Warbreaker

From the author of the connected universe of the Cosmere comes the standalone novel from which spring characters who later play roles in the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.

In the world of Warbreaker, each person is born endowed with the power of one Breath―which can be sold and collected by others, then used to Awaken objects and even corpses to do their bidding. A few individuals who die in glory return as gods, with the power of thousands of Breath, but no memory of their mortal lives―and are enthroned in the Court of Gods in Hallandren’s capital. To Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris, the abuse of Breath and the claim of the Returned to be gods are repugnant blasphemy. But with one princess wed to the God King of their nation’s enemies in a bid for peace, the other finds she must rely on Breath-using mercenaries to try to rescue her sister from her monstrous husband.

Lightsong the Bold, a lesser god who doubts his own religion, starts investigating mysterious murders in the Court of Gods and uncovers haunting clues to his own forgotten past. He is one of four gods who controls the army of Awakened Lifeless soldiers, and one faction is inciting an invasion of Idris despite the marriage treaty. Vasher―wielder of the sapient sword Nightblood―works behind the scenes against the declaration of war, but Lightsong’s visions of bloodshed prophesy its inevitability. Can the new queen, unaware of her sister’s imminent rescue attempt, persuade Lightsong and also somehow get through to the aloof God King―who she has been forbidden to speak to or even look in the eyes―before her homeland is destroyed?

©2009 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2015 Recorded Books

Brandon Sanderson delivers on another epic fantasy

Yet another book I Love! Lol
  I listened to the audio version narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan and she was wonderful! I don't know why it took me so long to find this book and listen to it... I love Brandon Sanderson, but damn, I read reviews that said stuff, like "not his best" and "too political" and yes, long books intimidate me (I know... so stupid)... I loved the characters (including the sword [yes, the sword is a character] Nightblood), the magic system, and the story building. So don't get swayed by the naysayers and negativity, get the book!
I really enjoyed the audio book version of Warbreaker, and I think you will too! 
Since I finished the book I discovered a free on-line copy, available on Brandon Sanderson's website. It's posted under the creative commons... the best part about this is that Brandon shares his thoughts about writing the book between each chapter, and I expect I will have to re-read the book soon!

Possibly My Favorite Sanderson Book

Get it. Listen to it once, twice, twenty times and be amazed at the Cosmere...

Great world building as usual.

I liked the world building, and the plot twists in the story were great. The pace of the story felt slow even for Sanderson. I really struggled to finish the book because in the middle it was just full of slow character coming-of-age moments, and I didn't really care about most of the characters.

really cool concept

the ideas in the books are super cool. it gets a little slow and boring sometime but overall it was really good.

Excellent

The narrator is superb and the characters are all likeable, even the bad guys. There is a great authenticity to this book that seems to be lacking in modern day fantasy books (& movies). I found it very refreshing.

I rated the story a 3 bc it was at times difficult for me to follow what was happening.
There was much about heightening that was not clear until the end. Perhaps that was the intent as Brandon Sanderson seems to enjoy intertwining a certain sense of mystery with sci-fi/fantasy in his writing style. Because of this, I am sure I will enjoy this book a little more the second time, and I do plan to listen again.