Nicci McNeff

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.

Xavier isn't like other unicorns. He's got attitude and the tongue to match. But that attitude gets him kicked out of Unicaria, the secret part of the forest where all the unicorns live. With nowhere to go, Xavier wanders for days until he is befriended by a young man and woman from a nearby village. Together, they accidentally uncover an evil wizard's plot to invade Unicaria and kill all the unicorns. When no one believes their story, they take matters into their own hands and embark on a quest to save the unicorns - and, unknowingly, the world.

The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler - the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years - has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.