Warbreaker (3 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]

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

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, Magic, Adventure, War, High Fantasy

7 pages, Audio CD

First published December 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

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As hoped and expected, the Graphic Audio experience truly elevated the story.

Full review posted in Part 1 of 3

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lightsong, you’re definitely a god 😢 Top tier Sanderson character. I think I’ve fully grasped what was necessary to get from Vasher, Denth and the sword. Let us destroy evil together 🩷

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

Review of the entire adaption in Part 1.

[Eric Mesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, let me say that the voice acting and foley/music is so great in this series. In this third installment as characters reveal their true natures we end up with different voice performances from the actors. Very good job.

That out of the way, onto the review. It's possible if I were more familiar with fantasy tropes I might have seen the twists coming, but I was caught completely by surprise as more and more of the story unspooled. In the best cases, I was only one step ahead of Sanderson while I'm often able to spot all the Checkov's Guns (or wands) in literature, TV, and movies. As is always the method of a good writer, it was all there. Even the prologue gives a hint as to who Vasher is.

The key to making the story work, especially this third part, is that this is where all the characters grow up. While Vivena spent the entire book being confronted by the truth that the Hollandrens are not as evil and different as she'd been taught post-schism, this is the section where she grew as a person. She learns not to be quick to judge others. She learns a lesson that we could all learn about how poverty isn't always a choice and how morals can quickly erode when you need to evade starvation. She basically learns that you shouldn't judge until you can see through the life of another.

Light Song also levels up in this section of the story as his investigations have awakened a purpose inside of him. He starts taking things seriously. He also has another growth moment after he finally learns of his previous life and how Laramar knew him before he was returned. Interestingly, in his section we learn something about the returned and why they come back that isn't shared with others, including Vasher.

Vasher didn't grow much, but it wasn't his story. He's integral....especially so in this section of the book, but it's not his story. We're really seeing just a chunk of a very long journey for him. However, though him we get the remaining information we need on how Awakening works and Nightblade's history. Nightblade's sections here were the best in the book and I LOVE the voice they gave him in the GraphicAudio narration.

I don't want to spoil the rest of the book, even if it came up quite a while ago. But I'll definitely say that I didn't see it coming on who was the true employer of certain characters as well as who was orchestrating the things that set the plot of the book in motion. I will say that I loved the title drop at the end. (So rare for it to be so late in a book) It really did bring a lot of meaning to a certain character. Sanderson then TOTALLY leaves it open for a sequel. But then he went to work on some of his more famous works. I think I'd love to see a sequel following the two characters at the end of the book. I'm not sure how that would work in the meta-context of storytelling since they may not have much more growth left as characters, but this book definitely did leave me wanting more.

[Sab · Rating 4 out of 5]

[for whole book]

The pacing in this was veeeeery slow and honestly I didn't really get into the story or the characters until the last 3-4 hours of it. As usual brandon saves the best reveals for the end, and I'm so curious to know more about the 5 scholars! I'd be curious to read a sequel to this with Brandon's current writing, which has really improved IMO in pacing and worldbuilding. Loved the romance plotlines, and of course loved Nightblood as usual. The audio recording was pretty good, although the background sounds were pretty unbalanced in many places and made it hard to hear the actual story.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ This book was definitely something different than what I’m used to! The magic system was so unique and honestly loved all of the characters, especially Lightsong. The ending left it open for a sequel, which I wish would come!

[Hailah Alfawzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lightsong is one of my favorite book characters of all time! He is witty, smart, and fun. I wish there were more focus on his story. I love him!

[Fen4etoYNWA · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this is the first time I haven't been 100% satisfied by GraphicAudio. The narrator's voice was too quiet and hard to understand at some moments. At others - the noises and background were too loud to hear the actual story. I believe the reason for that is that it was recorded back in 2009 and most of the things from GraphicAudio that I've listened were much fresher.
Anyways, Warbreaker was a jewel. I loved any second of it and I can't wait to have the next book written by Brandon Sanderson. My rating for the book is 5/5 and for the dramatisation 4/5.

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A princess bride, her beggar sister, a hobo scholar, a talking sword, and a god who doesn't believe in his own divinity walk into a bar...

[Kane Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 finally started to piece everything together. The first two books left me wanting a little more “substance.” It all came together nicely in the end.

[Countess Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

فقط میتونم بگم پشماممممممممم 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may ultimately be my favorite of Sanderson's work. The main character arcs are fantastic and I want to understand more about this world. Aside from some tropey stuff that hasn't aged particularly well regarding the one of the Gods of the Iridescent Tones, the book hits so many of the things that have really elevated Sanderson to my favorite fantasy author.

I was suspicious of the Graphic Audio version, but I have to say I really enjoyed it. The only thing I disliked was the use of accents. It is so, extremely trite to use Irish for the pastoral princesses, give the Gods the more snooty sounding English accents, and use Cockney as shorthand for the poor, working class, or criminal. It's such a lazy direction choice that I was just very disappointed in that.

I was also distracted by the fact that the T'Telir theme has the same chord progression as "Love Me Do" by The Beatles and it really killed certain themes. I also think that in terms of mixing, Graphic Audio productions are always just a SMIDGE loud in the background music and sound effects.

All of that said: the performances were great, the flow was fantastic, and aside from a couple of minor comments about the adaptation, most of what was taken out of the text adaptation was a blessed relief. In particular, the adapters nixed much of Blushweaver/Lightsong's most tedious exchanges, making the book's weakest part much better. I've always loved the development of Lightsong's character but my god, in particular the audio versions of this book were super bad in the past.

All-in-all, I think this version elevates the story, rather than the inverse. That makes me very happy because Warbreaker is such a fun and interesting book. In particular, I think it's Sanderson's best political/intrigue book. I wish, in fact, that he would do more of it. It's accomplished very well.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 and eventually, fit together as puzzle pieces and wrap up together in a grand finale.

There was a point in the last third of the book where I told one of my kids that I NEEDED to listen to it because everything was going wrong, and I wasn't sure how any of it was going to be fixed. Things were moving pretty quickly toward the end.

After a three-week hiatus in the middle of slow-moving part 2, I wrapped up listening to the graphic audio narration series. I have to say, 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 more tolerable via headphones or my car, and not so much on speaker off my phone/I got used to it.

[Vojtěch Tatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always in the case of Brandon Sanderson, the magic system is very interesting and well built albeit not that detailed as in Mistborn or Stormlight archive books. Worldbuilding is not that detailed as in other of his books, but fine and interesting. Overall it is on the same level as Elantris for me. Mormonism's "material" attitude to religion influences the religion in this book too I think and I liked how Brandon explored other religions here also. I like how the thousands of breaths from childhood made the God-King basically autistic (even in the typical absence of intrinsic social skills, that he doesn't speak is often present in people with autism too). I really like the presence of various mental disorders in Brandon's books, not many authors do that in the case of fantasy. Reading the Stormlight Archive first I was delighted to learn about Sword Nimi history finally!
Some head popups: Ultimate awakening command (for Nightblood for example) would be God's name in Jahvistic traditions meaning "I am". Night blood is kind of artificial intelligence. Will we find that the Returned are something like heralds - spren? We know that Nightblood is manifested like shard blade on Roshar. Breatharians is said to eat color and smells..

[Nghia Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered these dramatized adaptations recently, long after reading Warbreaker, and they truly enhanced the reading experience. The slogan "a movie in your mind" applied to every moment.

The adaptation added depth to many characters, making both Lightsong and Blushweaver more likable, their emotions more genuine, and their efforts to conceal their true feelings more evident. It also effectively highlighted the transformations that Vivenna and Siri underwent as their destinies intertwined.

Understandably, main characters with fewer lines, like Vasher and Denth, did not benefit as much from the adaptation. However, Nightblood stood out even more compared to the original.

If you loved Warbreaker as I did, you won't be disappointed with this adaptation.

For those who are fans of Sanderson's later works, such as Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive, you might find the world of Warbreaker less expansive. However, whatever it lacks in space compared to Sanderson's later work, you will find that the story makes it back in time with a very satisfying complex layering of history and storytelling.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warbreaker has always been one of my favorite Brandon Sanderson books—it raises fascinating moral questions, along with vivid, interesting characters who grow and develop throughout the book. I greatly enjoyed the re-read—though again, I found myself in tears by the ending.

This audiobook is well acted—I enjoyed the performances of most of the characters. However, the sound effects were terrible. They were largely overdone and exaggerated—to the point where scenes that should have been tense or exciting ended up being more comical than anything else. At times, the sound effects were so loud that it was difficult to hear what the actors were saying. I wish there had been a way to turn down or off the sound effects—they're the only thing that keep this particular adaptation from being 5 stars!

[Whitney Reid Drebot · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️ I actually really liked this book. You can never go wrong with the graphic audios. They’re so good. And such a slay that this book is free on Audible right now.

This book was easier for me to get into than mistborn was honestly. Probably because I’m usually a romance reader and this actually did have a touch of romance in it. 🩷

My favorite quote of the book was when Susebron wrote “I suspect that the mountains are beautiful, as you have said. However, I believe the most beautiful thing in them has already come down to me” on his little chalkboard to Siri. 😭😭 lol the man that you are Susebron. I literally cried during this whole scene with him and Siri. Haha how does one fall in love with a man that can’t talk? Idk but I love him.

Also I would really like to read a second book of this that follows Vasher and Vivenna’s story more. I love them and think their romance story would be so cute if we could get into it more.

[Bekah Zabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book as a whole was such a glorious experience. The only issue I have with the graphic audio is that the narrators voice was often drowned out with the cinematic background noises.

Overall this book truly made me a Brandon Sanderson stan. The character development, world building, and dialogue really was a league of its own. Makes me excited to continue diving into Sanderson’s multiverse. If you’ve been intimidated by where to start with his works, I believe this was a great intro into his worlds. While the world building is intense and battle scenes alike with this 3rd part, it was an extremely adventurous and engaging read. The storytelling doesn’t bore you in any way, a unique fantasy indeed.

6⭐️ for the overall storyline,
4.25 ⭐️ for the graphic audio.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review for all 3 parts)
In classic Brandon Sanderson fashion, the book drags on a bit in places, with loads of stuff suddenly happening at the end. The tempo could have been a bit more distributed, but the book is overall still good, with nice worldbuilding.
If you liked other works of Brandon Sanderson, you'll probably also like this one. If you haven't read any of his books, this would be a good place to start.
The dramatized audio was also good. Even though it can sound a bit cheesy in places, I still recommend it.

[Miss Cecile · Rating 4 out of 5]

What i didn't like: The ending seemed abruptly to me. All this build up, and then you don't know if the good guys win. If there is a sequel, that makes sense, but I have seen one.

What I liked: The magic system, as can be expected from Sanderson, is unique and powerful. There were twists i definitely did not see coming and really shocked me.

I loved the love story. It is sweet. with lots of slow burn that makes it feel earned. Additionally, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the sisters' stories as they each come into their own but in totally diffrent ways.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook production value: Dude. 5 Stars
Content: 5 Star.
it took me a bit of the first third to get into this but the characters became compelling and the content interesting. like Sanderson's other work the mythology has context woven into it and all mysticism functions as a system that has predictable ins and outs making it seem truly plausible in the realm of the story.
God Kings, princesses, armies, war, and counsels of gods living among man.

Would recommend

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very satisfying ending to a solid story. It made me care a bit about Vasher and Vivenna, which was nice and unexpected. Good plot twists, good Act III character building. I enjoyed it much more than The Final Empire or The Well of Ascension, and I'm willing to give Brandon Sanderson another chance.

[Ben Bergeroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the best way for everyone to experience a book but it sure as hell was for me. This production made Warbreaker hands down one of my favorite experiences with an audiobook I have ever had. Such great visualizations of the magic system of the world. I highly recommend listening to this through headphones/earbuds as I tried with my car sound system and it was a little much with how much ambient sound they use to enhance the scenes. Still great regardless.

[Bev Walkling · Rating 4 out of 5]

We started listening to this series on a road trip but didn't have quite enough time to finish it that way. This meant there was a gap of some time before I managed to listen to all of it. This led to a little confusion on my part as to exactly what was happening when. I might have scored it higher if there hadn't been that break.

[Creating · Rating 5 out of 5]

After finishing the graphic audio of Warbreaker I have to say this is my favorite ever. I love Light Song and i really want to know so much more about his life before becoming a god.
This is also my first of Brandon Sanderson and i want more, i need to know what happens next but sadly i don't think it will happen any time soon.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A high energy conclusion with some very interesting turns. I liked how there was an aspect of true and pure love, not just romance, but it didn't overwhelm the storyline. It played into some of the big actions, but was not the primary driving force.
There was some great historical referencing and an outlet to the next installment of the universe. Sanderson's mastery of prose continues.

[Vasso Anag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaaamaaazing! The ending was as expected really cool, full of twists! I'm totally convinced, I have to dive back in the cosmere immediately!
The audiobook was great just like the previous parts, with top performances and great background sounds although sometimes slightly too loud, making it difficult to make out the narration.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it was a bit slow to get started, this third part of the story comes to a satisfactory conclusion with plenty of action, a little romance, noble redemptions and a few happily ever afters. I enjoyed it and will likely listen again.

[Ankita Dixit · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story,it hooked me till the end,at times I felt at the middle that to stop but some motivation about biochromatic breath stuff kept me hooked.
Story is about two sisters throughout how their involvement can either stop war or lead to war and between this there's a medium called "Warbreaker"

[Malik Glossop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ending, I would've loved to hear more on what happened after but I guess it's sometimes better to leave you to imagine that for yourself. The free graphic audio version of this has gotten me tempted to buy the storm light archive too