[Luperci]

End of Disc One, on 17 October 2014 - 01:35 PM, said:

Nicodimas, on 17 October 2014 - 01:42 AM, said:

You can clearly tell how much better this series is than Night Angel.

It's hard to argue against that from an objective sense since Lightbringer is so much better written. But I still prefer Nigh Angel because it's so fast and furious. Lightbringer is more polished but a lot slower, and less in-your-face action.

I'm now 2/3 of the way through The Broken Eye. I'm enjoying it despite not much really happening over so many pages.

I think its mostly experience in writing that separte the 2, if Night Angel were written 2nd I think it would be one of the top series out for sure. I love Lightbringer but Night Angel just had something special in the characters. Can't wait for him to return to it after the 4th book.

[Nicodimas]

Quote

I think its mostly experience in writing that separte the 2, if Night Angel were written 2nd I think it would be one of the top series out for sure. I love Lightbringer but Night Angel just had something special in the characters. Can't wait for him to return to it after the 4th book.

Idk, I wasn't super impressed by it..It was cool enough for me to read his next series which suffers from being less "raw?" and better written. I may do a re-read.. as I read night angel super quick honestly.

Also..them playing magic/kingkiller chronicles with their mini-games I have a weakness for that for whatever reason..I like that angle for sure as its fun....!!

@ cause: That revelation bugged me too..bait and switch for sure.

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 08 November 2014 - 12:19 AM

[Saitama]

Completely agree with Cause. The third book is good, but it could have been better.

On the plus side, I love how Brent Weeks writes his characters when it comes to their inner thoughts - the best example would be in the beginning when Kip is on a boat. He constantly analyzes the situation, makes plans, discards those less likely to work, updates them according to his opponents' decisions and so on. On top of that, he is very self-aware and thus very enjoyable to read. Brent's characters are great because their decision making process is not a simple thing, thus they don't offend the readers' intelligence by presenting the world as a simple 'choose action, follow it, achieve results' type of place.

On the other hand, it replicates two (in my subjective opinion) problems that the Night Angel Trilogy had:

- what started as a gritty and interesting (though rather dark) world, steadily evolves into the whole 'prophecies, deities, the chosen one that will bring peace and balance to the world and he will be totally cool' type of thing. In other words: boring.

- everybody that counts in 'the team' is special. Kip is being bluntly linked to the lightbringer every third page, the leader guy is the best leader ever, the smart guy is super smart. And don't even make me start on Teia, who goes through one power-up after another like they are on sale.

[Luperci]

Saitama, on 08 November 2014 - 12:19 PM, said:

Completely agree with Cause. The third book is good, but it could have been better.

On the plus side, I love how Brent Weeks writes his characters when it comes to their inner thoughts - the best example would be in the beginning when Kip is on a boat. He constantly analyzes the situation, makes plans, discards those less likely to work, updates them according to his opponents' decisions and so on. On top of that, he is very self-aware and thus very enjoyable to read. Brent's characters are great because their decision making process is not a simple thing, thus they don't offend the readers' intelligence by presenting the world as a simple 'choose action, follow it, achieve results' type of place.

On the other hand, it replicates two (in my subjective opinion) problems that the Night Angel Trilogy had:

- what started as a gritty and interesting (though rather dark) world, steadily evolves into the whole 'prophecies, deities, the chosen one that will bring peace and balance to the world and he will be totally cool' type of thing. In other words: boring.

- everybody that counts in 'the team' is special. Kip is being bluntly linked to the lightbringer every third page, the leader guy is the best leader ever, the smart guy is super smart. And don't even make me start on Teia, who goes through one power-up after another like they are on sale.

Agreed. I think the idea of the stories and the mysticism behind them looks better in theory but when executed and put on paper they don't always play out so well. I don't mean any disrespect but I hate it when Authors bring "God" or any monotheistic religious influence into a Fantasy Novel. For me it kind of ruins the whole "fantasy" aspect of the fictional worlds when you have a supreme creator who has this omnipotent presence and has a direct hand in the plot.

[Stormcat]

I don't know if it makes a difference but I listened to the audio version and I really loved it. The reader was really good and the story flowed. Sometimes I try to read books and I just can't get into them, then I listen to them and I love them. (Gunslinger). And sometimes its the opposite I HATED Prince of Nothing because of the audio version.

[Maark Abbott]

So I just finished II. Will come to III when it's in paperback (UK).

So basically...

Spoiler

The titular knife is obviously what's causing Guile to lose his colours (and will presumably be Kip's berserk button). But will this mean he lives up to his name with a Sonic Boom? A Flash Kick perhaps? Also I gather from the last scene involving the Colour Prince that Liv is going to be pushed towards becoming Big Bad Purple.

I'll add that I love the magic system in this book.

[Luperci]

Briar King, on 15 December 2014 - 03:06 AM, said:

Ok so I just finished 3 yesterday and I really liked it. It didn't have near the Oh SHITTTTTTTTT¡¡¡¡ plot twist 1-2 had imo but that's not necessarily a bad thing cause it made it much easier to keep track of everything.

I will admit that I was bored to tears and then just angry at the dopey teen love stuff. I used to not mind this stuff but I'm finding it annoying with each passing yr. I'm 34 so im just guessing the feeling comes from age, but really "He's hugging me, I should hug him back. The hug is over. Why didn't I hug him when I had the chance to hug him" argh

This is one of my biggest pet peeves with Night Angel as well. Obviously with the level of violence this couldn't be put in the Teen Fiction section but sometimes it feels like its written that way with more bad language and violence. Lightbringer actually feels like it comes even closer to Teen Fic. than Night Angel did because even though their is war and some sex pretty much most of the book is PG-13, I'm not sure if this is Weeks way of reaching out to the teenager crowd or reminiscing on lost love from his earlier years but your right it does get a bit annoying when it goes beyond plot or character development.

[Nicodimas]

I would rather them keep it Pg-13 for Kip and teenager characters. Kip is what 15..so obviously the only thing naturally on his mind would be the obvious..all the time. I mean do you really want more realism there? hah.... After reading Morgan toned down PG-13 is a'ok for me!

Toa dd: There is enough sexualization in our culture as it stands...

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 17 December 2014 - 08:08 PM

[Nicodimas]

Briar King, on 18 December 2014 - 12:28 AM, said:

No I was just saying that as I get older its getting more and more annoying to read the high school ness love stuff. I know their teens.

Skip it!..If i don't like sections of books I just skip them /cough daenerys chapters. Nothing says you can't just modify the readings as you feel fit

[amphibian]

The Black Prism was actually good. It uses a few concepts we've seen before elsewhere, but it's in a fresh mix and Weeks doesn't let his characters fall into humdrum one note land. All are complex and all are interesting.

I give this an 9 out of 10 for a first book of the series. It's that fun for me.

Also I dunno why QuickTidal was so four about this one.

[Stormcat]

I read that hug scene as more of an in depth look at her and her feelings. She is a little broken from being a slave etc. Not really a romance thing as much of a how she ticks thing.

[Lycaenion]

I've been rereading the books since the beginning of October to prepare for The Blood Mirror, only I'm going way too fast'. I'm already at the end of book 2. I should've paced myself better.

[Cause]

Okay who read blood mirror?

What a strange book. It was like the crossroads of twilight of the series. So many pages so little plot advancement.okay that's unfair. One or two tho he happened but so did a lot of filled.

The religious plot which was only revealed in book 3 continues to grow. Which I still consider a bait and switch.

There were some reveals which I feel were cheap tricks if not outright retcons

[fievelgoespostal]

Cause, on 08 July 2017 - 01:18 PM, said:

Okay who read blood mirror?

What a strange book. It was like the crossroads of twilight of the series. So many pages so little plot advancement.okay that's unfair. One or two tho he happened but so did a lot of filled.

The religious plot which was only revealed in book 3 continues to grow. Which I still consider a bait and switch.

There were some reveals which I feel were cheap tricks if not outright retcons

I felt the same way. Crossroads of Twilight is a good comparison. I still liked the book, but it didnt live up the previous ones as far as story advancement IMO.

[End of Disc One]

I definitely wouldn't go so far as to compare it to Crossroads of Twilight. I'd put it ahead of The Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart as well, maybe on par with A Crown of Swords. To me books 3 and 4 are about on the same level. Weeks has totally let the page count get out of hand, and seems unable to reign it in. It similar to what we saw with Jordan, Martin, and Rothfuss. Weeks has forgotten how to skip past the daily minutia. But the worldbuilding stuff keeps getting better. I loved the reveals and didn't see most of them as cheap tricks (except maybe the one at the end of book 3). I don't think they're retcons, but I haven't reread the books so I could be wrong.

[amphibian]

I thought the sink downwards into daily life was a different way of humanizing characters we hadn't spent much time with and deepening connection.

I liked Blood Mirror. The troubles of the married couple did not pander and felt like two people actually working things out, which is rare in epic fantasy.

[Lycaenion]

I'm guessing all those titles I don't know are from WOT, which I never read, so I can't comment on that. But I liked Blood Mirror. I thought it ended abruptly, but that's not a knock on it in my opinion.

This post has been edited by Lycaenion: 28 August 2017 - 08:25 AM

[Tiste Simeon]

Is that the last book in the series then? I've only read the first 3 and IIRC the 4th was already out with the 5th being touted as being the final one...

[Nevyn]

Tiste Simeon, on 29 August 2017 - 09:01 AM, said:

Is that the last book in the series then? I've only read the first 3 and IIRC the 4th was already out with the 5th being touted as being the final one...

Blood Mirror was not the last.

It didn't even necessarily feel like the second last.

[JPK]

Down South, on 29 August 2017 - 05:43 PM, said:

Bk 5 The Burning White is hopefully the last. I want to get back to Night Angel with much more author exp.

It's supposed to be. It and The Blood Mirror were split from what was originally supposed to be a single concluding volume.