Warbreaker (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]

Warbreaker [Dramatized Adaptation] #1, Part 1/3

by Brandon Sanderson, Johann Dettweiler (Adaptor), Dylan Lynch (Narrator)

Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.

Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Adult

7 pages, Audio CD

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Twila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read complete and I still had just as much fun!
rtc

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never ever has a slogan fulfilled a promise like this one – “A movie in your mind." Thank you, GraphicAudio for feeding my Sanderson obsession with this dramatized adaption. I don’t know what I would have done after greedily consuming books and audiobooks alike; discovering the dramatized adaptations has made it possible for me to stay in that Sanderson happy place.

Now, to this adaptation. (Find a review of the book itself here: Warbreaker). The voice actors are, once again, amazing. As someone whose literal happy place is Scotland (where I like to travel once a year), I was almost giddy to discover that the people residing in the “Highlands” of Idris have a Scottish accent – especially Vivenna makes that fun to listen to.

The other actors’ voices were also chosen brilliantly, matching the personalities described in the novel: Vasher’s voice being deep, sonorous, and slightly gruff; Nightblood sounding somewhat unhinged; Lightsong speaking in that sarcastic, aristocratic, glib tone.

The music and sound effects were never too obtrusive and nicely used to enhance moods and tensions. (Though I was confused when in one instance Mozart’s Requiem (Lacrimosa) was played when, in fact, nothing tragic was occurring. Though it is a wonderful, emotional piece of music so maybe it was chosen because of that.)

Having listened to both the Elantris and the Warbreaker GraphicAudio, parts of The Final Empire and all available parts of The Stormlight Archive, I can honestly say I am ecstatic; the adaptations make Sanderson’s literary genius come to life and enhance what is already amazing storytelling.

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another upgrade to 5-stars after a reread with the hindsight knowledge of the Cosmere. I've only started geeking out on the details and intricacies of the Cosmere after I've read all his books as I didn't want to accidentally stumble upon spoilers.

Cosmere spoiler: The sub-context underlying his stories of how the existence of different Shards affect the Investiture in different worlds is sublime. Warbreaker takes place in a world called Nalthis and Investiture takes the form of BioChromatic Breath which is the power of life there. Nalthis has one Shard in its world and the nature of that Shard endowed every living being with a single Breath upon birth. This single Breath, however, can be given away upon the free will of its owner, and the people actually 'trade' in this valuable commodity. I can go on and on to describe why Breath is so valuable and the powers it bestows, but that is not the point of this review and I doubt I can do a better job than Sanderson in this book.

The plot in Warbreaker is simple. It's about an arranged marriage set 20 years ago between two kingdoms to stop a war, and in spite of the agreement being honoured (somewhat), keeping the peace was getting increasingly tenuous.

The main focus of this story was really on the characters and role reversals seemed to be the name of the game here. We have two sisters (Siri and Vivenna) of opposite personalities undertaking a change in their pre-ordained course of life which forced them to grow in ways that was unexpected. Then there was a God named Lightsong the Bold who did not believe in his own divinity and was constantly trying to undermine himself to be unworthy and unreliable. The development of these characters in the book was necessarily slow and a bit painful at times in the case of Vivenna, but it felt right. By the end of the book, the culmination of the individual arcs of the two sisters and Lightsong was both triumphant and bittersweet

Then there were Vasher and Nightblood - two of my favourite characters. One was truly fascinating and complex and the other being the most awesome, yet craziest and creepiest, creation I've ever read in his books.

I completed this reread via Graphic Audio and the Kindle edition which contained Annotations for each chapter. The GA performance was good and when the climax of the last 10% rolled around, it became really good. Sanderson always switches to a cinematic manner of switching POVs frequently during the climax of his books to convey tension. And it works every single time.

While Sanderson obviously puts a lot of care into worldbuilding and magic systems that are different, I increasingly find that the characters he writes about are the true heart of his stories . Although not every one of these characters are beloved, it's hard not to notice the amount of careful thought and development placed in them. This was probably one of the main reasons why his books are usually quite long with uneven pacing at times when he focuses on these characters pretty much doing nothing except growing into their part. It might be boring for some understandably, but ultimately it worked for me.

[Lin · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star for the audio version, DNF. 10% of the way through and I want to write a strongly worded letter to the sound mixer. Why spend so much time, effort and money making a beautiful full cast adaptation and ruin it by making the background sounds so loud the story can't be understood? I'll be converting to written book format for this one

[Natalie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

October 2024
Audible audiobook
11h 54m (1.5x speed)

Parts 1-3 but couldn't find the Goodreads entry. I should've read the book instead. The eldest sister annoyed me and it was only towards the end where she redeemed herself that she got any better. She was opinionated, jealous and bitter, the complete opposite to the untrained younger sister. The best bit about her was the mercenaries before they revealed themselves and the black sword.

I liked Lightsong, didn't like Blushweaver. Mystery, betrayal and conspiracies. The god king and Siri were cinnamon rolls and the sweetest part of the story. The lack of communication grated. I was hoping Lightsong would learn the truth from Siri. The nice reveal and clean up at the end was cool. Would've liked an epilogue with the god king and Siri. Not a smooth transition from parts, with snippets of other graphic audio books in between. It was good, just didn't like the older sister.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the voice actors, though I agree every now and then it graphic audios a little TOO hard.

[Fayrooz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much of a spoiler alert but the artists are the actual gods in this world.. they can see color and manipulate it veeery well.. they get paid alright with money.. as you do.. not with ACTUAL PEOPLE WEEKLY. and benefit people and authorities.
While the gods are just... glorified parasites.. lol

If the king's secret was revealed earlier.. I would've liked this book tbh.. but to "behold the maximus dickus" for HOURS was just a drag.. eh.. At one point I slammed the phone away from me.
It got so boring.. senseless and goalless after a couple of hours of listening.

Maybe the other parts are way better.. I won't read them tho.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warbreaker parts 3/3. A treat.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
I STILL HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS SANDERSON. THIS ISN’T ALLOWED.

[Bekah Zabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first attempt at listening to a graphic audio, so I don’t have a comparison of that sort unfortunately. I really enjoyed this one! The plot, magic system, and character development was top of the line. I found myself laughing out loud and completely immersed in the world the entire time. So refreshing when a world has so many unique characteristics entertained.

Was also my first time giving Brandon Sanderson a try, and I don’t know why I waited so long. I’ve been baptized and converted, all aboard the hype train. Thoroughly exceeded my expectations. I can’t wait to listen to part 2 once my libby hold comes through 😅😇😍

4/5 ⭐️ for the audio narration, 5/5⭐️ for story as a whole.

[Eileigh Kadijk Van Brenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far this book has been another slay by Brando Sando! I’ve been consuming it in a new way then I normally read books, but I’m really enjoying this “reading” experience, the graphic audio is awesome!

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Nick Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the tropiness of the characters. They are fun and often silly in a way that compliments the complex fantasy world.

[squidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay okay okay we got some plot 🤩 the ending of part 1 is good af lmao

[Spark · Rating 4 out of 5]

INCREDIBLE full-cast audio version complete with all immersive background sounds.

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am pretty sure I've never read Sanderson before. I've just not historically been that much of fantasy guy. I've read more fantasy in the past few years than I have in the preceeding decades. However, I do know the name and I know he's supposed to be very good. So when they had a Sanderson Humble Bundle a month or so ago, I jumped on it. The bundle contained a bunch of audiobooks and a couple days ago I finally had listened to all my podcasts. So I loaded up the first Warbreaker audiobook by GraphicAudio.

Before I get to the story itself, let me mention that this audiobook is AWESOME. It is more like a radio play than an audiobook - complete with multiple voice actors, background music, and sound effects. Everyone involved is somewhere from good to very good and it's a great listen. I heartily recommend listening to Warbreaker in this version if you're going to listen rather than read.

Now to the story itself. In some ways it is a standard set of fantasy tropes. There's the trope of the princess married off to a country extremely foreign and with different customs and religions. There's also the trope of the super badass warrior with a special weapon (including the trope I've seen more often in Anime/Manga of his weapon being sentient). There's the trope of being the youngest in a noble family and the "first world problems" that come with being royalty, but not the first-born. There's even the trope of Those Guys (aka Rosencratz and Guildenstern). But it's the way Sanderson pieces it together that makes it so great.

The book opens on our badass warrior (the only bad thing about fantasy names, audiobooks, and my brain is that I can't really remember anyone's name save a couple of them) in a prison. Sanderson uses this intro chapter to introduce us to the "breath-based" magic system in this world. People have "breaths" analogous to the Judeo-Christan concept of the "breath of life" that they can give to others. Some people, called animators, collect these breaths and use them to create golems. The more magical the golem, the more breath needed to animate the golem. It then shifts to a royal family ruling in exile, mostly focusing on the youngest of four children, Siri (I think?). I should have caught the hints in the narrative when they kept mentioning how useless the youngest daughter felt. She ends up being sent to marry the usurper government's king in place of her oldest sister. The usurpers want this to legitimize their rule. We then alternate between her point of view and a "returned god" named Light Song (I think?). It also involves a great pair of mercenaries who fulfill the comic relief role of Those Guys. Their dialog is awesome and are the biggest reason I just wanted to keep listening. Any scene with them is just so great.

I don't want to spoil anything else in case, like me, you're getting to this old story for the first time. I will mention in the spoiler tag once they mentioned that the God King was a returned still-born and when he kept being completely silent during the "sex" times, I knew something was going to be up. I thought it was going to be that he was emotionally or mentally stunted because he was a returned baby. Nope, it was that they'd cut out his tongue and isolated him so the priest class could control him, but I was glad I'd figured something was up.

So far I'm only 1/3 through the whole story, but I'm very much into this story and can't wait until I start listening to the next part.

[Vojtěch Tatra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer - My rating here is only for the audio form - for the book itself I will post it to the last part -> 3/5-5 for the audio.. The Audio is too much "graphic" sometimes. The music felt many times quite intrusive for me (maybe a different volume could help). Sometimes the music invokes some perception of the scene which I would not have only with the text and in my case, it didn't match well. Some of the music is even with words (or at least sounds like it), which is very much intrusive accompanying spoken words. The main narrator itself didn't felt great either, but it is probably just my taste. Audiobook in this form is a great idea, but in this case, not ideally executed in my opinion. The music and particularly the narrator make it bad for me - less music would improve it a lot. Yet it gets a bit better deeper in the book (at the beginning I would give it 2 stars, now 3.5). As I listened to other dramatized samples like Emperor's soul or The Hope of Elantris (which I listened to in other forms in the past) it felt much better, the same as a sample from Blue Moon Rising. I suggest downloading the file in high quality on Audible and listening with both headphones for the full "graphic" effect. This form is probably best if you rereading the book a second time (which is not my case).

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself is probably good. Everything Brandon Sanderson writes is. But, OMG, the graphic audio version was hard to take. The sound mixing was awful. So overpowering. I like a full cast audio but tone done the background sounds. There were times I couldn’t even hear the story.

Now, I wonder if I can find the second part that’s not graphic audio.

[Lgp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea what is going on... and I love it. The story line is excellent. This is a whole other level of story telling. I had to download part 2 immediately.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

World building.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, ok! So I’ve been a absent for a while & have read a number of titles not shown. But, lately the cancer has pulled me down to where reading is low on the list of survival skills. I’m not a huge fan of audio books-although I will listen when I need. So here I am, wanting to do something other than gaming, than tv viewing, etc. I find myself screening through audio book versions of my favorite books. While I’m doing this I come across something unique. Now there are quite a few stinkers out there: either the reader is not up to par or the technical skills did not do a good job. So I’m hesitant when I see this long list of audio drama books. I see high ratings. People are raving about them. Do I took a chance. I am in love with this style of audio book!! I am shocked at how much I love it! I’m from the generation where the Star Wars audio drama was created - now this was before the great advance in our current technology, so it was one of the best made & uniquely new forms of entertainment. Actually, it fused an old style “radio drama” with modern story telling & updated dramatics with amazing sound effects. That now leads me to this Elantris version of audio drama book. I can only say to just choose a book that may not be your favorite, but you like it. Don’t be critical and just enjoy the drama version of the book. Relax & visualize. It will not be hard. I’m hooked. I began with Warbreaker because it was a Brandon Sanderson novel I hadn’t read in quite some time. It is a good one but not on the level of The Stormlight Archive. It won me over. I am now hooked & have begun other Sanderson novel audio drama versions. You should check them out. They can be available online or through your library.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished part 1 of this 3 part graphic audio narration series, which is a full-blown fantasy book about a world/kingdom where colors and souls (also known as "breath," but essentially a component of each being's life force)are used for magic and are more valuable than currency. There are also deities that have returned from the dead who need a "breath" each week to continue living their immortal lives, and "awakeners" who compile breaths and use them to do magic and animate objects - as well as corpses. The book is complex, told from multiple characters' perspectives, including a "returned" deity, two princesses, and a mysterious and haggard warrior.
This is why the book lent itself so well for the graphic audio narration, and the characters' storylines interweave.

I've never read/listened to one of these before, and I really enjoy it! I think it's well done (albeit the sound effects are loud). The first of the three segments one ends on a cliffhanger. The story itself is very interesting, unique, and sucked me right in. I immediately went on to listening to part 2.

I'd like to provide a portion of the review specific to the "graphic audio" adapation version: the background music/effects were a little loud and should have been quieter. With that qualification, it was enjoyable to listen to, and I enjoyed the book/story itself as well (though not quite as much as Sanderson's humorous books I've read.) I did get used to it; it was better via headphones or my car, and not so much on speaker off my phone.

[Malik Glossop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really sceptical at first with listening to the Graphic Audio version having not listened before. I didn't really like it when I first put it on but the audiobook narrator wasn't quite to my liking so I thought I'd persevere. I'm really glad that I did, as it's really immersive. You get used to the sound effects after about an hour and then you barely notice them, it's great to have a full cast and the background music is 90% quite light and just sets the scene a little like in a fantasy film.

As for the book itself, the world building is great, the theme of using colour and breath as a magic system is fantastic. I've listened to the audiobook versions of the Mistborn Trilogy and so was expecting something similar to that but it's really interesting to know that it's completely different. I was left wanting more after this first part and moved straight onto the second part and finished that in two days, now I'm on the final part.

I've given it 4 out of 5 as I'm quite strict with my scoring. I'm not a fan of the Siri voice to be honest which put me off a little at first and the story is a bit slow at times which is what stops it being a 5 out of 5.

I was able to listen to this as my first intro due to it being on Spotify for free, and it's only 1 credit on Audible for the full thing. I'd say that's definitely worth it but not the full price on the GA website.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.3

I had such a great time with Warbreaker. I decided to read this standalone in between Mistborn Era 1 and Stormlight Archive Way of Kings. The magic system is super unique and ...this whole idea of BioChromatic Breath, colors, and Awakening objects is so creative and felt fresh the whole way through.

The characters really made the book for me. Lightsong… wow. Easily one of my favorite Sanderson (or any author really) characters. He’s funny, layered, and just so much fun to follow. And Vivenna’s arc? Wonderfully written. I could feel her struggles, even if her storyline dragged a little for me half way through. Still, the payoff was worth it.

The ending was a bit jarring to me—but it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the ride. I actually hope Sanderson comes back to this world someday because there’s so much more I’d love to see...and really want to see what Vasher and Vivenna get up to in their adventures.

Overall, a super enjoyable read with a unique magic system, great characters, and plenty of heart. Definitely recommend it.

[Amy Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note: this is a review solely of the audio presentation and not of the book itself, which I had read prior to listening to this presentation.]

This was my first audiobook that was a dramatization rather than a straight reading of the text. It threw me off a bit at first, but was enjoyable once I got used to it. One oddity: it became a bit jarring when I could tell the same voice actor was doing a different part from their primary role. That's par for the course on a straight reading, of course, but felt noticeably odd in this one. In a few places, I thought the background music was distracting, but most places it seemed to work well.

The trick of having Siri's voice actress read Susebron's written text, with the sound of chalk scratching in the background, was a nice way to interpolate those scenes.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book review -

The strong accents and the interjections are odd

The general narrator is great, but the voice performers take a bit getting used to. Half of the cast has a strong accent (sounds Scottish to me), presumably to accentuate their "rural" characters.

What's most odd are the excessive interjections. I get that it's supposed to be atmospheric, but for a character to say five times "mmmmh! Oooh! Mmh!" while eating is simply too much. Lots of "hmmmm... Hmmmmmm", huffind and puffing for every action, and just in general overdone "emotional" expressions to the point where it gets unintentionally comical.

I also don't like that half of the cast sounds like exaggerated Disney villains. The actual story and book are great, but the interpretation shift it partially into ridicule.

[Emily (em3ra1ddrag0n) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entire book. Audible compiled the 3 parts into one audiobook.

This is my 2nd Brandon Sanderson book and is my favorite so far. I saw this recommended by Elle Brooks. If readers enjoyed The Bridge Kingdom, try this fantasy. I've always found Sanderson series and adult fantasy overwhelming but this was an excellent entry point. It wasn't difficult to read, had interesting/compelling characters, and an interesting magic system. It had the drama/politics that The Bridge Kingdom had, but better relationships overall in my opinion. The book wrapped up well as a standalone however I'm looking forward to if/whenever a sequel is released. Now to try and figure out which Cosmere book to start next.

PS I listened to the dramatized adaptation, which was extremely well done. I loved the voices for each of the characters especially Lightsong and Siri.

[Vivian Wildeboer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dramatisatised version was the only one available on my subscription service (Storytel) ... Not my preferred mode, but not entirely as annoying as I had expected.

The background music, and especially the vocalisation/singing does feel out of place tho. And it totally got me over thinking about the production process for this. Is that singing recorded specifically for this production, or do they use some form of stock audio for that kind of stuff. (I got the distinct impression that in this case they used stock audio for this, since it didn't seem to fit for me.) Also, some of the audio effects felt too loud in the mix, compared to the dialogue and narration.

But as I said, not entirely as annoying as I had expected.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of the dramatization, but I got it in a humble bundle for cheap so I can't really complain. So far, the story's fairly interesting, and I'm enjoying in more than I enjoyed The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension (put together, honestly), plus that final God King plot twist was excellent. I actually love Siri (and Larimar?), am okay with Lightsong, and pretty strongly dislike Vivenna but enjoy her mercs, and don't care one bit about Vasher.
I'm looking forward to continuing this story.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Graphic Audio adaptions are so lovely! They're not ideal for cosmere clue-hunting but they've made rereading so much more enjoyable for me. I love the background music and the sound effects for the magic. It just makes the story seem so much more fantastical and awesome. Also, it puts me in the mood for a live action or animation adaption. Warbreaker seems like the easiest to adapt of the cosmere works.