The Black Prism: Book 1 of Lightbringer

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This was an enjoyable first book in an exciting high fantasy series. My favourite aspect was easily the magic system, which was complex and well developed. The author slowly revealed the intricate rules over the course of the novel so that I felt rewarded when I came to a good understanding of the magic system mechanics. Kip is.... frustrating to read about. He's 15 years old, and acts like it! Which I guess is good writing but also makes him hard to root for, especially because he's not really rooting for himself through most of the book. He's also a bit of a male version of a Mary Sue. The magic system in this world is complex and challenging, with a school to teach it, and yet Kip can do a lot of it based on innate ability since he comes from a power family of these magic users. The book kind of tries to explain this by saying the "will" to do something is the most important, but honestly, he's doing some incredible things with no training at all and that challenged my suspension of disbelief. Every word was a choice. No one forced the author to write about ridiculously debilitating period for the main female character. No one forced him to tell us about how physically attractive each female character was or if their breasts and nipples were satisfying enough.

Well the problem with Brent Weeks' writing is that you feel like you are being told a story by a very creative and imaginative 15 year old boy, with no real life experience and not a lot of study under his belt. The focus on sex is exactly how a 15 year old boy would focus on it. The more than necessary gore in battle scenes is exactly how a 15 year old boy would describe it. The cuss words thrown in at the most awkward places, just to sound cool, the use of teen slang, the way things are described with the focus on the most random things under the situation, for example the focus on womens' breasts in the middle of a battle scene and the way the characters think and act are all exactly how a 15 year old boy would describe it. There's lots to love for Epic fans; I just don't seem to be an Epic Fan right now. I put it down a number of times because I just couldn't take its demands. Familiar ingredients, and I dare say that there isn't much original with them, beyond composing the story around an unique and interesting magic system--and throwing the entire kitchen sink into one book. I'm sure you've heard all about how 'light' forms the basis of magic, and it is one of the concepts that sets this book apart. Magic users get so many opportunities to use that magic before it drives them insane, or at least that's how the canon goes. Some users on the other team are giving madness a shot, one of the more interesting plot lines in the book. A thing that characterizes all of Brent's work is the tremendous mix of fun and action, giving you a laughing fit at the most inappropriate of times. Worth mentioning is the juggling of several compelling and intertwining POVs with a straightforward prose, while the subaqueous qualities of the facture contextualize not only the characters but the society's structure as well. You know you are reading a masterpiece when out of 95 chapters and 5 different POVs, not even one is slightly boring. I have heard a lot of things about Brent Weeks' second trilogy, and most of them have been proved true so far. He has grown up as an author, improving not only his prose and narration but his imagination as well.

AUTHOR OF THE LIGHTBRINGER SERIES AND THE NIGHT ANGEL TRILOGY

Here's the thing. The other day I got mad and took a ton of my books that I have read and haven't read and mom took me to the used bookstore 5 minutes from our house and we traded in books and toys for money that I need and trade credit. Which I got some horror books and mom got some thrillers but she will read my horror as well.

One thing I want to mention here is Brent Weeks’ prose. I feel like I need to because one of the main criticisms levelled at this book is its apparently poor prose. Let me say that I have no problems with it. I loved the descriptions of colour and the narrative flowed smoothly. This is all very good so far, a strong opener, but I have a strong feeling it’s going to get much better as the plot and characters develop. Andros Guile and his wife (the Prism's parents). One a cold-blooded asshole, the other an extremely intelligent woman who had lost at least one son too many. I don't care for the characters. Gavin Guile is the most interesting, but not enough to really carry the story. Kip is alternately boring and pitiful. His dual personality makes absolutely no sense. He is either mouthing off or quivering with fear. You can reconcile either quality with his awful upbringing, but both living in the same body is crazy. Abused kids either have a huge chip on their shoulder or they are quiet and self-effacing, even shy. Not both. Karris? Who cares? She inspires no sympathy at all. Carrying a torch for a powerful man for 15 years and still being so angry about it is ridiculous, childish, and irritating. Most “drafters” are “Monochromes” ie born with the ability to draft a specific colour, some can draft two colours (Bichromes) and rarer again are those who can draft several colours (Polychromes). Each colour also has an associated personality trait/attribute which manifests while drafting eg Red = anger, blue=cool logic, yellow =clarity of thought etc. Only one person has the ability to draft every colour – The Prism. So, I like the book and give it the highest rating possible here (albeit noting it's not at the top of my 5 star pile)...what's so good about it? And, if it's not at the top of the 5 star category, where does it fall (a bit) short?You might want to think twice before you try to use a man's conscience against him. It may turn out he doesn't have one.” I loved the characters of Kip and Gavin and a few others. I really want to continue on with their story and see where it goes. Especially when I read the part about Gavin and his brother. Uh, mind blown. I think Weeks had good intentions and wanted to play with tropes, but for me his execution doesn't work. This all comes from one effort. Brent Weeks wants to use humor constantly. But he's not writing a parody (actually I think this could have been a great 350p parody, if he would have embraced it). Story: great. Writing: great. I'm curious to see where all the different light beams threads will lead.

Karys (spellings may be wrong as I audiobooked) is one of the characters I liked the most in book #1 as she is feisty and doesn't take anything from anyone. She's not afraid to slap the Prism or defy gender stereotypes and she does so with style. I still think her plotline works really well as a counter to some of the others, and I am glad we get to see her inner emotions as a viewpoint. This is not an actual quote, but it's very close. Especially the word "Oops" is used a couple of times.Colors? Yes, Brent Weeks uses a very interesting magic system based on 7 primary colors, each with slighly different attributes. Most mages can only use one or two colors and a few can use even more. I don't want to go into too much detail about the magic system, cause one of the fun things of the book is to learn that system during the novel. The plot is loaded with secrets and conspiracy all because of one man’s secret identity. And it really made the story intense. It won’t be long before Gavin’s greatest enemy, his brother Dazen, breaks free and shatters his world. He will want revenge, and I can’t say I blame him. He has been wronged and imprisoned and he will be out for blood. And so far, I have found his character far more dynamic than any others because he is shrouded in mystery. We have only seen glimpses of him and I’m looking forward to learning more about his story and exactly what happened. As I said, there’s lots of secrets here. There’s also something more at play, I just know it.

Liv: she's interesting, and I really sympathize with her and appreciate the inner-conflicts she's going through. No feels avalanche though..yet. This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. ( January 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)I won't mention any of these "tropes" [I hate to use the word "trope", it's so over used and misused...however it's probably the best choice in this case]...tropes, here as that would entail spoilers.) This is definitely a 5 star book for me and has made it into my top three best books ever, you know your reading a great book when you can't stop crying because you don't want it to end :') This book starts off extremely slow, I hated the start. I found the magic system complex and was confused to where this book was heading. After having the magic system explained to me by a friend and now have decided that I loved this book so much... Words can't even describe the feels I have for this book.