The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer) (utgåvan 2013)

This is fairly standard epic fantasy, with a decent magic system and good action. There is a strange mix of gunpowder and magic, but magic almost always wins. Gavin Guile, The Prism, the head of the Chromeria, is being challenged by The Color Prince; an old enemy and anarchist. Gavin must try to hold together his own ruling coalition and stop The Color Prince, who is gathering every disaffected soldier and magic wielder (drafter) he can find to build his own empire of chaos. The book spends half of the time following Kip Guile, his son, as he trains to join the Blackguard and learn to become a drafter. ( )

Reading again and it is even better as the characters and their secrets unfold and the adversaries get into position ( )

This book was even better than the first. I love the character and relationship development in this book. I still adore Kip, he makes the book. But truthfully, I love each of the complex characters. We have a multiple point of view fantasy story with an amazingly unique magic system, complex, gray characters, and a magic school setting in this addition! What more could you need? That ending .....

4.5 Stars ( )

I mentioned in my last review that while the series as a whole had promise, that particular book was a bit too much of a tease. I stand by that. It had potential, but wading through the foreshadowing and pre-growth characterization and general setup was frustrating. So, for this book to succeed, it must develop the plot, develop the characters, and just generally develop.

And it did, sorta?

As for the characterization, oh hell yes. He's not Vin from Mistborn or anything but the annoyance that was Kip from the first book has successfully Grown A Spine. Thank god. Actually, most of this book is just spend on characterization , namely Andross's, Liv's, and Gavin's. Which is good, but when the bulk of your plot happens at the last few chapters, it can be very frustrating. Please, don't let these stupid cliffhangers become the norm. So yet again, I'm invested enough to want to see what happens next, but not enough to be satisfied with just these books so far. That's how they get ya.

Also a side note: Am I the only one who is 100% on the villains side here? Recoring this thought for posterity in case i look like an idiot later.

THE RANKING THUS FAR:

tBK > tBP

( )

This was one of my most anticipated books this year. If you’ve enjoyed Weeks’ other works, then you’ll understand why. Even after talking with Brent this summer and learning that he planned on making the Lightbringer series a tetralogy, I couldn't help but start the next book in the series with some trepidation. Would it stand up to past excellence? Would it suffer second book slumps? In other words, is this a coasting book, or will there be actual depth to it?

The Blinding Knife takes us back into the world of Gavin and Kip and all of the other colorful characters of the Chromeria and Blackguard. Between a mounting war against the Color Prince, and dealing with the aftermath of the False Prism War from 16 years before, Gavin has his work cut out for him. Of course, readers of the first book in the series, The Black Prism, know that there is a lot more to that story than I can share without a big spoilers warning. Readers continuing the adventure should know that there are still ample surprises in this volume, and although we are given more background, its not always where we want it. This, of course, is the author’s prerogative, but some of the mysteries can leave the reader wanting. Without revealing any spoilers, the entire ancient mythology and metamorphosis of the wight left a discordant feeling with me. From what we knew of the world so far, the concept of avatars just seemed at odds. It felt out of place and without context, making the color gods meme was a little confusing. It made sense in its own limited context, just like wights made sense as an extension of breaking the halo, but the blend of those two left me a little out of sorts, making it a distraction in this book.

So what did I enjoy? I still loved Kip – as a fat kid who grew up to be a fat man, I’m partial to the rotund polychrome, stereotypical as he can be. You can lament that he’s got Harry Potter syndrome, but that’s because Harry Potter had Magician’s Apprentice syndrome himself – a magically capable youth in the role of student is going to fall into a trope or two along the way. Weeks does a good job when we’re sitting on Kip’s shoulders to show us the world Kip thinks he’s seeing, even when every other character just sees a capable, headstrong Guile. Weeks tackled a few thorny subjects, including slavery, as well as introducing us to a card game who’s rules we learned alongside Kip. The conflicts Gavin faces internally, maintaining the facade of the perfect leader and Prism while really fighting against his own self doubts and insecurities was refreshing.

The Lightbringer series isn’t as dark or deep as the Night Angel trilogy, but fans shouldn’t be put off by that. Weeks tells a compelling tale, and fans of epic fantasy will still find themselves with sleepless nights as they try and finish just one more chapter.

A special thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and the medium to do it in. ( )