The Lightbringer Series Archives

Burning White by Brent Weeks

Burning White by Brent Weeks.

Introduction

Burning White by Brent Weeks is the fifth and final book of The Lightbringer series. The three main characters set up their roles for the last book in the series. Gavin has lost his powers, takes on a suicide mission, and faces the god Orholam. Teia must use her skills as a master assassin and destroy the Order of the Broken Eye. Kip must prepare his army to face the White King with their last stand at the Chromeria. Kip must defeat him or risk the colors going out of balance, leading to their destruction. Their missions lead to one ultimate question. Who is the Lightbringer and will the Lightbringer bring balance to the world?

Summary – General

Chromaturgy is the magical system of the Seven Satrapies. They call magicians who use Chromaturgy drafters, and the best drafters live on the Chromeria, the seat of the Satrapies government. Drafters can take a part of the spectrum of light and make a substance called luxin. They can shape luxin into items, with the color of the luxin determining the properties of the item. Most drafters can draft one or two colors, while the Prism can draft all the colors. There is only one Prism alive at one time and the Prism is the military, spiritual, and political leader of the Satrapies.

Summary – Characters

There are three principal viewpoint characters and three minor viewpoint characters.

Gavin was the Prism but has lost his powers. He escaped the special cells under the Chromeria. He must now find the god, Orholam, at the Tower of Heaven and kill him to save the seven satrapies.

Kip has taken the city of Dunbheo in the Blood Forest. Kip must keep his volatile coalition together to protect the city from the advancing White King. The problem is that the White King could get between the Chromeria and Dunbheo. Kip must decide who to protect. The wrong choice could lose the war and end the seven satrapies.

Teia had infiltrated the secret Order of the Broken Eye. It is a dangerous mission, complicated by her interaction with the assassin named Murder Sharp. The Order sends her on an important mission, and she must succeed or they will kill her father.

Karris White Oak is the new White. She must marshal her forces against the White King with the help and hindrance of Andross Guile.

Andross Guile is shown becoming the man he becomes through the use of flashbacks.

Liv Danavis serves the White King and has come into a significant power.

Recommendation

In Burning White by Brent Weeks, the three principal characters have important tasks to perform. The tasks are straightforward but are not complete by the end of the previous novel. In this novel, the author answered all questions about Gavin, Kip, and Teia. I felt like the ending was an unnecessary Deus ex Machina. What happened to Kip bothered me. Maybe it could have gone down another way. I guess my problem with the story as written is that I felt like Kip was the main character in the novel and he would have agency at the end. I was wrong. Gavin is the main character of the series and that clouds the ending for me.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Burning White by Brent Weeks.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43100496-the-burning-white

My review of Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, book 4 of The Lightbringer series. The author sets up the last conflicts for the Lightbringer to bring balance to the seven satrapies.

Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks

Review of The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks, book 3 of The Lightbringer series. Gavin, Kip, Teia, and Karris fight the Color Prince and the Order of the Broken Eye. They face a climactic confrontation at the Chromeria. Another excellent book in the series.

Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

This is the link to my review of the Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks.

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

This is the link to my review of Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks

Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks.

Introduction

Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks is the fourth book of The Lightbringer series. The three main characters set up their roles for the final book in the series. Gavin has lost his powers, must escape his prison, and face the god Orholam. Teia must become a master assassin and destroy the Order of the Broken Eye. Kip must prepare his army to face the White King and defeat him, or risk the colors going out of balance leading to their destruction. Their missions lead to one ultimate question. Who is the Lightbringer and will the Lightbringer bring balance to the world?

Summary

Chromaturgy is the magical system of the Seven Satrapies. They call magicians who use Chromaturgy drafters and the best drafters live on the Chromeria, the seat of the Satrapies government. Drafters can take a part of the spectrum of light and make a substance called luxin. They can shape luxin into items, with the color of the luxin determining the properties of the item. Most drafters can draft one or two colors, while the Prism can draft all the colors. There is only one Prism alive at one time and the Prism is the military, spiritual, and political leader of the Satrapies.

Summary for Principal Characters

There are three principal viewpoint characters and three minor viewpoint characters.

Gavin was the Prism but has lost his powers. He is imprisoned in the special cells he made to hold a special prisoner. He must get help from an unlikely person to break out of his cell and to go on an important mission in the last book of the series.

Kip is fighting against the forces of the White King. The Color Prince has taken a new name, the White King, and he increases his power by taking half of the satrapies. The White King wants to take the Blood Forest because if he succeeds then the Chromeria’s ability to wage war against him will be damaged. Kip’s goal is to defeat the White King’s lieutenant, who is trying to take the Blood Forest. Kip has his exiled group named the Mighty and various motley troops from the Blood Forest. It helps that Tisis Malargos, his wife, has contacts in the Blood Forest.

Teia is tasked by Karris, the new White, to infiltrate the secret Order of the Broken Eye. It is a dangerous mission, complicated by her interaction with the assassin named Murder Sharp. The Order sends her on an important mission, and she must succeed or face her death.

Summary for Minor Characters

Karris White Oak is the new White. She must marshal her forces against the White King with the help and hindrance of Andross Guile. Corvan Danavis has become the satrap of Seer’s Island and is married to the Third Eye, a woman who knows the future. Liv Danavis serves the White King and has come into a significant power.

Recommendation

In Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, the three principal characters have important tasks to perform. The tasks are straightforward but are not complete by the end of this novel. It feels like the characters are spinning their wheels leading up to the last book of the Lightbringer series. Gavin’s story seems redundant. Kip’s story leads up to him fighting a mini-boss before taking on the White King in the last book. Teia has a dramatic mission to complete. The stories were interesting, but I’m ready for the next book now. The last novel in the series is named the Burning White and was published on October 22, 2019. I plan to read the book soon.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29467232-the-blood-mirror

Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

This is the link to my review of the Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks.

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

This is the link to my review of Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

Introduction

Broken Eye by Brent Weeks is the third book of The Lightbringer series. This novel follows the exciting events detailed in Burning Knife, the second book in the series. The four main narrators are Gavin, the current Prism who has lost his powers, Kip, Gavin’s son, and a Blackguard trainee, Teia, Kip’s friend and a Blackguard trainee (and Kip’s slave, but that is another story), and Karris White Oak, Gavin’s wife (she is also a former Blackguard and The White’s assistant. The White is the leader of the spy corps of the Chromeria). These four characters have important tasks to carry out in the war against the Color Prince and a shadowy group of assassins named the Order of the Broken Eye. If they fail in their missions, then the colors will become unbalanced and they risk the destruction of their world.

Summary Background

Chromaturgy is the magical system of the Seven Satrapies. They call magicians who use Chromaturgy drafters and the best drafters live on the Chromeria, the seat of the Satrapies government. Drafters can take a part of the spectrum of light and make a substance called luxin. They can shape luxin into items, with the color of the luxin determining the properties of the item. Most drafters can draft one or two colors while the Prism can draft all the colors. There is only one Prism alive at one time and the Prism is the military, spiritual, and political leader of the Satrapies.

Summary Plot

Gavin is the Prism, but he had lost his powers. He is a galley slave under Captain Gunner and Gavin searches for a way to escape. Kip is a Blackguard trainee but is being coerced and groomed by his grandfather Andross to do Andross’s bidding as the potential next Prism. Kip is conflicted with his feelings for Andross. He is also conflicted with his feelings for Teia, who is his friend, comrade, and a reluctant slave who he would like to become romantically involved. This plot becomes more complicated when Tisis is interested in getting to know Kip physically and Kip finds he is also interested in her. Events get beyond Kip’s control and he must try to escape the Chromeria before someone assassinates him. Teia is tasked by the White to infiltrate the secret Order of the Broken Eye. It is a dangerous mission complicated by her interaction with the assassin named Murder Sharp. Kariss White Oak assists the White by gaining intelligence about the Color Prince’s rebellion.

Meanwhile, the Color Prince has been marshaling his land forces beginning an invasion of the Blood Forest which is one step from the Chromeria. The main characters must become involved in defeating him before he becomes too strong.

Recommendation

The story of the Lightbringer series gets more complicated and interesting in this novel. This novel is a part of the larger series. The author resolves plot points from book 2 and the author introduce others to be explored in the next book. The four main characters are well drawn. The author pushes their arcs in this novel to a climactic confrontation at the Chromeria. There were other viewpoint chapters in the novel, but I believe those chapters were unnecessary though they were well written. It would take more space to develop more than the four main characters. The next novel in the series is named the Blood Mirror and I will read it this year. The last novel in the series is named the Burning White and is scheduled to be published on October 22, 2019.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Broken Eye by Brent Weeks.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12652457-the-broken-eye

This is the link to my review of the Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks.

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

This is the link to my review of Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

The Blinding Knife is Book #2 of The Lightbringer series

Introduction

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the leader of the Seven Satrapies. Prisms only live for seven years before the build-up of drafting luxin by the magic of chromaturgy forces them to die. Gavin has seven great purposes that he wants to complete before he dies. His problem is that he is losing the ability to draft colors, starting with blue, and he only has about one year left to live. In addition, the Color Prince has raised an army in Tyrea and is threatening to invade Atash. He must complete his seven great purposes and defeat the Color Prince or the whole foundation of the Seven Satrapies will fall.

Summary

The main characters are back from the first book of the series which was called the Black Prism. Gavin has taken the refugees from Garriston to an island. He leaves Corvan Danavis to lead them. Kip is Gavin’s bastard son, who becomes a Blackguard trainee. Gavin’s former fiancé Karris White Oak protects Gavin as a member of the Blackguards. Liv Davavis, Corvan’s daughter, is a member of the Color Prince’s army. Gavin’s prisoner has broken out of one cell only to be trapped in another cell. Gunner, a pirate captain, is added to the view point character list.

Gavin is the main character. He faces many trials. Prisms can draft all colors, but he is losing his ability to draft colors starting with blue. One of the Prism’s jobs is to keep the colors in balance. Keeping the colors in balance eliminates the appearance of colored banes. Gavin has lost blue and must defeat a blue bane, which can cause destruction if not stopped. Gavin’s father Andross is a member of the Prism’s advisory group. Andross is the Red member of the group and he tries to undermine Gavin’s position and get him to marry a woman Gavin does not love for political gain. Kip is almost as important to the plot as Gavin. Andross does not like having a bastard grandson and seeks to cause Kip to fail at his training in the Blackguards. Gavin, Kip, Karris, Andross, Liv, and the Color Prince are at odds in the climactic battle at the end of this novel.

Recommendation

I enjoyed this novel almost as much as the Black Prism. It does not suffer the issues of most middle books in a series, because it reads like a section of the greater work called the Lightbringer. Story lines are concluded and spun off into greater story lines. I only have a couple of nits to pick. It feels like the chapters with Gunner as the viewpoint character were tacked on. The author had a plot point at the end of this novel involving Gunner and he dropped Gunner’s chapters along the way. It should have felt more part of the narrative to be more believable. The other thing that I did not find believable was the resolution of the prisoner’s plot. I think there is something more here and it was resolved too quickly in this novel. I did like Gavin’s transformation, Kip growing character, the reveal of the Color Prince’s true identity, the addition of Kip’s buddy Teia who is another Blackguard trainee, and the use of the Blinding Knife as an important instrument of concluding this novel.