What have we learnt?
• Vasher is in prison for beating down some twenty men, striking a priest – a member of the Iridescent Tones – and will be hung for his crime. Vasher did this on purpose to be taken to the God King’s Dungeons – no ordinary prison.
• Vasher has a sword called Nightblood. Nightblood has a mind of it’s own and kills all the guards by itself.
• Hallandren is a land of returned god’s – the Returned – lifeless servants, BioChromatic Research, and colour. Guards of Hallandren wear vibrant blues and yellows, which would be rediculas in any other nation.
• BioChromatic breath is also known as Breath. Usually, people have one Breath. Vasher has around fifty Breaths, which is just enough to reach the First Heightening. The Second Heightening grants perfect pitch. Many would consider fifty Breaths to be a great treasure, but to Vasher, fifty is few to the amount that’s he used to have. Having no Breath is not fatal, but it makes one feel dimmer. Colours don’t seem as bright.
• Breaths grant one an awareness of men. The more Breaths, the higher the awareness. A Breath can not be taken by force, they can only be transferred by willing. The more Breaths, the stronger the BioChromatic Aura. The Returned hold the most amount of Breaths.
• Breath can be used to bring objects to life, which can then be commanded a responsibility. This is called Awakening. Awakening requires three things: Breath, Colour, and Command. Some people call that the Harmonics and the Hues. Awakening is not possible without all three variables. Breath can be taken back from an Awakened object by the person who Awakened it. The closer an object is to human shape and form, the fewer Breaths it takes to Awaken.
• Metal is very difficult to Awaken because it has never been alive. Extremely powerful Awakeners can bring objects to life without touching them, which requires the Ninth Heightening. Only the God King himself has achieved this.
• Vahr was the leader of a failed rebellion. He contains a lot of Breath and letting him die will deem them irretrievable. The Hallandren Court is keeping him alive for this reason. Vahr has two choices: give them to the court, or to Vasher. Vasher is a common enemy to the court, so Vahr, reluctantly, submits his Breaths to him.
Personal Chapter Analysis
Brandon has chosen to engage his readers by keeping us on our toes with early mysterys…
• ‘It’s funny, Vasher thought, how many things begin with my getting thrown into prison.’ The first sentence alone rises many exciting and engaging questions. Not only does this throw the reader into a predicament – being locked in prison – it also adds a sense of mystery to the character. Who is Vasher? Why has he been in prison so many times? Who is he to be careless enough to think it is funny?
• Another example if this is the line, ‘the guard turned away, apparently convinced that Vasher was no lord. He was right. And he was wrong.’ How mysterious… It is now clear that Vasher is no ordinary man, but perhaps something complicated and difficult to define.
• For every question that is answered, a thousand are asked. We find out why Vasher is in prison, only to highlight the deeper mysterys that surround his character. How did he beat down twenty men if he doesn’t look tough? What hidden ability does he have to achieve this? And why is he so indifferent to the fact that he has been sentenced to a hanging?
• It is clear that Brandon has chosen to engage his readers by keeping us on our toes with early mysterys. This book has successfully captured my attention. After reading just a few lines, I am already eager to learn about this world that I have been thrown into.
Brandon really makes us feel like we are on the tip of the iceberg…
• Brandon is great at creating his own idioms within his books. ‘Colorless fool’ is a great example of this. With the book already hinting towards an importance of colour, this insult alone has indicated a sense of history and culture that is different from our own.
• Brandon briefly touches an explanation of a bigger picture. He mentions aristocrasy, neighbouring kingdoms and lords and ladies. Although this provides no use to the progression of the chapter, it gives us readers a sense of depth to this world. Brandon really makes us feel like we are on the tip of the iceberg, with an entire world of information hidden in the sea beneath us.
Various facts and rules are drip fed throughout the chapter…
• After the guards leave Vasher on his own, Brandon finally provides a little narrative which gives the readers a sense of education in this world.
‘BioChromatic Breath, scholars called it. Most people just called it Breath.’ Brandon is very clever at doing this whilst keeping a strong sense of first person character by refering Vasher’s thoughts to what other people think.
• So we feel like we are finally putting some pieces of this puzzle together. ‘Vasher has about fifty of these breaths, which is just enough to reach the ‘First Heightening.’ Although, unanswered questions continue to reproduce throughout the chapter. We are still a little bit lost, but it’s ok, because Vasher knows what he is doing. We are confident in his character’s abilities.
• Various facts and rules are drip fed throughout the chapter, giving us readers a sense of progression in understanding and intelligence. Such as, ‘in order to Awaken, the man would need three things: Breath, Colour, and a Command.’ With each new piece of information, we feel like we level up in Warbreaker knowledge.
Brandon has created a complex multi-dimensional character who feels real to us as readers…
• Vasher is a strong character. We know that he has a desire and a purpose. The character is motivated and has set out to accomplish a goal. Although at first Vasher seems to be fearless, the chapter progresses to mention that a part of his plan was uncertain – and so the character contains doubt.
• ‘Not much time, he thought.’ ‘He had to keep moving.’ As well as transcending this section into a fast paced feel, those statements also implies that Vasher has some aspect of fear. Whether that be a fear for being caught, or a fear for losing his breath.
• ‘Vasher leaned down, trying not to think of the days when he’d had enough Breaths to Awaken without regard for shape or focus.’ The fact that Vasher tries not to think of his past – back when he considered himself a greater man – implies that he has a sense of ego. He feels lesser than the person he used to be and his history has played a part in defining who he is. This could also be considered a flaw in his character.
• Brandon has created a complex multi-dimensional character who feels human. We can relate to his well-rounded personality, and this makes the book feel real to us as readers.
Brandon is not telling us about his world, he is showing it to us…
• The Prologue throws us perpetually further into the deep end. ‘He plucked a hair from one of his eyebrows, set it against the straw figure’s head, then reached into his boot and pulled out a brilliant red scarf.’ Although we don’t understand what is happening, to Vasher’s character, this is common knowledge. We are living the tale through the eyes of this character wether we understand what he is experiencing or not.
• Brandon keeps a sense of first person character by keeping the narrative inside of Vasher’s mind. For example: ‘There was a hardness – void of emotion—in Vahr that Vasher had not seen the last time they had parted, years before.’ This sentence provides useful information for the reader without breaking character or context.
• The book is taking us on a journey of discovery in Brandon’s imagination, and learning through first person is what really gets us lost in this book. Brandon does this consistently throughout the chapter. We find ourselves confused, yet grounded by the confidence of the character. Brandon is not telling us about his world, he is showing it to us.
Favourite Sentence
‘It flowed out of him, puffing into the air, translucent yet radiant, like the color of oil on water in the sun.’
Characters
• Vasher
• Vahr
Buy the Book on Amazon!
• Warbreaker – https://amzn.to/2QzKFGh
Other Books by Sanderson!
• Three fantasies: Tales from the Cosmere: Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul, Warbreaker – https://amzn.to/2W3p2zp
• Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive – https://amzn.to/2JPF4uP
• The Final Empire: The Mistborn Trilogy – https://amzn.to/2wtcy9N
Chapter Capture 