One of the things Brandon Sanderson fans appreciate most about the bestselling author is his transparency. Sanderson is open about the progress of his projects, even using graphics to illustrate how close each is to completion. He's not afraid to offer samples of upcoming projects, even projects with a distant publish date like Knights of Wind and Truth.
However, it's one thing to give away a small sliver of a book and something entirely different to give away the whole thing. Yet in his online introduction, Sanderson wrote, "I wanted something I could give away for free which would show what I'm capable of writing and therefore (hopefully) encourage people to look into my other books."
Rather than choosing a short story or a novella, Sanderson selected the nearly 700-page Warbreaker, a Cosmere novel that follows two Idrian princesses, Vivenna and Siri, as they travel to (and try to survive in) the rival nation of Hallandren. While one sister soon finds herself trapped in courtly intrigue surrounding the mysteriously silent God King, the other is forced to survive on the streets with wise-cracking mercenaries.
The magic system is typical of Sanderson's style. It involves BioChromatic Breaths, akin to the soul or the essence of life. Each person is born with one Breath, but they can be taken from the dying and horded to create power called Awakening, which allows the user to animate dead and inorganic objects. (For example, a doll might Awaken to fetch something for the Awakener.)
Fans of Sanderson's other works, particularly the Stormlight Archive, will enjoy seeing some familiar faces in the story. Those who are new to the author will be able to enjoy an adventure with intriguing worldbuilding, good characters, action, and romance.
The novel, which is hosted on Sanderson's website under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License, begins with a prologue. Click the button below to get started, and happy reading.
