Black Prism (spoilers)
Yay, no jury duty tomorrow. ... I say that not because I have any great dislike for the system or anything, but I feel a little put out by the thought of losing mornings to that and still having to work nights. The one time I served was a good experience to have overall, but the trial itself felt like one side wasting everyone's time. That may have shaded my views a little, I suppose.
And as I've been thinking about my most recent book reading, I find I have a lot more thoughts, but they get into spoiler territory real quick, so...
I like most of the character, and that generates a lot of good will from me right off.
- Kip served well as a relatable teen protagonist growing into some big powers. His awkwardness and self-consciousness are played up, but don't reach the point of going "too far" in my opinion. He manages to survive/get away with a lot, but that's sort of part of the whole protagonist thing.
- Karris is interesting as noblewoman-turned-SpecOp/bodyguard. She can kick some ass and still appreciate a fine dress, perhaps lamenting the life she was turned away from.
- Liv serves to make clear the social hierarchy at the heart of the world and serves as a big sister/potential love interest for Kip. It's a bit of a shame to see where she ends up, but it makes a certain amount of sense, too.
- The Prism is, of course, at the messy heart of the whole story. His situation of who the good guys are/were, whether that's a matter of nature or situation, and whether anyone involved can even claim to be good. Once his identity is explained, it raises the question - for every action he takes - whether he's making the choice as himself, or as part of the ongoing act.
- King Garadul is really the only character who disappointed me. Early on, he's set up as the enemy, but as the story reaches the endgame, he pretty much dropped as unimportant beyond being a pawn.
The Thresher was sort of cheap. I can understand the "romance" and even legitimate interest in a Kobayashi Maru-like stress test, but the part about throwing the rope away being an acceptable option is something I find hard to believe. You're telling me out of all the young drafters so eager to prove themselves that Kip is the only one to throw the rope away in as long as anyone present remembers (which is at least 16 years, and probably a good bit more)? The first thing that occurred to me going into that scene was "if pulling the rope is failure, why wouldn't just about every cocky, self-assured bastard just toss it away before things got serious anyway?" Way too obvious there.
I was asked what I thought of Dazen's prison, and the answer is: I'm a bit confused by it. I can understand the extreme length you would have to go through to emprison a Prism. But as the scenes with Karris showed, the best way to do that is actually to go with a black room and deny them light.
Keeping him alive could be sentiment. Keeping him alive in a prison deliberately designed to have a way out (albeit a near-impossible one) implies something else. Either there has got to be a deeper reason for it or the author watched too much Saw when he came up with the idea and just thought an overly-elaborate prison was a cool way to go. I'm hoping the former, though any such logic eludes me.
As I touched on when discussing the Prism himself, I am absolutely fascinated by the politics and relationships set up in the world. So many things are based on lies, and yet there's almost always cause to still ask "but is it better that way?"
The color wights are a good example. Lord Omnichrome's troupe shows us that some people can "break the halo" and not lose themselves to the power rush and go wild killing everyone around them. And yet we also see that some, perhaps most, do. Is it worth killing a drafter at that pivotal time? You'd have to weigh the chance they remain sane versus the possible deaths and destruction that could follow if they don't - and there really isn't a good answer to a question like that. The dominant society/religion has decided, but that doesn't make it objectively the right decision.
The realities of war and rulership are similarly laid out, with arguments over making brutal examples of a few to prevent mass insurrections and death later and the like. It makes it a lot more believable to me.
Luxin drafting itself is interesting. Sort of... Green Lantern-y in that it's magic that manifests things that can then get you effects, rather than generating the effects directly. It's based on light and sight, so there are inherent limitations on drafters like decreased power at night and the inability to draft anything if they can't see the colors they are attuned to. The use of the spectrum and associating certain virtues/emotions with each color is neat, also reminding me a bit of Magic the Gathering's mana colors.
And the dagger is interesting. It'll be curious to see exactly how it works and where it came from.
Hmm... it seems like there was more, but I guess I'll come back to it later is something comes to mind.
And as I've been thinking about my most recent book reading, I find I have a lot more thoughts, but they get into spoiler territory real quick, so...
I like most of the character, and that generates a lot of good will from me right off.
- Kip served well as a relatable teen protagonist growing into some big powers. His awkwardness and self-consciousness are played up, but don't reach the point of going "too far" in my opinion. He manages to survive/get away with a lot, but that's sort of part of the whole protagonist thing.
- Karris is interesting as noblewoman-turned-SpecOp/bodyguard. She can kick some ass and still appreciate a fine dress, perhaps lamenting the life she was turned away from.
- Liv serves to make clear the social hierarchy at the heart of the world and serves as a big sister/potential love interest for Kip. It's a bit of a shame to see where she ends up, but it makes a certain amount of sense, too.
- The Prism is, of course, at the messy heart of the whole story. His situation of who the good guys are/were, whether that's a matter of nature or situation, and whether anyone involved can even claim to be good. Once his identity is explained, it raises the question - for every action he takes - whether he's making the choice as himself, or as part of the ongoing act.
- King Garadul is really the only character who disappointed me. Early on, he's set up as the enemy, but as the story reaches the endgame, he pretty much dropped as unimportant beyond being a pawn.
The Thresher was sort of cheap. I can understand the "romance" and even legitimate interest in a Kobayashi Maru-like stress test, but the part about throwing the rope away being an acceptable option is something I find hard to believe. You're telling me out of all the young drafters so eager to prove themselves that Kip is the only one to throw the rope away in as long as anyone present remembers (which is at least 16 years, and probably a good bit more)? The first thing that occurred to me going into that scene was "if pulling the rope is failure, why wouldn't just about every cocky, self-assured bastard just toss it away before things got serious anyway?" Way too obvious there.
I was asked what I thought of Dazen's prison, and the answer is: I'm a bit confused by it. I can understand the extreme length you would have to go through to emprison a Prism. But as the scenes with Karris showed, the best way to do that is actually to go with a black room and deny them light.
Keeping him alive could be sentiment. Keeping him alive in a prison deliberately designed to have a way out (albeit a near-impossible one) implies something else. Either there has got to be a deeper reason for it or the author watched too much Saw when he came up with the idea and just thought an overly-elaborate prison was a cool way to go. I'm hoping the former, though any such logic eludes me.
As I touched on when discussing the Prism himself, I am absolutely fascinated by the politics and relationships set up in the world. So many things are based on lies, and yet there's almost always cause to still ask "but is it better that way?"
The color wights are a good example. Lord Omnichrome's troupe shows us that some people can "break the halo" and not lose themselves to the power rush and go wild killing everyone around them. And yet we also see that some, perhaps most, do. Is it worth killing a drafter at that pivotal time? You'd have to weigh the chance they remain sane versus the possible deaths and destruction that could follow if they don't - and there really isn't a good answer to a question like that. The dominant society/religion has decided, but that doesn't make it objectively the right decision.
The realities of war and rulership are similarly laid out, with arguments over making brutal examples of a few to prevent mass insurrections and death later and the like. It makes it a lot more believable to me.
Luxin drafting itself is interesting. Sort of... Green Lantern-y in that it's magic that manifests things that can then get you effects, rather than generating the effects directly. It's based on light and sight, so there are inherent limitations on drafters like decreased power at night and the inability to draft anything if they can't see the colors they are attuned to. The use of the spectrum and associating certain virtues/emotions with each color is neat, also reminding me a bit of Magic the Gathering's mana colors.
And the dagger is interesting. It'll be curious to see exactly how it works and where it came from.
Hmm... it seems like there was more, but I guess I'll come back to it later is something comes to mind.
Comments
Post a Comment