The Black Prism

By: Brent Weeks

Narrated by: Simon Vance

In a world where magic is tightly controlled, the most powerful man in history must choose between his kingdom and his son in the first book in the epic NYT bestselling Lightbringer series.

Guile is the Prism. 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.
If you loved the action and adventure of the Night Angel trilogy, you will devour this incredible epic fantasy series by Brent Weeks.

Critic reviews

"Brent Weeks is so good it's starting to tick me off."—Peter V. Brett, New York Times bestselling author of The Desert Spear

"Weeks manages to ring new tunes on...old bells, letting a deep background slowly reveal its secrets and presenting his characters in a realistically flawed and human way."—Publishers Weekly on The Black Prism

"The Blinding Knife is a wonderful work of high fantasy with engaging characters facing the perfect antagonists, set in a creatively-wrought and increasingly chaotic world brimful of imaginative magic and interesting politics. Weeks holds fast to the traditions of his genre while adding a compelling new flavor."—The Ranting Dragon

"One of the best fantasies I've ever read."—Staffer's Book Review on The Blinding Knife

Intricate magic system.

A very intracate magical system, which can be confusing. Must pay attention, when it is being explained. The big plot twist was unexpected, but could have been delivered better. Great characters everyone is flawed somehow. Grim and dark, but does not reach George R R Martin's level. Definatly Joe Abercrombie's heights.

gripping storytelling and world building

This may be skewed as I have just finished listening to this, but I love this book and I love this series. Weeks is great at building a system that leaves you understanding and questioning his world at the same time. very well done.

Good Read

This if a really good fantasy book a really fleshed out world and magic system and characters like every book there are flaws but I still feel the is a good book. I can't wait to read the next book which I'll be doing soon just need to read a few smaller books . I really like the Narrator as this was an audible listen like most of my reads but really well done.

Wow, blew me away!

Great story with twists and complex characters. really interesting magic system. cant wait for more.

Amazing.

Simply one of the best books I've heard out of my library of 600+. Outstanding.

7.5 /10 Stars.

I went in with super high expectations. This first installment was not great, but it was good. worth the time to listen.

So happy with the new narration.

Any additional comments?

The story was fantastic and the narrator was perfect. I had tried to listen to the book a couple years ago and couldn't get past the first couple chapters because I felt the narrator was off. So glad it was redone!

Enjoyable Series!

I should have reviewed this book before reading the rest of the series. I know too much of the story to speak to just this book. Overall, a fantastic series with likeable characters and great narration. The magic system, while simplistic, was hard to understand at first. Stick with it, he gets around to explaining it enough to make sense. The author also borrowed a lot of religious ideals and idioms from the judeo-christian faith. I found that to be a little derivative and distracting - but not hindering. It fits well enough and may register well with Western and Middle-East readers.

If you have a spare credit, this isn't a waste of it. Be warned, you'll spend 4 more credits to finish the series.

Enjoyed it!

Took a while to understand the magical element, but after that, it was great! You can’t help but to cheer Kip and hope for his success!

Recommended from a friend

I had given The Name of the Wind a chance, but gave up on it because it wasn’t very good.

I explained this to a friend of mine, and he immediately recommended this series.

I enjoyed this right away. It’s shortcomings, which are few, come off as charming, where TNOTW came off as just awful.

Really enjoyed this book.