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calbowen's review against another edition
1.0
UNFINISHED - no comment on the book, as I only read 33% - but in one third, I couldn't find myself a way to care about any characters or the plot ....
madspank's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jwilliams0293's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
rockhopper's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
beaktastic's review
4.0
So, I loved Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy, so when I heard about this book I knew I had to read it eventually (eventually turned out to be a few years later). Honestly, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the Night Angel trilogy, but it was enjoyable.
The book tells the story of Kip, an overweight teenager from a village called Rekton which is shortly massacred by the ruler of the region, but Kip manages to escape by drafting (essentially - magic) and swears revenge. It also tells the story of Gavin Guile, the Prism (essentially Emperor, although most of the roles political power has been taken away long ago). Gavin is charismatic and charming, but harbours a secret and his path leads him to finding Kip, his bastard son (no spoilers - that's revealed at the end of chapter 2).
It's a fantasy story, and the main form of magic in this book is through "drafting", whereby a Drafter (magician basically) can "draw" colours to make an assortment of tools and weapons out of luxin to allow them to accomplish a wide variety of feats. Most drafters can only draw one or two, or sometimes three colours, and all drafters need to be able to see that colour to draft it. It takes a toll on them though and most drafters die by the time they're 40/50. All drafters, apart from the Prism though. A Prism is born once a generation and can draft every colour and there is no limit to his abilities apart from his own strength, but only manage to rule as Prism for a multiple of 7 years. Gavin for example has ruled for 16 years, meaning he has 5 years to go, as most don't make it past 14 years before dying.
One thing I found complicated about the book was the magic system, and this is why I just explained it a bit. It wasn't really clear early on what luxin was or how drafting worked and most of it I had to work out for myself before a decent explanation was provided (if it was - I'm stiill not entirely sure what luxin is. It's an interesting system though and it was nice to read about a system of magic so different to what you find in most fantasy books.
On to the characters - I really liked Gavin, I thought he was very charismatic and a charmer, and I can see why most women in the book seem to be in love with him. But at the same time he's incredibly mysterious and intelligent, and I spent a lot of the book wondering about him and his past and what would happen as bits and pieces were revealed. Kip on the other hand, I didn't like as much. Kip seems to have a bit of split personality whereby he spends half the book whining and just thinking about how fat and useless and pathetic he is, but then every now and then he turns into someone really witty and self-assured and stuff before suddenly reverting to his pathetic self, and it was just a bit jarring. I don't know if it was just Weeks' attempt at (and struggling at) writing a character who isn't the typical protagonist or if he was trying to hint at hidden layers of Kip or something but... yeah. Kip just didn't really ring through with me, he was just too jarring.
The story itself was good and intriguing, and hints that the future books in this trilogy will get even bigger and more exciting. For this book though, I felt it spent a lot of time establishing the world and the characters and their backgrounds that nothing overly exciting happened in the first half of the book and it got a bit more exciting towards the end when there was a big battle. It was mostly politics and set up before then. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, as Weeks has obviously thoroughly thought out the world and the characters and what happened to them in the past and how this affects them now and what every person wants and is like and etc. etc. etc. Basically, he's spent a long time thinking this through and it shows, but explaining all this to the reader does seem to take up a lot of time and it as a result I found the book to be a bit of a slog at first. I am looking foward to the next book in the series though. One plot point I found most interesting, and yet most confusing to be honest, was the fact that Gavin is actually his brother Dazen and is pretending to be Gavin and is keeping the real Gavin a secret prisoner. It was a very interesting concept and made me think a lot about how it all worked and what would happen in the future. It did get a bit confusing as Dazen obviously refers to himself as Gavin most of the time, and Gavin thinks of himself as Dazen and sorting that kind of stuff out about which brother they actually mean sometimes got confusing, but it kinda works because I guess it would be confusing for 'Gavin' as well. Kip being Gavin's bastard was quite obvious so I'm glad that was revealed like immediately, and his drafting gets hugely stronger as the book goes on which makes me suspect he might be the next Prism but we'll see in future books I guess. The knife at the end of the book... I have thoughts about what will happen with that but we'll see... it's intriguing to say the least.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I still think I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more but this book is still good and Weeks' writing style has definately improved since then.
The book tells the story of Kip, an overweight teenager from a village called Rekton which is shortly massacred by the ruler of the region, but Kip manages to escape by drafting (essentially - magic) and swears revenge. It also tells the story of Gavin Guile, the Prism (essentially Emperor, although most of the roles political power has been taken away long ago). Gavin is charismatic and charming, but harbours a secret and his path leads him to finding Kip, his bastard son (no spoilers - that's revealed at the end of chapter 2).
It's a fantasy story, and the main form of magic in this book is through "drafting", whereby a Drafter (magician basically) can "draw" colours to make an assortment of tools and weapons out of luxin to allow them to accomplish a wide variety of feats. Most drafters can only draw one or two, or sometimes three colours, and all drafters need to be able to see that colour to draft it. It takes a toll on them though and most drafters die by the time they're 40/50. All drafters, apart from the Prism though. A Prism is born once a generation and can draft every colour and there is no limit to his abilities apart from his own strength, but only manage to rule as Prism for a multiple of 7 years. Gavin for example has ruled for 16 years, meaning he has 5 years to go, as most don't make it past 14 years before dying.
One thing I found complicated about the book was the magic system, and this is why I just explained it a bit. It wasn't really clear early on what luxin was or how drafting worked and most of it I had to work out for myself before a decent explanation was provided (if it was - I'm stiill not entirely sure what luxin is. It's an interesting system though and it was nice to read about a system of magic so different to what you find in most fantasy books.
On to the characters - I really liked Gavin, I thought he was very charismatic and a charmer, and I can see why most women in the book seem to be in love with him. But at the same time he's incredibly mysterious and intelligent, and I spent a lot of the book wondering about him and his past and what would happen as bits and pieces were revealed. Kip on the other hand, I didn't like as much. Kip seems to have a bit of split personality whereby he spends half the book whining and just thinking about how fat and useless and pathetic he is, but then every now and then he turns into someone really witty and self-assured and stuff before suddenly reverting to his pathetic self, and it was just a bit jarring. I don't know if it was just Weeks' attempt at (and struggling at) writing a character who isn't the typical protagonist or if he was trying to hint at hidden layers of Kip or something but... yeah. Kip just didn't really ring through with me, he was just too jarring.
The story itself was good and intriguing, and hints that the future books in this trilogy will get even bigger and more exciting. For this book though, I felt it spent a lot of time establishing the world and the characters and their backgrounds that nothing overly exciting happened in the first half of the book and it got a bit more exciting towards the end when there was a big battle. It was mostly politics and set up before then. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, as Weeks has obviously thoroughly thought out the world and the characters and what happened to them in the past and how this affects them now and what every person wants and is like and etc. etc. etc. Basically, he's spent a long time thinking this through and it shows, but explaining all this to the reader does seem to take up a lot of time and it as a result I found the book to be a bit of a slog at first. I am looking foward to the next book in the series though.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I still think I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more but this book is still good and Weeks' writing style has definately improved since then.
essie85's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I would have given this a 5 for a lighthearted fantasy romp with good worldbuilding and entertaining characters. I mostly got annoyed with literally everyone but the main character being "gorgeous" (author's word). The "oops, looked at her boobs" moments got old really quickly too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Slavery, Vomit, and Animal death
Minor: Rape
mrpaulyman's review against another edition
4.0
Unique and interesting take on magic, a good beginning to what I hope is a great series.
shandyt's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Lots of fun in a Brandon Sanderson-style magic system, with a more adult tone and complex, interesting characters.
Kip and Gavin are both compelling protagonists; particularly Gavin. Normally I shy away from god-king ubermensch male protagonists, but although Gavin ticks some of those boxes, he remains human, fallible, and relatable. I've been thinking about why I've enjoyed Gavin so much, when other super-powerful protags like Rand Al'Thor were grating to me, and have decided that a lot of it comes down to the way the author handles the character's flaws. For example, Rand's flaws are mostly external. The world expects much of him, demands much of him, and why won't those stinking Aes Sedai just be nice to him? Meanwhile, Gavin is a man who commands and expects adoration in much the same way, but suffers from sometimes crushing anxiety, who has had to sacrifice his ideals and work within the system with the hand he was given, whose secrets could tear the world apart. When it comes down to it, he's just a lot more interesting than Rand. He's a protagonist, but is he a "good guy?" It's hard to say—and I like that. He reminds me favorably of Dalinor from Stormlight Archives.
As for Kip, his constant self-deprecation is a little jarring at first, particularly when listening to the audiobook, and grates a bit after a while. However, it's nice to read about a protagonist who has a sense of humor about his situation. He's not like many young fantasy protagonists—he's overweight, cowardly, and awkward, and he knows it. And, particularly refreshing, he's not white (regardless of what some fanartists would have you believe). In fact, most of the characters are dark-skinned or mixed, with only one major protagonist explicitly described to be pale. I appreciated the diversity, as well as the way the author didn't shy away from describing the advantages and disadvantages certain skin tones provided magical drafters.
Not everything about this book was perfect, of course. Others have brought up the author's issues with writing women, and his tendency to fall back on silly interjections like "oops", which I think are fair. A lengthy diversion about periods was pretty interesting, not something you see every day, but the "man shoulders" thing was a bit... eh. Personally, I'd have liked another 2-3 hours (I listened to the audiobook) for some deeper explorations of the events of the last third of the book. Some things felt like they got skimmed over, or were poorly-explained. More time in the Chromeria would also have been nice, before we got yanked out to Big Plot Stuff, though I expect I'll get to see that in the later books.
On to The Blinding Knife!
Kip and Gavin are both compelling protagonists; particularly Gavin. Normally I shy away from god-king ubermensch male protagonists, but although Gavin ticks some of those boxes, he remains human, fallible, and relatable. I've been thinking about why I've enjoyed Gavin so much, when other super-powerful protags like Rand Al'Thor were grating to me, and have decided that a lot of it comes down to the way the author handles the character's flaws. For example, Rand's flaws are mostly external. The world expects much of him, demands much of him, and why won't those stinking Aes Sedai just be nice to him? Meanwhile, Gavin is a man who commands and expects adoration in much the same way, but suffers from sometimes crushing anxiety, who has had to sacrifice his ideals and work within the system with the hand he was given, whose secrets could tear the world apart. When it comes down to it, he's just a lot more interesting than Rand. He's a protagonist, but is he a "good guy?" It's hard to say—and I like that. He reminds me favorably of Dalinor from Stormlight Archives.
As for Kip, his constant self-deprecation is a little jarring at first, particularly when listening to the audiobook, and grates a bit after a while. However, it's nice to read about a protagonist who has a sense of humor about his situation. He's not like many young fantasy protagonists—he's overweight, cowardly, and awkward, and he knows it. And, particularly refreshing, he's not white (regardless of what some fanartists would have you believe). In fact, most of the characters are dark-skinned or mixed, with only one major protagonist explicitly described to be pale. I appreciated the diversity, as well as the way the author didn't shy away from describing the advantages and disadvantages certain skin tones provided magical drafters.
Not everything about this book was perfect, of course. Others have brought up the author's issues with writing women, and his tendency to fall back on silly interjections like "oops", which I think are fair. A lengthy diversion about periods was pretty interesting, not something you see every day, but the "man shoulders" thing was a bit... eh. Personally, I'd have liked another 2-3 hours (I listened to the audiobook) for some deeper explorations of the events of the last third of the book. Some things felt like they got skimmed over, or were poorly-explained. More time in the Chromeria would also have been nice, before we got yanked out to Big Plot Stuff, though I expect I'll get to see that in the later books.
On to The Blinding Knife!
Spoiler
GAVIN, NOOOOOO!!jackpep's review against another edition
3.0
One of the cooler magic systems I've ever read, which is good because there's a lot of magic happening throughout the book. The amazing thing is that the system is explained well enough to be plausible and since it's awesome, it doesn't get boring for me.
However, I didn’t find the characters interesting at all—the main protagonist especially was so flat it was hard to get through.
However, I didn’t find the characters interesting at all—the main protagonist especially was so flat it was hard to get through.