The Black Prism

I, perhaps, had different expectations, but wasn't disappointed by The Black Prism. I'd put it off because... well... I certainly didn't want to start in on reading a trilogy when only the hardcover of the first part was out - so I waited for the paperback release, at least. But I did like the Night Angel trilogy a great deal, so I certainly wanted to give it a shot.

Very different.

Weeks' last series started with what felt like a tighter focus on mostly just one character and his place in the city. This one immediate follows several, and is thick with setting-building. Rarely a chapter goes by where some detail of luxin-wielding spellcraft isn't explained. The politics and relationships are all laid upon the foundation of a 16-year-past war (that reminds me just a little of MtG's war between Mishra and Urza). Then you start getting shown more layers to the state of the world. Then, perhaps 250 or 300 pages in, comes a twist that turns things on their collective head in a way that just keeps rippling out.

It is, perhaps, the most gloriously fucked-up fantasy story I've had the please of reading in quite a while. Shame I have to wait to see more of the series.

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