and always a joy to read about. Plus I absolutely love that he is a god who doesn’t believe in his own religion. That is such a unique concept to me and I really enjoyed watching him struggle with his reality. He reminded me at times of Sazed from Mistborn. Plus I also enjoyed watching him try to discover who and what he was in his past life. Lightsong’s character is so dynamic, and the end of the book was very bittersweet for him, but ultimately I did enjoy how his story wrapped up.
I loved all the political intrigue in this novel. The more fantasy books I read, the more I realize that the kind of books I enjoy the most have lots of layers of intrigue and betrayal, lots of focus on character development and decisions, unexpected twists and turns, and few action or fighting scenes. Warbreaker checks all those boxes except for the action scenes: it has quite a few, but they’re spaced out and not too long-winded, plus listening to them instead of visually reading them was way more enjoyable for me.
I cannot express how much I loved Warbreaker upon reread. I would definitely recommend reading this book before Words of Radiance (or you’ll miss a gasp-worthy reveal at the end). It’s currently slated to get a sequel in like five-ish years, and I can’t wait!! While this story’s arc wrapped up, the ending definitely does still set up for more story to come. I really hope it picks up right where this book left off because I really want to see where Susebron and Siri and Vasher and Vivenna go from here.
If you read fantasy, you have to pick up this book! Warbreaker has something for everyone: romance, great characters, cool fight scenes, mysteries, humor, religion, political intrigue, a unique magic system, war, betrayal, friendship, mercenaries, two strong sister protagonists, suspense, and of course Sanderson’s excellent writing style. I’ll be rereading this book again right before the sequel comes out and then likely every few years after that because I love it that much.
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