Warbreaker - Prologue Response

I read the Prologue to this story by Brandon Sanderson, and I would have to say that he has done his job by enticing me altogether. The main character, or at least the main focus of the prologue, is a character called Vasher. Apart from having a very cool and fun name, Vasher is introduced as having a unique ability called Awakening. Right off the bat Sanderson establishes a world with some very unique concepts that will set the ground for the plot of the rest of the story.

From what we are given in the prologue, there is a phenomenon in universe of this story called BioChromatic Breath. I suppose this would be a substance analogous to what we refer to as 'soul'. BioChromatic Breath is visible outside of the body, and it can be transferred from person to person but only by verbal command. Not only that, but it can also be transferred into inanimate materia in a process referred to as 'Awakening' it requires a certain number of breaths as determined by the size and complexity of the material in order to animate it. In the prologue Vasher animates a small straw figure to steal the keys to the jail cell door.

Sanderson continues to flesh out the rules to this BioChromatic Breath very early on. Though it is important that he give us a little info about how it works, I would have liked for him to keep it a bit more mysterious, especially because it is only the prologue. When he mentioned "The First Heightening" I was extremely intrigued, and I wanted to know how many heightenings there were. I hoped that it would be revealed much later on in the story, at some important moment. However, not two pages later he goes on to talk about a fifth and finally a ninth heightening, which only one person Vasher knows has gotten to. For a spiritual person such as myself, this concept of heightening is very significant, as it ties very deeply to attaining higher levels of spiritual awareness. The way in which Sanderson describes how Vasher feels when he takes in Vahr's breaths is actually much akin to a psychedelic experience, but much more controlled. At the same time it really is heightened awareness in all respects, and this concept alone has sold me on the story. I can't wait to read the rest of it!