Brent Weeks

The black prism

honestly I'm not sure how to rate this so I'm not gonna 

mehrsa

Kelsey at

DNF
I cant get past the glaring issue with this book.
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There are two color theories additive and subtractive. 
Light falls under the subtractive color theory. I.e. black = void of all color
However, in this magic system black light is all color? 
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Maybe I'm just not catching on here. This seems to be a beloved series. Someone please tell me I'm wrong so I can get over it and continue on. 
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As of now I just can't.

From New York Times bestselling author Brent Weeks THE BLACK PRISM begins a brand new action-packed tale of magic and adventure ... 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 preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live. When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. Lightbringer The Black Prism The Blinding Knife The Broken Eye The Blood Mirror For more from Brent Weeks, check out: Night Angel The Way of Shadows Shadow's Edge Beyond the Shadows Night Angel: The Complete Trilogy (omnibus) Perfect Shadow: A Night Angel Novella (e-only) The Way of Shadows: The Graphic Novel

The Black Prism

Celeste Richardson

Well, Brent Weeks, you got me. You sucked me in to your polychromatic world, and now I’m going to have to read everything else you’ve written. The Black Prism is the first book in the Lightbringer series, an epic fantasy series with a color-based magic system. There was a truly varied and interesting cast of characters: Kip, a chubby, awkward teenager who has always been a bit of an outcast; Gavin Guile, the Prism and the Most Interesting Man in the World; and Karris, Gavin’s smoking hot bodyguard with mad skills and a bruised heart. There’s also a misguided student who has Kip drooling over her, a retired general, another Blackguard bodyguard who is as funny as he is immense, and a mysterious prisoner who is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

The characters made this story for me. I felt so much sympathy for poor, awkward Kip, but he also made me laugh and surprised me with his bravery. Gavin is just about one of the most attractive men I’ve ever read. He’s got sass and personality and kindness and determination oozing from his pores. Ironfist and Karris and Corvan were all fantastic, as well. Weeks did a great job crafting characters that I cared about. Also, I really appreciated that Weeks made warrior women so prevalent in his Blackguard and throughout his world that his central female-warrior character didn’t stand out just because she was a woman who could fight; she stood out because she was fierce and beautiful and was simply better and badder than many of her compatriots. That’s feminism, right there.

The magic system in this book was really unique. When I first started reading, the magic seemed kind of cheesy to me, to be honest. Color doesn’t seem like the most brutal basis for magic, does it? But I was wrong! The differences between the luxin of each color, and the different personality traits exhibited by each color’s drafters, were really intriguing. And getting into the differences between monochromes, bichromes, polychromes, and a Prism gives a reader a lot of food for thought. Also, Big Jasper, the island-city that is home to the Chromeria school, sounds absolutely gorgeous. I think that Heaven might look a bit like Big Jasper.

All in all, this was a fantastic read. It is definitely not a stand-alone, though. Should you choose to read it, make sure you have access to the second volume. Because the end of the book definitely leaves you hanging. One of the few things I dislike about fantasy is the plethora of cliffhangers that dominates the genre, but that just means that there’s more for me to read! Overall, I would give this a 4.5 out of 5, and will round that up to 5 stars here on Goodreads. A fantastic start to what I hope will be a fantastic series.

Brianna

This book is a mixed one for me. 
On one hand it comes across unnecessarily sexist and strange in handling it’s women, on the other hand Gavin’s mother is probably my favorite character. I also love the idea of a hero like Kip but the execution was a little too crass for my taste. I’m a sucker for fantasy filled with family drama though and the Guiles certainly had it.
As for the world building it’s there and interesting if you’re into it, but I just couldn’t suspend belief and get behind it. The magic reminded me of Mistborn and what I didn’t like about it, so if you’re a fan of that I’d give this one a try.
All in all, I could see myself continuing.

Jas Wang

In a world where magic is tightly controlled, the most powerful man in history must choose between his kingdom and his son in the first book in the epic NYT bestselling Lightbringer series. Guile is the Prism. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live. When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. If you loved the action and adventure of the Night Angel trilogy, you will devour this incredible epic fantasy series by Brent Weeks.

Melody Izard

Felt like I was learning the rules to some very complicated game.

Tom Turner

I can see what others are saying....

I've heard other reviewers complain that this book is sexist, and going by the sections they talk about I understand why, but I would say they misunderstand what is going on. Though this book is written in second person, it doesn't mean we are not seeing things through a particular person's eyes. In the case of these sections, we are seeing through a fairly immature 15 year old boy, though I'm not saying all 15 year old boys are sexist, of course they are going to look at women, shall we say, in a particular way!

Putting that aside, this book planted some intriguing tidbits to really want to make me want to read on, did it bowl me over? No, but it's rare for the first book in a series to do so.

Nickie Mohler

I've heard people rave about this book, and now I know why. It was fantastic!! It took me a little bit to figure out the magic system because it's pretty complex, but once I caught on, I was blown away.

Gavin Guile is The Prism. He is the only person able to draft all of the colors. Drafters are able to see certain colors and manipulate them into what they want. Most drafters can draft one or two colors. Since Gavin can draft them all, he is the most powerful man alive. 
Gavin lives at the Chromeria, where drafters are trained. One day he received a message that he has a 15-year old son named Kip. Gavin must go get him and bring him back before he can be used against him. 
Meanwhile, a rebellion is brewing. There are those who think the Chromeria uses drafters and then casts them aside when they are of no use. Led by self-proclaimed King Garadul, they seek to destroy the Chromeria and everything it stands for.

As if that's not enough, Gavin has a huge secret. If it gets out, it will destroy him.

I loved this book! It's character driven, plot driven, and just plain exciting the whole way through. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that reads fantasy books.

Kayla Smith

OH MY GOD. FINALLY, I've finished this sexist, fatphobic book. I literally lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes in response to every unnecessary comment the author had to throw in about women's bodies. From calling a woman a wale and comparing her skin to blubber, to talking about sagging breasts (but never sagging balls, of course not), to making remarks about a guards dress slit having ripped too high after she fought a battle, there were so many comments that didn't need to be included. This is exactly why I primarily read books from women authors because most men suck at writing women and it drives me insane. I will most definitely not be continuing this series and I'm surprised it's held in such high regard to be honest.

libby g

Ugh. Probably one of the most over hyped books I've ever read. Plot was meh, characters were immature, magic system was fairly interesting but not interesting enough to keep me interested--especially when there's so much better fantasy out there--, writing was pretty god awful. 

The whole theme of good-evil-grey-area-blurred-lines-anti-hero sort of thing that Weeks had going on was good but I feel like in fantasy nowadays this is a fairly standard thing to explore. To be fair, this did make me think about it from a different perspective and obviously left enough of an impact for me to write about it.

Other than that though, ugh. Really, really disappointing.

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures

AHHHHH!!! THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I haven't read Adult Fantasy since 2014 or 2015 and I should have sooner. I mean, this IS my favorite genre! This had action, a cool magic system that involves drafting colors, and a TON of mystery! I still have a ton of questions!! Kip is hilarious, Karris is BA, Gavin is mysterious, and Iron Fist is my favorite character!!

When Gavin Guile--high priest and emperor, the most powerful man in the world known to all as the Prism--discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

The black prism

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