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The Burning White

(Lightbringer #5)

Brent Weeks (Goodreads Author)

4.29 · Rating details · 21,248 ratings · 1,835 reviews

In this stunning conclusion to the epic New York Times bestselling Lightbringer series, kingdoms clash as Kip struggles to escape his family's shadow in order to protect the land and people he loves.

Gavin Guile, once the most powerful man the world had ever seen, has been laid low. He's lost his magic, and now he is on a suicide mission. Failure will condemn the woman he l ...more

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Hardcover, 992 pages

Published October 22nd 2019 by Orbit

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Oct 28, 2019 Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs-and-review-copies

Review copy provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.

Epic, engaging, well-written, and surprisingly full of theology.

Here we are, nine years since The Black Prism was first published, The Burning White—the fifth and final installment in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks—is finally out and with it, the Lightbringer pentalogy is officially over. This is one of my—along with many fantasy readers—most anticipated books of the year, to make sure that I’ll be able to appre ...more

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Oct 23, 2019 Spencer Gillespie rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Meh.

So. I really enjoyed how this series started. It had an interesting and complex magic system, a complex main character with tons of apparent hidden depth (not Kip, Gavin), and it challenged your assumptions in interesting ways. However, as the series wore on, the things that I enjoyed about this series got shoved into the backseat, and we were subjected to less interesting characters, unnecessarily convoluted plot twists, and sections that just draaaaaagged (pretty much all of Gavin's chapt Meh.

So. I really enjoyed how this series started. It had an interesting and complex magic system, a complex main character with tons of apparent hidden depth (not Kip, Gavin), and it challenged your assumptions in interesting ways. However, as the series wore on, the things that I enjoyed about this series got shoved into the backseat, and we were subjected to less interesting characters, unnecessarily convoluted plot twists, and sections that just draaaaaagged (pretty much all of Gavin's chapters post-Ru.) But still, the series had set up some interesting questions as of the fourth book, and I was hopeful we'd see a satisfying resolution in the final entry. And...we didn't. Not really. It's not nearly as bad as Night Angel's conclusion (but the series is also much better written than Night Angel) but it felt cheap and uninspired in a lot of ways. Most notably:

- Gavin's/Dazen's whole journey felt cheap, and culminated in a LITERAL deus ex machina. Dazen's most interesting characteristic has been how intelligent he is, how he sees the truth behind broken systems and turns it to his advantage, how he's a manipulative bastard...but also an essentially good person, trying to do his best in a crapsack world. The turnaround towards the end of this book, where Dazen recovers his faith by literally meeting god, and then (having accepted god) gains magical powers beyond anything he had previously possessed, feels both jarring and inappropriate to his character. In fact, the literal presence of god in this book is (IMO) a terrible writing decision, which trivializes most of the things that characters do, because you get a strong sense that everyone has been moved into their allotted position by divine intervention in order to enable success.

- Similarly, 'a god did it' is the answer to entirely too many questions. What is the blinding knife and what does it do? Whatever god wants it to, apparently. What is the secret behind the Chromeria's corruption? Oh, they've been killing children to maintain their power for centuries, because god decided to stop creating natural prisms, and left his mortals with the choice to either 1) trust in an apparently capricious god to provide them with a solution or 2) make horrible sacrifices to keep the world from sliding into chaos due to color imbalances (this book REALLY can't decide whether it wants people to be adults who solve their own problems, or children who pray and wait for god to save them). How the heck did kip survive the Glare? a god did it.

- Many characters have abortive and unsatisfactory arcs. Andross is a terrible human, who never shows a shred of remorse or any inclination to change, and his punishment is...to feel like he got handed his ultimate prize, rather than winning it fairly (the book spends entirely too much time trying to humanize him, and largely, IMO, fails). Liv is almost completely pointless as a character (from start to finish in the series, honestly). The Order is never adequately explained, in light of what we learn about lucidonius and orholam.

- clever applications of hard magic are replaced by miracles and soft magic. The attractive aspect of chromaturgy, to me, was that it was a well-defined system of magic with well-defined rules, that was treated more or less like a science by the characters in the setting. That goes out the window in this book, and instead of clever uses of the various colors, we see 'great tides' of white and black luxin being used to smash the enemy with brute force. We see willcasting being used in ways that are inadequately explained (why the heck does the mirror array work like it does?) We see lightwells generating light, in ways that are inadequately explained. We see kip just...figure out, out of nowhere, that the bane are disabled by complementary colored light (why? and how do you disable the yellow bane, when purple is not considered an actual color and has no associated luxin?) Somehow, in the last book of the series, the author has decided to trade the hard magic system he's more or less stuck with for the first four books for soft magic bullshit, and it does. not. work.

- Dazen's story is inadequately resolved, because in the end...we spent 2 freaking books reading chapters from the POV of a character that never even existed. I defended the Blood Mirror's reveal on the basis that Andross was a lying bastard, Dazen was the most unreliable of narrators, and because basic narrative structure demands that you do not waste your readers' time by tricking them with chapters full of material that isn't just misleading, but is actually false. Finding out that Gavin was in fact dead all along, Andross was telling the truth, and those chapters were literally just the author lying to the audience...that was terribly disappointing. In fact, a core issue I have with this book is how straight it plays all of it's major reveals. For a book series built around carefully subverting expectations and making you rethink assumptions, this was a distressingly by-the-numbers note to end on.

- Most of the plot revelations in this book are literally narrated to the audience by god himself (we also get that most lazy of writing devices, where a POV character knows the secret, but declines to share that with the audience so that it can get exposited to us later for maximum shock value.

- The immortals subplot is poorly explained and ends on a super anticlimactic note.

And so on. Really just a disappointing conclusion to the amount of buildup and complexity this series had. It deserved better than to end with a dull and predictable final battle between good and evil. ...more

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Nov 06, 2019 Josh Angel rated it did not like it

I had such high hopes for this series, but alas, at the 11th hour the series pivoted HARD to religious allegory where God solves all the problems, Dues Ex Machina rules the day, and the author is more interested in giving you a sermon than an ending that makes sense.

Mild spoilers to follow.

This series seems to follow in the footsteps of other popular Fantasy series with more overt religious themes (Mistborn, Narnia, etc), inserting parables to create a Christian allegory/Fantasy mash-up. In thi ...more

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Oct 29, 2019 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-shelf, fantasy, worldbuilding-sf

There are few books, let alone series, that I would agree to re-read at the drop of a hat.

This is one of them.

I have so much fun, so much respect for the sheer audacity, the roaring plot-lines, the twists and the reveals, even the funny-ass quips, that I usually ignore or gloss over any ACTUAL problems I might have had with the writing. Or the original choice to make so many of our MCs so freakishly morally ambiguous. So full of glaring faults and so equally full of fantastic heroism.

When we fi There are few books, let alone series, that I would agree to re-read at the drop of a hat.

This is one of them.

I have so much fun, so much respect for the sheer audacity, the roaring plot-lines, the twists and the reveals, even the funny-ass quips, that I usually ignore or gloss over any ACTUAL problems I might have had with the writing. Or the original choice to make so many of our MCs so freakishly morally ambiguous. So full of glaring faults and so equally full of fantastic heroism.

When we finally get to this last book in the Lightbringer series, I'm hopelessly in love. There is nothing that could stop me from devouring this book and crying and raging and even scratching my head and then railing against it.

Huh? Railing against the book? Well... yeah. If anyone knows the Jonah story, and I assume everyone does, Weeks takes all aspects of it and weaves it heavily into the series. Swallowing characters into deep prisons, railing against fate, finally finding peace, if not forgiveness, for all the things that have been done? It's all here. But first we're made to WORK for it. And when I mean work, I mean we get to enjoy having our favorite morally grey characters get tortured and grow as people by the end.

I admit I am a super sucker for these kinds of storylines. I usually get pissed off at long series with characters who are essentially timeless and never learn s**t. If anything, the Lightbringer is ALL about learning. But most of the time it's "Oh, damn, no, that's horrible... I can't believe it's actually this bad... but no, it's worse... nooooooo.....". To have an end to this series that is actually uplifting and hopeful, if not perfect, is a REAL TREAT.

So what do I think about *spoiler* *spoiler* *spoiler*, or the fact that so much of the plot is resolved by way of *spoiler*?

I say I'm fine with it. It's not like we weren't prepared for it from the very first book. Or that the real burden is on true ethical behavior. You might say that the purpose of this book was to throw out the whole adage of "many shades of grey" and give it the full polychromatic treatment. And I loved it.

And now that I've finished this, I've gotta find the time to do all five again in a row! And start crying again. Yeah, I know... fanboy. ...more

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Aug 06, 2017 Petros Triantafyllou marked it as to-read

Expected publication: Fall 2019

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Oct 28, 2019 Troy rated it did not like it

This was one of my favorite fantasy series. The Burning White was a terrible ending to that. 3/4s of the way through the book the Judeo Christian god shows up not only to preach, but to hand out Deus Ex Machina like it is candy from a 4th of July parade float.

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Nov 28, 2019 Emily rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

disappointed

This series went from what I thought was going to be one of my very favorite series of all times, to something I'll never read again.

What a fucking letdown. The book was really slow going, and there's so much deux ex machina, so many bait and switch moments, so many "boss fights" that were basically nothing and worst of all too much thinly veiled christian bullshit. (view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 27, 2019 Phrynne rated it it was amazing

It took me a couple of days (I think it was over 900 pages!) but I am finished and I loved it. That is how you write a finale - all my questions were answered and all my favourite characters had a fair share of the action.

Of course it was Gavin/Dazen who I was really waiting for and his pages were more than I had hoped for. At last we got the real back story of his childhood and it was an eye opener. Andross also got a giant's share of the book which he spent being, well …..being Andross. His p ...more

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Oct 29, 2019 Soorya rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

This book gets weirdly religious all of a sudden. This being a fantasy series, you'd expect at least a creative take on religion, but nope - what you get here is a thinly-veiled sermon on Christian theology, with deus ex machina galore. Quite disappointing. ...more

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Nov 14, 2019 Bianka rated it it was ok

What a disappointment. I can't believe it. After waiting for so long for this book, I feel cheated. The three first books of this series were amazing. I re-read them and still get goosebumps even though I could quote entire parts by heart. The characters, the realistic magic system, the political machinations, everything combined to make an interesting and compelling story.

I think what I grew to dislike as I read the books was how complicated the plot line became. In the first book, the lines we ...more

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Nov 01, 2019 Deborah Obida rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, fantasy

"Of all the things that die, hope is the most easily resurrected".

Unlike most fans of this series, I didn't wait for years for this book to be published for that I'm glad, I initially started reading this series last year, I savoured and rationed it till a few months ago when I finished the fourth book, even at that it felt like I've been waiting forever. I'm so glad the wait is over and even though I hate to say goodbye I adore the way the author ended this amazing series.

“What you love ...more

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Oct 31, 2019 Kaitlin rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-sff-faves

Wow, I completely powered through reading this story, and I know that so much happened in it that I already feel like I need to sit down and give it a re-read. This is a book I have been waiting on for YEARS and so my expectations were high and the story was at its climax even when this one began. I have to give credit to Mr Weeks for keeping me interested and making me read solidly for days, since this came out. I actually finished it a few days ago, but I needed a bit of time to try and proces Wow, I completely powered through reading this story, and I know that so much happened in it that I already feel like I need to sit down and give it a re-read. This is a book I have been waiting on for YEARS and so my expectations were high and the story was at its climax even when this one began. I have to give credit to Mr Weeks for keeping me interested and making me read solidly for days, since this came out. I actually finished it a few days ago, but I needed a bit of time to try and process how to review the conclusion to such an epic story, and to be honest I still think I will do a bit of a poor job even now.

I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say, I loved it and found it frustrating too. This book ties so, so many of the plot threads which Weeks has been setting up together. It made me laugh, it made me tear up a little, and it made me love these characters even more. The author even broke my heart a little, and yet I can forgive it becuase it was done so well and it just made sense for the characters. Basically, this is a book which will trip you and tumble you over and over like a rollercoaster and then chuck you off at the end and expect you to just keep on going. It's heartfelt and tragic and epic and it's got something for everyone.

However, it also had its issues, and one of those for me was a bit too much focus on the religion and the gods of this world. Now, don't get me wrong I love when gods start to manipulate everything (why not, it's fantasy?!) but in this story it suddenly felt like some of the focus shifted towards higher beings and crazy scenarios becuase, by this point in the series, Weeks has already hit the reader with so much that he can only keep going up. In a way, it certainly reminded me of bits of the Mistborn series by Sanderson and the directions that that takes, but this has it's own dimension to it too.

Now, some of the characters in this book which I could not help but love seeing the progression for were Teia and Andross. Both of these characters are characters who I have loved to read about for the whole series becuase Teia has it hard and she's a scrapper and a fighter and she won't give up, and Andross has it easy as he's at the top now, but it's not always been so and he's done some terrible schemes and acts to get to where he is. Between them they could rule the world, but they're not exaclty friends and seeing each of their storylines develop right from book 1 through to now shows what a writer Weeks is.
Teia comes out of this book as a firm favourite for me. She already was, but honestly she's a bit of an outcast for the whole series and in this book she's put even more to the test and she stands firm. When everyone she loves is away and she's the only one fighting the fight, she is a boss and she owns and she still has time to learn along the way too.
Andross is a king and a god to some already, and yet he's also known as one of the most cunning people the world will ever know. He's always 10 steps ahead of everyone else and he's the kind of character you DO NOT want to get on the wrong side of. He's certainly not someone to cross and yet in this book I think he has the most growth and development of all the books so far as we see a lot of the backstory to his ascension and his life.

Other characters which are well worth mentioning include Kip, Carys, Tisiss (excuse the typos, I audiobooked) and more but I could honestly list almost all of them and say something about each. Kip has come the furthest of all by the end of the series and I love the way he's evolved.
Carys is a lady who is also strong as can be when faced with a tough situation and the situation she finds herself in here is nothing if not tough.
Tisiss is a character that I have learned to love for what she does for those around her. She shows that it's not only being in charge that's important but it's having a strong support system which you can fall back on and someone who loves you.

The only character I continue to hate is Liv. I won't even bother saying more, but suffice to say she is just as insufferable as ever.

Overall, this story had so much and I loved the twists and turns of the final adventure. I really hope Weeks has a few more epic series stored up to start now that this one is over, because I want more, but I have to say this was great. 4.5*s overall and if you have enjoyed any of the previous I am sure you will like this one a lot too!
...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Michael Sliter rated it liked it

Finally, the end of a massive series that, in my opinion, started out as one of the very, very best ever written and went out with a whimper. I loved The Black Prism, so much so that it is probably one of my favorite books of all time. The sequel, Blinding Knife, continued to impress and still kept me turning the pages. But, around the Broken Eye, I started to lose a tiny bit of interested. Blood Mirror dragged, but I still hoped for an awesome conclusion. The Burning White, though, was not that Finally, the end of a massive series that, in my opinion, started out as one of the very, very best ever written and went out with a whimper. I loved The Black Prism, so much so that it is probably one of my favorite books of all time. The sequel, Blinding Knife, continued to impress and still kept me turning the pages. But, around the Broken Eye, I started to lose a tiny bit of interested. Blood Mirror dragged, but I still hoped for an awesome conclusion. The Burning White, though, was not that. FYI, I reread the entire series in anticipation of this ending. Note, the review below includes MILD SPOILERS.

Black Prism: 5 stars
Blinding Knife: 5 stars
Broken Eye: 4 stars
Blood Mirror: 3 stars
Burning White: 2.75 stars

I think it is worth noting that this was originally a trilogy. That might have been ambitious, but I think that the series could have been wrapped up more powerfully in four books, as a great deal of content--mostly starting with the Broken Eye--felt like Robert-Jordanesque filler. There were several characters and plot lines that popped up but ultimately had no real implications for the ending of the book. For instance, I feel like Liv could have been cut from the entire series and it would have been stronger. There was a side story about a guy who murdered a bunch of invaders in the Blood Forest, and then saved a bunch of kids, that solely existed to talk about lore. I don't usually mind some level of this, but too much of the last books were dedicated to this, padding the page count and making me fall asleep and drop my kindle on my face. There was an especially bad Teia section where her thoughts just drifted for twenty pages as she staked out a safehouse.

I completely understand that expanding in this way was stylistic, and had these side stories and conversational padding been present in Books 1-2, it would have been more palatable. That is, you'd know right away what you are getting yourself into. Unfortunately, it felt like such a deviation (along with giving so many people POV chapters. Gill Greyling, Ironfist, some other guy, etc.). The plot and narrative got looser rather than tighter. It didn't help that basically everyone become a philosopher, from Teia to Big Leo and had massive monologues that were far too preachy for my tastes. It also created a situation where the voices of the characters felt less distinct. Kip sounded like Andross sounded like Gavin sounded like... etc.

Now, much of the action--when there was action--really delivered. The war over the final couple hundred pages was well-done and interesting. You could feel the desperation for the main characters (who were, unfortunately, bulletproof, which somewhat lessened the stakes). I still liked Gavin's story, up until a point that I'll discuss below. I really wanted Kip to come back and kick ass, and he did a good deal of that. Andross, too, had some good moments, though I thought he should have remained without his own POV. I don't want it to seem like I hated this book, because I didn't. But it was disappointing overall.

Probably the toughest pill to swallow was the literal Deus Ex Machina at the end. God, who lives on the top of a tower and rarely directly interferes except with every plot line in this book, solves most of the problems. He brings people back to life. He gives people strength to do impossible things. He tells the future and also sea demons have half ships on top of them with giant cannons, etc. Everyone important is healed and gets their powers back (Kip, it was hinted, will do so soon). It took away from our characters suffering and just felt cheap to me.

I know that I am, by far, in the minority here. People loved his books and the ending, which is awesome. I wanted to be one of them. I wanted this to kick ass so badly. I will still be looking forward to Brent's next series. ...more

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Aug 07, 2017 Eon ♒Windrunner♒ rated it really liked it

RTC

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Mar 09, 2020 Jody rated it liked it

Shelves: not-yet-released

"We see others not as they are but as we see. We see ourselves not as we are but as we see - and as we are seen, for we each cast our light on each other, too."

Before starting The Burning White I had a feeling this was going to be a phenomenal conclusion or a huge disappointment. Unfortunately, it was the latter. The first half of this book was so drawn out that I considered DNF'ing it a couple of times. But, I stuck it out and managed to complete it in just under 2 weeks. It usually ...more

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Jun 17, 2016 Kaladin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lovable-characters, best-of-the-best, kick-ass-good, can-t-wait

Wow!!! What a surprise!! Thank you. I don't want it to end. Hopping for a 6th and more besides.
2019-11-20
So... no more books now...
I held of reading this as long as í cound, knowing there is no more Gavin after this.
I love every minute i spent in this World.

Im eagerly waiting for your next work, no doubt it will be even more ridiculously fantastic. ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Crystal rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Disappointed

I loved this series, until the last too books. Some much of this book is unnecessary, and the protracted ending is pointless. There was no true climax in this battle and the continued attempt at banter among Kip and his friends was painful. The biggest disappointment was the religious aspect; I did not foresee, or I would not have read these 5 books, that the god character in this book would be so important. Nothing annoys me more that the bait and switch. Started off as a series ab ...more

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Oct 30, 2019 Ali Juhdi rated it did not like it

The Lightbringer is (or at least I thought it was) a great series.
But it seems like Mr. Weeks was inspired by the producers of the final season of Game of Thrones and decided to completely destroy his own great work.

In the previous books, people interacted and had meaningful conversations about life, the universe, morality, God, and the meaning of good governance.

In "The Burning White"... things happen... I guess.

>>>>>Spoilers ahead<<<<<<<<

It is clear that Brent visualized the ending of Andros The Lightbringer is (or at least I thought it was) a great series.
But it seems like Mr. Weeks was inspired by the producers of the final season of Game of Thrones and decided to completely destroy his own great work.

In the previous books, people interacted and had meaningful conversations about life, the universe, morality, God, and the meaning of good governance.

In "The Burning White"... things happen... I guess.

>>>>>Spoilers ahead<<<<<<<<

It is clear that Brent visualized the ending of Andros being the LB somewhere in the previous books but he didn't foreshadow it properly, and all of the sudden all the characters become absolute idiots
And forgive that character for all the shitty AWFUL things that he's done.
I don't mind a sad ending (Which what the "Real Ending" is) I mind the complete lack of explanation of why seemingly good characters seem so oblivious and happy for it.
In Orwell's 1984, (also spoiler) the good guys lose too, but not before the writer shows their loss and how they lost.
The "Good guys" in LB didn't solve ANYTHING! the guy in power at the start remained so, the corrupt system even more tyrannical now.
Brent kept telling us OVER AND OVER again how smart Andross Guile is, but every decision he makes shows us he's a pitty, an AWFUL judge of character, arrogant, a terrible planner, and a worst military strategist.
Which begs the question, why the hell were they fighting the White King?
What was so evil and desperate about their fight when the guy they're going to put in charge is just as bad if not worse? why could they forgive the LITERAL SACRIFICE OF CHILDREN! but drew the line at.... what worshiping false idols!? The only other thing I can think of that the White King did more often was the use of Black Luxion, but then we found out "Oh... that's not sooo bad as long as you have the right God to guide you when you do that"

The only "good" thing that the Chromeria's side, is... they believe in the right God!!!?
To a non-religious person like myself, to assign moral value simply because someone follows "The right God" is DEEPLY concerning and very disappointing from a series I expected so much from.

I gave the previous books 5/5 stars, but now I am rerating them all. ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Ash rated it it was ok

All the characters sounded the same, with their """quick wit""", and most of the chapters are filled with nothing but motivational expositional speech ...more

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Dec 28, 2019 Dana Ilie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

This book was the best finale I coud dream of.

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Jul 29, 2020 Tim rated it it was ok

Long story. Too bad it's not really for me. 4 of 10 stars ...more

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Oct 27, 2019 Mark Halse rated it it was amazing

Shelves: high-priority

Beyond fucking good. I would like all fantasy authors to read this book to learn how a finale is done. It's almost a new fantasy trope for a fantasy author to create an amazing series and then botch the finale. Most get wrapped up in their own nonsense so deeply that their final book ends up being a Jerk off session.

Mr. Weeks on the other hand delivers in spades. After the THE BLOOD MIRROR I've been worried that THE BURNING WHITE would be more of the same and though this book starts off that way ...more

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Jan 01, 2020 Ashley Daviau rated it it was amazing

I was both excited and terrified to read this big beast of a book. Excited because I’ve been invested in this series for so long and I couldn’t wait to see how it all ended. Terrified because I’ve become so invested in this series and these characters and I want nothing but good for my precious babies. I’m glad to say that it was everything I could have hoped for and more as an ending to what’s become one of my all time favourite series. It had it all; it made me laugh and sob and want to throw ...more

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Dec 03, 2019 Wick Welker rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

A fun if not very flawed conclusion to a high fantasy series.

You will not find a masterpiece with the Lightbringer series. It falls short with nearly every book. But, that doesn’t mean you won’t have fun. Weeks does many things well throughout these books and manages to end with something that is enjoyable despite being audaciously flippant with his prose and conclusion.

First with the good: the world building is exquisite. The Seven Satrapies is incredibly well fleshed out. The people, cultures, A fun if not very flawed conclusion to a high fantasy series.

You will not find a masterpiece with the Lightbringer series. It falls short with nearly every book. But, that doesn’t mean you won’t have fun. Weeks does many things well throughout these books and manages to end with something that is enjoyable despite being audaciously flippant with his prose and conclusion.

First with the good: the world building is exquisite. The Seven Satrapies is incredibly well fleshed out. The people, cultures, tribes, and terrain are easily imagined and exciting to discover. There is a very believable political system that is consistent throughout the series. This infrastructure helps guide the entire plot as well as character motivations. The political intrigue might be the single most compelling component of these books. All the figureheads: the Prism, promachos, the White, the Order and the extending power grabs in the land mesh very well together.

Some characters are incredibly compelling. If Andross Guile were not in these books, I don’t know if I would’ve finished the series. Andross is one of my favorite characters in any fantasy book, period. The best part of these books is a game of cards between two characters, I mean that in a good way. Other great characters: Gavin Guile, Corvan, Ironfist, Grinwoody and the White King, are all incredibly interesting and really kept me going. However, most of the books tend to focus on weaker characters: Karris, Teia and, yes, Kip. These three VERY main characters were a single note for the entire series. Given that Kip is the main protagonist, this was a big problem. I was almost always bored by boy-scout Kip (even his name is boring).

Onto the bad: the pacing. Too much time was spent on things that didn’t matter. The Burning White should’ve been 600 pages, not 900. Furthermore, this series did not need to be five books. It could've been three. Not enough plot sustained this many pages.

Small problem: the prose. It’s bad. The narrative voice reads like a high school kid with something to prove. There is a certain glib flippancy worked into the dialogue of every character that only serves to undermine the drama of the work.

Big problem: the magic system. Despite so much detail and description, it never worked. I STILL don’t know what luxin is. In the end luxin is a catch all for the magic. Yes, it’s refracted light, but the mechanics and logic were extremely clunky and not airtight. New components kept getting tacked on with each book. Chi? Paryl? One gives… extra senses, another makes you... invisible? Okay, but why? And how? Black and White luxin simply served as a plot mechanic to fix the final conflicts of the entire series. Things seemed to be made up on the fly as a contrivance of the author.

Big problem: Deus ex machina. Automatic 1 star deduction (there’s no excuse for this). No spoilers, but the ending of Burning White was not earned by any character. The main conflict of the entire series was resolved by almost no virtue of the protagonists. Gavin Guile absolutely did not earn redemption, it was handed to him. Gavin is in fact a morally repugnant character and he’s treated with a little too much grace. I won’t say any more, but a man clearly wrote these novels. There also was not enough lore that had been built ahead of time for the reader to care about all the gods that start showing up. Paradoxically, it was at the climax of the series that I cared the least about reading these books.

In the end, the Lightbringer is fun, but I wouldn’t ask much more than that. There are flaws everywhere and in every book, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be entertained. Overall, I’m happy I read the series and give it an overall rating of ⅘. ...more

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Jul 17, 2020 YouKneeK rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: completed-series, fantasy

This was the fifth and final book in the Lightbringer series. The title is The Burning White but a good alternate title would have been The Enthusiastic Pep Talks. More on that later. I mostly enjoyed this entire series. It has a few issues, but nothing that bothered me too much. I was pretty happy with this last book, and the ending was mostly satisfying.

Before I go on to write about my own thoughts, if anybody read this and didn’t see the hidden Postlude after the author’s acknowledgments, or ...more

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Dec 06, 2020 Dean Ryan Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

2020 Reading-Challenge is completed with THE BURNING WHITE - the finale book in Lightbringer Pentalogy. "We know ourselves by how we see ourselves mirrored in others' eyes. So, when a man lies habitually, he distorts the mirror he holds up to the world (Chapter 120, page 725)."

Author's Writing Style: 5 STARS. Yay - This finale is thick but an entertaining one. There are 11 recap pages of Books 1 to 4, 152 short chapters, 3 epilogues and glossary. Overall, there are more than 960 pages. Flashback 2020 Reading-Challenge is completed with THE BURNING WHITE - the finale book in Lightbringer Pentalogy. "We know ourselves by how we see ourselves mirrored in others' eyes. So, when a man lies habitually, he distorts the mirror he holds up to the world (Chapter 120, page 725)."

Author's Writing Style: 5 STARS. Yay - This finale is thick but an entertaining one. There are 11 recap pages of Books 1 to 4, 152 short chapters, 3 epilogues and glossary. Overall, there are more than 960 pages. Flashbacks are sprinkled throughout the book. It focuses on Andross Guile - the father of the lead character, Gavin. These flashbacks are written in first person perspective in present tenses.

Nay - The final epic war exceeds the quality of the battles in the previous books. It is highly prismatic, the details are vivid, but it is heavily written with world-building and magic-system jargons. While reading, I regularly needed to consult the Glossary to understand these terminologies are.

Characters' Development: 5 STARS. Yay - Andross Guile steals the show. Hate him or love him, Andross seems to not care. His abrasive personality makes him appear ruthless, commanding and strategic. Many times, when making decisions for others, he gives more value to necessity than good values. He lives in the gray area no matter how dirty the situation can get.

Nay - The middle chapters are heavily filled with Teia's POV. I have nothing against Teia. Just that, some of her POVs are unnecessary. The way she motivates herself is repetitive. It feels exhausting to read when she keeps repeating to herself that she was a slave who thinks too much.

Plot: 2 STARS. Yay - This finale begins just right. Chromeria is falling apart. The White King wants to control the seven satraphies in his favor. He is unstoppable but Kip and his Blackguards friends are preparing to stop him.

Nay - It surprises me I dislike the ending. I neither hate it nor it meets my bad expectation. It simply feels odd but memorable in an ordinary way. ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Adah Udechukwu rated it it was amazing

The Burning White was as awesome as I thought it would be. The novel was long, it was really long but it made sense

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Oct 28, 2019 Dan Rossin rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I reread the series in anticipation for this final book and liked the series a little less afterwards. While I don't regret picking up the series and would likely still recommend it to friends who are fans of fantasy, I don't think it sticks the landing. I also don't think the series lives up to its potential after the excellent first two books.

This book either needed more time in the oven in editing, or a 6th book to give the story the needed room to breathe. The first 2/3rds of the book are p I reread the series in anticipation for this final book and liked the series a little less afterwards. While I don't regret picking up the series and would likely still recommend it to friends who are fans of fantasy, I don't think it sticks the landing. I also don't think the series lives up to its potential after the excellent first two books.

This book either needed more time in the oven in editing, or a 6th book to give the story the needed room to breathe. The first 2/3rds of the book are pretty good but it starts to fall apart at the end. To many quick & convenient solutions fall out of the sky for the protagonists. Even going so far as to having a literal Deus Ex Machina. Orholam (Now confirmed as a real and intervening creator God in this universe) literally has a flying machine he calls a Machina to help save the day. All the sudden the Sea Demons are now good, and Gunner will ride on one of their backs with a cannon! Brent starts breaking apart all the rules he set in the earlier books. All the sudden nobody gets light sick anymore. Dazen can draft near unlimited Black and White luxin from miles and miles away. He can effect the weather and activate the great mirrors all over the seven satrapies no problem. All the sudden Liv's Superviolet magic can heal the internal fatal wounds of her Father? Kip can break the Halo and have his body destroyed, but don't worry God can fix it? All tension in the fate of the main characters is lost when Kip is resurrected like no big deal. He even says something along the lines of "Orholam wouldn't resurrect me only to let me die 2 minutes later!"

All the sacrifices the Guile family has made are wiped out and fixed. Dazen literally gets everything back. His good looks, his wife, his son, his father, his best friend Corvan, his slave/friend Marissia, his prismatic magic, his eye, his fingers, his political power, his adoration from the public. Kip literally is brought back to life, has all of his years of drafting luxin removed from his halo, his body is repaired, and he will even get his drafting back. Andross somehow doesn't break the halo running the mirror system all night, and gets everything he ever wanted. He becomes an emperor in full, with a chance to make up with his son, grandson, and daughter in law. People all the sudden don't hate his guts. This series was supposed to be about cost and sacrifice. It was even built into the cost of the magic system. Karris even tells Dazen near the end, we should show off your missing eye and fingers to the world to show what you sacrificed for them. Then its all fixed with the wave of a hand? I thought his character arc was supposed to be him accepting the broken parts of himself? Then the real questions start coming up, why did Orholam only fix Dazen and Kip? Surely he could have fixed Teia's eyesight, or Ben's knee? He could have taken the luxin out of the Mighty's halos? Ben and Big Leo were pretty close to the end of their lives as drafters last we saw them. Their sacrifice doesn't warrant Gods intervention? What about all the people who died that day? They couldn't be resurrected like Kip? Oh that's right, they aren't main characters.

Throughout the series Orholams true existence was in question, but most agreed that if he did exist he was more of a loving parent, sometimes a guide, who would let his children decide their fates on their own. And this was true up until the very end of the final book. Then Brent changed it so that not only is Orholam real, but he can and will intervene in human affairs when he wants. To me this breaks any tension or sacrifice made throughout the series. It also has ramifications if Brent decides to turn his 'thousand worlds' setting into a Brandon Sanderson like Cosmere. Moving forward I will always question why God decides to intervene in certain scenarios and not others. Why should I ever have to worry about a main character in this setting ever again? If a character is important enough, or their role important enough (like being a main character), they can just be revived by God. Writing gods is always tricky, you have to ride a fine line between omnipotence and omnibenevolence for there to be actual stakes for your world. Most writers choose to give their gods limitations, they can't or don't want to intervene in human affairs. Or they have want's, needs, and weaknesses kind of like the greek/roman pantheons. Orholam doesn't appear to be that. He is an Omnipotent, Omnibenevolent God who loves all, but seems to only help certain people according to his whims?

On a different note, Brent also doesn't dedicate enough time to focus on the motivations and development of the antagonists/villains. The only antagonists that get any screen time in this book are Andross guile (who is basically more of an anti-hero than a true antagonist) and the Order of the Broken Eye. There is really no time dedicated to the Immortals, Zymun, or Koios/The White King. Giving us some chapters from the point of view of Koios or one of his slave gods/immortals like Samila Sayeh would have gone a long way. Show us the Djinn slowly driving drafters insane, manipulating them. Show the White Kings followers slowly realizing how much their leader doesn't care about them, but having to comply because of his power and command over black luxin, or his alliance with the rebellious immortals. There were so many cool things to explore with these villains and we got nothing. They ended up just being generic evil fodder for our protagonists to defeat.

Overall I am pretty disappointed in this series, but mainly in this last book. There was so much potential for greatness. ...more

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Oct 29, 2016 JL Lucaban marked it as to-read

Shelves: i-would-die-waiting-for-this

Bless the souls of those that are glaring at this '5th' book of the, supposedly, 'trilogy', including me...But please let this be the last. T^T I want to know how it ends (Although I'd be sad too since it's gonna end. Such a bittersweet romance.) ...more

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Dec 27, 2019 Hank rated it liked it

What a frustrating ending. Not frustrating in the sense that nothing was wrapped up because all of the loose ends were tied, characters rewarded, bad guys defeated (sort of) and story concluded. Frustrating in the sense that Weeks went well off the rails in the writing department and seems to no longer be listening to an editor.

For those of you who have read the previous 4 books, nothing I say here should dissuade you from reading this and almost certainly nothing anyone says will prevent you fr What a frustrating ending. Not frustrating in the sense that nothing was wrapped up because all of the loose ends were tied, characters rewarded, bad guys defeated (sort of) and story concluded. Frustrating in the sense that Weeks went well off the rails in the writing department and seems to no longer be listening to an editor.

For those of you who have read the previous 4 books, nothing I say here should dissuade you from reading this and almost certainly nothing anyone says will prevent you from reading this so maybe if you go in with low expectations, The Burning White will be a pleasant surprise.

1000 pages that should have been 500. The perceived (by me) lack of editing caused my two main problems. Pacing and excessive philosphizing. The parts that were good, were great. Weeks writes great action scenes and characater comraderie. Tia's angst and introspection and desperation to remain part of the mightly was well done. Andros Guile's machinations were consistantly nefarious and self serving, the plot and twists frequently left me on the edge of my seat....frequently that is, in between the utterly, deathly boring, completely useless moral arguments Weeks had all of the characters participate in. 30 pages of excitement, plot moving forward, followed by 50 pages of me screaming at a successesion of characters to shut up and get on with it (yes, actually at one point I was actually yelling inside my car).

The religious bent to all of this discussion added to my annoyance, but even beyond that, there was at least 300 pages that were essentially, "Am I a good person or a bad person?", "Did I do good deeds or bad ones?", "Are you a good person?" It was endless drudgery all compounded by the fact that at the end, the answer was, everyone deserves forgiveness so who cares what they did.

There were not enough tragic figures at the end and one who should have enjoyed a non-tragic, very painful death. Weeks was too attached to his characters and his message of redemption for everyone. Two characters should have stayed dead and one should have become dead and everyone who reads the book will proabably know which ones are which.

So how do I summerize. I actually loved this series, there was so much to enjoy and the magic system was unique and easy to insert yourself in. I still recommend this to many, but this last book was a mess. If there were a fan fiction version that cut out all the crap I would probably have given that 5 stars.

5 stars for the good parts and the characters. 1 star for the excessive moralizing and tell but don't show parts. ...more

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About Brent Weeks

Brent Weeks

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In a small-town Montana school at age 12, Brent Weeks met the two great loves of his life. Edgar Allan Poe introduced him to the power of literature to transcend time and death and loneliness. Fate introduced him to The Girl, Kristi Barnes. He began his pursuit of each immediately.

The novel was a failure. The Girl shot him down.

Since then–skipping the boring parts–Brent has written eight best-sell ...more

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Quotes from The Burning White

“If you’re trapped in the darkness all alone, how do you know you’re alone and not actually surrounded by an army of friends, also silent, also afraid in the dark, merely waiting for the sound of one voice to rouse them from fear, to fight for freedom?” — 13 likes

“Some say, ‘Who you are is what you do.’ They’re wrong, but not all wrong. What you do forms who you are. Then who you are forms what you do. It’s a vicious cycle, or a virtuous one, depending. One act doesn’t undo all of who you are, but a thousand acts make you who you are. So it’s simple, though not easy: stop creating the wrong you.” — 13 likes

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