Roger Hyttinen

Review of Art Matters by Neil Gaiman and Chris Ridell

January 28, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Art matters cover image Art Matters is a little book written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Ridell, both whose work I really enjoy, and is drawn together from speeches, poems, and creative manifestos. The book explores art and shows how reading, imagining and creating can change the world.

One of the chapters was familiar to me – the one entitled Make Good Art, Gaiman’s famous and moving 2012 commencement address delivered at the Philadelphia University of the Arts. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. You should be able to find it on YouTube – I think that’s where I first saw it (I’ve watched it several times)

There is also an essay entitled “On Libraries,” which is a passionate argument for libraries that discusses their importance to our future and how they foster readers and daydreamers.

Now, this is a tiny book without a lot of words – one that you can probably read in about 20 minutes but one that you can spend weeks, months, years, a lifetime pondering. It is chock full of breathtaking illustrations and profound wisdom in short, concise to-the-point prose that celebrates art and outlines methods for artistic success. And not just monetary success but also personal fulfillment.

There are so many nuggets of wisdom spread in so few pages that I’m not going to say anything more, lest I take away someone’s enjoyment in reading it and discovering these gems for yourself. Let me just say that it’s inspiring and well worth the read.

Purchase Art Matters from The Book Depository

Purchase Art Matters from Amazon

Review of Cub by Paul Coccia

January 26, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Cub Paul Coccia book cover Cub is a short LGBTQ young adult novel that follows a seventeen-year-old chubby young man named Theo who loves to bake and is quite good at it. He dreams of attending culinary school and opening up his own bakery one day. Knowing that Theo is an excellent baker and deserves recognition, his best friend Di enters him into a cooking competition at a new trendy restaurant in Toronto called Heat. The contest will last for several weeks, with one contestant being eliminated after each weekly round. The rest of the story revolves around the competition and Theo’s interaction with the head celebrity chef KCC and the other contestants.

As Theo begins to win rounds, he attracts the attention and admiration of not only the audience who is watching the competition but also of KCC, who makes it quite clear to Theo that he’s interested in much more than Theo’s baking ability. He lets Theo know that if Theo does what KCC wants — in and out of the kitchen — then he’ll help Theo to launch his career. So now Theo has to decide just how far he’s willing to go to achieve his dreams.

We need to keep in mind here that KCC is much older than Theo — I got the impression that he was in his late 20’s or 30’s — and Theo is still a minor at seventeen. So the scene where KCC aggressively comes onto Theo was super-predatory and cringy to me, which I imagine is what the author intended.

Truth be told, one particular scene reminded me of something I personally went through when I was sixteen, so it was a tad difficult for me to read. I found it a bit upsetting and “triggery,” though I imagine it’s a difficult scene for most people to read. It definitely pulled me outside of my comfort zone.

But in spite of me feeling uncomfortable, I thought the author handled the situation extremely well and did an excellent job of portraying the range of mixed emotions that Theo experiences whenever KCC hits on him. On the one hand, here Theo is, a pudgy seventeen-year-old who has attracted the sexual attention of a gorgeous celebrity chef, one of his idols, in fact. But on the other hand, Theo feels that things are moving way too quickly and the situation feels “wrong” to him — the fact that the man is considerably older than Theo could be adding to that sense of wrongness. I thought it was riveting being in Theo’s head as he tried to sort this all out.

Though this is a short book, I thought it was an incredibly well-told story. I loved seeing Theo’s growth throughout the book, as he moved from someone with low self-esteem to someone confident and self-assured. It was lovely seeing Theo beam as he gained more and more admiration from the audience during the competition. At the beginning of the book, Theo was shy and terrified of being put into the spotlight, but by the end of the book, he was confident — master of his world — and he completed the required baking trials with finesse.

My one real niggle is that the book is too short! It’s more of a novella, coming in at 144 pages and though the story was good, it could have used some additional character development. We’re given just enough details to follow the story but I think this novel would have been richer had we delved a little more in the head of Theo, KCC, and Di.

But this short and sweet book pulled me in early, on the strength of Theo’s character, who I thought was absolutely lovable and found myself rooting for him throughout the competition and the book.

Though a couple of scenes were unsetting, the story invites readers to ask themselves whether, when placed in a similar situation, they would make the same choice as Theo. So in this way, Cub is a thought-provoking and touching story, at times poignant, at times playful but tremendously moving. Though the novel was short, it packed a punch. It was an engaging novella, and I found it easy to become invested in the outcome. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author. Recommended!

Purchase Cub at Amazon

Purchase Cub at The Book Depository

Review of The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

January 24, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Thank You Netgalley for providing me a free review copy in exchange for an honest review

This is the third and final volume in The Winternight Trilogy and boy what a journey it’s been. It’s difficult to write this review as I’m sad that this series has ended — but I’m so glad I went along for the ride.

Now it is difficult to review the final book in a series while completely avoiding spoilers for the prior books. So if you haven’t read The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, consider yourself warned, though I do try to make all my reviews as spoiler-free as possible. But still, this is not a book that you can read as a standalone novel.

The Story

The Winter of the Witch picks up right where the events of The Girl in the Tower left off: in the aftermath of a deadly fire that torched much of Moscow, and immediately, we hit the ground running. Vasya’s enemy, Father Konstantin Nikonvich, a priest who has lost his faith, has vowed vengeance on the girl and is able to incite the townspeople into a murderous rage, convincing them that she was responsible for the fire and that she’s a witch. Well, he wasn’t lying about the fire part — she actually was kind of responsible for that. So a frenzied mob storms Vasya’s courtyard, captures her, puts her in a cage and attempts to burn her to death as a witch. Exhausted and wracked with grief after having lost a dear friend, she manages to escape and is on the run, fleeing for her life.

Having left Moscow, she undertakes a perilous journey for her survival and the survival of her people, traveling into a strange and somewhat haunting otherworldly realm where nothing or nobody is as they seem. Along the way, she meets all manner of mythical creatures: a feisty mushroom king, a fierce old witch woman who holds a surprising secret, an unfriendly firebird, an angry river spirit, powerful gods/demons such as Lady Midnight whom Vasya isn’t quite sure are friends or foes and all manner of domovoi.

But what’s most interesting is that along the way, she uncovers long-buried secrets about her family history, her bloodline and her legacy helping her to finally understand who she really is. It also becomes evident to the reader that she is indeed a girl who is straddling two realms, both literally and figuratively, with ultimately the fate of both resting in her hands.

But no matter what obstacles are placed in front of her, Vasya finds a way to overcome them, intent on her main goals: to search out the only creature who can help her to save her cousin’s kingdom from the rapidly approaching Tartar armies and assist her in restoring balance after old and deadly enemy resurfaces and is intent on destroying Moscow. She also vows to help the chyerti (the blanket term for guardian spirits and creatures of Russian folklore) coexist with humans. But to accomplish her goals, she first has to make a drastic inescapable decision, a choice she’s not sure is the correct one.

This book is considerably darker than the other two. There’s a lot more danger, a lot more warring going on and beloved characters perish resulting in some heartbreaking scenes. But if it’s any consolation, some old friends return, also resulting in some emotionally intense scenes.

It was so much fun seeing Vasilisa Petrovna in this third book. She has grown incredibly since the first novel, both personally and magically. She is fierce, committed, and unapologetic — indeed a force to be reckoned with and can definitely hold her own against those who wish her harm.

Vasya comes into her own in this story as well as finally discovers the power that resides within her. But as is her custom, she makes more than her share of mistakes along the way, rendering her all the more human, all the more likable and all the more relatable. I love the fact that our heroine, as well as the secondary characters, are not black or white but all have their admirable qualities (even the villains…well, some of them) along with their flaws and faults.

It was heart-wrenching at times to watch Vasya as she desperately struggled to balance the real with the magical and the light with the dark, while figuring out how to convince her leaders, both human and folk spirits, that Christianity and chyerti can coexist.

Speaking of the secondary characters, they were amazingly well drawn and vividly rendered. Arden does an admirable job of getting into the heads and hearts of all of her characters, both the main ones and her secondary ones. More than that, she brings them all to life, allowing them to thrive and grow in their complexity.

The many magical creatures from folklore that played essential roles in all three books are utterly fascinating, sometimes dangerous, and always wondrous, and the author really brought them to life in this series. The character arcs take some very interesting twists and turns in the novel, especially those of the twins, Morozko the Frost Demon and Medved, the Chaos Demon in which we learn a lot more about them, their past and their motivation.

I found this book to be epic storytelling.

Final Verdict

The Winter of the Witch was utterly bewitching and immersive with its larger than life dynamic characters, action-packed plot, and lush narrative. Once again, the author has expertly weaved together historical and fantastical elements to create a truly atmospheric story filled with magic, wonder, and hope. It’s a masterpiece of a book — a tale of a clever girl who manages to outwit men and devils alike. I also loved the powerful message about coexisting that Arden teaches in this book, a message that many may find especially resonant in today’s times.

This book had so many themes, messages and other compelling tidbits running throughout: religious zealotry, grief, madness, battle, death, chaos, an evil priest, a brave heroine, mythical creatures, good vs evil, human vs non-human, the bond of family and blood, the never-ending battle between the old ways and the new, madness, a touch of romance and at the end of the day, redemption. There’s definitely a lot going on here.

I’m often somewhat leery of reading the final book in a trilogy because oftentimes, I end up disappointed. Not this time. In the stunning conclusion, everything is resolved, all loose ends are tied up, including Vasya’s heritage, her place in her country, her place in the world, her relationship with Morozko, the conflict between Christianity and the chyerti, Morozko’s relationship with his brother and Vasya’s place in her family. I sobbed at the end — but in a good way.

After three amazing, books, I’m finding it a tad difficult to say goodbye to those characters that I’ve grown to love over hundreds of pages. The Winternight Trilogy is now one of my most beloved series, one that I no doubt will reread in the future. It certainly makes me want to delve deeper into and learn as much as possible about Russian Folklore and the Russian pantheon. It has also made me add Katherine Arden to my insta-buy author list.

Purchase Winter of the Witch from The Book Depository

Review of Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows by J.M. Bergen

January 22, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

A Boy and His Magic

Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows is a middle-grade fantasy that follows 13-year old Thomas Wildus whose father, shortly before disappearing when Thomas was 6, told Thomas:

Magic is real, Thomas. No matter what happens, always remember that magic is real.

So now, seven years later, Thomas has neither forgotten nor has outgrown his interest — nor his belief — in magic.

In the beginning pages, we see the kind of person Thomas is through his interactions with others: the affectionate teasing and joking with his mom (and her nickname for him of “sweet boy”), his stepping in to help when another kid is being bullied, his close friendship with Enrique and Enrique’s siblings, all of which leads us to the conclusion that Thomas is kind, helpful and empathetic towards others — he’s the kind of kid who steps in to do what is right.

A Curious Bookshop

Young Thomas’s life takes a dramatic turn one day when he sees a curious old bookshop that he’d never noticed before. Given that he’s always on the lookout for books about magic, he decides to go in and immediately gravitates to the magic section and goes through the shelves stocked with dusty old books. An odd little man approaches Thomas, the bookshop proprietor, and after Thomas asks for books on “real magic”, the man offers Thomas a tome called The Book of Sorrows. According to the man, the book is quite ancient and comes with a set of rigid instructions. The man will lend Thomas the book so as long Thomas promises to strictly adhere to the instructions, especially the stringent rule of secrecy. Thomas agrees and excitingly, takes the book home.

Strange Things Begin to Happen

Thomas dives in what turns out to be a rather disturbing story. What’s really interesting here, is that strange things begin to occur once he starts reading the book. For one thing, the cover of the book slowly begins to change and it becomes clear to Thomas pretty quickly that there is definitely a paranormal aspect to the book.

Things get even stranger when Thomas can’t shake the feeling that he’s being followed and then notices that he is in fact, being tailed and tracked by a menacing dark van. Then, an old professor friend of his father’s suddenly comes to visit offering to tutor Thomas in Physics and there are numerous strange people that Thomas keeps seeing around the bookstore, some of which have an unexplainably unsettling effect on him.

Thomas Has Magic

Thomas figures out that it is his possession of the book that has caused so much attention and without even realizing it, he’s soon drawn into a world of mystery and magic. I enjoyed the slow revelations here as Thomas delves deeper into the book’s disturbing story with the book guiding him into a strange new world. Through the story and his interactions with the shopkeeper, it is slowly was revealed to Thomas that he himself has magical abilities just waiting to be discovered. Moreover, he learns that there is also a secret, a somewhat dark family history and a destiny awaiting him.

That is, if he can stop a powerful and dangerous magical enemy from arising and destroying everything he holds dear.

A Couple of Niggles

Though the story is interesting and action-packed, it does get bogged down at times by an excessive amount of detail. A good portion of the narrative is spent eating, walking up, visiting with friends, reading, sitting on the bus, playing basketball, and the like. While I do recognize the importance of world-building, I felt there were too many details that didn’t relate to the plot or add to the story. So bearing this in mind, the story does take a bit to get going.

I also found the snippets from the Book of Sorrows difficult to read. I know the author was trying to convey the feeling of antiquity, but the “eth” and “est” suffixes rendered the text a tad challenging to comprehend. An example:

“Yet the tale endeth not, for in the eye of Isham’s mind, the beast emergeth, like unto life…”

This wasn’t that huge of an issue, however, because Thomas summarized each of the excerpts so the reader could bypass them if desired.

Verdict

This was a wickedly fun and richly imaginative middle-grade urban fantasy with a compelling plot and endearing characters, who had quite interesting backstories. From the moment Thomas enters the bookstore I was hooked and couldn’t wait to find out the mysterious book’s secrets. This little gem of a story has magic, action, mystery, intrigue and rollicking adventure, and held my interest until the wild ending.

Initially, I was fearful that the book was going to end on a cliffhanger given that I was nearing the end and there was no resolution in sight. Luckily, I was wrong, and the story ended with a satisfying — and heart-stopping — conclusion.

I understand that there are more adventures yet to come so I can’t wait to delve into the next book. Recommended!

Purchase Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows on Amazon

Purchase Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows on The Book Depository

Review of Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

January 21, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I went into this book knowing pretty much nothing about it and was an amazing read it turned out to be.

Enter Darius

Darius the Great Is Not Okay follows Darius, a friendless, tea-obsessed clinically-depressed, half-Persian, half-American teen who refers to himself as a “Fractional Persian”; that is to say, he isn’t all that connected to his Persian family or culture, he doesn’t feel like a very good Persian; hell, even his little sister speaks better Farsi than he does.

Darius is nerdy and awkward, terrible at sports and feels as though he doesn’t really fit in anywhere. At school, he is the chubby loner who is a prime target for bullies.

Enter the Übermensch

It doesn’t help that Darius also has a super-critical disapproving father who has taken on the task of monitoring and making snide comments about every bite of food Darius puts into his mouth, continually reminding the boy that he needs to lose weight. It’s interesting how Darius always refers to his father by his first and last name: Stephen Kellner said this, Stephen Kellner said that. Another favorite name Darius has for this father is übermensch, given that Stephen Kellner is a handsome blond German who, in Darius’s eyes, seems to be the perfect idealized man.

But overall, Darius feels that he is a huge disappointment to his father and the way he sees it, his father makes no effort to hide that disappointment. The one thing that both Darius and his father have in common, however, is that they both need to take daily medication, so their depression doesn’t get out of hand.

A trip to Iran

Darius’s life changes when he’s told that he’s going to be taking a trip to Iran for the first time with his mom, dad and sister to meet his mother’s family, including grandparents that up to this point, he has only known via Skype. The reason for the trip is that his grandfather, Babou, has a brain tumor and doesn’t have much time left.

I think this was the first book that I’ve read that was set in Iran, so I really appreciated learning about the Persian culture and the vivid descriptions of the food, historical landmarks, and customs. I especially enjoyed the peppering of Farsi throughout the story.

Darius’s first friend

In Iran, Darius meets a boy named Sohrab, a neighbor boy who is quite close to Darius’s grandparents and everything changes. First off, Sohrab convinces Darius to play soccer with him, and his friends and Darius is surprised that he actually likes it — and is even more surprised to discover that he’s quite good at it! Then, they visit various historical landmarks together, and through Sohrab, Darius learns more about his heritage, and he begins to feel like a true Persian for the very first time. Sohrab even calls his Darioush – the original Persian version of his name.

Darius soon discovers that he can not only confide in Sohrab, but Sohrab seems to actually understand him, perhaps being the only person in Darius’s life who does. He also makes Darius feel included, like he belongs. But most importantly, Sohrab helps him to realize his self-worth and helps him to accept who he is.

Darius and Sohrab

I enjoyed the well-written portrayal of the many relationships in this book, but Darius and Sohrab have the most heartwarming friendship that I’ve come across. It was a delight watching them grow closer and as got to know each other. In the beginning, we saw as Darius struggled with body image issues and mental health issues, but as his relationship with Sohrab deepened, we see him begin to embrace his cultural roots and accept himself for who he is.

It was quite an emotional journey that Darius went on and a fun one for the reader to experience.

The Importance of Family and Friends

One of the consistent themes running throughout this book was the importance of family and friends. Family seemed to be especially important, especially since it plays such an essential part of Darius connecting with his Persian heritage. But moreover, it was beautiful to see Darius bond with his Persian grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom he’d never met in person.

But aside from the friendship between Darius and Sohrab, my favorite relationship in the book was the fragile connection between Darius and his father. Even though they both lived with depression, Darius didn’t feel at all that close with his father. In fact, their relationship was frosty, tense and fraught with miscommunication, and the only closeness between the two of them really was when they silently watched Star Trek together every evening.

But then, they both begin to view each other in different ways, and both start to understand that things are not always as we perceive them. I love the fact that being in Iran in Yzad not only brought Darius to self-acceptance but also helped mend the relationship between him and his father and illustrated nicely how our assumptions can often cause us to mistrust and misunderstand others.

Depression Representation

I really liked the representation of clinical depression in this book. We learn early on that Darius and his father both are living with depression, though it isn’t central to the plot. But there are several touching and poignant discussions on mental health, and through these conversations, the characters acknowledge how challenging it can be to manage clinical depression but that it can, ultimately, be controlled.

It was refreshing to see depression discussed so openly between family members and I thought that the mental health elements were handled expertly which isn’t surprising once we learn in the author’s note that this is an #ownvoices representation.

Verdict

Darius the Great Is Not Okay is an emotionally compelling story that deals with many serious topics: clinical depression, feeling like you don’t belong, cultural and personal identity, feeling that you’re not good enough, grief, friendship, our bonds with others and the strained relationship between a father and son who are unable to communicate with each other. But most of all, this was a lovely coming of age book about a boy reconnecting with his Persian heritage and discovering himself in the process — and realizing that in fact, he DOES belong. Darius is such a unique and relatable protagonist, and you couldn’t help fall in love with him.

The other characters in the book were equally amazing and equally complex. I enjoyed delving into this big Persian family as they learn to accept and understand each other and it was refreshing to see that they all had various flaws and imperfections, but loved each other nonetheless.

So all in all, Darius the Great Is Not Okay is a story with memorable and endearing characters that is full of heart and I absolutely loved it.

Purchase Darius the Great Is Not Okay on Amazon

Purchase Darius the Great Is Not Okay on The Book Depository

Review of Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

January 19, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“My life to yours. My Breath becomes yours.”

The Story

Warbreaker is a story that follows two sisters who are princesses, a handful of mercenaries, a powerful, deadly yet mysterious warrior, a flippant atheist god who seems to take nothing seriously, a group of other gods and goddesses all of whom have returned from the dead and finally, the God King of this world — the ultimate ruler.

The two kingdoms in this story are Idris, from where the two princesses come and Halladren, ruled by the silent yet powerful and fearsome God King. These two cities have been barely tolerating each other for three centuries.

Now the King of Idris needs to make good on his daughter’s marriage contract; you see, one of his daughters has been promised to the God King with the goal being to produce an heir to the God King while maintaining the peace treaty between the two nations. But things turn out a little differently than expected when one daughter is on route to Halladren to marry the God King and the other has undertaken a personal rescue mission to save her sister from the horrid ruler.

The rest of the story takes place in Halladren, where we’re introduced to living gods called The Returned because they have returned from the dead. Every once in a while, someone comes back from the dead and when they do, they are then worshipped as Gods.

We’re also introduced to the system of magic called Breaths revolving around breath and colors. A breath is a chromatic essence of a person – like part of the soul — and each person is born with one breath, which can be given by one person and taken by another. The person who gives away his or her breath then becomes a “drab,” in which the world appears gray and pretty much colorless. The person receiving the breath is bestowed with heightened senses in which they’re able to discern subtle distinctions of color and sound. They are also infused with magic, making them capable of animating objects such as clothing, rope, dead squirrels and even little men made of straw and commanding them to do your bidding. This system is called Awakening, and a person needs a lot of Breath to perform an Awakening.

There’s also the mysterious Vasher to whom we’re introduced immediately in the first chapter, and he repeatedly appears throughout the book. The thing is, is that we have no idea who he is or what he’s up to. Is he trying to assassinate someone? Start a war? The more he appears, the more is revealed.

As political chaos, conspiracies, backstabbing, and unrest in the streets begins brewing, we learn that someone is indeed trying to start a war and it’s up to only a few people to prevent it: a god who doesn’t believe in his own divinity, a princess who overnight become unimportant, another princess who overnight become all-important, an immortal wielding a sentient dagger whose primary goal is to kill evil, and the God King himself.

What I Liked

Given that magic system in this story revolves around colors, it’s no surprise that Warbreaker is a book vivid and vibrant with colors. I found it easy to picture the scenes in my head, and the lush descriptions really helped to give the novel a strong sense of place.

Additionally, the plotting and world-building were outstanding. In this story, Sanderson gives us a rich world filled with riveting history and mythology, fascinating politics, an intriguing mystery and numerous twists resulting in a truly immersive read. I especially enjoyed the political system in which the common people actually interacted one-on-one with the gods.

The gods themselves were also captivating, and I found it interesting how they remembered nothing from their past lives after they were “Returned” so in essence, they had to reinvent themselves when they began their second life. I loved the whole concept of “The Returned” and found it fresh and original. I also thought that the mythology surrounding the Court of Gods and the God King was utterly fascinating and would have loved to have learned more about them.

But the real treasures of this story were the rich, vivid and life-like characters:

We have two princesses, Vivenna and Siri, who couldn’t be more different personality-wise, and both of whom grew enormously throughout the arc of the story
A witty, sarcastic and irreverent god named Lightsong the Bold (my personal favorite character) — a multi-layered hero who doesn’t believe in his own divinity and whose main goal is to be as lazy and useless as possible
Denth and Tonk Fah, two tremendously humorous mercenaries who popped into Vivenna’s life
Vasher, the deadly and enigmatic warrior
Nightblood, Vasher’s sentient talking sword who has one role: to destroy evil, though given that it’s is only a sword, its concept of evil is a tad cloudy, so it simply sets out to destroy everything
Susebron the holy and majestic God King who we know nothing about until his personality slowly begins to unfold
And the numerous other gods, goddesses and high priests, all of whom were entertaining with distinct, well-developed personalities.

The character development in the book was terrific, especially with Siri, Vivenna, and Lightsong. It was fun seeing their growth as the tale progressed.

I thought there was a lot more humor in this book than in the other Sanderson novels I’ve read and caught myself laughing out loud several times during the story. Lightsong’s witty and wry humor was particularly fun, especially during his exchanges with the other Returned. I also enjoyed the endless banter between the two male mercenaries and even the exchanges between Vasher and his deadly talking sword were often amusing.

As is the case with other Brandon Sanderson novels, the magic system in Warbreaker, which uses a combination of breath and color to bring objects to life, was phenomenal. There were some fascinating scenes involving animated objects and zombie-like characters. The author certainly has a knack for creating creative magic systems that are intricate, clever, unique yet easy for the reader to comprehend.

Additionally, I liked the idea that magic is costly and not easy to master. I also liked how everyone has the potential to do magic in this world and not just a select few — it all depends on how many breaths you can gather up. The more breaths a person acquires, the longer they live and the more magic they can do. It’s also worth noting that a breath cannot be taken forcefully — it must be given freely.

What I Didn’t Like

Susbron, the God King, remained pretty much a mystery through to the end of the story. We learned a little bit about him but not nearly enough to be satisfying. I wish the author would have delved a little more deeply into his story and history. Likewise, I wish he had gone a little more into the history of the Manywar, the Returned and the Court of Gods.

The book also took a while to get going. My experience with Brandon Sanderson novels has shown me that they’re often slow-starting as the author spends a good portion of the book on world-building as the characters and story begin to take shape. So in this way, the middle dragged a bit. However, I felt the slow-buildup was totally worth it as the story took off like a bullet during the last 20% or so of the book.

Final Verdict

I really didn’t have any niggles with this and ended up loving it. Like the other Sanderson books that I’ve read, the world in Warbreaker is infused with a captivating magic system, compelling political scheming and plotting, unique and interesting religions and such rich history and mythology that I couldn’t help but fall in love with this novel. Sanderson expertly intertwines religion, culture, mythology, and history into a genuinely compelling narrative.

There were so many interesting themes that ran throughout the novel: religion, sacrifice, bravery, intolerance, self-discovery, compassion, empathy, and redemption. It also has an excellent cast of believable characters, a plausible world, an intriguing political system, and a thoroughly satisfying ending. I loved this epic, compelling, complex story of Siri, Vivenna, Lightsong, Vasher, and Susebron as they struggle through emotional, physical, and moral challenges. The intrigue and excitement grow steadily resulting in a perfectly balanced story which by the end, proved to be difficult for me to put down. All in all, a tremendous book that I absolutely loved.

Purchase Warbreaker at Amazon

Purchase Warbreaker at The Book Depository