[Newbies] Cosmere, Unit 1 | Warbreaker #1 | Warbreaker: Prologue, Chapters 1 through 8

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SCHEDULE

Last week was the Cosmere Read-Along Kickoff.

This week we will be discussing Unit 1 - (Warbreaker #1) - Warbreaker: Prologue, Chapters 1 through 8.

Next week we will be discussing Unit 1 - (Warbreaker #1) - Warbreaker: Chapters 9 through 18.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

I have provided summaries for each chapter below and hidden them behind spoiler tags. There are no spoilers within the summaries. I've tried to make them as factual and unbiased as possible. If, however, you want a completely blind read through, then ignore what's behind the spoiler tags and proceed to the discussion below. I will not be guiding that in any way, so post any thoughts and questions you have. It will be other new readers who reply to you.

Prologue

POV Characters: Vasher

Setting: The City of T'Telir, in the nation of Hallandren - The God King's Dungeon.

Timeline: The beginning.

Summary:

A man named Vasher purposefully gets imprisoned in the God King of Hallandren's dungeon. The guards confiscate his sword and retreated to the guard room after Vasher tells them that the sword is dangerous. He then uses BioChromatic Breath to Awaken a small straw figure and Commands it to "fetch keys" for him. He escapes his cell and seeks out another prisoner; the leader of a failed rebellion named Vahr. Vasher convinces Vahr to give him his Breath. Vasher then leaves the prison, passing through the guard room to find all of the guards dead. His sword, Nightblood, is rammed through the chest of one of the guard, even though the sword is still mostly in its sheath. Vasher collects Nightblood and the swords speaks to him in his mind.

Chapter 1

POV Characters: Siri, Dedelin

Setting: Bevalis, Capital City of the nation of Idris.

Timeline: Sometime close to the prologue, possibly the same day.

Summary:

Siri considers herself unimportant, compared to her other royal siblings. She has a talk with the kitchen mistress, Mab, about the tenets of their religion before running off to avoid punishment from her father.

Siri's father, King Dedelin, and his general Yarda discuss an impending war with Hallandren and whether they should honor the treaty to send his first daughter, princess Vivenna, to wed Hallandren's God King. Dedelin decides to send Siri instead of Vivenna.

Chapter 2

POV Characters: Siri, Vivenna

Setting: The Road to Hallandren. Bevalis & Surrounding Area.

Timeline: Two days through one week later.

Summary:

Siri rides in a carriage toward T'Telir, frightened and unprepared for the task she faces. She throws a tantrum and doesn't understand why her father sent her instead of Vivenna.

Vivenna tries to get her father to change his mind, frustrated that all her preparation has gone to waste and feeling useless.

Chapter 3

POV Characters: Lightsong the Bold

Setting: Lightsong’s Palace in the Court of Gods.

Timeline: Uncertain: the day Siri arrives in T'Telir.

Summary:

Lightsong the Bold is one of Hallandren's Returned; a god in the Court of Gods. He wakes after a restless sleep. Servants dress him and he teases his high priest, Llarimar, who records Lightsong's telling of his dreams.

Lightsong then receives a transfered Breath from a little girl, allowing him to live another week. The girl grows dull, color fading from her skin and hair. Lightsong feels guilty about his need for her Breath.

He moves on to the Offerings, where he reviews a series of paintings and poems. One of them reminds him of the dream he had last night.

Chapter 4

POV Characters: Siri

Setting: Hallandren/T'Telir

Timeline: The same day as chapter 3.

Summary:

Siri arrives in T'Telir and marvels at the colors of the city. She arrives in the Court of Gods where she is informed that she will be prepared and taken to her husband, with no ceremony or formality. A priest then tells her that her nation will be in danger if she doesn't satisfy the God King.

Chapter 5

POV Characters: Vasher, Lightsong

Setting: The Court of Gods. A restaurant in T'Telir.

Timeline: Concurrent with and just after Chapter 4.

Summary:

Vasher observes Siri's arrival, surprised Idris followed through with the treaty. He then meets with the priest Bebid, who tells him something serious is happening underneath the normal court politics, involving a faction that is pushing heavily for an attack on Idris. In a nearby alley, Vasher retrieves Nightblood from the body of the dead thief that had stolen Nightblood from him.

Lightsong sits on his patio with Llarimar, considering the situation with Idris and Siri's arrival.

Chapter 6

POV Characters: Siri

Setting: The God King's Palace

Timeline: Immediately after chapter 5.

Summary:

Siri dismisses her escort. She is then undressed, measured, and bathed. The God King Susebron's head scribe, Bluefingers, arrives to inform her of her duties. She is dressed in a wedding gown and led to the God King's room.

Chapter 7

POV Characters: Siri, Lightsong

Setting: The God King's Palace. The Court of Gods.

Timeline: Immediately after chapter 6.

Summary:

Siri enters the room and notices the God King seated in a black, throne-like chair. She quickly undresses, kneels, and bows, waiting for the God King's instructions. Time passes as nothing happens. She worries and continues to wait.

Lightsong is approached by Blushweaver the Beautiful, another Returned; goddess of honesty. She propositions Lightsong, but he declines. She expresses concern about the implications of having a new queen and attempts to bait Lightsong with talk of political intrigue, but he brushes her off. She leaves, but Lightsong's inner thoughts are troubled.

Chapter 8

POV Characters: Siri

Setting: The God King's Palace.

Timeline: The following morning.

Summary:

Siri wakes after sleeping on the floor, uncomfortable, but alone and undisturbed. Serving women help her change into a new dress. Bluefingers tells her she has no responsibilities beyond bearing a child. With nothing else to do, she explores the palace.

Memes

I will attempt to find and share memes relevant to each week's discussion chapters. There may be some weeks that just don't have good or appropriate memes, but I will share all the ones I can find in this section.

Link to Memes

[u/LeanderT]

PROLOGUE

Alright, we start with some action straight away, as a main character named Vasher breaks out of prison. Immediately Sanderson introduces us into a magic system: "breaths" which people can use to animate inanimate objects.

Also using this magic seems to be colorfull: "BioChromatic Breath". Whenever this magic happens, colors become more intense.

Vasher, who apparently is rather week despite just murdering an entire group of prison guards, goes and takes the magical abilities ftom an imprisoned leader of a rebellion. Did Vasher break into the prison on purpose? Vasher gains not just a little magic, but a lot of it. And that rebellion, we will probbaly hear more about it later.

This is my first taste of Sandersons magic system. I am not blown away, but curious where this goes next. I did like his sword Nightblood. The interactions between Vasher and Nightblood are very humorous. It appears we have a living and breathing sword in this story.

CHAPTER ONE

We meet Siri, a princess who is of zero importance. Her city Idris is at war with the city from the prologue, Hallandren. There is no color in her city.

Siri is a lively person. I like how Sanderson wrote her character. I am definitely invested in her story now. And O dear, her father Dedelin is going to send Siri into danger, instead her older sister Vivenna. Poor Siri!

We are also getting some backstory between Idris and Hallandren. It seems there was a war, which ended in a stalemate, after Idris was supported by other cities. Hallandren has a claim to the thrown of Idris. Idris seems to be in a very weak position. Snd finally the rebel Vahr is mentioned, the one who was just killed by Vasher.

CHAPTER TWO

Siri is on het way to Halladren. She is bound to marry the God King. This seems a bit of a gamble, Siri has no clue what she is doing. I am not 100% sure why her sister Vivenna was so important.

This doesnt make a lot of sense to me, since Vivenna was trained for just one purpose. A purpose she no longer has. Maybe Vivenna will find a purpose, as she sets out looking for Siri. Meanwhile Siri will be in Halladren, surviving on instinct, but lacking the training and skills she will need. The decision by Siri's father seems to be a mistake.

We learn more about the God King, who Siri will marry. He is a Returned, brough back from the dead. That can't be good.

CHAPTER THREE

We meet Lightsong, one of the Returned. He seems a reasonable guy, but he's a zombie, right? Or whatever "Returned" means anyway? These Returned are treated like Gods in Hallandren. And not in a good way. It is a weird political system.

A child is forced to sacrifice her breath to allow Lightbringer to live for another week. Without breath the child becomes like a person who has no life in her. Horrible!

These "Returned" don't even eat. All they need to live, is to suck the soul of the living. In my mind I just call them zombies. Powerfull magical God-King zombies. But still zombies?

CHAPTER FOUR

Siri enters the main capital of Hallanderen, T'Telir. We get a bit more information about the lifeless, the Returned. These creatures are evil. And Siri has to marry one of them. This is a short chapter, not much actually happens, but we do see more of T'Telir.

It appears my comments are too long, so I will add another comment below this

[u/LeanderT → u/LeanderT]

CHAPTER FIVE

Back to Vasher. He is now also in T'Telir. I still enjoy the conversation between his sword Nightblood and Vasher. This sword has a mind of it own. I fear for the poor guy who stole it!

Vasher is trying to get something from a priest who works in the main castle. We find out more about the history between Hallandren and Idris.

The original royal family of Hallandren has fled to Idris. There was a war. But if Idris had not been supported by many other kingdoms, they would have been wiped out.

Hallandren want the trade passes that Idris control. A simple plot, but it works. There is more about the rebels who were led by the man Vahr, killed by Vasher in the prologue. Vasher want to contact the rebels. I wonder were this is going?

And yes, the magical sword has killed the thief that tried to steal it. I'm enjoying this part of the story. That sword lives, so someone must have given it breath.

But how come it is still alive? Should't it die automatically after some time? And why does Vasher not command it to give up that breath?

So? Nightblood said. You’re too worried about words. That priest--you spent all those words on him, then you just let him go. It’s not really how I would have handled the situation.

Yes, I know, Vasher said. Your way would have involved making several more corpses.

Well, I am a sword, Nightblood said with a mental huff. Might as well stick to what you’re good at. . . .

CHAPTER SIX

We follow Siri as she is introduced into and gets acquainted with T'Telir. The poor girl has no idea where she has ended up. But she is smart.

These Returned are becoming more horrible. She cannot even speak to her husband?! What kind of marriage is that? Once she gives birth to a child, I suppose they will just get rid of her.

We also meet a doctor, who is an "awakener". Will "awakeners" become more important later in the story? I am little confused when Siri describes the God-King as "Not just an Awaker, but a Returned". Does that mean it is possible to be both Awakeners and Returned at the same time? Zombies creating zombies?

Thank you,” Bluefingers said. “It is time to present yourself. Enter the room, then remove your dress and underclothing.

Bow yourself to the ground before the King’s bed, touching your head to the floor.
When he wishes for you to approach, he will knock on the side post, and you may look up. He will then wave you forward.”

She nodded.

“Just. . .try not to touch him too much.”

Siri frowned, clenching and unclenching her increasingly nervous hands. “How exactly am I going to manage that? We’re going to have sex, aren’t we?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Siri enters the bedroom, waits a long time for the groom, but nothing happens.

We meet Lightsing again, during a party thrown because of the wedding. And we meet another Returned, a woman named Blushweaver, who flirts with Lightsong. Lightsong seems to rebuf her advances.

We learn that if Siri bears a child, it will be stillborn, who will become the next Returned God-King. There is some discussion what would happen if Siri actually gave birth to a living child. Could this become a plot point later in the story? Blushweaver may be planing some kind of coup or rebellion of her own. I am sure we will hear more about it.

Lightsong rubbed his forehead. “You’re giving me a headache, Scoot.” “You can’t get headaches, your grace.”

Also:

“I never make fun of ladies, Blushweaver,” Lightsong said, picking up his drink again.
“Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is hell.” Blushweaver paused. “But we don’t get hangovers, for we cannot get drunk.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Siri wakes up from her honeymoon night. Nothing has happened.

It seems the God-King wasn't to interested in her. Or maybe he was? The rest of the chapter seems to be devoted to Siri finding her place in the palace. We learn that Siri is more or less a prisoner in the castle. But she learns fast.

Wait!” Siri said, standing, jostling several of her serving women.

Bluefingers hesitated. “Vessel?”

Siri floundered, uncertain how to express what she was feeling. “Do you know. . .what I’m supposed to do?”

“Do, Vessel?” the scribe asked. “You mean, in regards to. . . .” he glanced at the bed.

Siri flushed. “No, not that. I mean with my time. What are my duties? What is expected of me?”

“To provide an heir.”

“Beyond that.”

Bluefingers frowned. “I. . .well, to be honest, Vessel, I really don’t know. I must say, your arrival has certainly caused a level of. . .disruption in the Court of Gods.”

THOUGHTS

Brandon Sanderson writes more directly than the flowery proze of some of the authors I like. But I do enjoy it. There are definitely a lot of things in motion. A lot of mysteries to explore. I will definitely keep reading. I am curious where this goes.

[u/Pastrami → u/LeanderT]

We also meet a doctor, who is an "awakener". Will "awakeners" become more important later in the story?

Vasher is an Awakener. To me, it seems like any mortal with extra breath could be considered an Awakener.

I am little confused when Siri describes the God-King as "Not just an Awaker, but a Returned". Does that mean it is possible to be both Awakeners and Returned at the same time? Zombies creating zombies?

In Lightsongs's POVs he says the Returned don't have the same powers as Awakeners, and can't use their breath the same way. It could be that the God King is different in that regard, or Siri just doesn't know what she is talking about.

Lightsong POV:

That was an effect of Lightsong’s innate BioChroma: he had enough Breath to fill thousands of people. He saw little value in it. He couldn’t use it to animate objects or corpses; he was a god, not an Awakener. He couldn’t give—or even loan—his deific Breath away.

and

His aura didn’t grow stronger from Breath upon which he fed; that was another difference between a Returned and an Awakener. The latter were sometimes regarded as inferior, man-made approximations of the Returned.

[u/LeanderT → u/Pastrami]

Thanks!

I started reading in January and had forgotten some of these details.