Review: The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks
Blurb from Goodreads:
"Gavin Guile is dying.
He’d thought he had five years left—now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies.
Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole sixteen years ago"
Spoilers after the jump.
When we finish The Black Prism The Color Prince is marshalling his forces and appears to be on a path of victory after victory. It leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that he is on a path to change the course of The Seven Satrapies. The point is can Gavin Guile stop him? Gavin's powers are failing him.
The plot continues to twist and turn as the story picks up pace. Just when you think you have it figured out, you don't. I thought I had it pretty sussed as to whom The Lightbringer was, however on reading this second instalment, I think I have it wrong. I may yet be proven correct, but I don't know. Events are scattering characters, not bringing them together. Thus throwing my theories out the window. Great work, Weeks. Tying me up in knots, trying to figure the path of the story. I might need a support group in order to analyse what happens next.
The moral of this story is - Never. Ever. Trust. Your. Family. While they may love you (even this claim in regards to the Guiles could be considered dubious), they are also just as likely to stab you in the back when you least expect it. I now suspect Andross Guile is the most conniving of the whole clan. He hungers for one thing - power. He isn't above exploiting his family at all to achieve his ends. So watch out. If he has his eye on you, it can't be a good thing.
The political intrigue picks up pace. Characters appear like pawns as members of the Chromeria jostle for position. Andross Guile, Gavin Guile and The White continue to maneuver around each other trying to stay ahead of the game. Gavin discovers he has a supporter he didn't expect, but he needs to outplay his father in this battle for power and to hold his position as the Prism. The Prism holds the magical balance within The Seven Satrapies. Without a Prism, it is assumed chaos will ensue. Andross Guile is one cunning bastard, don't count him out unless he has a dagger in his back, throat, heart. You get the picture. It ain't over until Andross is no longer breathing.
Kip continues to surprise and sometimes bumble his way through the story. I don't mean bumble in a bad way. Just he has a surprising tendency to end up right where the action is. As Gavin's son we know he is going to have extraordinary powers, but at the same time we emphathise with his story. He's the fat kid, who other characters initially dismiss. On reading though, he is so pivotal for so many events that you just know he is going to do something exceptional by the end of this story. What will it be? I don't know. I had my theory, but I now doubt it's validity.
Gavin Guile, trying to save the world. He is facing a battle that I don't know if he can win. Can you outrun your mortal life span? As the clock is ticking down, you get the sense that Gavin doesn't have a lot of time to achieve the things he wanted to. The main thing now is to try to stop The Color Prince. If he can. However, with his magic failing him, he is running out time to do so. Gavin ends in a very dark place. Damn you, Brent Weeks. It seems to me that Gavin would have a very difficult time trying to avert war now. We now know Gavin's secret and it is not a secret that can be kept hidden once unleashed.
Part of me is starting to wonder if The Color Prince is the ultimate threat or not. He is politically astute and easily rallies people to his banner, however I'll be interested to see if he can control the forces he is unleashing on the world. Or if he even wants to. Things long forgotten are coming back into the world and I think the course remains unclear.
So, some little nuggets for you.
- Dazen Guile - you will not believe it!!!!!! Enough said.
- Zymen - I guessed correctly.
- Marissa - I suspect we haven't seen the last of her.
Fantasy lovers, are you on the Brent Weeks bandwagon yet? If not, you should be. You won't be disappointed - at least I hope you won't be. Let me know below any great new fantasy books you have discovered this year.
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