This week I read quite an interesting piece of fantasy. Prior to reading War Breaker, by Brandon Sanderson, I'd read his extension of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series The Gathering Storm. In terms of his prose, I don't think that he's all too revolutionary, but he brought a pretty dead story back to life. He's good with story telling, though not as classy as Jordan.
Anyway, the magic system of Warbreaker was quite original, in that I'd never seen anything of its like done before. I didn't really think it was too effective though. It used color of all things to determine the magic, and was utilized through breath. The more powerful the magician, the more breath. With more breath came ability to see more color and thereby bring objects to life with the use of the color or something like that. To be perfectly honest I didn't really understand what one had to do with the other.
Still, despite my qualms with the magic system I didn't have too many other problems with the piece. The tension ran high throughout the story, and there were plot and character twists that were bold and potent. The action ran high, and the human element also did.
The world was quite intriguing for a single volume fantasy piece, though I did think he could have fleshed out on this a little more.
The truth is that I really enjoyed the book despite its flaws. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it was certainly an enjoyable read. Give it a try if you enjoy fantasy and try to turn a blind eye to your cynical personality.
Have a great one!
No comments:
Post a Comment