Warbreaker

4.5 stars
This was my first foray into any of Sanderson's work and it seems to have been a good entry point. For me, it lost that last half-star as there were times where the plot felt a little nebulous and the pacing was a little slow however once I got used to that I didn't have any other complaints. The world- and character-building were both great and the prose was rich without being dense.

It is a multi-POV fantasy that spans less than a year of in-world time but that draws on a lot of history and lore to build up the story. The magic system is clever and makes sense without being difficult to grasp. Through the three key characters, Siri, Vivenna & Lightsong, we see two countries pushed to the brink of war and their efforts to prevent it. The characters develop and change over the course of the novel, learning and growing as events unfold.

I specifically decided to start with something that wasn't Mistborn or Stormlight Archive as I didn't want his works outside of those two series to be spoiled by raising the bar too high as I've seen a lot of people who have read Mistborn first going back to Warbreaker or Elantris and not liking them as much. If that's a consideration for you, I can certainly recommend Warbreaker as I am now quite keen to read some more of Sanderson's books.