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A review by regendanser
The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
5.0
I needed quite some time to gather my thoughts about this book. I think I need to read this book at least twice (if not more) to fully aprreciate it, and then again when I've read Blood Mirror, because knowing mr. Weeks' style, a lot of things in this book will then suddenly make a lot more sense.
One thing that makes it incredibly hard to wrap my head around this book, is that pretty much EVERY main character changes a lot in these 700-ish pages.
Kip suddenly seems to (almost) know what he's doing, seems (almost) grown up and seems (almost confident). Zymun is now not only arrogant, but now also comes across like this stupid child that thinks he can play along with the adults. Karris is out of the Blackguard and follows this new career as the White's spymaster (and more). Teia gets new powers, becomes a spy and also becomes aware of the fact that she might have feelings for Kip. Not that she gets much of a chance to act on it, because Tisis seems to think Kip is suddenly quite the prize and snatches him up right before her nose. (Still have no idea what to make of that)
And that's not even speaking about all the new characters and their development throughout the book. Like Quentin, for examaple: he goes from this really weird guy that's acting almost like a very bad spy in enemy territory, to this really nice and usefull weirdo, to... ah, I probably shouldn't say.
Luckily, Andross still seems to be his own evil, manipulative, selfish self. But no, wait! Now, he's suddenly got a soft (or should I say 'human') spot, seems to actually like Kip and care about his wellbeing!
Meanwhile, Gavin has pretty much lost his mind, lost every little bit of self-confidence he had (which, let's face it, was a LOT) and is now this hopeless little heap of uselessness, exhibiting damsell-in-distress behaviour and getting his ass saved multiple times.
But the biggest change of all is Ironfist, but, for spoiler's sake, I can't really say anything about how he changes. Although I can say this: mr. Weeks better make up for this in Blood Mirror. I really liked the guy, and now he's... GAH!
So much for me being frustrated with non-existing people. Now about the book. There's a lot less fighting and ass-kicking in it than we're used to from the previous two books. I didn't really mind, but since the action-scenes are one of the things mr. Weeks does reeeally well, I can see why some people like the book less because of it.
After reading it, I really got the feeling that this book wasn't so much about continuing the story as it was about setting the stage for the big finale that will be Blood Mirror. There's a lot of plot reveals, and plot twists, and plot reveals with a twist.
And, thankfully, there's finally some answer for some burning questions, like who the Lightbringer is supposed to be and what he's supposed to do. But, because there's no use in having a fourth book otherwise, there's still a lot of questions left that need an answer, along with some new questions that this book kicked up.
In the end, it seems I'm honestly frustrated with this book, even though I've finished it almost a month ago now. Books usually don't do that to me, not even really good ones. And if I'm really honest with myself, I'm probably just frustrated that I'm going to have to wait for Blood Mirror to get any satisfying answers.
It's going to be hell to wait another two years for Blood Mirror, but if it is only half as good as this book promises it too be, it is definitely going to be worth the wait. And if there's another thing that mr. Weeks generally does reeealy well, it's exceeding expectations.
One thing that makes it incredibly hard to wrap my head around this book, is that pretty much EVERY main character changes a lot in these 700-ish pages.
Kip suddenly seems to (almost) know what he's doing, seems (almost) grown up and seems (almost confident). Zymun is now not only arrogant, but now also comes across like this stupid child that thinks he can play along with the adults. Karris is out of the Blackguard and follows this new career as the White's spymaster (and more). Teia gets new powers, becomes a spy and also becomes aware of the fact that she might have feelings for Kip. Not that she gets much of a chance to act on it, because Tisis seems to think Kip is suddenly quite the prize and snatches him up right before her nose. (Still have no idea what to make of that)
And that's not even speaking about all the new characters and their development throughout the book. Like Quentin, for examaple: he goes from this really weird guy that's acting almost like a very bad spy in enemy territory, to this really nice and usefull weirdo, to... ah, I probably shouldn't say.
Luckily, Andross still seems to be his own evil, manipulative, selfish self. But no, wait! Now, he's suddenly got a soft (or should I say 'human') spot, seems to actually like Kip and care about his wellbeing!
Meanwhile, Gavin has pretty much lost his mind, lost every little bit of self-confidence he had (which, let's face it, was a LOT) and is now this hopeless little heap of uselessness, exhibiting damsell-in-distress behaviour and getting his ass saved multiple times.
But the biggest change of all is Ironfist, but, for spoiler's sake, I can't really say anything about how he changes. Although I can say this: mr. Weeks better make up for this in Blood Mirror. I really liked the guy, and now he's... GAH!
So much for me being frustrated with non-existing people. Now about the book. There's a lot less fighting and ass-kicking in it than we're used to from the previous two books. I didn't really mind, but since the action-scenes are one of the things mr. Weeks does reeeally well, I can see why some people like the book less because of it.
After reading it, I really got the feeling that this book wasn't so much about continuing the story as it was about setting the stage for the big finale that will be Blood Mirror. There's a lot of plot reveals, and plot twists, and plot reveals with a twist.
And, thankfully, there's finally some answer for some burning questions, like who the Lightbringer is supposed to be and what he's supposed to do. But, because there's no use in having a fourth book otherwise, there's still a lot of questions left that need an answer, along with some new questions that this book kicked up.
In the end, it seems I'm honestly frustrated with this book, even though I've finished it almost a month ago now. Books usually don't do that to me, not even really good ones. And if I'm really honest with myself, I'm probably just frustrated that I'm going to have to wait for Blood Mirror to get any satisfying answers.
It's going to be hell to wait another two years for Blood Mirror, but if it is only half as good as this book promises it too be, it is definitely going to be worth the wait. And if there's another thing that mr. Weeks generally does reeealy well, it's exceeding expectations.