Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I got Warbreaker from the library because I want to read everything that Sanderson writes. I've enjoyed what I read before Warbreaker and I enjoyed Warbreaker. Sanderson is the master so this will be very fangirl.
Vivenna, a princess of Idris, is supposed to be sent to marry the God King of Hallandren. But instead, Vivenna's father sends her younger sister, Siri. While Vivenna's been trained in Hallandren's politics and culture, Siri has chosen to ignore her training and does as she pleases. Siri is ill equipped to handle Hallandren but she makes the best of it. Vivenna decides that Siri is in danger and goes to Hallandren to rescue Siri.
Hallandren believes in a God King and a pantheon of gods called the Returned. The Returned are men and women who come back after dying unselfishly and/or heroical. Sanderson focuses a lot of the book on a god named Lightsong the Bold, one of my favorite characters. Lightsong spends most of his day being lazy and drinking. Lightsong has enormous power but is skeptical of authority to use it. Plus he has the greatest lines.
While on her rescue mission, Vivenna meets Denth and Tonk Fah, two mercenaries who used to work for an agent of her father. Denth and Tonk Fah are colorful characters and help Vivenna adjust to life in Hallandren which is vastly different than her old life in Idris.
Confused? It's understandable. There are about 7 or 8 different stories going on in Warbreaker and for about the first 300 pages I had no idea how they were entangled or how Sanderson was going to wrap them up. But slowly they start to become connected. Slowly I started to see where Sanderson was going. With nearly 600 pages, Sanderson has plenty of time to draw out the characters and their world. After a while, about 300 pages in, I started to appreciate the time Sanderson takes to make the world he writes in so rich. The action does take time to start but once it does, I was glad for the slow build up. It made the pay off so much more enjoyable.
Once again, I'm glad I took the time to read Warbreaker and look forward to my next Sanderson read. Others who shared their thoughts on Warbreaker: The Faery Inn, The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review, King of The Nerds!!!, The Book Smugglers, and Fixed On Fantasy.
This was my eleventh read for the Mammoth Book Challenge.