The Black Prism

Lightbringer Trilogy Book One

By: Brent Weeks

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

This fantastic new recording was released in September 2016 and comes from the acclaimed narrator of The Lightbringer series Simon Vance.

The start of a brand new trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Way of Shadows.

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.

©2010 Brent Weeks (P)2016 Little Brown Book Group

Good enough for commuting.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I got this because I was a fan of the author's Shadow series. Wouldn't recommend to a non-fan.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

People need to just bloody talk to each other. Conflict is consistently manufactured by the characters being blithering idiots unable to use their damn words.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narrator sometimes bleeds voices into each other, occasionally making it hard to tell when different people are speaking in the same scene. Particularly Corvan and Gavin.

Do you think The Black Prism needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, because as is traditional in fantasy since the Wheel of Time got popular, absolutely nothing is resolved in this book.

Any additional comments?

Timelines glaringly fail to make sense, as is usual for Weeks. A good adventure story, but hampered by self-pitying characters who, for all their political acumen, don't seem to understand anything about the people near them, much less trust them.

Great story ruined by robotic narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes- if Simon Vance was reading it!

What other book might you compare The Black Prism to and why?

Brent Weeks reminds me of Branfon Sanderson

What didn’t you like about Cristofer Jean’s performance?

You may as well have the kindle robot read aloud. Worst ever voice. No inflection. Terrible timing. It was like listening to someone read it when they don't actually understand English. The syntax, timing, and colour was missing. Just awful.

Could you see The Black Prism being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Probably a bit complicated for the screen plot wise but I could see Charlie Hannum as Gavin/Dazen

Any additional comments?

Great story which I have read 3 times and will never listen to again from this narrator.

Wooden.

Good story, etc. Unfortunately, I felt like I was being addressed by a plank of wood. Poorly performed.

Good story but very stilted delivery ruins it

Good story but very stilted delivery ruins it
The narration sounds as if it was designed for children and reminds me of the Simpsons😝

Not a full book and it has issues

Disappointing. The story felt incomplete. Like the entire point of the book was to sell the next book. The story was ok, but the world building felt hobbled together. The magic system is interesting, but when you think a little harder it makes no sense.
There are many better books as it stands. And I won’t be reading more of the series.

Love the print book...audio not so much.

What did you like best about The Black Prism? What did you like least?

I truly enjoyed this book in print and was looking forward to a good listen. The narration is definitely not one of Audible's best efforts and I was relieved to see Simon Vance will be narrating the next two books.