I find it hard to collect my thoughts on Warbreaker. Which I find odd for a Sanderson book.
After the Mistborn Trilogy, Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul and The Way of Kings, I know what I should expect from him.
On the surface Warbreaker seems to have all the right ingrediënts for another great tale:
- Unique, vibrant world
- A magic system that resembles nothing you’ve ever heard of
- Mystery, intrigue on a grand scale
- Complicated take on religion and it’s effects
- Interesting and exciting characters which develop during the story
And yet I found myself just waiting to be sucked in, but the moment never came. I remember reading The Mistborn Trilogy and being hooked after only a few chapters, the same goes for Elantris.
I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I think for me the dealbreaker were the characters themselves. None of them were relatable to me, I didn’t came to care about any of them, not like I cared for Vin or Kelsier. I think it’s like someone said in one of the reviews I read:
It feels like the characters have been written to fit the story, and not the other way around.
Warbreaker is not an epic tale like Mistborn or The Way of Kings. Nor is it as small-worlded as The Emperor’s Soul. It kind of takes the middle ground in that it feels like a rather large scale, but manages to maintain focus on just a select part of the world.
In the end I can say that I liked it but unfortunately I didn’t love it, the ending made up for a lot though, but I think I’m going to stick with a 3 star rating.
