The Black Prism (Lightbringer)

Brandon Sanderson suggested this book to his followers, and by taking his advice I gave it a go. The book is easy to read and really creates a great world in your head that will keep growing and become more detailed throughout the sequel. Do yourself a favor and give it a read

What an imagination, great storytelling, gripping. The world Mr Weeks has created is brought to life wonderfully well, as are the characters. The way the characters use colour magic is just downright uber clever. Once I finished I downloaded the next book almost immediately.

A whole new twist in Sci-Fi. Light is used in place of magic? Hell yeah! (technically still is considered magic in the book) Plot twists are freakin crazy, Brent does an amazing job detailing the world, the drafting, and especially the characters. Read this book!

I can't figure out why people like this and I seriously tried very hard, I made it almost all the way through. There isn't a single character in this book that is likeable. Kip is annoying, whiny, and has a huge attitude. He's dumb and useless. It isn't charming at all. It just makes me really irritated. Guile I found horrible. Why would he suffocate Kip until he passed out for merely being rude? Abusing your power over someone else is sick. What is wrong with Karris? She literally is obsessing over an old flame from 15 YEARS AGO. Have some damn self respect and move on. Stop acting like it's the end of the world that you and Guile didn't work out, it's pathetic. Her whole story and life pretty much revolves around him in some way.

To top that off, it takes over half the book for something to actually happen. The rest of that is explaining in full detail how "omg magic is light and it kills you", complex political junk, switching POVS, and explaining in detail every part of everyone's back story.

Wish I could get my time back out of this book. I love fantasy but this was stupid. I suspect the score is rigged on here because over on goodreads.com it has a much lower score and much less over the top glowing reviews.

Brent Weeks blew me away with this book!
I didn't think so much about it, but when I got into it, mid-way through the first chapter, I was totally blown away! The way he writes makes you want to finish it in ONE READ! Exellent and a good buy!

Pure Gold Drafted light :] this Epic tale I was unsure of to begin with but once
I had moved past the Dark Angle Tri and really hooked in I began to believe I could one day Draft like Kip haha
Well balanced book Weeks Congrats on keeping me hooked every page

I've been reading fantasy for about 40 years and still love it. This is a good series so far...it's not as riveting for me as some other series have been, but I'm sticking with it and in the second book am finding it getting better and better. That said, the plot seems to jump forward in ways that could have been hinted earlier. For example (tiny spoiler alert) there seems to be some group of deities being referenced now as returning (from somewhere) and if this is ramping up to a conflict among gods, that seems like a breadcrumb that could have been introduced earlier on. This is minor though...as I said, I'm still in it and still looking forward to what comes next.

Lightbringer is à great series. Brents ability to completely do the unpredictable is simply amazing. The twists and turns of this series are great. The only complaint might be that he emphizises the "not loved" characters more so than the loved ones.I say: Be gone kip and more Gavin!

I absolutely loved this book! Very original magical set-up and what seems a straight forward plot turns more convoluted as the story progresses. Great sense of humor. The main character had me giggling right to the end. The second book is even better :-)

I’ve only read a few fantasy novels. One fantasy novel I read was “The Reluctant Swordsman”. That book had an unusual beginning, interesting characters and a clever ending. (I gave that book 5 stars.) I felt The Black Prism was not as good. (I would have given The Black Prism 3.5 stars if the store ratings allowed fractions.)

The beginning of The Black Prism was of the somewhat conventional escape-or-die variety. The story itself was too reliant on either the application of magic or epic battles to keep the story moving along. Two of the main characters (Gavin and Kip) evolved as the story progressed, but the other characters remained one-dimensional. And the ending was essentially a set of cliffhangers.
On the positive side, I did enjoy the many instances of “palace intrigue”. Also, the world of color-based magic was well fleshed-out (though not particularly entertaining to read about -- indeed, to help the reader understand this magic, one of the story’s characters was given the task of mentoring another on the workings of color-based magic).

Was amazed by the character and world-building by Weeks! So many characters to love and hate along with duplicity,political intrigue, war, priviledge and poverty, social class, etc....you name it and it's all encompassed in this story. Have already read his next in this series, THE BLINDING KNIFE, and can tell you it gets even better! Don't miss out on the continuation....you will love it!!

The Magic they do was kind of confusing at first because it's a different take on it than anything I've ever read before. Even while you're getting to understand it more though the book is still addictive!

It was very interesting, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was always wanting more and the book kept giving it. In my opinion it never got overwhelmingly complicated and the twists in it where amazing. I would recommend to everyone.

The Black Prism written by Brent Weeks was a very enjoyable book. I recommend it for young adults. The book was an intelligent story that I have high expectations of for the rest of the Lighbringer series.

Brent has crafted another excellent story with great characters and twisting storyline. The story kept me engaged and I found myself having a hard time putting it down. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book.

This book is hard to rate. The world building is excellent. If you like deeply complex worlds you will love this book. Unfortunately, none of the characters are likeable. Not one. They are all self-centered jerks. I can't root for any of them. The book does have a few twists that keep it going. In short, if you like complex world building, get this book. If you like deep characters, skip it.

The writing is good, and the storyline inventive. But the page-to-page drive of the plot depends mainly on characters keeping secrets from each other. And these same leading characters, though usually intelligent and perceptive, ocassionally make boneheaded choices, with the seeming purpose (on the part of the author) of creating yet more interpersonal secrets and misunderstandings.

This book is amazing. I strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys being happily frustrated (Trust me, it's worth it). You can't help but get attached to the characters in this book. I'm sure I'll read it again.

Having come from the Night Angel trilogy, I expected this to be another work of art. But this time, I was blown away. Once I started reading, from the first word, I couldn't stop. Brent Weeks has done it again!

I've lost track of how many times I've read this book from cover to cover and still I find little clues and subtle hints that help me understand the the long and complicated story line. Simply one of the best books and best series ever for me. Of course it has some flaws, nothing is perfect, but this is a totally gripping group of characters and a plot beyond compare.

I loved the Night Angel trilogy, and I had high hopes for this book. But I knew I was going to have trouble with it after the first chapter. I can sum up the rest of this review in two words: Green sunglasses. I can't get behind a character wearing colored sunglasses. First of all, I imagine this looking stupid. Secondly, I don't like thinking about seeing the world through colored sunglasses. It makes me nauseous and claustrophobic, and it also makes me think of the 1960's. I don't want any of that in a fantasy novel.

There are some good things about this book though. Brent Weeks has a laid back writing style that is both effortless to read and engaging. He is not out to impress people with High English or melodrama. It seems to me that his focus is for you to have as much fun reading the book as he did when he was writing it. Just as importantly, he likes his characters powerful and his problems insurmountable, which is usually an awesome combination. His protagonists are people you'd probably like to hang out with. They are funny, clever, good looking, and down to earth. And they have good and bad moments, just like anyone. I found Gavin Guile to be very likable. Kip less so. He's a little too teenagerish for me.

So here are the good things: Dynamic, fast-paced story, likable characters. The bad thing: Psychedelic imagery. There are lots of colors in this book, and they get sprayed all over the place. Lets see, orange is slippery, yellow is fragile, blue and green are hard, red is flammable, and you can't see purple. None of that worked for me. It's a matter of personal taste, of course. I don't really like chocolate either. To each, his own. But because I find psychedelia distasteful, I don't think I will want to read the rest of the books in this series. Maybe it will work for you, but I can't recommend it.

I was hooked very quickly with the Night Angel trilogy and this book grabbed me very quickly also. The author does a great job of telling an interesting story, making you turn the pages to see what is going to happen next. His characters are not the one dimensional cutouts you see in some fantasy books. I will have trouble waiting for the next installment in the series.

Honestly, I couldn't finish this book. I really tried to, over 200 pages in and I just couldn't handle it any more. I did all I could, skim read, had two friends who read it egging me on, got to the first big twist and just gave up.

It's mostly the writing style I think. Weeks is in the camp of Tolkien - when in doubt add pages of description and info-dump. It just gets tiring. Even though the world is very interesting and there is a lot of potential there, I was left feeling that was all there was, potential. Two-thirds of the words I read were descriptions of the world rather than anything actually happening.

When things did get interesting I could count on the chapter ending and a new perspective. This book may be the most egregious example of multiple perspectives done poorly. Every chapter ends in a cliffhanger of varying intensity. Every. Single. One. This killed any momentum the book gained when the good parts were happening. By the time the resolution rolled around I didn't remember or didn't care what was happening.

This book is a Young Adult novel pretending to be adult fiction. It is also basically anime/manga like Naruto or Bleach. I like YA fiction, but when you pretend it isn't and when mixed with those other flaws, it just becomes a sloppy mess.

This book is a chore to read, I do not recommend it to anyone. The promise is there but the execution is not.

It's by far the best book I read in 2012
The universe is amazing, I loved the magic system
And the story is full of plot and unexpected twist, it's very very good

I will re-read it to dive again in the story before reading the next one as soon as it get out

The book has a story to tell and in the end it gets there. Sadly i found that for me there were many areas where it went into too much detail.

I guess i will read book 2 but not for a while. I feel i need a rest from the story.

I thought the book was decent. I just didn't really like the characters all that much. In the night Angel trilogy, i was completely invested in Azoth/Kylar's story from the beginning. In the Black Prism i just didn't really care that much about what happened to Kip. I am glad i didn't stop reading it half way thru, like i thought about doing, because the story does get better towards the end. I probably will still read the next installment.

Maybe a 3 is to low a rating. The low number may have something to do with the fact that i had just read Brandon Sandersons The Way of Kings. I was completely blown away by Sandersons newest novel that i would find myself thinking about it while i was reading the Black Prism. I may come back to read this book again in a few months to see if i do like it a little better when i'm not thinking of another book. I'll change my rating if i do like it better.

The author hasn't lost any of his magical skills to keep readers absorbed. The story telling is just awesome. Only reason not giving it 5 stars is that the genre is still somewhat overdone, and while one will not be able to stop reading, once done there will be little to keep one remembering the book long term. Looks to be an excellent series.

I was hooked very quickly with the Night Angel trilogy and this book grabbed me very quickly also. The author does a great job of telling an interesting story, making you turn the pages to see what is going to happen next. His characters are not the one dimensional cutouts you see in some fantasy books. I will have trouble waiting for the next installment in the series.

Honestly, I couldn't finish this book. I really tried to, over 200 pages in and I just couldn't handle it any more. I did all I could, skim read, had two friends who read it egging me on, got to the first big twist and just gave up.

It's mostly the writing style I think. Weeks is in the camp of Tolkien - when in doubt add pages of description and info-dump. It just gets tiring. Even though the world is very interesting and there is a lot of potential there, I was left feeling that was all there was, potential. Two-thirds of the words I read were descriptions of the world rather than anything actually happening.

When things did get interesting I could count on the chapter ending and a new perspective. This book may be the most egregious example of multiple perspectives done poorly. Every chapter ends in a cliffhanger of varying intensity. Every. Single. One. This killed any momentum the book gained when the good parts were happening. By the time the resolution rolled around I didn't remember or didn't care what was happening.

This book is a Young Adult novel pretending to be adult fiction. It is also basically anime/manga like Naruto or Bleach. I like YA fiction, but when you pretend it isn't and when mixed with those other flaws, it just becomes a sloppy mess.

This book is a chore to read, I do not recommend it to anyone. The promise is there but the execution is not.

It's by far the best book I read in 2012
The universe is amazing, I loved the magic system
And the story is full of plot and unexpected twist, it's very very good

I will re-read it to dive again in the story before reading the next one as soon as it get out

The book has a story to tell and in the end it gets there. Sadly i found that for me there were many areas where it went into too much detail.

I guess i will read book 2 but not for a while. I feel i need a rest from the story.

I thought the book was decent. I just didn't really like the characters all that much. In the night Angel trilogy, i was completely invested in Azoth/Kylar's story from the beginning. In the Black Prism i just didn't really care that much about what happened to Kip. I am glad i didn't stop reading it half way thru, like i thought about doing, because the story does get better towards the end. I probably will still read the next installment.

Maybe a 3 is to low a rating. The low number may have something to do with the fact that i had just read Brandon Sandersons The Way of Kings. I was completely blown away by Sandersons newest novel that i would find myself thinking about it while i was reading the Black Prism. I may come back to read this book again in a few months to see if i do like it a little better when i'm not thinking of another book. I'll change my rating if i do like it better.

The author hasn't lost any of his magical skills to keep readers absorbed. The story telling is just awesome. Only reason not giving it 5 stars is that the genre is still somewhat overdone, and while one will not be able to stop reading, once done there will be little to keep one remembering the book long term. Looks to be an excellent series.

I really liked this book. I thought that Weeks creates a great world. And I like how he is slowly feeding us backstory on the characters. Honestly I couldn't put the book down until I was done with it. It's a bit different then the night angel trilogy, but if you are looking for the same type of flow it's still there. I think that the only problem I have with the book is that no one really shows any grief over anyone else. Lots of people that are extremely close to some of the main characters are killed off and there is some grief over the fact. But no one ever seems truly devastated by the death of anyone else in the book. But then again I'm only noticing this a couple of days after I finished the book. And this little bit definitely doesn't detract in anyway to the amazing story.

Brent Weeks new effort is a whole new world from The Night Angel and it is looking to be huge in detail and entirely creative. It's magic system is interesting in it's use of colors and energy. The characters are fleshed out well and most importantly extremely likable and the story rocks right along. For a book as long as it is I zoomed right through it until all of a sudden it was over. . . dang. I'm going to read it again a little more slowly so I don't lose detail in the rush of the read.
I heartily recommend it to any reader of epic fantasy. I think it will take Mr. Weeks to a whole new level in the fantasy pantheon of authors. I only wish it were coming out all at once like The Night Angel, but if it does then Mr. Weeks is the fastest writer ever. This is not a small effort. I'm going to hate the wait though.
All in all I think that as good The Night Angel was The Lightbringer will surpass it easily.

Well, maybe not the first with a light-based magic theme, but certainly one of the best. I read this in one long sitting; in fact, I couldn't put it down. I was disappointed half-way through because I knew it was going to all be over way too quickly. And I hate waiting for sequels.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book; I almost passed on general principles due to the Kindle price. I have to say it was worth the money; my biggest problem with high prices for Kindle books is that I read twice as much as I used to with it, which means I end up paying for stuff that is Really Bad and that ends up in the Archive file. This is NOT one of them.

I liked the unlikely and ungainly "hero" and the twists in the book that kept me bouncing back and forth trying to decide who was "bad" and who was "good". I switched allegiances several times. It was not your average formulaic fantasy, but still had all of the best aspects of the genre. It was fresh, it was different, and it was Good Stuff.

The basic premise for magic is tremendous, the ability to make tangible. The story moves quickly with snappy prose. The world building is okay; the religious backdrop is thin and cliche, touched with stereotypical responses; the back history for the prism is weak (16 years of fooling everybody and no challenges? . . . Oh wait, let's drop a few historical instances way too late in the story.); the governmental structure is realistic, but the leaders are also stereotypes. The dialogue is adolescent at best. Are there any characters who are not cynical while blessed with snappy, sarcastic repartee? The only character I have any desire to learn more about is the new antagonist.

No doubt, Brent Weeks has a lot of talent and is filled with great story ideas. But this is the second trilogy I will not finish. I'm hoping that as Mr. Weeks matures as a writer his characters and dialogue will mature as well.

If you have run into reviews that say the reviewers had to read some scenes again to get it because they weren't sure what was happening, expect to feel the same way if you read this book. The reviews were right.

In this book, Weeks violate one of the most basic rules:

Do not take shortcut at the cost of clarity.

This book is action-packed, of that, you can be sure. But since the poorly written final chapters in the Night Angel Trilogy, I've come to realize one thing: Brent Week, although good at writing a good action-packed plot, is a poor writer when it comes to writing technique. The last chapters of Beyond the Shadows show poorly executed point of views, and are filled with head-hopping. (Meaning that while you're totally immersed in one character's head, it switches point of view so abruptly to someone else's in the middle of the narration that it leaves you confused for minutes.) This book is no different in terms of clarity.

Weeks neglects it. Totally. He assumed that readers must understand what was happening with minimal help. While we readers are supposed to fend for ourselves to an extent, Weeks didn't help us to AT ALL. Many of his action scenes were written with too little information. Objects or terrains in an action scene are not described enough to create the CORRECT image. Make no mistake, they don't need to be described MUCH. Only enough to eliminate the possible incorrect images of the scene. Descriptions are minimal and leave room to a lot of mistakes and interpretation. We imagine the scene happening (incorrectly) in our head due to Weeks's lack of description, and then an object/action is mentioned, and it contradicts the scene we imagine, leaving us confused. Weeks should've had a beta-reader read it to see how a reader imagine a scene, as opposed to his imagining the scene. Alas, he didn't.

Many actions also happen with no clear reason why a character does it. Weeks didn't show enough of character's train of thoughts to lead to the understanding of character's action. Like in a scene at the beginning where it involves tricks on a character's part in order to escape. His train of thoughts are so fragmented that we didn't understand why he did this or that until we read it again. For a writer, that is not a good sign.

Weeks also neglects the very basic of English, forgetting commas in places where he shouldn't. While I understand that some usage of punctuations depends on personal style, in places where he should've added a punctuation or description for clarity, Weeks did not. He doesn't seem to have a good beta-reader, so no one's pointed out this hole in clarity. Take a look at this example:

(No spoiler below due to its lack of context.)

'Andros Guile had told the younger Dazen to seduce Karris.'

The sentence should've been 'Andros Guile had told the younger, Dazen, to seduce Karris,' or maybe 'Andros Guile had told his younger son, Dazen, to seduce Karris' for the sake of clarity, but Weeks neglected the comma or an additional word in favor of shortcuts. We were left wondering if Dazen was the last name of someone mentioned for the first time, but it wasn't. We were supposed to know that Dazen was a name of someone's younger brother, but Weeks didn't clear this up.

Many places in his narration have some vague uses of two-word verbs that leaves you confused. We were supposed to note the vague use of these verbs mentioned about almost two page ago, and know what this two-word verb supposed to mean in a totally new context. Take a look at another example:

'Gavin locked her in again'

By 'locked her in,' Weeks meant that Gavin used his power to attach her to the floor. What was your first impression? 'Lock in' is not a self-evident important term. Weeks acted as if it was.

To make matters worse, the too-stupid-to-live protagonist will frustrate you. It is not new to have a protagonist with low self-confidence. But it's unbearable to see him panic, again and again and again and again. "I'm going to die. Water! Water! Water! I'm going to die. I'm doing to die!" You will wish you could dunk him in and grant him his wish yourself. He will fail even the easiest thing, like picking something up and not stumbling. Instead, he will fail AND cause something disastrous. Always. Trust him to always say something he KNOWS will bring trouble, watch him say it, then watch him regret it mid-sentence, and watch him finish it. Trust him to be smart mouth to a person who can kill him before he could blink. This is a new landmark for the word imbecile. This book is the first book that I physically threw across the room. And Weeks hopes that we will invest for him.

Aside from these flaws, this story has excellent power in its plot. If you are not afraid to re-read, or re-re-re-re-read to understand, feel free to buy it.

I loved the Night Angel trilogy, and so did my two sons (19, 14). I would even say it is one of my favorite trilogies. So it was with very high hopes I started in on Brent Weeks' latest book. My first surprised question was: did I get the authors mixed up? Is this really a book by Brandon Sanderson? The whole "color thing" seems to straight out of one of his books. I mean, like totally. Anyway, that's not the reason for my 2 stars - most fantasy borrows. There are two things I dislike about this book. First and foremost is the sometimes puerile writing. Too much "rippling with muscle" and other such overdone cliches. It sometimes feels like I'm reading a romantic novella. Second, and I'm sure some people like this (but I don't), he spends a lot of time with indepth descriptions of the world and how magic works. Like a whole page at a time, and quite often too. Yes, I skip over those portions and wouldnt mind overly if only his writing were as good as in the night angle trilogy.

Short version: if you liked his first three books, skip this one. Go straight to Joe Abercrombie and his "the first law trilogy", or even some K.J. Parker. Oh, if you like this book, give Brian Sanderson a try.

Weeks has done a masterful job of drawing the reader into a world any fantasy reader will enjoy while at the same time giving his characters a more realistic and individual human nature. This book is rampant with humor, intrigue, and inspires a need to know more. I couldn't put it down. Excellent read.

Brent Weeks is my new favorite author. Was finishing up The Night Angel Trilogy so I ordered Black Prism. I wish I could read it but my wife got to it before me so I have to wait for her to finish the book before I get to read it. I might just need to buy another copy for myself lol.

They're just publishing anything in the fantasy genre. Bad writing. All the characters are the same. Some cool ideas hence the 2 stars. Don't waste your time. Lots of much more worthwhile reads out there.

Overall i think this was a pretty good book. i enjoyed the way magic was set up and the characters, except Kip, ill be honest he annoyed me a tad. i kept thinikng he was just eventually going to realize he needed to grow up and start actuing like a warder but sadly, he never does. but after reading the night angel series i feel like this book wasnt near as good a plot as the night angel series had. the night angel series suprised me from every turn, and it seemed like everything came together perfectly by the last book. this one seems almost to be an independent novel of its own, barely skimming the surface and never putting u in the story. the one thing the bothered me, and bothers me with other books, is the lack of sex! i mean compared to the night angel series, it waws childs book! and i dont mean to sound like a perv but sex in books really adds to the story and essentially provides entertainment and a sense as to what the characters going through. whether you feel happy about the nain character acutally getting some, or feel terrible and distraught when a girl is forced upon. i think it helps the story along quite a bit. but againm, overall this book was worth the read, and i hope the second book has more excitement then the first!

Thinly drawn characters that were hard to identify with, with powers that didn't feel plausible. I found myself not caring very much what happened, even when there was action, or a tense situation. Just couldn't keep reading.

I mean, come on.
with the NAT i couldn't stop reading because i was so immersed in what was going to happen.
i couldn't stop reading this book because i wanted something better to happen.
his writing style is great but sometimes the book skips around to irrelevant memories.
as for Kip, well, i like how he turns his self pity into motivation but other than that...

i guess with just how great the Night Angel Trilogy was this book just can't compare. Don't have too high of expectations and it'll probably be better for you.

Unfortunately I purchased the second book in this series without reading the first one... my bad. I cannot believe how many pages where dedicated to mundane matters such as building a wall. The magic system and how it worked was also a little over my head.

There are sure a lot of people who loved this book. I am not one of them. To me it was a disappointment. I loved the first book of the Night Angel Trilogy, and became less and less enamored of subsequent books. I believe it is because that first book could easily have been restructured to contain absolutely no magic, and it would still have been a riveting story. The next two books became more and more `magic-centric', to the detriment of the story.

Many people found the light based magical system in this book to be wonderfully inventive. I thought it silly. I also found the unceasingly inept protagonist, Kip, to inspire more annoyance than interest. When I realized I was dreading the thought of wading through two more stories in this series, I quit reading.

I suppose I expect any magical/supernatural shenanigans to be subordinate to the story line and character development.

I was hoping for a book more like the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. Years ago I remember reading Stephen King's `The Stand' and thinking "Wow!" Then I read 'Christine' and thought "You have got to be kidding me!" That's how I feel about this.

I want to like Brent Weeks' books. I also read the NAT and wanted to like it more than I actually did. The plot felt rushed and prose was awkward. And so I had low expectations for The Black Prism.

I felt plot development was much less rushed in the Black Prism. I liked the premise and the magic system was original. The plot was interesting. I even liked the character Gavin.

But again, Weeks' wording and syntax felt extremely awkward to me. I also felt the character of Kip was not believable. The son of a drug addict, locked in a closet on a regular basis, raised in a backwater, nowhere town does not say things (even to himself) like,

"Smart, Kip. In the middle of Orholam only knows where, you'd kill your guide? For what? For not tolerating your peevishness?" Peevishness? How many ignorant 16 yo boys know that word? How many educated ones? Is there one in the world who would use it talking to himself? How many would use the word ignorant?. He also says, "Ah, dark, dim, glimmer, gleam, beam. A light progression, then." WTF? How would he know what a progression is?

All the characters have regular habits of having complex conversations with themselves in the middle of chaotic fights and battles. Unrealistic, unbelievable and I thought it was silly.

Things get over-explained; like the author doesn't trust us to figure something out unless it's spelled out. "The casual way that Gavin prepared for Kip's possible betrayal told Kip he'd been betrayed before and been caught unaware by it. And Gavin wasn't the kind of man who had to learn a hard lesson twice." Two things - Kip should not be able to figure this out, and even if he could, a 16yo boy would not articulate the concept like that. The entire explanation is there to make sure the reader "gets it." This is what I mean by awkward and over explained. These little passages are all over the book, explaining things that should be subtle.

The awkward writing style is my biggest issue with readability, because it irritates me and my preference is for character actions showing development rather than being told about it. However, there were other things. Having things over-explained also feels insulting. My other issues with the book were smaller. The action scenes were hard for me to read. I thought they were kind of boring and that they were being written for 16yo boys. Same with the boat action scenes - boring. I had trouble visualizing some of the things the drafters were doing, and stopped trying after a while. I also didn't care for the warrior-chick-in-a-skimpy-dress at the end of the book. That also felt rather juvenile. Indeed, except for some rather adult subject matter, I would have guessed the book was written for the 16-20 year old boy demographic. Also I thought the gun terminology could have used more invented words and fewer modern words like "howitzer."

It's obvious to me that Brent Weeks spends a lot of time on his books and cares very much about them as well as his readers. Like I said, I always want to like his books and am always sorry when I can't. I hope his writing style matures over time and that I'm able to enjoy his future books more. His ideas are good, but the awkward delivery keeps me from being able to recommend the book.

If I could, I'd maybe give it 2.5 stars, but I can't give it three. See my profile if you're curious how I break down the stars for book ratings.

I loved the Night Angel Trilogy (NAT), and I started this fully aware that it was a different story line. I really had high hopes, but in the end I was disappointed. I read a lot, and this was the most disappointing book I've read in a long time. I gave it 3 stars because it's reasonably well written, but the overall effect was flat. Not *terrible*, but if I had it to do over...I wouldn't.

Why?

First, and fundamentally, the system of magic Weeks developed for this book is unrealistic (not that I'm looking for realism or even verisimilitude in a fantasy book). The idea is clever, a system of magic based on the light spectrum. The realization of it comes off as if people are able to create "plastic things" at will. Complex mechanisms, structures, art and weapons are called forth from the "luxin", and I can't get away from imagining cheap plastic goods like you get at the local discount store. There is no mystery, no having to come to understand the magic. The historical aspect of the magic is undeveloped and only serves to further thin the concept. Too much time is spent on talking about how "drafters" are segmented/classified by the part of the spectrum they can draft with no real purpose in mind other than to talk about the magic.

The characters are reasonably well developed, but I don't like them. I can't decide if I'm supposed to hate or love "Gavin" (the one not in prison), but the setup for the switch was pretty transparent. Kip bugs me, not only does he spend a lot of time feeling sorry for himself, but he's annoying too. I liked Karris and the General, but they are relatively minor characters (not to mention that Karris seems to have been a bit flighty in her affections).

Toward the end I rushed through the book just to finish it so I could move on. I don't think I'll be reading any more of this series.

I loved the night angel trilogy so I was eager to start reading this. Just could not get into it. I thought the magic system was boring and the characters weren't very interesting. I couldn't finish it.

Other people have written extensively about the shortcomings of this book so I won't belabor the point. I didn't like the characters. I got through 60% of the book before I had to put it down because I couldn't stand the prattle between them that I think we are supposed to find engaging and amusing. There's something disjointed about a whiny teenager complaining through a war zone as if he's walking through the halls of this junior high. I just couldn't find his character believable.

Boring and trite, with graphic violence that seems tacked-on. At one point the characters seem to insinuate that this story will satirize fantasy novel tropes like the boy born to mystical powers... nope, it's just more of the same.

No idea how good this book is, since I can't read it!

My preferred method for reading books is the Cloud Reader, which lets me use any web browser. For some reason, despite the "available on all devices" icon up top, this particular title is "not available for cloud reader." What the heck?! For me, Kindle is all about convenience, and nothing is more convenient than being able to use any web browser on any computer. A little warning next time, the store?

An Original Story in a Very Original Fantasy Universe where magic is based on the color spectrum. Brent Weeks, author of The Black Prism and The Night Angel Trilogy, is known for his creative world building, twisting storylines, and characters who act like people, rather than generic fantasy adventure archetypes.

Story:
One thing is certain, this story is NOT FORMULAIC...

A generation ago, The Great Prism War was fought. Two brothers, both powerful mages, built armies and battled each other to become The Prism. The war ended when Gavin defeated his brother Dazen. Now, a count with grandiose, aspirations declares himself a king and builds an army. His first act is to destroy the small town of Rekton, who failed to supply men for his rebellion. Kip, a chubby farmboy, and Liv, a student at the magic academy, are drawn into the conflict. Just when you start to figure out what is going on, the story twists and turns...

World:
This is an original Medieval Fantasy Universe, that takes place in The Seven Satrapies. Each Satrapy functions as an independent country, but is under the watch of a central government. This government has three branches: The Prism, The White, and The Colors. The Prism, a religious figure and powerful mage viewed as an avatar for the god Orholam. The White and The Colors are like Senates, and they maneuver with each other for political power.

Magic:
Magic is based on Chromaturgy, the act of creating physical objects in the world based on light. (Similar to the Green Lantern) This substance is called Luxin. The magic users who create Luxin are called Drafters. Most Drafters can only use one color. A small percentage of Drafters are Bi-chromes and can use two colors. An even smaller percentage of Drafters are Poly-Chromes. They can use 3 or more colors. The Drafters are powerless in the dark, more powerful in strong daylight, and even more powerful if they wear colored glasses to enhance the colors that they see.

Each Color has different properties, physical and emotional.
Superviolet Luxin is nearly invisible and used for traps or secret messages. Superviolet Drafters are often sarcastic.
Blue Luxin is hard, strong, and smooth. Blue Drafters are very orderly.
Green Luxin is flexible and springy. Green Drafters are wild and free.
Yellow Luxin is an unstable liquid that becomes light. Yellow Drafters are clear thinkers.
Orange Luxin is slick. Orange Drafters understand the emotions of others and become artists or manipulators.
Red Luxin is sticky and flammable. Red Drafters are hot headed and like destruction.
Sub-Red Luxin can create flame crystals. Sub-Red Drafters are Passionate.

But being able to draft has its consequences. The more a Drafter creates Luxin, the more it contaminates their bodies. This is most noticeable in the iris of the eyes. The iris changes color of the magic used by the Drafter. So, Red Drafters have bright red eyes. However, if they draft too much, the iris will break and the color will leak out into the whites. When this happens, the Drafter is on its way to become a Color Wight. Their bodies begin to take on the physical properties of the Luxin (Blues get a hard shell) and the mental properties to the extent of madness. Having the most powerful mages running around like crazy people is not a good thing, so Color Wights are exterminated.

Characters:
All of the characters have some personality and a sense of humor, which is exceptionally rare in medieval fantasy. Many of the characters would be right at home in a movie like Superbad. They're kind of funny, often sarcastic, and you still want to cheer for them.

Writing Style:
On one end of the spectrum, you have Robert Jordan, who is incredibly poetic and verbose. On the other end, you have Brent Weeks. His writing style is pretty informal / casual. But it's fast paced and entertaining. You're going to want to read this book for the events that happen in the story, rather than the telling of the story.

Action:
This book is full of action. There are battles, cavalry charges, sieges, sword fights, muskets, cannons, pirates, and lots of original Luxin Battles.

Maturity: Teens
There's some swearing and some... boobs... teehee... and of course fantasy violence. Where The Night Angel Trilogy was excessively Brutal, The Black Prism would seem somewhat tame... but still action packed.

Overall:
This is a very fun and original book. You'll laugh, you'll be entertained, and your mind can imagine an entire new type of magic system. It's very entertaining.

Buy this book if you like plot twists.
Buy this book if you like originality.
Buy this book if you want to envision creative magic battles.
Avoid this book if you like poetic prose like 'The Wheel of Time' Books or "Fantasy Literature." This is not for you.

A word of caution to those who loved 'The Night Angel Trilogy.' This is an entirely different story, in a new world, with new characters. The story is not nearly as dark. You'll probably still enjoy it though, but you need to reboot your expectations.

As a preemptive disclaimer: I've put THE BLACK PRISM down for now. I read a very healthy chunk of the book, but it just wasn't for me. I'm not going to say that it's a bad book, because it's not, but for anyone who was taken by the trials, tribulations and hard-hitting action that defined The Night Angel Trilogy, you'll find it only by doing a bit of digging.

THE BLACK PRISM, like THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY, is very unique in its own right. Fantasy is growing to a point where you either write about orcs and elves, or you don't. Weeks doesn't, and he knows this. The first chapter is almost a big middle finger to conventional fantasy, and the second chapter sends you hurdling, head first, into the world of the Seven Satrapies (where south is the new north, according to the map).

The basic, basic premise is that there is unrest growing in the lands, as a king declares his independence by way of massacring one of his own towns. This tyrant hopes to send a message that any oversight by the ruling authority of the land, the Chromeria, would be ultimately in vain. But the destruction of this village acts as a catalyst that sends the rest of the plot in motion, bringing the Emperor together with his bastard son in what is possibly the worst case of bad timing ever.

There you go. But, now, when I say that Weeks sends you hurdling, head first, into his world, I really mean that. Most fantasy authors use a slow build, to casually introduce their universe to their readers at a certain pace so that it's all easy to assimilate for later recollection. Weeks does not believe in this. Within the first few chapters, you will be hit with the same monologues that were so prevalent in his last trilogy, that spell out almost everything you need to know, and several things you'd never need to know.

Maybe it's just me, but I literally got a headache trying to sort everything out. Who's the White, and what's a wight? What's a monochrome, bichrome, polychrome, superchromat? What's a Prism? What's that weapon she's wielding? An ataghan? Casting red does this, and casting green does this? Why are there guns, and why does everyone insist on using bow and arrows regardless? Why is this town even being attacked again?

If you haven't read the book, and none of those terms initially make any sense out of context, be prepared to wander in ignorance for a good 100 pages because you won't really get a good explanation until then. I was almost halfway done with the book, and I was still feeling the need to turn back and reread what all of that stuff meant. This book is in dire need of a glossary. Experiencing a new world shouldn't be that much of a chore.

And, as a gamer, I pretty much derailed completely when I saw that one of his characters was named Andross. Made me want to put the book down, do a couple barrel rolls, and get back to reading when it was out of my system.

On top of it all, I didn't really care for how the story involves yet another very powerful warrior who takes on an orphaned apprentice. I thought I had just read that in THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY.

Brent Weeks is certainly no dummy, but his writing makes it sound that maybe he thought his own world was too complicated. The perspective in this story is very much limited to the characters it follows, so it makes it very hard to get all of the details to a reader. Because when you're experiencing a story inside of the character's head, a character knows everything already, they have no reason to suddenly recall details about their own town, its history, the reason that building on that street is there in the first place. The fact that the characters DO participate in this made everything very uneven, when suddenly someone starts giving a history lesson that spans pages - and this happens very often.

I'm giving this book three stars because despite all of this (probably meritless) ranting, the story held my attention much longer than it should have, given how picky I can be. Weeks has a way with characters, with making them real, believable, easy to sympathize with. If he wants you to feel his characters' pain, then you'll very soon be experiencing that. And despite its steep learning curve, the magic system is terribly unique and fun to visualize. If those two factors alone form the basis for the coming books in the series, I have no doubt that these books will do very well, if not better than THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY.

But for me, I'm setting it aside - for now. I might pick it up in the future, but it might be awhile.

Kip is used as a standin character for what the author wants at the time. He can be brave, petty, childish, coward and suddenly very smart. There's no rhyme or rhythm to how his character is being developed. And the world building is so drawn out... Oh god... So much of the world is explained in excruciating detail and the worst part is none of it helps the storyline. Don't bother with the high rated reviews. There are much better fantasy authors out there, even by the same author.

Thinly drawn characters that were hard to identify with, with powers that didn't feel plausible. I found myself not caring very much what happened, even when there was action, or a tense situation. Just couldn't keep reading.

I mean, come on.
with the NAT i couldn't stop reading because i was so immersed in what was going to happen.
i couldn't stop reading this book because i wanted something better to happen.
his writing style is great but sometimes the book skips around to irrelevant memories.
as for Kip, well, i like how he turns his self pity into motivation but other than that...

i guess with just how great the Night Angel Trilogy was this book just can't compare. Don't have too high of expectations and it'll probably be better for you.

Unfortunately I purchased the second book in this series without reading the first one... my bad. I cannot believe how many pages where dedicated to mundane matters such as building a wall. The magic system and how it worked was also a little over my head.

There are sure a lot of people who loved this book. I am not one of them. To me it was a disappointment. I loved the first book of the Night Angel Trilogy, and became less and less enamored of subsequent books. I believe it is because that first book could easily have been restructured to contain absolutely no magic, and it would still have been a riveting story. The next two books became more and more `magic-centric', to the detriment of the story.

Many people found the light based magical system in this book to be wonderfully inventive. I thought it silly. I also found the unceasingly inept protagonist, Kip, to inspire more annoyance than interest. When I realized I was dreading the thought of wading through two more stories in this series, I quit reading.

I suppose I expect any magical/supernatural shenanigans to be subordinate to the story line and character development.

I was hoping for a book more like the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. Years ago I remember reading Stephen King's `The Stand' and thinking "Wow!" Then I read 'Christine' and thought "You have got to be kidding me!" That's how I feel about this.

I want to like Brent Weeks' books. I also read the NAT and wanted to like it more than I actually did. The plot felt rushed and prose was awkward. And so I had low expectations for The Black Prism.

I felt plot development was much less rushed in the Black Prism. I liked the premise and the magic system was original. The plot was interesting. I even liked the character Gavin.

But again, Weeks' wording and syntax felt extremely awkward to me. I also felt the character of Kip was not believable. The son of a drug addict, locked in a closet on a regular basis, raised in a backwater, nowhere town does not say things (even to himself) like,

"Smart, Kip. In the middle of Orholam only knows where, you'd kill your guide? For what? For not tolerating your peevishness?" Peevishness? How many ignorant 16 yo boys know that word? How many educated ones? Is there one in the world who would use it talking to himself? How many would use the word ignorant?. He also says, "Ah, dark, dim, glimmer, gleam, beam. A light progression, then." WTF? How would he know what a progression is?

All the characters have regular habits of having complex conversations with themselves in the middle of chaotic fights and battles. Unrealistic, unbelievable and I thought it was silly.

Things get over-explained; like the author doesn't trust us to figure something out unless it's spelled out. "The casual way that Gavin prepared for Kip's possible betrayal told Kip he'd been betrayed before and been caught unaware by it. And Gavin wasn't the kind of man who had to learn a hard lesson twice." Two things - Kip should not be able to figure this out, and even if he could, a 16yo boy would not articulate the concept like that. The entire explanation is there to make sure the reader "gets it." This is what I mean by awkward and over explained. These little passages are all over the book, explaining things that should be subtle.

The awkward writing style is my biggest issue with readability, because it irritates me and my preference is for character actions showing development rather than being told about it. However, there were other things. Having things over-explained also feels insulting. My other issues with the book were smaller. The action scenes were hard for me to read. I thought they were kind of boring and that they were being written for 16yo boys. Same with the boat action scenes - boring. I had trouble visualizing some of the things the drafters were doing, and stopped trying after a while. I also didn't care for the warrior-chick-in-a-skimpy-dress at the end of the book. That also felt rather juvenile. Indeed, except for some rather adult subject matter, I would have guessed the book was written for the 16-20 year old boy demographic. Also I thought the gun terminology could have used more invented words and fewer modern words like "howitzer."

It's obvious to me that Brent Weeks spends a lot of time on his books and cares very much about them as well as his readers. Like I said, I always want to like his books and am always sorry when I can't. I hope his writing style matures over time and that I'm able to enjoy his future books more. His ideas are good, but the awkward delivery keeps me from being able to recommend the book.

If I could, I'd maybe give it 2.5 stars, but I can't give it three. See my profile if you're curious how I break down the stars for book ratings.

I loved the Night Angel Trilogy (NAT), and I started this fully aware that it was a different story line. I really had high hopes, but in the end I was disappointed. I read a lot, and this was the most disappointing book I've read in a long time. I gave it 3 stars because it's reasonably well written, but the overall effect was flat. Not *terrible*, but if I had it to do over...I wouldn't.

Why?

First, and fundamentally, the system of magic Weeks developed for this book is unrealistic (not that I'm looking for realism or even verisimilitude in a fantasy book). The idea is clever, a system of magic based on the light spectrum. The realization of it comes off as if people are able to create "plastic things" at will. Complex mechanisms, structures, art and weapons are called forth from the "luxin", and I can't get away from imagining cheap plastic goods like you get at the local discount store. There is no mystery, no having to come to understand the magic. The historical aspect of the magic is undeveloped and only serves to further thin the concept. Too much time is spent on talking about how "drafters" are segmented/classified by the part of the spectrum they can draft with no real purpose in mind other than to talk about the magic.

The characters are reasonably well developed, but I don't like them. I can't decide if I'm supposed to hate or love "Gavin" (the one not in prison), but the setup for the switch was pretty transparent. Kip bugs me, not only does he spend a lot of time feeling sorry for himself, but he's annoying too. I liked Karris and the General, but they are relatively minor characters (not to mention that Karris seems to have been a bit flighty in her affections).

Toward the end I rushed through the book just to finish it so I could move on. I don't think I'll be reading any more of this series.

I loved the night angel trilogy so I was eager to start reading this. Just could not get into it. I thought the magic system was boring and the characters weren't very interesting. I couldn't finish it.

Boring and trite, with graphic violence that seems tacked-on. At one point the characters seem to insinuate that this story will satirize fantasy novel tropes like the boy born to mystical powers... nope, it's just more of the same.

No idea how good this book is, since I can't read it!

My preferred method for reading books is the Cloud Reader, which lets me use any web browser. For some reason, despite the "available on all devices" icon up top, this particular title is "not available for cloud reader." What the heck?! For me, Kindle is all about convenience, and nothing is more convenient than being able to use any web browser on any computer. A little warning next time, the store?

An Original Story in a Very Original Fantasy Universe where magic is based on the color spectrum. Brent Weeks, author of The Black Prism and The Night Angel Trilogy, is known for his creative world building, twisting storylines, and characters who act like people, rather than generic fantasy adventure archetypes.

Story:
One thing is certain, this story is NOT FORMULAIC...

A generation ago, The Great Prism War was fought. Two brothers, both powerful mages, built armies and battled each other to become The Prism. The war ended when Gavin defeated his brother Dazen. Now, a count with grandiose, aspirations declares himself a king and builds an army. His first act is to destroy the small town of Rekton, who failed to supply men for his rebellion. Kip, a chubby farmboy, and Liv, a student at the magic academy, are drawn into the conflict. Just when you start to figure out what is going on, the story twists and turns...

World:
This is an original Medieval Fantasy Universe, that takes place in The Seven Satrapies. Each Satrapy functions as an independent country, but is under the watch of a central government. This government has three branches: The Prism, The White, and The Colors. The Prism, a religious figure and powerful mage viewed as an avatar for the god Orholam. The White and The Colors are like Senates, and they maneuver with each other for political power.

Magic:
Magic is based on Chromaturgy, the act of creating physical objects in the world based on light. (Similar to the Green Lantern) This substance is called Luxin. The magic users who create Luxin are called Drafters. Most Drafters can only use one color. A small percentage of Drafters are Bi-chromes and can use two colors. An even smaller percentage of Drafters are Poly-Chromes. They can use 3 or more colors. The Drafters are powerless in the dark, more powerful in strong daylight, and even more powerful if they wear colored glasses to enhance the colors that they see.

Each Color has different properties, physical and emotional.
Superviolet Luxin is nearly invisible and used for traps or secret messages. Superviolet Drafters are often sarcastic.
Blue Luxin is hard, strong, and smooth. Blue Drafters are very orderly.
Green Luxin is flexible and springy. Green Drafters are wild and free.
Yellow Luxin is an unstable liquid that becomes light. Yellow Drafters are clear thinkers.
Orange Luxin is slick. Orange Drafters understand the emotions of others and become artists or manipulators.
Red Luxin is sticky and flammable. Red Drafters are hot headed and like destruction.
Sub-Red Luxin can create flame crystals. Sub-Red Drafters are Passionate.

But being able to draft has its consequences. The more a Drafter creates Luxin, the more it contaminates their bodies. This is most noticeable in the iris of the eyes. The iris changes color of the magic used by the Drafter. So, Red Drafters have bright red eyes. However, if they draft too much, the iris will break and the color will leak out into the whites. When this happens, the Drafter is on its way to become a Color Wight. Their bodies begin to take on the physical properties of the Luxin (Blues get a hard shell) and the mental properties to the extent of madness. Having the most powerful mages running around like crazy people is not a good thing, so Color Wights are exterminated.

Characters:
All of the characters have some personality and a sense of humor, which is exceptionally rare in medieval fantasy. Many of the characters would be right at home in a movie like Superbad. They're kind of funny, often sarcastic, and you still want to cheer for them.

Writing Style:
On one end of the spectrum, you have Robert Jordan, who is incredibly poetic and verbose. On the other end, you have Brent Weeks. His writing style is pretty informal / casual. But it's fast paced and entertaining. You're going to want to read this book for the events that happen in the story, rather than the telling of the story.

Action:
This book is full of action. There are battles, cavalry charges, sieges, sword fights, muskets, cannons, pirates, and lots of original Luxin Battles.

Maturity: Teens
There's some swearing and some... boobs... teehee... and of course fantasy violence. Where The Night Angel Trilogy was excessively Brutal, The Black Prism would seem somewhat tame... but still action packed.

Overall:
This is a very fun and original book. You'll laugh, you'll be entertained, and your mind can imagine an entire new type of magic system. It's very entertaining.

Buy this book if you like plot twists.
Buy this book if you like originality.
Buy this book if you want to envision creative magic battles.
Avoid this book if you like poetic prose like 'The Wheel of Time' Books or "Fantasy Literature." This is not for you.

A word of caution to those who loved 'The Night Angel Trilogy.' This is an entirely different story, in a new world, with new characters. The story is not nearly as dark. You'll probably still enjoy it though, but you need to reboot your expectations.

Other people have written extensively about the shortcomings of this book so I won't belabor the point. I didn't like the characters. I got through 60% of the book before I had to put it down because I couldn't stand the prattle between them that I think we are supposed to find engaging and amusing. There's something disjointed about a whiny teenager complaining through a war zone as if he's walking through the halls of this junior high. I just couldn't find his character believable.

As a preemptive disclaimer: I've put THE BLACK PRISM down for now. I read a very healthy chunk of the book, but it just wasn't for me. I'm not going to say that it's a bad book, because it's not, but for anyone who was taken by the trials, tribulations and hard-hitting action that defined The Night Angel Trilogy, you'll find it only by doing a bit of digging.

THE BLACK PRISM, like THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY, is very unique in its own right. Fantasy is growing to a point where you either write about orcs and elves, or you don't. Weeks doesn't, and he knows this. The first chapter is almost a big middle finger to conventional fantasy, and the second chapter sends you hurdling, head first, into the world of the Seven Satrapies (where south is the new north, according to the map).

The basic, basic premise is that there is unrest growing in the lands, as a king declares his independence by way of massacring one of his own towns. This tyrant hopes to send a message that any oversight by the ruling authority of the land, the Chromeria, would be ultimately in vain. But the destruction of this village acts as a catalyst that sends the rest of the plot in motion, bringing the Emperor together with his bastard son in what is possibly the worst case of bad timing ever.

There you go. But, now, when I say that Weeks sends you hurdling, head first, into his world, I really mean that. Most fantasy authors use a slow build, to casually introduce their universe to their readers at a certain pace so that it's all easy to assimilate for later recollection. Weeks does not believe in this. Within the first few chapters, you will be hit with the same monologues that were so prevalent in his last trilogy, that spell out almost everything you need to know, and several things you'd never need to know.

Maybe it's just me, but I literally got a headache trying to sort everything out. Who's the White, and what's a wight? What's a monochrome, bichrome, polychrome, superchromat? What's a Prism? What's that weapon she's wielding? An ataghan? Casting red does this, and casting green does this? Why are there guns, and why does everyone insist on using bow and arrows regardless? Why is this town even being attacked again?

If you haven't read the book, and none of those terms initially make any sense out of context, be prepared to wander in ignorance for a good 100 pages because you won't really get a good explanation until then. I was almost halfway done with the book, and I was still feeling the need to turn back and reread what all of that stuff meant. This book is in dire need of a glossary. Experiencing a new world shouldn't be that much of a chore.

And, as a gamer, I pretty much derailed completely when I saw that one of his characters was named Andross. Made me want to put the book down, do a couple barrel rolls, and get back to reading when it was out of my system.

On top of it all, I didn't really care for how the story involves yet another very powerful warrior who takes on an orphaned apprentice. I thought I had just read that in THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY.

Brent Weeks is certainly no dummy, but his writing makes it sound that maybe he thought his own world was too complicated. The perspective in this story is very much limited to the characters it follows, so it makes it very hard to get all of the details to a reader. Because when you're experiencing a story inside of the character's head, a character knows everything already, they have no reason to suddenly recall details about their own town, its history, the reason that building on that street is there in the first place. The fact that the characters DO participate in this made everything very uneven, when suddenly someone starts giving a history lesson that spans pages - and this happens very often.

I'm giving this book three stars because despite all of this (probably meritless) ranting, the story held my attention much longer than it should have, given how picky I can be. Weeks has a way with characters, with making them real, believable, easy to sympathize with. If he wants you to feel his characters' pain, then you'll very soon be experiencing that. And despite its steep learning curve, the magic system is terribly unique and fun to visualize. If those two factors alone form the basis for the coming books in the series, I have no doubt that these books will do very well, if not better than THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY.

But for me, I'm setting it aside - for now. I might pick it up in the future, but it might be awhile.

Kip is used as a standin character for what the author wants at the time. He can be brave, petty, childish, coward and suddenly very smart. There's no rhyme or rhythm to how his character is being developed. And the world building is so drawn out... Oh god... So much of the world is explained in excruciating detail and the worst part is none of it helps the storyline. Don't bother with the high rated reviews. There are much better fantasy authors out there, even by the same author.

Wow. Unable to adequately describe how utterly disappointing this book is. Can't even read beyond chapter 5, not for lack of trying. I enjoyed the Night Angel series and had high hopes for this series. Story so far is fragmented, lacking any semblance of cohesion. The magic system description is difficult to envision, with zero introduction as to any foundation of how each of the colors work or their significance. The author delves into this creative magic system without any consideration of providing readers with background. Even though I paid for this e-book, I will break a personal rule and delete army tablet.

The Black Prism was a challenging book that failed to grip me. To write this review, I must first admit something uncomfortable about myself. There are limits to how clever I am, especially when it comes to jumping around from character to character / scene to scene. I tend to enjoy books told largely from the perspective of, or about a single main character. So unless a book can really emotionally connect me to its multiple characters, I have a hard time keeping track of multiple important storylines and characters.

Still the beginning of this book strongly grabbed my attention. The world the author had created felt articulate, expansive and colorful. Magic was depicted in an inventive and versatile way that I really wanted to understand. Not to mention, one of the main character's, Kip, I really thought was a bit un-stereotypical and fascinating. I was very interested in seeing how his story unfolded. I would have been perfectly happy to have read the whole book from Kip's perspective, but alas, it was not meant to be.

The Black Prism would shift suddenly and frequently between so many characters and scenes. Kip, Gavin, His Brother, The Green/Red chick, Isa. Obviously, I can't remember all their names. If we weren't flipping between characters, we were being diverted to a couple of brief, but extremely important lines of history. These often helped explain the motivations and disposition of our characters. But holy shit, miss one of these lines and you will find yourself puzzled later.

Still, I was determined. Actually, I deleted this audio book after about 3 hours in frustration. Then, after I couldn't get the book out of my head, I undeleted it, and just said I will rewind a lot and work on my brain skills or whatever. I did, god, constantly. With intense efforts of concentration and repetition I made it 2/3rds of the way through the book!

But at that point, 2 things happened. First, one of the main characters was betrayed, and it seemed important. I wanted to be intrigued, but I realized I just didn't care. Why? Because, I feel the author had failed to emotionally attache me to this character, or their betrayer. So this currently happening event felt like one of those concise, but detail rich history expositions, just another detail to try and remember.

The second thing was, the book then launched into another detail rich history exposition. God, I'd like to think I'm not stupid, but I had to rewind 5 times to get the gist of it.

I realized... I didn't care about any of the characters, except for Kip. The book portrays the character's actions, but fails to get into their heads. No one is ever really described as having an emotion except for Kip.

This is a book that is much better suited to TV, where a viewer can rely on visuals and performance to help bind their attention and memory to a character. The dry way the author likes to describe the visual appearance of his characters and their belongings does not help. For example "It was a gold and black cloak with embroidery." But was it a beautiful or regal cloak? The author rarely seems interested in these details, but I feel they would help pull our attention in the right places.

So, in the end I assign myself equal blame as well as the author. I have failed to be a more clever person, a person who could more easily keep track of all these things in his head. If it was easy for me, maybe I would find the characters less bland, or at least more tolerable.

However, our esteemed author has failed to motivate me to try further understanding. He has either failed to invent characters that are more memorable based on their emotions and motivations. Or, if not that, he has failed to convince me that it's worth the effort to understand them on a deeper level. There could be some kind of subtext that is over my head, that adds color and emotion to these characters, but of that, I am doubtful.

Green Lantern meets the Man with the Iron Mask. This seems like an absurd combination to describe something, but that is exactly what "the Black Prism" is, and even more absurdly...it works. It has heaps of world-building and a Jordanian precise magic system. Instantly I thought of Brandon Sanderson's style when I heard of color and light magic, and they do have much in common when it comes to the breath and scope of their worlds...thought Weeks knows how to curse...and apparently his characters actually have sex, even the non-married ones...especially the non-married ones...

Weeks created a world of light, where light is used to build and destroy, where light is used to kill and protect, where the sun is the most important object in the entire world, even more important than in our own. He has yellow buildings, blue tools, mirror armor, and boats made of every single hue. Perhaps the most interested creation is Weeks' version of the White Tower, which rotates to follow the sun. I liked the visual, sir.

It is not without its faults. I used Green Lantern to describe it and, yes, it feels like a comic book at times. Those who don't like Erikson hyper-fantasy might best stay away. If you're into green golems and blue crystal wrights though...you're going to have some fun.

As far as character, this is an area that lacked. Kip is a whiny farmboy, Liv is a perfect student, etc. Only Gavin Guile proved to have depth and some wonderful skeletons in his closet. The humor was also comic book worthy...earning many a groan. Despite these faults, I'll be getting the next in hardcover. Weeks is one to watch. He dreams big. Writers still content with just swords and horses could learn a thing or two from him.

Four stars.

I like it enough to buy it for a friend, which says a lot. This is a beautiful take on magic and how it works. The characters are engaging. The story is compelling. I'm already getting ready to pick up the second one from the library I'm lending from. There's a refreshingly diverse cast. The only real qualm I have with the series (given I'm only one book in) is the whole concept of slavery. It could have been played another way. It lost a star and a half for me on that but as I can't do half stars I'll round it up.

Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series, begun here with The Black Prism, deserves to be counted among the greats of fantasy. Basically, my elevator pitch for The Black Prism would be "It's Game of Thrones, but with likable characters." The fantasy world Mr. Weeks has constructed is consistently fascinating, explored superbly with little tidbits of detail that always leave you craving more. The magic system within, Chromaturgy, is unique and elegant, to the extent that it makes you want an officially licensed video game or RPG ASAP. The characters themselves are nearly bottomless in their depth. You'll find no bright, shining heroes or moustache-twirling evil in this series. Motivations are complex while being logical and easy to follow. Compared to these two points, the plot is almost secondary, but it still has twists to give you whiplash.

While the novel itself is brilliant on its own merits, the Audible narration by Simon Vance puts it over the top. Narrated in a cool, detached tone that ratchets up for passion and action, Vance can effortlessly convey pages of description and internal monologue that might otherwise bog down the reader in text.

It's not flawless by any means. As I said, the plot has its high points, but at certain lulls the Black Prism can feel like a novel-length worldbuilding bible for the series to come. The author's treatment of female characters can leave a little to be desired, particularly in one main character who seems to serve as the Narrative Punching Bag. Still, despite these flaws I found The Black Prism to be engrossing and very promising of a meaty fantasy epic in the novels to come. Highly recommended.

This was the first book I read by Mr. Weeks and I have to say it was enjoyable, and leaves me looking forward to the second book in a series for the first time in years. I fly pretty regularly and picked this up for a coast to coast trip. Most books I polish off in the roughly 12 hours of airport and flight time, but being this was extra long I had to take some time on my return to finish it. I only mention that because there are several other books sitting unfinished from prior flights. If I don't enjoy a book despite being a captive audience I don't have a problem kicking it to the curb so to speak.

Black Prism got off to a slow start with some minor issues that if they continued would quickly ruin the book for me. For example, in chapter 1 we meet Kip scavenging an old battlefield looking for items to sell to feed him and his mother. Although it has just turned night, and he seems to only be out an hour, it is conveniently dawn when it suites the story. Uh oh, reality check seat 36C. If this is as much care as the author takes with his work, well there are always some $6 movies to watch. Fortunately from that time on at least the time continuum seemed to make sense if incredibly rushed.

Mr. Weeks has crafted a fairly detailed world that revolves around magic, and the people fortunate enough to be able to use it the best. The history is detailed enough that I assumed I had picked this up in mid-series. The magical system seems as realistic as any and somewhat less fantastical than most. In a land of magic it makes sense that the person who can use it the best is the person in charge, and that is our main character, Gavin Guile. The dialogue is crisp and witty if a bit uniform from person to person, the action frequent and entertaining, and Kip is an immensely entertaining character in form, action and word.

My main issues with the book are, other then the 3.5 main characters (you can figure out which one I consider a half), the one dimensional aspect of everyone else, and the plot lines do not seem well developed. His characterization seems very similar to Terry Goodkind's First Wizard series in that how they are is how they are to an extreme. If you are looking for characters to perhaps break their mold you can stop holding your breath. Too many completely selfless people waters down the heroic actions that should stand out. In truth Guile seems much less heroic than almost every other character we meet and at the same time is hardly questioned by his cult like following. When you read the book I think you will understand my issue with the plot lines, but to say they are rushed is an understatement. If the pace continues an "epic" saga will take place in about a week and a half.

Overall I found it an easy, entertaining read and will certainly be looking to pick up part 2 when it comes out next fall.

First off, LOVE the cover! =o)

I have to admit, though, it took me a while to get into this book. Not sure why that is. I think it's mostly because it takes time for me to warm up to a new author and her/his style of writing. But I didn't give up on it, because this has happened to me before, where I put the book down and then come back to it later. Nine times out of ten, I end up really liking it and this one was no exception.

Another reason it took a while to get into it is because the beginning of the book is a bit confusing for someone new to the story. There is a complex magic system and if you aren't familiar with the terminology, the first few chapters will lose you. Once you catch on, the story is quite fascinating.

Okay, so, as for the story itself, the main character Gavin, the Prism, who is actually not who you think he is (don't want to give it away,) takes his love interest, Karris, a black guard soldier who is given orders to infiltrate Tyrea, across the sea on a skimmer that he creates with Luxin. There, they find a small town being massacred and are immediately involved in the chaos. This is really where the story starts to get interesting. Gavin and Karris meet up with a young, chubby boy named Kip, who they discover is significant to them and the story goes from there (don't want to say too much.)

So, overall, the story is fantastic! The idea of this magic system and how it relates to the health of their world is so original. The writing was different than I'm used to, but once I got into it, I loved it. I love Weeks' sense of humor and how he weaves it into his characters, especially into Kip. Kip's self-deprecating humor makes him lovable. You can't read this story and not love Kip. Abused by his addict mother as a child, awkward and fat, he believes himself to be worthless and puts his life in danger to help the people he loves and at least make something of his existence. In the end, you see that he not only has as much power as his "father," he also has a heart of gold and more courage than all of the Prism's soldiers combined. So, I think Kip has got to be one of my favorite book characters ever.

The other characters are likable, too. What I love about the characters in this story is that they're very real. Each one has flaws. Each has something shameful they've done in their past - skeletons in their closet, so to speak. But each one also has a sense of duty and what they think is right and they act on that, even the bad guys. Even the bad guys seem to have very good reasons for what they do, at least, in their own minds. At one point in the story, I remember thinking, "That bad guy is kinda right about that." This is a sign of good storytelling.

Another aspect of the story that impressed me was how simply it explained not only a complex system of magic, but also a complex plot. Weeks' plot has several twists in it, very complex twists that if not done properly, would have left the reader in a world of confusion. But it was executed perfectly. At times, I found myself going, "Huh? What's going on?" And then, "Oh, I get it! Good one!" It definitely kept me turning the pages.

It ended on sort of a cliffhanger. Sort of. When I got there, I found myself going, "Ah, no, wait, that can't be happening! Not now! Aaaargh! I need the next book!" And ... I've got the next one in my hot little hands right now!

Keep writing, Brent! Awesome story!

~ Melissa Douthit's Blog

A breathtaking, highly original world of colors and light and magic. Yes, I know that Brandon Sanderson did the colors bit first in Warbreaker, but Brent Weeks does it so much better and in terms that make so much more sense that this story he paints will live vividly in your mind long after you have finished reading.

The land of Chromeria is divided into seven satrapies ruled by the 'Prism' - though in reality the 'satraps' - the satrapy lords hold the real power. A Prism is unique - the only magical 'drafter' who can split white light directly into all its constituent colors and weave 'luxin' from those colors - most other drafters can only manage one or two colors though there are a few, rare 'polychromes'. Drafters in general have a short productive lifespan - they can only draft for a limited time before colors break their 'halo' and they lose all control. And Prisms in particular have too short a lifespan to do any real ruling and are accepted as more of a religious, symbolic figurehead. Gavin - the immensely bright and talented, current prism lord has already ruled for a very rare fifteen years with only five more years to live - and he wishes to succeed in 'five great purposes' for Chromeria within that time. He has also a great, un-requited love. Unfortunately, Gavin has several deep, dark secrets - the legacy of his battle for succession to his position and in his final years, these dark secrets and the consequences of his past actions threaten to undo all of his hopes and dreams.

I simply love the characters in this book. Even the traditionally un-lovable ones. All of them are just *so* real. Initially, you think you know who is 'good' and who is 'bad'. But then with more of the story..you begin to understand every character's motivations, the reasons that make them tick. It's fascinating how Weeks has spun such a tangled plot and nothing is as it seems after an element of the story has been revealed, forcing you to revise your original assumptions.

Weeks may not be as lyrical as Gavriel Kay, but he can spin stories with the best of them. If you love fantasy, you'll simply love this book. Period. Its few minor detractions and irritants simply don't take anything away from it.

PLUS: I managed to get my hands on this book via a friend even if the Kindle version is not 'available for customers' from my region. No way, *that* was going to stop me. :)

It was fair, but I intend to read the rest of the series.

Good
- Interesting and unique magic system, i.e., using various colors of light as a weapon.
- Battle scenes.
- Protagonist Dazen Guile.

Could Be Better
- Slow start: First half of the book was flat boring.
- Boring world: The map gives the appearance of this world being a small place, and the text of the book does nothing to alter that conception. Very little of world is painted well in the text.
- Protagonist Kip Guile: Whiney fat kid with a smart mouth. Tough to root for him.
- Confusing magic system: Although generally good, it is complex and has its kinks, e.g., yellow is generally liquid unless you're really good at drafting yellow and can make it solid. Hangh? It isn't 100% clear how some colors are different from others, especially green and blue.
- Politics: A global war predated the start of the book that continues to have ramifications throughout the book. Unfortunately, the reasons for the war, including the connected political forces, are not made clear.

Summary
- The priorities of this book are misplaced. The magic system clearly came first. Everything else, second or third. I'm hoping that things improve.

Not sure if I will enjoy this series yet, holding out judgment on the next book. The whole "color magic" concept is definitely new, but maybe not that interesting. I understand that sometimes introducing a completely original world can fill up a lot of space in the first installment - but all the color speak really got old for me. But generally, I'm not one to care if I don't understand the complete mechanics of why something works - I just let my imagination fill in the blanks.

There are times when I'm reading a sci-fi saga that I feel as though I'm watching a soap opera instead. It's as if at the end of each chapter I hear the cue for the commercial with dramatic music and camera close-ups. I'm not complaining, it's just as a person who takes flack from some people when they find out that I read romance as well as sci-fi - it's amusing. Anyway - Black Prism reads like a sci-fi soap opera for me. There were several times in the book where I wanted to gasp out loud, "Oh, snap!".

Brent Weeks does a great job of making the characters people you just aren't sure of. From chapter to chapter, or even page to page, the heros became villians and vice versa. The only character that comes close to wanting to `do the right thing" is Kip - and even then, it's mostly motivated for approval. Not that that's a bad thing, but I usually classify a `hero' as being selfless. There's just so much intrigue and backstabbing! Soap opera prism drama - lol!

So, still on the fence, but I'll be picking up the next in the series for sure.

I have liked the series a great deal. But I want to take a moment to warn you about something. I have just completed book four and it is still not over. I had not wanted to invest in characters for such a long period, but now I'm sitting waiting for the next one. Many people probably knew it going in, but for me, I would have committed to a series that I could read to a conclusion.

Crazy magic and some crazy characters. I just don't know who to love or who to hate. Very emotional for me. The author has done a great job of writing with some humor in the dialogue...I enjoyed that. The women are kickass and written respectively. The book was tough getting my head to wrap around the magic luxin, but I'm glad I hung in there cause after chapter 2 I was hooked. There are political wars, adventure for Kip and heartbreaking battles.
And the ending of the book....well it was emotional!

The plot:
Truth be told, Gavin as powerful as he sounds there. His power by now is more religious, but he is still feared because he is the prism and he has magic. But others control the "real" things. He is young, handsome, and he fought his brother and together they lay waste to cities. Now he sees to that the 7 satrapies are under control, and he hunts those that have gone mad from magic. But then he learns he has a son and goes to find him, a son born after that terrible war. That son is Kip and he has just discovered his magic after something terrible happened. The world stands still, a man crowns himself, and renegade mages are at work.

My thoughts:
Wow, I am just aching to spill it all, but I will not. The secrets, I can't even start to explain my shock at some, and the confusing that followed. That together with a question, who to like? Weeks has woven a masterful plot. I do applaud that.

The magic in this book is new too, and I like the thought that has gone into it. People have different powers depending if they draft one colour, or more. The Prism can draft all. You can't use magic just like that, you have to see the colour you can use, so most use glasses with coloured lenses so that they will not find themselves without. The magic is shown in the eyes, and the magic will drive you insane in the end so most wants to die before that. The colours also represent different things, and some places have more mages from certain colours, for example it is better to draft green if you live in a forest, it makes it easier. It was fascinating.

I liked Gavin, and could not help myself, he was just so, powerful, and set on his goals to make the world better. Kip, a chubby 15 year old was fun to get to know too, and he is bound to be really powerful. Then there was Karris, now one that guards the mages, and a Gavin's former fiancée', I do have to like a woman that can kick ass. Liv, from Kip's village, a mage too, and someone I was unsure about. All in all some great characters.

Recommendation and final thoughts:
Yes! Where was Night Angel was rather dark and depressing to read, this one is lighter, and more complex in a way. It was great fantasy and I would recommend it to other fantasy fans and to the rest too. I am looking forward to book 2 because the lies and misunderstandings are sure to make for a lot of drama.

Great fantasy keeps me on my seat, and this is one that I had a hard time putting down. And the shock, oh the shock!

What a strange book. There were plot points and inflections that were brilliant. Counter that with terrible character development and dialogue and you get this strange book. I'm going to list a couple vague examples, in case you haven't read the book and don't want any insight. How many times does Kip tell someone to go to hell? A lot. Then Kip has random episodes of getting beat up and then raging and killing everyone. Seems totally immature and inconsistent. I would equate this to a 3 Musketeer cross with every other orphan loser child turns hero fantasy book, then add some cool color magic. Sadly this story would have been improved if there was a mute button to cancel out the noise of all the dialogues, so I could get to enjoy the world a little more.

I loved this book. I didnt buy it at first because I didn't like the way the Night Angel Trilogy ended. But this is something else. It isn't childish. It's original, unpredictable, fast-paced, complex, and you get to feel for the characters. This book even made me cry at one point. When I was near the end I had to go out and buy the next 2 books urgently. It's a joy to read. One of those books you want to read every spare minute you get (and some that you don't have to spare). A rare gem. On par with The Wheel of Time, Fire&Ice, Name of the Wind and Stormlight Archives.

"The Black Prism" is undoubtedly a book of great fun--thoroughly developed, well-written, intricately plotted, and briskly paced, this novel is the epitome of a page-turner. Written by the relatively unknown Brent Weeks, "The Black Prism" is a huge step over Mr. Weeks' earlier work, the Night Angel Trilogy, which suffered from exceptionally week pacing and poor character development. For one, this work feature a much more interesting world (where light can be transformed into physical substance). Unlike in Night Angel, the Lightbringer world also features much better developed government, culture, and tradition--or more generally, better world-building. The plotting has also improved. In fact, I would argue that "The Black Prism" is one of the most immaculately plotted novels I've ever read (a fairly extensive list), with surprises jumping from every corner. Unfortunately, the novel leaves numerous questions unanswered at its conclusion--but that is the price of a multi-novel series, and I eagerly await Mr. Weeks' next installment.

However, "The Black Prism" is not perfect. Most predominately, Mr. Weeks' main characters still suffer from what I like to call the "Magician" syndrome, after the fantasy series of Raymond Feist. In short, while Kip, the Prism, and the assortment of supporting characters (as well as an unnamed villain, who I will omit to avoid spoilers) are mostly interesting, they are not especially human. Much as with the earlier Night Angel novels, Mr. Weeks crafts characters that are just too noble or too evil--in short, not sufficiently flawed to be more than caricatures or stereotypes. Mr. Weeks remains closer to the realm of comic books than comparable fantasy authors, such as Brandon Sanders, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin, are.

All in all, however, "The Black Prism" remains a deeply entertaining book filled with surprises and joys--a novel that is much closer to five than four stars.

I absolutely love the world Weeks has created in Black Prism. This book is pure fantasy and the saga (part of a trilogy) looks to be exquisite. The magic used in this realm is based on light and color. It is quite unique and different. I was a little confused at first, but quickly figured out how this power was used. I like the way Weeks was a little vague leaving plenty of room for surprises and tweaks. The plot is brilliant and the battles are epic. The book is over 600 pages long, but don't let that scare you. It is seamlessly written and captivating; a gripping story that will leave you begging for more.
Weeks characters were complex and I felt engaged and connected with them. Our young protagonist Kip is fifteen and the bastard child of Gavin Guile, the Prism. He is a chubby, quick to temper, loyal, winey, courageous and loveable hero. I was entranced by so many of the characters in this book especially, Gavin, Dazen, Liv, Kallis, Corvan, Ironfist and the White.
The political games and the way Weeks describes this world and its history brought the pages to life. Just when I thought I knew the direction the story was going and who was who, Weeks turned everything inside out. It made me crazy, it made me mad and I want more. There were a few sub-plots which made the story more fascinating. While this is the first in a trilogy, I wasn't able to find even the hint of a release date. Mr. Weeks...I do not like waiting!

Consider me now a huge Brent Weeks fan, even if his books aren't quite at the level of the best in the genre. If you like action, quick pacing, escapism, great characters, and thrills, Weeks is for you. You've been warned: his books are not easy to put down, especially this series.

However, Weeks isn't perfect. His world building is a bit lacking sadly. It isn't that his worlds aren't interesting, rather that he isn't the best at creating a picture of what they're like in your mind. His worlds are somewhat flat, and lacking in character.

I also have to take issue with his magic system. It's creative and original, but it's also a bit tough to wrap your head around. Imagining what it might look like is not easy, and unfortunately I think it detracts from the experience, pulling the reader out of the story. I'm also not a big fan of intricate magic systems that begin to resemble science more than magic - takes the romance out of it for me.

Still, what Weeks is good at is telling a fun, intriguing, fast paced story, and that more than makes up for his deficiencies.

The Black Prism marks the beginning of another excellent epic fantasy trilogy from Brent Weeks. Weeks is a masterful world-builder; he first demonstrated this skill in the Night Angel trilogy, but he has now (thankfully) refined his storytelling. In the Black Prism, Weeks no longer feels obligated to tell readers every tiny detail about his world, which was one of my biggest complaints before. (An author must know many details about the worlds that they build that readers do not need to know.) He also no longer feels obligated to give us the name of every single character that wanders across the page, forcing us to store the name away in case we meet that character again.

In short, The Black Prism is an amazing story in a complex world filled with enjoyable characters. I dare you to finish this book and not be in love with both Gavin and Kip!

Well done, Mr. Weeks!

I read a review on the Night Angel trilogy while i was deployed and picked up the first book on my kindle. Suffice to say, I read through the trilogy in no time at all and the myriad emotions that Brent Weeks threw at you were nothing short of awe inspiring. In a world today where so many books and authors are trying to make their marks in lieu of such masterful authors like R.A. Salvatore, J.R.R. Tolkein, George McKiernan and George R.R. Martin, to name a few, Brent Weeks is carving his own world and place in their league.

As many have stated, he has engraved a new spin on new and old tales and morals while developing characters you come to care for but are shocked when moved, eliminated or change sides. These characters seem all too human and portray facets of the human soul while adhereing to the rules and magic of a world created by Weeks. This book pulls from light vs an inner magic and a goddess from the Night Angel Trilogy that shows his amazing imaginiation while still making it seem like you are reading a non-fiction title about real people. If you enjoy any of the aforementioned authors, pick up this or his other works and you'll be engaging and enamored by a world and people that you'll throroughly enjoy.

I picked this up to get through the breaks in a two day class I had to take. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and especially the non-traditional magic structure. The story centers around the illegitimate child of the world's most powerful man and drafter. Taken from a small village in a disgraced nations to Son of the Prism and Emperor, Kip finds himself in a overwhelming world where he fights to become more than the failure he has been formerly and bond with his father. Through it all Kip seems to have a natural talent knowing how to draft and performs feats which most drafters his age probably wouldn't. This is a story of magic and overcoming one's past that anyone would enjoy.

I must say, it is not quite as good as the Night Angel series but still a great series... so far (I just finished The Blinding Knife).

Of everything I've ever read, as long as I've been a reader, this series is my favorite.

I understand that's hefty praise, and some will dismiss it as hyperbole. But I am entranced by this series to the point where I've re-read each book before the next one releases so everything is fresh in my mind as I pick up the next.

Some people like the Night Angel series better, and that's their prerogative. I'll agree it's a fantastic series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I think Lightbringer shows Brent's evolution as a writer, and I love the direction he's taking his work.