Warbreaker

The ending is definitly the best part of the novel. This is probably because of the build up of tension throughout of the book.

This novel was very well written by Brandon Sanderson, and I hope to see a sequel to this novel, just because it is very unique.

In the second part of this book I found that the only reason Lightsong inspected those tunnels was because he wanted to find himself. There was no other reason, even though in the novel the character thought it was.

Now at the end of this novel, just about every question that is going through ones mind is answered. We do find out that what Lightsong was dreaming was infact a vision of the future. We also learn who Lightsong actually was before he died and that his High Priest was his brother.

However in the end, Lightsong gives up his life in order to save the two nations of Idris and Hallandren, making it the second time he has died saving lives.

The ending is very open for a sequel, and although Brandon Sanderson has stated that this novel was to be a stand-alone novel, he said that he would be writing a second book in this universe but probably in a different part of the "world".

I know this will probably be a long time before this happens, however I still can't wait for the next book.

Warbreaker

Even though I am reading this novel for the second time, Lightsong still has to be my favourite character. He is witty, smart and knows what just to say at the right moment.

I have already read through half of the novel, and I have already figured things out that I have not figured out before. Before I believed that Clod the lifeless was just a person that they had bought, when in reality, Clod the Lifeless is Arsteel, one of the five scholars and friend to Vasher and Denth.

Another point is that, when Vasher snuck around the Court of the Gods tunnel, he made sure not to kill anyone, however when we looked at the murder through Lightsongs view point, someone was killed. This can only lead to the one option. Denth was following Vasher, and Denth was the one to kill the man. Since Denth wants revenge against Vasher, that is a likely option.

What I also notice better is the role reversal of the two princesses, Siri and Vivenna. As the story has progressed for the half of the novel so far, we see that Siri went from being an emotional outbursting type of person to a person who has learned to control her emotions and look like how a princess should look. While Vivenna, went from being everything one would expect a princess to be, to someone who has lost control of her life.

Lightsong stayed Lightsong. The same person I read about the last time. The same god who doesn`t believe in his own religion.

Well that is all so far. I will post again when i'm done the book.

Warbreaker

Warbreaker has to be one of my favourite novels I have ever read. Since I have already read the novel before, this time I shall be working on finding the little details throughout the book like something I had not picked up on before, which I know will probably greatly improve of how I think of the book.

Warbreaker was my first Sci-Fi Fantasy novel, and with its plot twists, excitement, crazy magic system, and a unique story, it introduced me to the genre.

The author, Brandon Sanderson, is a very unique writer, where he will not write a type of story that has already been used in the genre, such as a poor boy defeating a dark wizard. He likes his stories to be unique, and anyone who picks up a Brandon Sanderson novel will find the story new and one would feel part of the story. His characters are also ones you would not expect either. For example, the hero in Warbreaker is not the typical hero one would think of. He is not the man wearing large shinning armour, leading a great army into battle, but a rough looking person who works in the shadows, through diplomacy rather than fighting. However fighting is inevitable for a hero of this genre, and there are some fights involving him.

Time to start reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

How the Mighty Fall #3

I have finally finished my novel and have read through the last stage, stage #5 being Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death.

This is the final stage of when a company basically “dies “and from this point there is hardly is a return. However there are two ways companies can go within this stage. They can continue to fight and try to see good that came out of its outcome, or they can struggle all the way to their demise. However this where the people of the failed company learn from their mistakes, or fail to see it. This makes it so next time their company will not fail or the same thing will happen again.

This book was a very good non-fiction; however that is a bias by me as I like business. It provides good examples charts and explanations of each stage that will allow someone to learn about what not to do in the business world so people do not need to see their companies crumble after its already too late to save them. What you learn from reading this book will greatly apply to life skills and will be used in everyday life as because of this book, I go through each of the steps, to make sure that I will not fail.

-Francis Laferriere

How the Mighty Fall #2

This second blog post is about the second reading that I did, which explained stages 3 and 4.

Stage 3 being Denial of Risk and Peril and Stage 4 being Grasping for Salvation.

Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril:

This stage is indicated by the fact that companies will deny its financial data, saying it was misinterpreted or wrongly calculated. Also, the company will not believe that it is about to fail even though the numbers are indicating their demise, as well as their financial advisors saying that the company is about to fail. An example that is given is with Lehman Brothers, as the CEO of Lehman Brothers did not believe that the housing bubble would burst, and the cause of that caused Lehman Brothers to collapse.

Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation:

Companies will basically start to try anything to save their company from going down the drain. Usually at this point, many companies’ fate has already been sealed as it is too late, however there is a small chance that companies can redeem themselves here and come out alive. However it is a slim chance that requires a good leader. Statically, the book said that the only company that saved themselves at this point was when their CEO was from inside of their company. Every company that failed however hired someone outside of the company to be the CEO. I have my own beliefs that the reason companies got out of stage 4 was because they made their own employees CEO, and because it was an employee that worked there they had a connection with their company at will try to save it.

-Francis Laferriere

How the Mighty Fall #1

I am reading a non-fiction novel called How the Mighty Fall and why Some Companies Never Give In, by Jim Collins. I feel this book will be enjoyed by me as I hope to work in the corporate world of business, and this book can help me detect whether or not a company should fall or not.

I have already read 1/3 of the book and so far and have found that the book presents the decent of a company in the form of stages. In the case of the book, there are 5 stages that will be explained throughout the non-fiction novel.

I have read to the point in the novel where it has explained stages 1 and 2. Stage 1, being Hubris Born of Success, and stage 2 being Undisciplined Pursuit of More.

Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success:

This stage indicates that a company that is doing well will think that it has no problems and nothing can bring them down. This causes companies to neglect their provinces and indefinitely leads to stage 2.

Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More:

This stage indicates that companies will start to make irrational decisions to expand or to make more of a profit. This usually ends up letting them lose a lot of money in long term, causing them to go into stage 3, which is what I have yet to read.

-Francis Laferriere

New is recongizably old

Within chapter two of this book, I very much agreed with Northrop Frye when he stated that everything new in literature is considered new, however it is the somewhat the same as the old literature.

I agree with this because the old literature is basically the foundation of the of all the new literature that is published today. Sure the ideas and story may be different, but because the old literature is the base it will show up in every piece of literature, and depending on the writer, it may show up in a large amount or a very small amount.

Well this is my take on this part in chapter 2.

Human Rebellion

“What’s produced the aeroplane is not so much a desire to fly as a rebellion against the tyranny of time and space.” (p.14)


From this quotation, I understand that the only reason human beings have accomplished so much technologically, scientifically, and medically wise is because of our rebellious nature. We want to acheive things that have been stated to be unattainable or impossible, such as humans learning to fly. Because of these statements saying that we, humans, can not acheive a certain goal our rebellious nature drives us to go against the laws of nature telling us what we can and can not do and rise up against it and prove it wrong.

I, however, disagree with this quotation. I believe that humans acheive great accomplishments by the desire to improve and accomplish. Even though we are told that we are unable to accomplish something, we try and try again, not out of rebellion, but out of that desire to improve. For example, the Wright Brothers did not just want to try and fly out of rebellion against nature, they wanted to see if they were capable of accomplishing their goal. There are many other examples of humans acheiveing goals that were thought to be impossible, but it wasn't acheived out of rebellion, but as the desire to accomplish.