Excellent listen

Unique world with deep and complex characters. Well written with a fascinating new idea for magic.

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Great Book

Excellent narrator and great book. Second time I've 'read' it now. Much prefer this audiobook experience

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An excellent foundation to a great series!

Re-reading now that the final book is out. The Black Prism isn't my favourite in the series, but it does an excellent job of establishing the foundation for what's to come. It's narrow in its scope, which I feel hurts it on its own but it's necessary for what follows. Another great series by Brent Weeks, is recommend both this and his Night Angel trilogy for those that enjoy uncomplicated but highly entertaining fantasy.

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Great book

Loved it looking forward to the next book

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Very good

This was a very good book. I found it jarring when the topic of rape was brought up, thought it was only mentioned, it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.

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Amazing Reading

The reader did such an incredible job reading this book. This series is one of my favourites and the unique voices for each character made the story so captivating I’ve been non stop listening whenever I can and have finished the book in just a few days. So good!

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Thoroughly enjoyed

Terrific story written by a magnificent author. Narrated perfectly, right speed, pitch and tone all the way through, voice changes are seamless, doesn't try to mimic silly voices for different characters, just changes slightly enough so you know which character is narrating the chapter. Very well done production 🙂😊❤

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10/10

Such an amazing magic system, i really would suggest this book to anyone in search of a good grimdark novel.

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Loved it

Recommend listening through twice before starting the next book it’s quite a lot to take in in one listen

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Among the very best in the genre

This story is absolutely compelling - there isn't a dull moment and I struggled to stop listening whenever life interfered with the story. This is a great adventure story but it also has surprising depth in character studies, social morality and politics.

The story is intentionally riddled with fantasy tropes, but always with a new perspective or a surprising twist. The most immediate example is the boy coming of age. He is clumsy, overweight, unattractive and lacks social skills but nevertheless is able to fill role of fantasy hero in a way that is satisfying and exciting.

The story is very character focussed and so the perspective is deliberately limited. For example, battles focus on individuals rather than groups and martial arts rather than tactics. Politics are glimpsed rather than explained. The overall effect is very personal and involving for the reader. There is a strong sense of a wider world around the events of the story.

The plot of this story is simple and, as one reviewer commented, you could miss things and keep up with the story. This isn't a criticism however, The focus is not on the plot. The story is not challenging but the how and why is always more important than the what. It's worth bearing in mind that this is the first of five novels, and the plot is only in its infancy.

One of the really exceptional things about this story is the perspective on heroes and villains. Almost every character is multi-faceted and explored from a sympathetic point of view. The heroes are flawed and the villains have many redeeming features, Rather than degenerating into the nihilism so common in this genre, the author uses multidimensional characters to highlight heroism and villainy. The heroes are great precisely because they are flawed and human. The villains are made far worse by their unfulfilled or misused potential. It is also difficult to know in advance whether a particular character will turn out to do the right thing - an obvious advantage to the story.

This story explores social morality in some rather clever ways. The culture is reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance with all its shortcomings. In other ways the society's ills mirror our own, in that the image in a mirror is the same but inverted.

In spite of its depth, this is a really easy book to enjoy. I've rarely encountered better storytelling. If the author can bring the story to a satisfying conclusion in the later books, this could very well be one of the greats.

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1 person found this helpful