Warbreaker

Starred review from April 20, 2009
Epic fantasy heavyweight Sanderson (the Mistborn series) pens a powerful stand-alone tale of unpredictable loyalties, dark intrigue and dangerous magic. To keep a treaty made long ago, the king of Idris must send his daughter to marry Susebron, the God King of Hallandren. Loath to part with his eldest daughter, Vivenna, King Dedelin instead sends his youngest daughter, tomboyish 17-year-old Siri, who struggles to make sense of the schemers and spies in Susebron's court. Hoping to rescue her sister, Vivenna joins a group of Idrian operatives with questionable motives. As Vivenna comes to terms with her magical abilities, resurrected hero Lightsong questions the role of the undead Returned Gods, who command Hallandren's mighty army of zombie soldiers. Sanderson melds complex, believable characters, a marvelous world and thoughtful, ironic humor into an extraordinary and highly entertaining story.

Starred review from May 15, 2009
Confined to the capital city of the Kingdom of Halloran, dead humans reborn as gods rule under the auspices of the all-powerful and enigmatic God King. But two sistersone born to a political marriage to the God King, the other left to make her own, undisciplined pathbecome the fulcrum for a possible bloody and disastrous war. Chosen by the estate of the late Robert Jordan to complete the final volume in Jordan's mammoth "Wheel of Time" series, Sanderson again demonstrates his capacity for handling large and complex themes while creating believable characters. He also succeeds at building a unique fantasy environment, in which color and "Breath" are the basis for magic. This series opener is essential reading for fantasy fans.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2009
This very superior stand-alone fantasy proves, among other things, that Sanderson was a good choice to complete the late Robert Jordans Wheel of Time saga. Sanderson is clearly a master of large-scale stories, splendidly depicting worlds as well as strong female characters. The Princesses Vivienne and Siri play out their battles with intriguers and one another against the background of a land in which heroes become gods, great or small, and linger in the central city to afflict or encourage mortals in a hundred ways. The system of magic is also novel, depending on a vital essence referred to as breath, which can be drawn only in minute quantities at a time from selected humans, which limits what magic can do and demands far more of the characters ingenuity, which in turn demands developing themmale and female, divine and mortalto a far higher degree than one expects of much fantasy these days. May the author write long and prosper.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)