The Black Prism
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- Create Date：2021-03-27 14:16:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Brent Weeks
- ISBN：1841499048
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Summary
Librarian's Note: an alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here。
Gavin 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。 But Prisms never last， and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals。
But 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。
Gavin 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。 But Prisms never last， and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals。
But 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。
Reviews
Jason Caldwell
，
Excellent first book in the series already grabbed the second book from the library。 Exactly what I expected from Brent Weeks。 Love Kip's character and very interested in seeing him develop over the series。 Excellent first book in the series already grabbed the second book from the library。 Exactly what I expected from Brent Weeks。 Love Kip's character and very interested in seeing him develop over the series。 。。。more
Robert Howie
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Cracking， I thought that Brandon Sanderson was the only contemporary author to write good hard magic （without making it too boring！） Turns out what I was wrong， amazing writing！ Looking forward to starting book 2
Josh399
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I picked up Game of Thrones for the first time at age twelve。 It hooked me because I never knew where the plot would go。 I dropped it two years later because it was too disgusting。 Brent Week's The Black Prism straddles these two touchstones of adult fantasy。 His complex world is intuitive and chock-full of surprises that I won't soon forget。 The characters possess a diverse array of experiences and lifestyles and offer unique insights。 In particular， using the ruler of the realm as the main cha I picked up Game of Thrones for the first time at age twelve。 It hooked me because I never knew where the plot would go。 I dropped it two years later because it was too disgusting。 Brent Week's The Black Prism straddles these two touchstones of adult fantasy。 His complex world is intuitive and chock-full of surprises that I won't soon forget。 The characters possess a diverse array of experiences and lifestyles and offer unique insights。 In particular， using the ruler of the realm as the main character was a great change of pace from the typical out-of-the-shire adventuring story。 I also enjoyed the social aspects of the story: schools， magician politics， and romance。 I can also very much sympathize with one reviewer who said the book engages the reader like a 15-year-old's power fantasy。 Women are basically loyal dogs （or disloyal she-dogs） that follow around men they like （forEVER！） and men all have unstoppable ambition， like they're in a shounen anime。 The bland try-hard main character， a teenager named Kip is a decent stand-in for you and me， convincing me that Weeks's work is consciously immature。 I don't mind these flaws in small amounts and I look forward to reading the sequel at a later date。 I still have no idea what's going to happen but I look forward to finding out 。。。more
Aditya Sundararajan
，
I've heard a lot of praise for this series， and that made me pick it up。 I must admit， the book excels in its worldbuilding and magic system in a way I've rarely come across。 Yes， there's some info-dumping here and there， but it's all integral to understanding the plot。 I had great fun in unpacking the various dimensions of the world and its magic。Now， the characters。 Gavin is almost Avatar-like， but he has physical limitations and is human enough for certain other characters to treat him like o I've heard a lot of praise for this series， and that made me pick it up。 I must admit， the book excels in its worldbuilding and magic system in a way I've rarely come across。 Yes， there's some info-dumping here and there， but it's all integral to understanding the plot。 I had great fun in unpacking the various dimensions of the world and its magic。Now， the characters。 Gavin is almost Avatar-like， but he has physical limitations and is human enough for certain other characters to treat him like one。 Kip is a well-realized teenager and behaves his age， which is refreshing。 Liv and Karris are fine。 They're fierce， independent， and skilled in magic as the plot needs them to be， but beyond that， nothing much worth writing home about。I'd peg this book's strong suit as the world and magic， which are reasons why I picked it up。 I hope we get to see better character work in the sequels。 。。。more
Deena Shoemaker
，
This one was a DNF for me。 Got about half way through but it’s really not for me。 🤷🏼♀️ didn’t love it。
Gaveyu
，
These series are really amazing。
Dobeed
，
These book is absolutely amazing。
CBGilham
，
This book was a fun read with a take on magic I have only encountered one other time。 Unfortunately the way magic works is almost as convoluted as the motivations of the characters in the book。 The plot is somehow both occasionally elaborate and at other times completely predictable。 It is clear that this book is meant to begin a complicated and winding series where the reader is never sure who is really the good guy and who is really the bad guy， but the threads aren't as expertly woven as they This book was a fun read with a take on magic I have only encountered one other time。 Unfortunately the way magic works is almost as convoluted as the motivations of the characters in the book。 The plot is somehow both occasionally elaborate and at other times completely predictable。 It is clear that this book is meant to begin a complicated and winding series where the reader is never sure who is really the good guy and who is really the bad guy， but the threads aren't as expertly woven as they could be， which just leaves the reader frustrated。 I will probably read the next in the series to see where it winds up and to see if Weeks is able to iron out his ideas， but this is a solid three star。 。。。more
Aleksandra
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Coś mi nie gra w tej książce。 Historia od zera do bohatera to mój ulubiony typ powieści。 Sam zamysł na historie bardzo mi pasuje， ale jakoś nie przepadam za bohaterami a to chyba jest ważniejszy aspekt książki dla mnie。 Do tego spora część plot twistów jest oparta na nie dopowiedzeniach， które nie pasują do teoretycznie otwartych bohaterów， no nie gra to ze sobą。 Mam jeszcze 2-gi tom więc na pewno będę kontynuować i zobaczę czy potem jest lepiej。 Ale z zakupem reszty jeszcze się wstrzymam。
Ryan Dash
，
3。5 stars。 This book took its time getting started: the world-building could have been more concise， and there was too much description at some points in the narrative。 Once it finally got going， it got much better – the plot was intricate and the characters were interesting。 The politics got a little muddled， and could have been handled better。 The action writing was generally pretty fun， and the ending was good – for the start of a series， there are remarkably few loose ends or underexplained 3。5 stars。 This book took its time getting started: the world-building could have been more concise， and there was too much description at some points in the narrative。 Once it finally got going， it got much better – the plot was intricate and the characters were interesting。 The politics got a little muddled， and could have been handled better。 The action writing was generally pretty fun， and the ending was good – for the start of a series， there are remarkably few loose ends or underexplained parts。 。。。more
Joylynn
，
This book started out a little slow for me but only because it felt like you started reading the book in the middle of the story。 Nothing was explained up front--you learn it as the story unfolds。 However，I ended up really enjoying this book。 Now let's talk about the accusations of sexism。I saw some reviews mentioning that this book was sexist and how they couldn't enjoy the book because of the rampant sexism。 I'm going to say it was sexism "light"。 It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book but a This book started out a little slow for me but only because it felt like you started reading the book in the middle of the story。 Nothing was explained up front--you learn it as the story unfolds。 However，I ended up really enjoying this book。 Now let's talk about the accusations of sexism。I saw some reviews mentioning that this book was sexist and how they couldn't enjoy the book because of the rampant sexism。 I'm going to say it was sexism "light"。 It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book but a couple of times， I couldn't relate to the thoughts of one of the 2 main POV female characters because it didn't feel like a woman's thoughts。 It felt like a how a man would think。One of the main POV characters was 15 years old and the authors descriptions of the women characters were through the eyes of an adolescent boy。 The women weren't fully realized but that's kind of how adolescent boys think。 Hormones are raging。。。It was ridiculous that one of the female POV characters ended up fighting a battle in a slinky silk gown。 But I bought the reason the author put her in the dress and the significance to the character。 There was also no time for her to change into more appropriate clothing （there was a battle going on）。The women were strong。 Just occasionally they had "man thoughts"。It was a fast-paced story。 I liked the mysteries the author laid out for us and the plot twists。 I want to see where this goes and find out what happens。 。。。more
Michel Godin
，
I got to page 128 and just didn't want to keep on reading。 I expect suspending disbelief when reading fantasy， but I didn't feel like Kip's， Gavin's and Karris' personalities fit their roles。 Their reactions in the opening 128 pages didn't ring true。 I didn't believe that Kip would act the way he did after seeing his friends get murdered in front of him， his village completely wiped out， learning he has magical powers and killing soldiers with those powers， witnessing his mother's final angry an I got to page 128 and just didn't want to keep on reading。 I expect suspending disbelief when reading fantasy， but I didn't feel like Kip's， Gavin's and Karris' personalities fit their roles。 Their reactions in the opening 128 pages didn't ring true。 I didn't believe that Kip would act the way he did after seeing his friends get murdered in front of him， his village completely wiped out， learning he has magical powers and killing soldiers with those powers， witnessing his mother's final angry and hate-filled moments， and learning that his real father is actually the most powerful person in the world。 All within twenty hours。I didn't believe how Gavin acts。 Like one reviewer said， he talks and acts like this surfer dude。 And he's led his troupes through a devastating war that turned the world on its head。 I've never been to war myself， but I've seen enough documentaries and read enough about it to know that war knocks the immaturity out of someone pretty fast。And Karris。 One minute she's totally besties with Gavin as they fly around on the magical mystery tour。 When she finds out that he may have had an affair which produced a child during their betrothal fifteen years earlier， she goes off on him with an epic fit of anger。 Fifteen years have passed and she's still hung up on that relationship？ I don't buy it。 She's supposed to be a hardass Blackguard， one of the toughest warriors in this world。 I just don't buy that she could be so emotionally brittle。This is just my opinion obviously， and others have very divergent opinions to mine。 Some have even "one starred" what I consider as excellent works of fantasy such as Lord of the Rings， Mistborn， Stormlight Archive， The First Law Trilogy and others。I tried。 I really tried。 I even download a sample of the book before purchasing it to get a feel for it。 And even though I wasn't really into it after the sample， I bought the book anyway。 I pushed myself to try reading it completely， but I just don't want to。 I don't believe in finishing a book， no matter what I feel about it。 I want to be entertained when I read fantasy and if a book doesn't do that for me I have no problem moving on to something else。It's probable that I just don't click with Brent Weeks' writing style and nothing more。 At least I paid full price for my copy of the book so he still get's something out of it。 。。。more
Atrium-V
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If you know from the beginning that the king is the main character and not his son。。。 Its a better read。
Sophie Noller
，
didn’t exactly finish it all， just not interested in any of the characters。 and does the fact that the main character is fat have to be repeated and emphasized everyy time it’s his chapter？？ low 3/5 too many descriptions of nipples
Timothy Weisz
，
Excellent。
Dina7m
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 It is hard for me to give a review to this book for me it was a book with a cool magic system and interesting characters and a lot of problems，So I am kinda conflicted between loving this book or hating it no in between。You can't judge a series by its first book because normally the first book is more of an introduction especially this one has heavy worldbuilding to do and multiple povs BUT I didn't like his writing style at all， which will probably be the same for the next books， I think he des It is hard for me to give a review to this book for me it was a book with a cool magic system and interesting characters and a lot of problems，So I am kinda conflicted between loving this book or hating it no in between。You can't judge a series by its first book because normally the first book is more of an introduction especially this one has heavy worldbuilding to do and multiple povs BUT I didn't like his writing style at all， which will probably be the same for the next books， I think he described the important things and things I needn't know about， I don't know what image he was aiming for but I think he was able to describe interesting things in the most boring way ever he sometimes kills the moment by posing the scene to describe someone that will appear one time throughout the book， like a woman clothing or hair， he had the opportunity to show us the world from completely different povs but mostly the descriptions didn't feel different from character to another。 Can we call agree the action/fight scenes are hard for the writer and the reader yet this dude decided it will be a good idea to make the last 30 chapters of war within war！ I feel like this story would've been more interesting if it was a graphic novel or a tv series。 Characters ☆So we are following four characters，Gavin or fake Gavin as the main character， I personally didn't hate him and he became more interesting as the story progresses but for some reason， his chapters were the least I cared about until I knew his back story and the difficult life he lived pretending to be someone else。Karris was my favourite character but I was disappointed that we didn't explore that much with her hopefully that this will happen in the next books。 I liked the idea of the two brothers exchanging but I didn't like how Karris thought all of this time that Dazen was dead and stayed with his brother who abused and raped her out of all the people how didn't she notice！？ and why the hell didn't he tell her！ Kip， oh this boy =）obviously he is silly， stupid and does all the wrong things but he was fun for me because he knew it and he was always trying to do or say the right thing 。。。。and always fail I don't know what is wrong with my humour but he made me laugh。 did I mention that he is a pervert because he is， but what do I know I was never a fifteen years old boy。Liv was a disappointment for me because her first chapters promised me adventures， an interesting journey but all she did was thirsting over Gaven then betraying him。Do we need to talk about the real Gavin the one in the prison。。。I mead he was important for the story but was giving him chapters important to the story？ My answer is no， see this is my problem with this book a lot of things could've been told in a way that costs fewer words and page count。Worldbuilding and magic system☆This was the reason I picked this book the magic system was really interesting and well explained。 the world made sense to me the effects the war left on people were logical。 Overall☆ it was a heavy book filled with battles， death and other dark themes that I don't personally like to read about， but miraculously I cared for the characters and the drama between them they were all flawed and layered always choosing between two bad decisions because welcome to the real world where life doesn't give you easy options。 I am kinda mad that this novel was ruined by Brent writing。 If I will read the next book that would be just to see what the hell will happen to the characters。 。。。more
Gem
，
ok， so the different types of magic are colors。 This is not new！ Green- Earth Blue-Water Red-Fire etc。
Penny Thoughts
，
Interesting world and magic system。 Took forever to read。 At the end， I still didn’t know what had happened and which brother was alive or dead。 Don’t know if I’ll read the second book。
Bjørk Rúnadóttir
，
If I hear the phrase “kinky hair” one more time， I’m going to scream into the oblivion
Alaine W
，
Great story！
Jared Beiswenger
，
Couldn't get into this one via ebook or audiobook。 Between a concerted attempt to gross me out in an early chapter and extensive descriptions of what sounds like a fairly unremarkable magic system， my attention was lost。 Couldn't get into this one via ebook or audiobook。 Between a concerted attempt to gross me out in an early chapter and extensive descriptions of what sounds like a fairly unremarkable magic system， my attention was lost。 。。。more
Literary Han
，
I wasn’t super keen on the battle scenes as action isn’t my favourite but this book was incredible。 The magic system is truly unique and I cannot wait to read the second book
Johan Duinkerken
，
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。 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。 。。。more
Joanna
，
It took the dumb bitch in me like 500 pages to fully understand the magic system。。。。。。。but I’m here for the plot & brent weeks gave it to me
Patricia Levy
，
I liked the book but I'm still confused with a whole bunch。 I liked the book but I'm still confused with a whole bunch。 。。。more
Sally Thompson
，
I really wanted to love this book。 The magic with the colors of prism is good。 I had to push myself on about page 50。 There are so many terms that are confusing until you get past page 200。 I won’t be reading the rest of these Lightbringer books， unfortunately。
Alexander Buchert
，
A captivating first entry in this series， I'm curious to see what will occur between two major characters in the later book's！ A captivating first entry in this series， I'm curious to see what will occur between two major characters in the later book's！ 。。。more
Kim
，
Surprisingly good， very dark， and besides one quote about someone's saggy breasts I don't understand the criticism *at all* about the supposed sexism of the author。 Kip is written very well as a believable 15 year old boy， and his wording/mannerisms match。 Really interesting worldbuilding and storytelling。 Surprisingly good， very dark， and besides one quote about someone's saggy breasts I don't understand the criticism *at all* about the supposed sexism of the author。 Kip is written very well as a believable 15 year old boy， and his wording/mannerisms match。 Really interesting worldbuilding and storytelling。 。。。more
revanchism303
，
Started off very well， with interesting worldbuilding， believable characters， and great pacing。 I had a very tough time putting the book down for the first 70% or so。 Then something changed。 At a certain point， it seemed like all the questions had been answered， the world and its mechanics had been explained， and now I was just watching the story unfold。 Reading the book became a chore， and I only finished it out of a desire to be thorough。
Nathaniel Hardman
，
I enjoyed this a ton。 Parsing my feelings on it （like separating white light into distinct colors！ I'm a prism！）， I think the key thing I loved here was how original it was。 It felt fresh and new and imaginative in the best ways。 The world building - the combination of the history of this world， the magic system and its impact on culture and power dynamics - was fully-formed， well-executed， and unique。 But beyond a creative setting， the story here was interesting; I usually feel pretty early lik I enjoyed this a ton。 Parsing my feelings on it （like separating white light into distinct colors！ I'm a prism！）， I think the key thing I loved here was how original it was。 It felt fresh and new and imaginative in the best ways。 The world building - the combination of the history of this world， the magic system and its impact on culture and power dynamics - was fully-formed， well-executed， and unique。 But beyond a creative setting， the story here was interesting; I usually feel pretty early like I know where the story is going and how it's going to end。 In The Black Prism， I felt like each chapter was a step into the dark， an exploration。 To the very， very end， I wasn't sure where it was going， and I love that。 So overall， this felt new， and I was onboard to see where it went。Some other odds and ends that stood out:Sentence-level: the writing is clear and uncluttered。 Just clean， efficient storytelling。There's a battle in this book - a large-scale thing with two armies clashing - and while I've never been in a battle and don't really have any sense for what it would be like， I felt like he captures the CHAOS of a battle better than just about anyone。 It kept reminding me of All Quiet on the Western Front - that awful scene where he's charging into battle， and people on every side are exploding， and he's disoriented and can't tell which direction to run， or who he's supposed to be shooting at。 Anyway， I thought that battle scene was really vivid and well done。The author does something funny with Kip （a teenage boy） who starts out madly in love with one girl and just a few days later is madly in love with a different girl。 I wondered if the author forgot how infatuated Kip was supposed to be with Isa （the first girl）， but ultimately I think he did this on purpose and that it's a pretty fair characterization for a teenage boy - that proximity is about 90% of a crush。 One issue， a little sour note that keeps this from being an unqualified recommendation: as the book goes on， it becomes increasingly pulpy。 I mentioned the chaotic battle; this book gets gorier and gorier until it is practically dripping in brains and guts。 Also， it feels like the author goes out of his way to put women in revealing situations - a main female character ends up in a battle wearing a sexy evening gown that gets ripped and torn until she's doing battle half naked。 A teenage girl goes skidding across the floor， and her dress gets lifted up。 A women being held prisoner is forced to wear skimpy clothes。 Etc。， etc。， etc。 After a while， that kind of stuff adds up and makes me see where some other reviewers on here are coming from when they describe this book as "sexist"。 Not sure about that word choice， but I get the sentiment。 Anyway， I enjoyed this book a lot overall。 Recommended to anyone who likes unconventional fantasy， totally unconnected from Middle Earth / dragons / spells-and-wizards etc。 Good stuff。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Black Prism
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Black Prism&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Black Prism&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0