Warbreaker readers: Is it about Siri?

[swaindaddy]

I read Elantris and liked it pretty much. My only beef was the amount of time that was NOT focused on the main character.

My question then, is: How much of this book is not about Vasher and not from his POV? Is it set up like Elantris with every other chapter about Siri and/or a third character?

Thanks - just want to know before I invest the time.

Anyone who has read Warbreaker please respond.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

swaindaddy, who was the main character of Elantris? Readers are in disagreement.

Warbreaker's three main viewpoint characters are Siri, Vivenna, and Lightsong. After the prologue, Vasher doesn't come to the forefront again until he starts associating with one of the three much later in the book. I would say it's worth the wait, and all three main viewpoint characters have interesting stories as well.

The book is by no means boring. It's a much more action-oriented book than Elantris was, and also more mature.

[Vintage]

I started to read Warbreakers and cannot express my opinion right now. But I agree with Ookla, come and join the thread "Just finished reading Elantris the other day". Maybe we could discuss your first belief while others read  (in other words, by the time you find out who was the main character, I'll be able to answer your question  )

[dawncawley]

I agree with the summation that Ookla gave you. While the view points are Vivenna, Siri, and Lightsong, the book is well worth the read and you get a very healthy dose of Vasher and his story along the way.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

The stories Brandon likes to tell are generally more complex than can be told in one viewpoint. I think the two Prime books were one-viewpointers, and I'm not sure about the books he wrote before Elantris, but everything else has at least two viewpoints.

(Er, except for the Alcatraz books, of course, which are sort of one-and-a-half-viewpointers.) (Oh yeah and Scribbler is mostly from one viewpoint.)

[Qarlin]

More than one main character, that's the key. Good read though. I liked it.

Each series that Brandon Sanderson writes has a different feel to it; with the magic system, the culture, and the history all being well thought out and developed. Each book (series) is waay different, though they all have a few stylistic similarities, just because they're all by the same person.

[White]

I read Elantris and liked it pretty much. My only beef was the amount of time that was NOT focused on the main character.

My question then, is: How much of this book is not about Vasher and not from his POV? Is it set up like Elantris with every other chapter about Siri and/or a third character?

Thanks - just want to know before I invest the time.

Anyone who has read Warbreaker please respond.

I'm vaguely horrified by the notion you present that a story should have one set "main character".

It kind of sounds... like the opinion of someone self-obsessed who doesn't want to hear about other people (or get into the head of other people). Not that I'm calling you self-obsessed, but it's kind of weird to come across someone who really wants to read more in the head of just one character.


I love books that follow around multiple interesting characters, and I think stories written that way (and the way Brandon writes them) allow authors to really desribe events that happen in more interesting and round about ways than books which place more stock in just one "main" character, which is a format that can get a bit dry on occassion.

Also, I'm pretty sure it won't kill you if you start reading Warbreaker and find you don't like the way it goes. I mean, it's not like you're facing the same inconvenience as if you had to go to a bookstore pick up a copy and *then* find out it's not your cup of Earl Grey.

If you liked Elantris you really are likely to enjoy Warbreaker which uses a quite fascinating magic system concept, among many other marvelous qualities it holds as a story.

I'm pretty sure if you gird yourself and invest half an hour or so into it, you'll find a lot to admire in it too - and maybe have the mumtiple character thing grow on you.

[swaindaddy]

I read Elantris and liked it pretty much. My only beef was the amount of time that was NOT focused on the main character.

My question then, is: How much of this book is not about Vasher and not from his POV? Is it set up like Elantris with every other chapter about Siri and/or a third character?

Thanks - just want to know before I invest the time.

Anyone who has read Warbreaker please respond.

I'm vaguely horrified by the notion you present that a story should have one set "main character".

It kind of sounds... like the opinion of someone self-obsessed who doesn't want to hear about other people (or get into the head of other people). Not that I'm calling you self-obsessed, but it's kind of weird to come across someone who really wants to read more in the head of just one character.


I love books that follow around multiple interesting characters, and I think stories written that way (and the way Brandon writes them) allow authors to really describe events that happen in more interesting and round about ways than books which place more stock in just one "main" character, which is a format that can get a bit dry on occasion.

I appreciate your insight but this is really a matter of opinion. I like to read books from a strong "main character" viewpoint with less focus on other characters. That you don't, is really just your opinion. An example I can give you is WoT. I loved how the series began with Rand and even though is fragmented (greatly after book 2) it really was a chronicle of him to start out with. That is my preference.

I came here to ask if this was the case with Warbreaker. I am assuming it is not - and that is OK. Not every book is for everyone. I like Sanderson and wish him all the best. There are many, many people who will buy and enjoy his books.

[White]

Fair enough then - Have you read Mistborn yet? If your preferences run that way, you'll probably find you like that one better than Warbreaker.

I actually prefer Mistborn (in part because it's a series and I've been able to read more) for much the same reasons you say you like WoT (which I've never read because I'm not good at wading - LotR is fine, long books = awesome but slow paces kill me so I've been advised not to) because it is... I'm going to say a bit more like a character study?

Ugh, that's so not evern vaguely the right term... but it's a bit more centred on one character than the other books - while still having other viewpoints as well, of course.

Though I don't know, the most central character in Mistborn is Vin and you might prefer reading about male central characters, so I guess it depends.



Another book you might want to give a try is "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rofthuss if you haven't already.

[darxbane]

Swaindaddy,
I find some fault in your logic here.  You say you had a problem with Elantris because it didn't focus enough on the main character, when in fact 99% of the book is written in the point of view of the three main characters.  You then compare it to Wheel of Time, which has At least 7 main character viewpoints, and goes entire books where Rand is hardly mentioned.  Even if WoT was primarily about Rand, and not the struggles of an entire land, your dislike of the main character not having enough viewpoints would still apply to WoT.  I would be more inclined to believe that you are comparing a story written by an established and seasoned author (Robert Jordan) to a story written in college by an up and coming author (Brandon Sanderson).  Please read Mistborn, you will see the marked improvement in Sanderson's writing.  By the way, I loved Elantris, even with some of the flaws Brandon himself admits to.  Nobody writes a masterpiece on their first try, but you can see the potential if you look for it.  By the way, if I had the time, I would have written this post in Triad format, and given you the least amount of words, because I am a jerk like that.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

There's nothing wrong with preferring to read books that have the majority of their focus on one viewpoint character. It's limiting, and you'll miss a lot of good books, but no one can read every book anyway and one arbitrary limiter is as good as any other. At least this way you choose which books you don't want to read rather than having them chosen for you because you're out of time.

Of course you can also run into problem like with WoT where a series starts out with the viewpoint you prefer and later changes to the viewpoint style you don't like. For example, the Robin Hobb books...the Farseer trilogy and the Fool trilogy are both first-person from the same POV, but if you skip the multiple-POV Liveship trilogy that comes between them, you'll miss out on a lot of the story.

[White]

Ah, the Liveship trilogy....

I really love how Robin Hobb made the three trilogies like that - she took a great world and expanded upon it.

And I mean, it just still seems to me to be such a unique way to write a series - even among authors who have expanded the universe of a story past just one book (in her case, past one trilogy) the way she wrote her books still seems kind of groundbreaking.

I mean, because really the books all use a consequtive linked timeline, while so interestingly the links between the first and third and the second trilogy are somewhat minor - but like I said, they still read all together as spanning one timeline.

I don't know - I'm sorry, I make no sense at all and frequently stray off-topic, I just wondered if anyone else ever had similar thoughts about how unusual it was she chose to write a story that way.

[Vintage]

Me ! Me ! Me ! Yes ! I just love Robin Hobb ! I love her heroes, I love the plots, so intricate, so marvelously insane !  I love puzzles too, and she puts pieces here and there for you to find ! You could find them, but my ! You do have to look for them ! Amber for instance... there was so many hints and yet, eventhough I think I could put my finger on something... whoups... it was gone ! Someone that doesn't read these trilogies is really missing a great piece of Fantasy Literature !

To me a single point of view, or a multiple point, does not influence my liking the story. If I can just skip into that world, if I can't just be there, it is good !

My ! Did my heart beat in front of those Others when they wanted to stop Fitz from leaving ? I have to stop thinking about it. I will have to reread them again.

I would be a liar if I would deny that Robin's commentary in front of Mistborn 1 did not comfort me before my reading of Mistborn. I confess I was a bit anxious after reading Elantris to read a trilogy of this Brandon Sanderson. How could someone who writes such a short book would do with a trilogy ? With AMoL ? Brandon won my trust way before I finished Mistborn I.

[White]

Mmm, I started on Mistborn when I saw the cover and fell in love, but it was the Robin Hobb comment on the front that justified my getting it!

Oh, I so share you love ^_^

[Peter Ahlstrom]

No Hobb spoilers, please! You got perilously close.