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The Black Prism (2010)

by Brent Weeks(Favorite Author)

4.23 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0316075558 (ISBN13: 9780316075558)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Orbit

series

Lightbringer

review 1: Gavin Guile is the Prism, the only man capable of splitting light into all seven colors of magic. But he's also a man with secrets. When a son he never knew about surfaces, he stands to lose more than just his reputation. For Kip, an awkward young man with a talent for saying exactly the wrong thing, having a father might be the best or worst thing that ever happened to him. Having a father like Gavin, though, means inheriting more than a sharp tongue. . . The story weaves between Gavin, Kip, and a few other characters, but Gavin and Kip are its core. The father who never expected to be one. The son who expects to be nothing but a disgrace. Gavin's lies stand the blacker against Kip's honesty. It's the interaction between them, and the secrets no one is willing to tell, th... moreat give the novel much of its drive. The rest is a cheerful descent into a war.The violence does get graphic (fair warning for the faint of stomach). By far the worst part of the book, though, is where it just leaves off. With so much resolved, the last few pages light the match to a powder keg that's sure to explode in very messy and delightful ways.Overall, it took me a bit longer to get engaged with this, but once I did it was hard to put down. Gavin's arrogance and caviler manner didn't endear him to me, but once the story started getting behind his facade he's got a fascinating house of cards that's keeping him on top. Kip was much more likable, even though his story was more familiar. It's going to be a long wait for the next book. . . I rate this book Recommended.
review 2: Decent story, where the battle descriptions and magic system especially were very well done.However, the writing style was very annoying at times. Often the author would make rookie mistakes. For example, sometimes when there were multiple characters involved, it was unclear who the narration was referencing. Other times, the writing would suddenly shift to the first-person, without italicizing the text to indicate that we've now entered a character's thoughts. Additionally, once in a while the author would forget a detail he exposed: e.g. a chapter from the perspective of a character wearing violet goggles was full of descriptions of how colorful everything was.The female characters started out promising, seeming like they'd be strong women central to the story. Instead, as soon as their exposition was done, they became props to the male-centered plot line. One of the women even spent half the book as a prisoner with no real purpose or outcome other than to motivate one of the male characters to rescue her.The book could have used a thorough edit pass. I'd recommend it if you want a fun read, but don't expect a literary masterpiece. less

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