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misosoupp31's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The magic is interesting, and I think the twists and such are settings up potentially good storylines. But there was only one joke in this entire book and it was Kip thinking about it looking at boobs. Jeez. Also none of the reveals were dramatic, they were just pov characters reminiscing on stuff that they knew that had happened to them
leeniebell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
sarahetc's review against another edition
5.0
Five stars. Ten stars. ALL THE STARS!!! Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Read this book right now. You liked Harry Potter? You enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora? Find this book and mash it directly into your brain.
The story begins with Kip. Just Kip. He's fat and his mom is a drug addict who hates him. And he happens to be in the right place at the right time to hear that King Rask Garadul and his army is on the way to raze his backwater town of Rekton, in the nation-state of Tyre, which has been occupied for years by its fellow nation-states, the result of The War of False Prism. Kip escapes, just barely, by using his wit and a totally new-found and stress-induced ability for magic. He finds his mother, her head caved in, who gives him a box with a dagger and makes him vow, on her death, to "kill him."
Meanwhile, leagues away across the Cerulean Sea, The Prism, Gavin Guile, is meeting with The White and one of his personal Blackguards and ex-fiance, Karris White Oak, on top of tallest tower of The Chromeria: the civil and religious power that keeps order in the world. Guile is the most powerful man in the world and every morning must account for and balance the chromatic magic because it is Orholam's will. The White sends Karris to Tyre to infiltrate Garadul's army, locate a contact, and with his or her help, assassinate the would-be King. Guile tags along and, because of his incredible prowess in magic, they see the horror that is Rekton and discover Kip, and Kip's knife. Kip is Guile's war-bastard, much to Karris's rage. Karris leaves to complete her mission while Guile takes Kip back to The Chromeria, now that he is an orphan and has shown he has inherited his father's talent for magic.
Meanwhile, Gavin Guile is hiding a terrific secret. Kip is not his son, but his nephew. And he is not Gavin Guile, but Dazen Guile, the younger of the two brothers, and Karris's real first love. The War of the False Prism ended with Gavin the victor, but the real Gavin is locked in a box full of pure, perfectly blue light while his brother has assumed his name, title, powers, privileges. Karris is captured. Kip is Threshed. And old friends and enemies must plan to come together to confront a threat to The Chromeria. A thrilling, engrossing book from start to finish.
Seriously, this is world-class world building. Weeks has created an engaging theocracy in a world that seems to be all land around one central ocean. Certain people are born to be Drafters-- those who can manipulate sunlight into different types of luxen: sub-red (heat and fire); red (flammable); orange (slick and oily); yellow (perfect for building structures, but extremely difficult requiring almost inhuman precision and so often used with blue); green (solid and springy and wild); blue (super rigid, logical); super violet (invisible to most, but solid; used for messaging and secrecy). People are born chromats who can draft one color; or bichromes, an order more prestigious, because they can draft two different colors; or polychromes, the most prestigious of all, because they can draft three or more colors, leading to The Prism. Drafters must be able to see their color to draft it, even polychromes, and so they rely on clothing or special lenses. The Prism, however, needs nothing like that. Drafters have limited lifespans. Each time they draft, the color threatens to over power them, and the history of their drafting is in the halo of the iris of their eye. Powerful older drafters will often have skin the color of their gift. And all Drafters must submit to The Freeing before their halo is broken. To let the halo break is to become a Color Wight, someone who harms him or herself and those they love. The magic of Orholam's gift and the sun is Orholam's Eye.
The story works through several different perspectives and manages to fill in much of the story of the past by relating it to the current events. In addition to Kip, Gavin, Dazen and Karris, there is also Liv, a super-violet yellow bichrome who is the daughter of the genius general that should have won the war for Dazen. With three more books in the series, this one ends with both a sense of resolution (Garadul, et al.) and perspective going forward. I realized, toward the end, that there was no single character I wasn't rooting for, despite there being three or four "sides" with no one truly good and no one truly evil. There's a level of balance in this book that few authors achieve and it is all the more enjoyable for it.
I have other books on order, but I can't wait to read more of this series! Go now! Stop reading this review and start reading this book!
Note: I listen to the story half on audio, half on kindle. I am glad to have listened to the audio. Because while "Kip" and "Liv" are pretty straight forward, "Orholam" has a tricky rolling R. And "Garadul" has a tricky, gliding G that sounds like a gutteral H. Definitely try to listen to a little bit of it, even just a sample, to get a sense of some of the accents.
The story begins with Kip. Just Kip. He's fat and his mom is a drug addict who hates him. And he happens to be in the right place at the right time to hear that King Rask Garadul and his army is on the way to raze his backwater town of Rekton, in the nation-state of Tyre, which has been occupied for years by its fellow nation-states, the result of The War of False Prism. Kip escapes, just barely, by using his wit and a totally new-found and stress-induced ability for magic. He finds his mother, her head caved in, who gives him a box with a dagger and makes him vow, on her death, to "kill him."
Meanwhile, leagues away across the Cerulean Sea, The Prism, Gavin Guile, is meeting with The White and one of his personal Blackguards and ex-fiance, Karris White Oak, on top of tallest tower of The Chromeria: the civil and religious power that keeps order in the world. Guile is the most powerful man in the world and every morning must account for and balance the chromatic magic because it is Orholam's will. The White sends Karris to Tyre to infiltrate Garadul's army, locate a contact, and with his or her help, assassinate the would-be King. Guile tags along and, because of his incredible prowess in magic, they see the horror that is Rekton and discover Kip, and Kip's knife. Kip is Guile's war-bastard, much to Karris's rage. Karris leaves to complete her mission while Guile takes Kip back to The Chromeria, now that he is an orphan and has shown he has inherited his father's talent for magic.
Meanwhile, Gavin Guile is hiding a terrific secret. Kip is not his son, but his nephew. And he is not Gavin Guile, but Dazen Guile, the younger of the two brothers, and Karris's real first love. The War of the False Prism ended with Gavin the victor, but the real Gavin is locked in a box full of pure, perfectly blue light while his brother has assumed his name, title, powers, privileges. Karris is captured. Kip is Threshed. And old friends and enemies must plan to come together to confront a threat to The Chromeria. A thrilling, engrossing book from start to finish.
Seriously, this is world-class world building. Weeks has created an engaging theocracy in a world that seems to be all land around one central ocean. Certain people are born to be Drafters-- those who can manipulate sunlight into different types of luxen: sub-red (heat and fire); red (flammable); orange (slick and oily); yellow (perfect for building structures, but extremely difficult requiring almost inhuman precision and so often used with blue); green (solid and springy and wild); blue (super rigid, logical); super violet (invisible to most, but solid; used for messaging and secrecy). People are born chromats who can draft one color; or bichromes, an order more prestigious, because they can draft two different colors; or polychromes, the most prestigious of all, because they can draft three or more colors, leading to The Prism. Drafters must be able to see their color to draft it, even polychromes, and so they rely on clothing or special lenses. The Prism, however, needs nothing like that. Drafters have limited lifespans. Each time they draft, the color threatens to over power them, and the history of their drafting is in the halo of the iris of their eye. Powerful older drafters will often have skin the color of their gift. And all Drafters must submit to The Freeing before their halo is broken. To let the halo break is to become a Color Wight, someone who harms him or herself and those they love. The magic of Orholam's gift and the sun is Orholam's Eye.
The story works through several different perspectives and manages to fill in much of the story of the past by relating it to the current events. In addition to Kip, Gavin, Dazen and Karris, there is also Liv, a super-violet yellow bichrome who is the daughter of the genius general that should have won the war for Dazen. With three more books in the series, this one ends with both a sense of resolution (Garadul, et al.) and perspective going forward. I realized, toward the end, that there was no single character I wasn't rooting for, despite there being three or four "sides" with no one truly good and no one truly evil. There's a level of balance in this book that few authors achieve and it is all the more enjoyable for it.
I have other books on order, but I can't wait to read more of this series! Go now! Stop reading this review and start reading this book!
Note: I listen to the story half on audio, half on kindle. I am glad to have listened to the audio. Because while "Kip" and "Liv" are pretty straight forward, "Orholam" has a tricky rolling R. And "Garadul" has a tricky, gliding G that sounds like a gutteral H. Definitely try to listen to a little bit of it, even just a sample, to get a sense of some of the accents.
maffa303's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely brilliant. Took a chapter or two to get into it but is incredible. On to the next two.
tiegongji's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic character development and magic system, kept me enthralled the entire time.
golden_onion's review against another edition
kinda boring and i felt like the universe was barely explained. like tell me why people have magic powers and how it works in the story not in a long ass guide at the back
archiegitdog's review against another edition
4.0
I almost gave up on this book a few times. The first one to two hours (i listened via audiobook) was so tedious and dire to the point I tried to claim my money back via audible. I am so glad i persevered- where the first section is a massive zero or half a mark the remainder is full five out of five. This is an excellent read - highly highly recommended!!
mazcheemaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bookwormreflections's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0