The Black Prism

This is the first book in a long series which currently has five books out. I have collected the first four books in paperback since I was gifted the first by a friend when I was 16. I have read Weeks first trilogy, and loved the first book. The other two had disappointed me for different reasons, but there were a few common threads. I found the women to be ridiculous caricatures whose plot seemed to revolve around their potential for sex. This was one of the most upsetting parts about the original trilogy for me, because I feel fixing that issue would have massively improved the series for me.

Unfortunately, Lightbringer has started with the same issues as far as I can tell. There are a similar amount of women to men in this series, so I am not trying to imply that women aren't present. The issue I find with this series is that 3/4 women who are properly present in the plot are only relevant due to their connection to the Prism. Particularly, due to how much he wants them, or doesn't want them. There is the lover scorned years ago, kept apart by secrets that cannot be divulged. This character is described as incredibly capable and has a position in an elite force. But the character is treated with sexist jokes I would expect from a 70s sitcom. Another character is literally a sex slave.

The red stepped forward, pulled off her mask, and stepped out of her robe. She was young, athletic, beautiful, and also naked. Kip???s eyes widened. He tried to hold them to her face. Somber ceremony, Kip. Orholam???s watching, Kip. Straight to hell, Kip. p. 321

I think the idea I'm trying to paint here is clear, so I will move on.

Another problem I found with the book was the writing. In the author's debut series I found the writing to be enjoyable, and I don't remember noticing anything otherwise. In this series the sentences are short; blunt and the structure of the sentences feels particularly repetitive. I think the audiobook was possibly exacerbating this issue, so it possibly was just my reading experience. Also, characters would occasionally express a thought in first person without any indication; italics, quotation marks or any another punctuation. I thought this was poorly done as was a jarring change from the third person narrative.

It is also worth noting that one of the main characters is fat, and about 2/3 scenes he is in reference his weight actively. It seems ridiculous, I know more about this kid's weight than anything else about him. He barely has a backstory or a personality. It is fair so say that the terrible characterisation of women and this main character isn't special, because I don't really feel any if the characters have any characterisation that isn't directly related to the plot. We know a lot about one of the MC's backstory because the plot needed us to, but we don't know much else.

The magic system of the book was the most exciting thing about the book as I began it. It remains the most interesting part of this book, but it isn't really compelling me as much as I thought it would. I will be continuing on with this series as I have been gifted the books over the years, but I felt really disappointed by this book. A lot of reviewers are very positive of this book and mention it improves upon the Night Angel trilogy. I disagree and think the Night Angel (while it has problems) is done better, but it could be that later books will change my mind.

Executive Summary: Overhyped and often very juvenile in places, this book wasn't nearly as good as I was promised, but is far from awful.Full ReviewI really enjoyed [b:The Way of Shadows 3227063 The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) Brent Weeks https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327881551s/3227063.jpg 3261241] despite a protagonist I didn't care much for. Largely because of one of the other characters. The rest of that series was far less enjoyable as that character wasn't around as much, and I was forced to deal with a character I didn't like and too many juvenile wish fulfillment scenes.I found this book to suffer from the same problems as that series did. After thrashing [b:Beyond the Shadows 3754026 Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3) Brent Weeks https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327881432s/3754026.jpg 3797890], I was told I had to give Mr. Week's another chance and that this series was much better. Well based on one book, I question that.I think Kip is meant to be a commentary/parody of the chosen one trope, but I just can't stand him. It makes any part with him as the POV hard to read, and the scenes where he is present less enjoyable.Gavin was kind of so-so at the start, but grew on me as the book went along. I liked Karis, but as someone in my group read pointed out, for a badass elite soldier she is awfully stupid and that made it lot harder for me to enjoy her parts.Then we have a bunch of mustache twirling villains. For me the best villains are the ones who aren't evil, but simply those whose goals conflict with the protagonists and are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish them. The power/money hungry antagonist thing just really is tired and should be dropped from an author's toolbox.The magic system is quite interesting, but poorly introduced. I don't need/want some big info dump about the magic and how it works, but I don't like hand waving magic either that seems to be a plot device the author is making up as he goes along. The reality is that the magic system does have some well defined rules, but as a first time reader none of that is very clear until far too deep into the book in my opinion. Mr. Weeks goes a little too far in his efforts to show and not tell.I definitely warmed up to this book by the end. There are things to like here despite all my complaints. The magic system is a lot better once you know a bit more about it. The world building is interesting and makes for some good political conflicts.If Mr. Weeks didn't keep interrupting the main plot for what often felt like juvenile wish fulfillment scenes, I might have given this a 3.5 and rounded it up to a 4.I”m not sure if I'll continue on in the series, but the fact that one of my favorite narrators, [a:Simon Vance 5602 Simon Vance https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1240014151p2/5602.jpg] takes over reading duties for the next one, and that this book got better as it went along are all points in it's favor.

This book instantly rocketed into my top favorites. It had me start to finish. I cared do much about every character and every storyline. The pacing was flawless and I am smitten with the magic system. It also fid a great job with normalizing diverse people. It wasn't perfect in that regard, but it was really quite good. This is one of my all time favorite novels!