Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserv...
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Jan 08, 2011
Crys
rated it: 
I am just less than half way through this book and I am not enjoying it. The writing is fine. In fact, Brent Weeks may have developed a bit more dexterity with his prose since the Night Angel trilogy. The problem, so far, is two-fold.
1) Nothing much is happening. I'm not intrigued, drawn in, excited, or even really interested. There is political intrigue at work, but it isn't compelling. There is magic afoot, but it is hard to be in awe of it. I don't even care where this is headed.
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1) Nothing much is happening. I'm not intrigued, drawn in, excited, or even really interested. There is political intrigue at work, but it isn't compelling. There is magic afoot, but it is hard to be in awe of it. I don't even care where this is headed.
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Oct 13, 2011
carriedaway
rated it:
Another first in a trilogy? Why don't I check these things before I pick them up? The second one isn't due out until Fall 2012. Gah. I might have lost all interest by then, happily for me. It's an interesting premise, magic based on the color spectrum but there's an awful lot of emphasis on color that gives me pause. It's not as if they're purple or green people.
So far, none of the characters are all that sterling either. I can't tell if they're working for good or evil or their own e More...
So far, none of the characters are all that sterling either. I can't tell if they're working for good or evil or their own e More...
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Feb 10, 2012
Maria
rated it: 
4.5 stars
I’m not used to read high / epic fantasy and I didn’t believe that I would find this book so good! It’s not my usual reading material so I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad that I decided to read it.
In a world in which exist seven satrapies surrounding by a large sea, the people who rule are the White, the Colors and the Prism. Each Prism lose his life after seven, fourteen or twenty-one years of serving. In this world there are drafters, charismatic peopl More...
I’m not used to read high / epic fantasy and I didn’t believe that I would find this book so good! It’s not my usual reading material so I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad that I decided to read it.
In a world in which exist seven satrapies surrounding by a large sea, the people who rule are the White, the Colors and the Prism. Each Prism lose his life after seven, fourteen or twenty-one years of serving. In this world there are drafters, charismatic peopl More...
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Jun 27, 2011
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it:
I originally set the rating of this book at 4 stars, but decided it needed to be moved up to the 5 star level. I don't find it as good as many of the books I rate 5 stars, but it drew me in and held me tells a story that beats 4 stars. So, without the much lamented 4.5 that so many of us here pine for, I've rated it 5.
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 th More...
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 th More...
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Jan 15, 2012
kamelin
rated it:
"Wissen ist ein logischer Prozess. Angst funktioniert schneller" [German Review]
Gavin Guile ist der Hohe Lord Prisma, und damit Herrscher über sieben Satrapien. Als Prisma ist er der einzige Mensch, der alle Anteile des Lichtspektrums beherrscht, und somit sämtliche Farben in Materie wandeln kann. Doch seine Herrschaft fußt auf einer Lüge, einem Kartenhaus, das jeden Augenblick einstürzen kann.
Als er erfährt, dass er einen Sohn hat, dessen Leben in Gefahr schwebt, muss More...
Gavin Guile ist der Hohe Lord Prisma, und damit Herrscher über sieben Satrapien. Als Prisma ist er der einzige Mensch, der alle Anteile des Lichtspektrums beherrscht, und somit sämtliche Farben in Materie wandeln kann. Doch seine Herrschaft fußt auf einer Lüge, einem Kartenhaus, das jeden Augenblick einstürzen kann.
Als er erfährt, dass er einen Sohn hat, dessen Leben in Gefahr schwebt, muss More...
Dec 12, 2011
Cameron
rated it:
This book was excellent and highlighted the progression that Mr. Weeks has made as an author. While I enjoyed his Night Angel trilogy, it left me with a rough feeling. The foremost of this was that I felt many times like I was why I should care about a few of the characters and how they tied into the story.
By the length of the book, it is obvious to see that Mr. Weeks has learned patience. Each chapter gives you a morsel of what is to come and makes you want to nibble a bit more. E More...
By the length of the book, it is obvious to see that Mr. Weeks has learned patience. Each chapter gives you a morsel of what is to come and makes you want to nibble a bit more. E More...
Dec 02, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
Colour. Emotions. Light. Magic.
In a world where colour is the foundation of all magic, The Prism – Gavin Guile rules over all seven satraps as a religious and political figure and as the only one who can split light and draft the entire spectrum of colours. Gavin – knowing he has five years left to live and five great purposes set for himself – hopes to use his power to do something for the greater good.
When Gavin discovers he has an illegitimate son, Kip, in a northern satra More...
In a world where colour is the foundation of all magic, The Prism – Gavin Guile rules over all seven satraps as a religious and political figure and as the only one who can split light and draft the entire spectrum of colours. Gavin – knowing he has five years left to live and five great purposes set for himself – hopes to use his power to do something for the greater good.
When Gavin discovers he has an illegitimate son, Kip, in a northern satra More...
Nov 17, 2011
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Nov 15, 2011
Jun Lyn
rated it: 
The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 star review is because I didn't care for the characters of the story as much as I did those in The Way of Shadows. That said, I still love Gavin a lot and felt bad for him at what happened at the end.
The plot is fastly paced, with no fluffs. Hence, despite not having much progress, it's still a fun and easy read, especially because there's a considerable amount of humour added to the book. The only problem with this is that the characters More...
The plot is fastly paced, with no fluffs. Hence, despite not having much progress, it's still a fun and easy read, especially because there's a considerable amount of humour added to the book. The only problem with this is that the characters More...
Oct 18, 2011
Liberty
rated it:
What’s Good About It
It’s difficult to do serious epic fantasy without coming off like a cheap Tolkien rip-off. And, let’s be honest, Tolkien wasn’t all that great in the first place so being the cheap knock off of something pretty terrible isn’t a great thing to be.
Fortunately, it’s something The Black Prism isn’t.
The totally unique magic system is the book’s main selling point. I was fascinated by the idea of different bands of light being used for different types More...
It’s difficult to do serious epic fantasy without coming off like a cheap Tolkien rip-off. And, let’s be honest, Tolkien wasn’t all that great in the first place so being the cheap knock off of something pretty terrible isn’t a great thing to be.
Fortunately, it’s something The Black Prism isn’t.
The totally unique magic system is the book’s main selling point. I was fascinated by the idea of different bands of light being used for different types More...
Oct 17, 2011
Stephan
rated it:
Brent Weeks will have to write a really good book to top his popular Night Angel trilogy. While that trilogy wasn’t perfect, the books were pretty good nonetheless. His next book is called The Black Prism and is the first volume in another trilogy, titled Lightbringer.
A fat, snarky anti-hero
The Black Prism is about a fat, snarky, clumsy, annoying, but exceedingly funny fifteen year-old anti-hero, who one day finds out he’s the bastard of the world’s greatest magician. Oh, and he t More...
A fat, snarky anti-hero
The Black Prism is about a fat, snarky, clumsy, annoying, but exceedingly funny fifteen year-old anti-hero, who one day finds out he’s the bastard of the world’s greatest magician. Oh, and he t More...
Sep 12, 2011
Elora
rated it:
All the potential I saw in the Night Angel trilogy was cleared up in the first of this series.
First, the characters. There are stereotypes, but most were enjoyable. I waffled between liking Kip, and I still have no opinion on Liv, but I LOVELOVELOVE Gavin and Corvan and Dazen. Beyond that, the minor characters are just that- minor. No depth to them, and I feel completely apathetic towards them.
Second, the magic. It has such potential. I love the idea of it, and the way it's described s More...
First, the characters. There are stereotypes, but most were enjoyable. I waffled between liking Kip, and I still have no opinion on Liv, but I LOVELOVELOVE Gavin and Corvan and Dazen. Beyond that, the minor characters are just that- minor. No depth to them, and I feel completely apathetic towards them.
Second, the magic. It has such potential. I love the idea of it, and the way it's described s More...
Aug 27, 2011
Callum
rated it:
On the back it suggests this book "verges on the un-put-downable". I'd like to suggest that this is untrue. I caught myself standing in the middle of out hallway for a good 15minutes, just lost in the world Brent Weeks has created.
That's not to say that this book is without faults, perhaps I am just easily pleased. There were patches of less-than-exciting explanations were my eyes started to slip over words (probably because it was 2am). Also the characters personalities di More...
That's not to say that this book is without faults, perhaps I am just easily pleased. There were patches of less-than-exciting explanations were my eyes started to slip over words (probably because it was 2am). Also the characters personalities di More...
Aug 15, 2011
Claire
rated it:
As I read through this I found myself liking it more and more until it became a four star. The magic system is creative and intricate and amazingly gender neutral which is a nice twist. Basically some people can make light solid and use it as a weapon or to build with: some can only use one colour, some two and a few many colours. Only the Prism (who happens to be a man in this series but I got the impression that there was no gender restriction) can channel all colours including infra-red an
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Aug 01, 2011
Mlle.
rated it:
About a quarter of the way through The Black Prism I found myself thinking, "Oh no, not good, this awesome book is the first in a series and it only just came out...I will finish it wanting more, and instead I will have to wait and wait and wait." All the waiting is going to suck. But The Black Prism? The book? It did not suck. It was awesome.
So let's see. What are some of the things I liked about The Black Prism. A good cast of characters. It was nice flipping between chubb More...
So let's see. What are some of the things I liked about The Black Prism. A good cast of characters. It was nice flipping between chubb More...
Jun 13, 2011
Robin
rated it: 
I find myself waffling over whether I really like this book or not… The familial political intrigue was wonderfully dark and twisted. The magic system was interesting and vivid – until it started to feel cartoony (though my opinion may have been influenced by illness). It became unnecessarily complicated and was all-too-often bogged down in long-winded lectures and technical details about how it functions. I kept visualizing everything in brightly colored plastic. The emphasis seemed to be on th
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Apr 13, 2011
Will
rated it:
Unfortunately not as compelling as the Way of Shadows trilogy, the Black Prism still has its high points.
The magic system, which author Brent Weeks promoted on his website for months before the book came out, is as original as promised: practitioners can draw light into their bodies and manifest it as solid material. Each color has different physical properties, and in the combination of these colors magic-users can produce some pretty impressive effects.
So the magic works, b More...
The magic system, which author Brent Weeks promoted on his website for months before the book came out, is as original as promised: practitioners can draw light into their bodies and manifest it as solid material. Each color has different physical properties, and in the combination of these colors magic-users can produce some pretty impressive effects.
So the magic works, b More...
Mar 19, 2011
Crazyjamie
rated it:
Brent Weeks, author of the Night Angel Trilogy (which is one of my favourite fantasy series), returns with the first book in his new Lightbringer Trilogy. As is expected, The Black Prism is set in an entirely new fantasy world, introducing new characters, a new system of magic, and a new plot.
It makes sense to start with the system of magic, as everything revolves around it. Unusually, the system of magic is never fully explained to the reader, which is a very odd move on the face of More...
It makes sense to start with the system of magic, as everything revolves around it. Unusually, the system of magic is never fully explained to the reader, which is a very odd move on the face of More...
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Feb 06, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
4.5 stars
I listened to this on Audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator was good, even though the main character had a surfer dude accent. Like Crush the turtle from "Finding Nemo". Whoa, Totally.
I didn't exactly like Brent Weeks' other series--I only made it through the first book, so I don't know why I chose to give this one a shot, though I'm very glad I did. This book is clearly setting up for an undetermined amount of books in a series. A fantasy set i More...
I listened to this on Audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator was good, even though the main character had a surfer dude accent. Like Crush the turtle from "Finding Nemo". Whoa, Totally.
I didn't exactly like Brent Weeks' other series--I only made it through the first book, so I don't know why I chose to give this one a shot, though I'm very glad I did. This book is clearly setting up for an undetermined amount of books in a series. A fantasy set i More...
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Jan 27, 2011
Hollie
rated it:
Ahhhhhhh Brent, how do I love thee, let me count the ways... Ok joking :), but seriously, this guy was hovering near the top of my favorite author list after the night angel trilogy, a cornucopia of awesomeness, which my fellow fantasy reading brother and I really enjoyed. Plus by brother and I got to meet him and chat with Kristi at last years ComicCon, and they are both great people. After the black prism, I think he's earned a permanent spot on my list. I gotta admit though, Kip really ann
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Jan 21, 2011
Kaitlyn
rated it:
I'm sort of conflicted about this book now. I was wrapped up in the novel as it went on, and as soon as it was over I want want wanted the next (as this is very obviously a series, fantasy books typically are)... but eh. Flaws.
For the first half of the novel I had a hard time keeping track of the different threads of the narrative. As soon as I got comfortable with one it shifted, and rather than feeling like the narrative was advancing I felt jarred out of place. This is partially j More...
For the first half of the novel I had a hard time keeping track of the different threads of the narrative. As soon as I got comfortable with one it shifted, and rather than feeling like the narrative was advancing I felt jarred out of place. This is partially j More...
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Jan 12, 2011
Ithlilian
rated it:
The Black Prism has a few things going for it that I enjoy. First, the light magic. It's interesting and different, though there are a few other authors out there using similar things. It is well explained, but it isn't as exciting or gripping as I would have liked. The magic described in the first few pages of The Way of Kings had me on the edge of my seat, the many pages of light magic had me skipping at times and not really caring what was going on. The plot is certainly interesting with peop
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Jan 02, 2011
Marc
rated it:
Earlier this year I read the 'Night Angel Trilogy' by Brent Weeks. I have to say that it is one of the very best fantasy trilogies I have ever read. I felt things for those characters I have never felt before in a book - I really felt I knew them and cared about what happened to them. And that for me is rare. In addition to the lifelike characters, the story was absolutely brilliant. Brent Weeks managed to hold about 7 sub-story lines that could each in themselves be considered a 'main story lin
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Oct 17, 2010
Jo
rated it:
I was a huge fan of the Night Angel trilogy and eagerly awaited his newest venture and it was not disappointing. Without giving too much away, the basic outline is centred around a young, overweight boy named Kip aged 15 who is found to be a 'Drafter' - a word for someone who 'drafts' magic. Magic in this series is marked by the ability to draw a colour and these colours also have a link to personality - similar to Gemmell and Similar to Jordan ie: Reds are fiery, Blues are calm and ordered. Eve
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Jul 01, 2011
Sasha
rated it:
If I could give it 10 stars I would. How many authors can keep you guessing, keep you laughing, intrigue you and amaze you from beginning to end? Not many, that's for sure. BW is one such author. I simply can't find the words to describe what an amazing experience it was without becoming superfluous, so I'll just say that it is deftly written and that BW is a master with few contemporaries to compare. He proved his mastery with Night Angel and he's proven it once again with Lightbringer.
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Sep 06, 2010
Felicia
rated it:
I DUNNNOOOOOO. First, I really enjoyed Brent Weeks' other series A LOT, so I was excited about this coming out, and seeing the blurb about the magic system, I was sooo psyched.
I feel like this series was kinda a throwback to like Eddings and Feist and Jordan and those old-school EPIC fantasy series. I have to admit I wasn't really hooked by the characters as much as I would have liked, but overall I ADMIRE what the author is setting up. I guess my biggest beef, other than really n More...
I feel like this series was kinda a throwback to like Eddings and Feist and Jordan and those old-school EPIC fantasy series. I have to admit I wasn't really hooked by the characters as much as I would have liked, but overall I ADMIRE what the author is setting up. I guess my biggest beef, other than really n More...
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Aug 28, 2010
Maischeph
rated it:
For the unawares, this is the start of a new series from author Brent Weeks, who wrote the highly acclaimed Night Angel trilogy. (The trilogy has my own personal acclaim as well. Hmm, that doesn't sound right.) I know some of us (ahem, me) were excited at the possible prospect of a new series that followed old and new characters a couple of decades later in the timeline**. And when I first heard about the release of a new book, I immediately assumed this was the case. I admit to a big wave of di
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Aug 20, 2010
S. Eric
rated it:
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks is his fourth book and first in an original new series. Brent Weeks has over the last year become one of my favorite authors. I have read his original three books in the Night Angel Trilogy several times now and I have read through The Black Prism once. I am starting to get a good feel for his style. What makes Brent Weeks so engaging as an author isn’t his world creation skills or intricate magic systems, which are by no means bad, but his interaction with the
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Jan 18, 2012
Laura Karina
rated it: 
You know, I wanted to like this, I really did, but nope.
I liked Gavin, and I liked the story of the brothers, I liked the black guard, and the concept of the book itself was great. I didn't like Karris but she was alright-ish.
But... I hated Kip with a passion. On the first few chapters he seemed okay, kinda funny (not as funny as he thought he was, though) if annoying. Then it all went downhill with him. He became more and more annoying and just not very... right as a cha More...
I liked Gavin, and I liked the story of the brothers, I liked the black guard, and the concept of the book itself was great. I didn't like Karris but she was alright-ish.
But... I hated Kip with a passion. On the first few chapters he seemed okay, kinda funny (not as funny as he thought he was, though) if annoying. Then it all went downhill with him. He became more and more annoying and just not very... right as a cha More...
Jan 02, 2012
Fantasynibbles
rated it:
For any fantasy fans who haven’t got around to this one yet, the obvious question is going to be ‘is it as good as the Night Angel trilogy?’. I’m going to have to say no, BUT, I think the series as a whole has the potential to be better than its predecessor. The thing to remember with The Black Prism is that it’s doing a huge amount of legwork. The magic system is scientific and complex, and takes a lot of explaining, but wow, it’s so worth it. One of my favourite aspects of the magic is the tol
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