The Blinding Knife

Written by Brent Weeks

Narrated by Simon Vance

Gavin Guile is dying. He'd thought he had five years left—now he's got less than one. With 50,000 refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin's got problems on every side.

As he loses control of his magic, all magic is running wild, threatening to destroy the Seven Satrapies. The old gods are being reborn. Their army of color wights is unstoppable, and the only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole 16 years ago.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781405525756

Reviews for The Blinding Knife

[malexmave · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was mostly picked out of desparation: I wanted to read a book without commiting to a new series, because in a week, a new Book would come out that I wanted to read.

I wasn't a big fan of the first book, for some reason, as I have liked the other works of Brent Weeks so far. And in the beginning, I disliked this book as well. But, after a while, it became a lot better, and the end wasn't bad at all (although I dislike cliffhangers).

It was a fun and mostly funny read, with very few unexpected turns (although those were done very well). As a part-time MTG player, I apreciated the card game that played a role in the book (and Brent Weeks has hinted at possibly creating something like it in the real world).

So, in the end, I don't feel bad about giving the book four stars. But it was not a pained I-want-to-give-4.5-stars Book like many other books I rated four stars, it was more of a "yeah, I did not waste my time reading it, but I will probably never read it again"-Book.

Recommended for fans of the series (obviously) and people interested in a new magic system.

[alcarinqa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Weeks’ writing has certainly evolved in the time between Way of Shadows and this, his latest masterpiece. The Blinding Knife is an example of epic fantasy at its very best – nuanced, perfectly paced and thematically brilliant. Weeks takes the world he expertly set up in The Black Prism and continues to explore it – building up the geography, history and mythology in wonderful ways.The book follows our old favourites and while some might anticipate some confusion at the multiple points of view, but I found the writing to be clear and well thought-out. The use of short chapters ensured I was never away from anyone for too long. Kip is put through into training to join the Blackguard – the order of the land’s most talented and deadly warriors charged with protecting the Prism and the White with their lives. Karris and Gavin race around the world, taking care of thousands of refugees, trying to prevent wars and fighting colour wights, while grave secrets lie between them. The enemy point of view is cleverly told through Liv, who has joined the Colour Prince in his war against the Chromatorium and fears for her father’s life. Her side is especially interesting because she has been lied to her whole life and while it’s obvious that her former allies aren’t as pure as they like to believe, it’s also difficult to tell how sincere her new ones are.About half way through the novel, after I’d been adequately reacquainted with the characters and the world and was beginning to get comfortable, there are a series of bombshells and wholly unexpected events that left me reeling, and reminded me strongly to never underestimate a brilliant author such as Weeks. These events precipitate disasters left, right, and centre, and I realised I wasn’t putting the book down until I turned the last page! Everything is brilliantly paced, wild battles are beautifully choreographed and interleaved between heart-warming moments of honesty and trust between key characters.The growth of the characters is one of the best aspects of this book – while the previous book focussed heavily on the deep scars and secrets that mark them – legacies of the war Gavin and his brother Dazen waged on one another sixteen years ago to become the Prism, this book goes a long way to heal them. Secrets are revealed, deep hurts are healing and the characters that survive the experience emerge with fresh hope. Kip discovers a sense of self-worth with the Blackguard and finds friends who respect him as he is, Karris works through some of her many and varied hurts and comes out stronger for it, and Gavin embraces some hard truths, shares some of his burdens and regains a modicum of his trust in others.I loved The Blinding Knife – it’s an amazing sequel that surpassed my expectations and has left me desperate for the next instalment, The Blood Mirror. Brent Weeks is a Master of Fantasy, wholly deserving of the title, and fans of the genre should be desperate to get their hands on his books.A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

[zvati-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice one, Weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[spurts-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure I'm going to able to write proper reviews of the individual books in this series -- this is one of those where the entire series likely needs to be reviewed. Not really a cliffhanger ending to this one, but definitely not one to read as a standalone. Mostly everything and everyone just progresses. Oh, I really enjoyed the read because I'm invested in these people and this world. I wouldn't say it moved the series that far along though. Yet, hard to review without spoilers. Let's just say I loved the book, the two brothers man-in-the-iron-mask got resolved, found out more about everyone, more about banes and wights, major reveal about the oldest Guile ... and yet and yet and yet clearly more to follow with nothing exactly resolved. See? Not a very good review to basically say "loved it and found out more."

[robinlythgoenull · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I first read The Black Prism, book one of The Lightbringer series, and found the political intrigue gripping but the characterization weak and repetitive. Good news: The Blinding Knife carries on—and deepens—the political action, and the characterization flaws have been improved. Particularly, Gavin and Kip no longer sound like the same person in their "self talk." Gavin shines as his own very strong-willed character, fulfilling a potential hinted at in Book #1 but never delivered, while Kip shares inherited traits to which he gives his own little twists. I like that. I like seeing the growth of the characters (as individuals, please, not copies!).I still found the magic sounding "plastic," but the handling is smoother in this book, though the reader is often subjected to long (sometimes pages), dry lectures about how it works. It promotes a deep desire to skip ahead, as do the random conversations with seemingly little purpose. Filler, anyone?The actual meat of the story itself is good. Really good. Engaging. Complicated. It is unnecessarily littered with the repetition of descriptions, phrases, favorite words (just for instance, how many times does the reader really need to be given the same description of Blackguard garb?). The swearing swiftly became gratuitous, the crassness and vulgarity often jarring. I'm not a fan of swearing or vulgarity and don't think they're necessary to a good story. "Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully." That opinion aside, if they're going to be used, use them constructively, and not with the appearance that a minimum requirement of "gross" has to be filled—quick, before the story ends. There are references (take the "Amazoi" women, for example) that show a sad lack of imagination when it is obvious that the writer could, with a moment or two of consideration, vastly improve on the well-known model. The repeatedly (or maybe misleadingly?) mistaken use of the word "bemused," along with the plethora of incomplete sentences, nearly drove me batty. The sex scene? More gratuitousness. And awkward, too.Such good material, yet the book is hindered by weak editing. I love a good, long fantasy, but this one felt long.The cover is gorgeous. I do like the blend of gunpowder and magic, and how the existence of one doesn't detract from the other. I like the slick way the Color Prince is developed as a real person with real beliefs, and not just a cardboard cutout antagonist. The color wights are wonderfully, imaginatively, frighteningly depicted. The story of the real Gavin is disappointing. Lots of building up goes into his non-part; I expected more. I liked learning more about Ironfist's background, and his inner workings. He's one of the better characters in the tale. When the pace of the story is let free to go, it really moves![This book was received free through Goodreads First Reads.]

[davidburrows · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was fortunate to meet Brent at FantasyCon. My son had him sign both books in the new series. Brent read an excerpt (supposedly) from his next book after Blinding Knife. He has a very distinctive style of reading and I could hear his voice as I read Blinding Knife. That was a little unsettling! Fortunately the excerpt turned out to be as much fantasy as the book! He had us all believing he was going to kill off one of his main characters. He may still do so, but not as happened in his reading. I still haven't forgiven JK Rowling for killing off Hedwig!Anyway - to the book. It follows on from Black Prism. Blinding Knife is brilliantly written and the characterisation is excellent as per usual. The series is a distinctly different fantasy series to any other and he creates a whole new range magic type with associated rules. It's a very long book so those that enjoy reading will regard it as excellent value. It may be overlong if you like fast paced books all the way through. For everyone else - this is a cracking read and I would recommend it. It has everything a fantasy fan would like.

[kassilem · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read the first book to this series Black Prism at the beginning of last year. There was almost two years between these books. I thought maybe I should reread the first book before tackling this long one but decided against it. This volume did a good job of bringing me up to speed again quickly. I've always loved Brent Weeks' work so I was excited for this volume. I was not disappointed. This was a great volume, picking up mostly from where it left off in the previous book. The jargon and new terminology sometimes gave me pause as I tried to remember what it meant (there was a very handy catalogue in the back of the book with terminology and names) but the story kept me intrigued and entertained. Kip and his quest to become better, Gavin and his questions of virtue, both kept me turning pages. This is a story on an epic scale. It's a big book but the story is fast paced and the text not overly small so it doesn't take too long to get through. I'm eagerly anticipating the third book. :( It's going to be a long wait.

[dolphari · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kip is inducted into the Blackguard training class, of which only the ones who fight their way to the top will be chosen. His grandfather, Andross Guile, first denies Kip, and then starts to play his own sinister game with him. Kip earns a reputation as fat but hard and gains the respect of many of his classmates. He becomes friends with Adrasteia, a slave in his class who was first set to spy on him, and then Kip wins her ownership from Andross Guile in a card game. Kip is desperate for love and approval from Gavin, but Gavin is afraid to let him too close, as he believes that Kip will one day discover that he killed his brother, Kip's real father. Gavin, formerly Dazen, kills a light god as it is being born, and delivers the refugees that he saved in the last book to a new settlement on Seers Island. He tries to get the Council to vote for war, since he knows the Color Prince (formerly Karris' brother) means to take over. Just after he succeeds, and after his father forbids him to marry Karris, a girl whom Andross approves tries to seduce Gavin at night. When he wakes up and realizes it is not Karris, he is furious and pushes the girl toward the balcony--but she falls over the edge. Horrified at what could be called murder, and realizing this will ruin his leadership of the Council into war, he prepares to let his brother go and let his brother kill him. Gavin still thinks that Dazen really should be the Prism, and will be able to do things right. But Dazen, bitter and hate-filled, boasts about how he raped Karris, and Gavin realizes that Dazen now is evil and may always have been... and finally kills him. Karris receives a posthumous letter from Gavin's mother, telling her that Gavin is really Dazen (the brother Karris loved), and that he never stopped loving Karris. Finally there is honesty between Karris and Gavin (as he now is known), and they marry. Throughout this book, Aliviana, who has joined the Color Prince, has both become more cynical and more inured to his brutality, as an opponent of the Chromeria which rules everything. She lives with the arrogant and ambitious Zymun for a while, but then is frightened and disgusted by his lust for power. At the end of the book, the Color Prince reveals that he has plans for Aliviana to become a goddess (this world has stories of the old gods, but now is officially devoted to one god of whom the Chromeria is the theocracy). The Blackguard, taking their new recruits since they were decimated in the last book, head for battle with the Color Prince. They and Gavin fight, knowing that a new god (a green bane) is being created somewhere. It turns out the green bane arises from the sea during the battle. Kip, almost through an accident, is the one to kill the new god. In the retreat from the battle, Kip and Gavin end up on Andross' ship. Kip realized that Andross is a red wight (he has "broken the halo" of color in his eyes and is on the verge of going mad... the point at which light drafters normally volunteer for the Prism to ceremonially kill them). Kip attacks Andross with the knife his mother gave him, and in the struggle Gavin, when Andross is about to kill Kip, pulls the knife toward himself and falls overboard with it in his chest. Kip jumps after him. Andross finds that all of his colors have been restored as if he were years younger. Kip and Gavin are picked up by a pirate whom Gavin knows. But with the knife attack, it became a sword, and Gavin become color blind. He is now powerless and becomes a galley slave. Kip is tossed back in and washes to shore and runs into Zymun, whom he recognizes as the attempted assassin who attacked Gavin in the last book. Zymun casually reveals that he is the son of Karris and Gavin (the result of rape during their betrothal; Karris went away to have the baby). The universe of these books is very detailed and somewhat hard to remember from the last book. But oh, so good at making you care about the characters!

[stefferoo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's fascinating to see an author's evolution and growth happen right in front of your eyes, and I think this is the case with my experience with Brent Weeks. I recently read his Night Angel trilogy, and while I enjoyed it well enough, there was a distinct "raw-ness" to the writing which I'd picked up on, something I find isn't all that uncommon in an author's early works. Well, it definitely wasn't there anymore by the time I got around to reading this latest book in the Lightbringer series, The Blinding Knife.Weeks' style has become very refined and polished, especially when it comes to his characters and storytelling. Many of the quirks that used to bug me about his dialogue have simply disappeared, and as a result I eventually came around to letting characters like Kip and Gavin grow on me a lot more, compared to how I vehemently disliked them in the first book, The Black Prism.It also helped that these characters' plot threads are more interesting now that the series is progressing nicely, though there are a couple character perspectives that I still didn't quite care for. This book was very long, and inevitably, I found certain parts dragged on unnecessarily, which needless to say dampened my enthusiasm for the book quite a bit.Still, I have to say I enjoyed this more than the previous book, not the least because now that the details behind the color drafting magic system has been established, there's a lot less info dumping and bogging down the story with background information. Based on chromaturgy, the magic featured in these books is incredibly imaginative, but I also found it was also hard to picture luxin structures in my head without making it look absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully, I found that this book focused more on the properties of the luxin itself and less on the appearance, which made it much less distracting.I'm probably not as excited about this series as I am about some others, but that doesn't mean I'm not liking these books or that I'm not curious to find out what will happen next. The way this is going, I think the series is getting better, so I'm definitely going to continue reading.

[kylenapoli · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I definitely recommend reading the Lightbringer books close together. Weeks drops a densely built universe on you like a ton of bricks and I lost track several of several plot threads during the gap between books 1 and 2. That's not remotely a complaint, though -- just fair warning.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great follow-up to the Black Prism. Brent Weeks' world of color and power gets richer as his characters struggle with their inner demons and attempt to do what they believe is right. There were definitely some major twists I didn't expect, but I grew to really like a lot of the characters and I can't wait to see what happens next!

[shirezu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good book but a few things kept it from being great. Unlike the first book there wasn't enough Kip and Liv's story just wasn't as interesting. I was also getting a bit sick of Gavin/Dazen. But towards the end this book really picked up and I can't wait for the next book now.

[zetasyanthis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

5/5.

What I said about the last book being a hell of a step up from his previous writing? Yeah, this book nuked that site from orbit. This is one of the best damned books I've read in a long long time. The politics, the war, the turncloaks and spies... They're all wonderful, and beautifully written. Go read this.

[schlyne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is amazing! It is so hard to put down. I want the third book already. I love the complexities in the storyline and the characters.

[gsb68 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If Mr. Weeks hasn't read a lot of green lantern comics i would be very surprised, but what he has done with this inspiration is what makes this a must read for epic fantasy fans. Brent Weeks has joined my list of authors who i'll pre-order every new book. Whens the next one come out?

[chris_el-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast paced novel that can easily suck you in and keep you turning pages to find out what happens next.

Really enjoyed Kip in school. Though, I felt that experience could have been dealt with more in depth. Thinking about novels about characters in school like Harry Potter, Tom Brown's School days, etc the pacing is almost to rushed. I liked the new characters Kip meets and the new color (Paryl)has some very interesting possibilities. Kip comes across as very likable and you find yourself really rooting for him. I think with all the physical labor/training at some point he is going to stop being a pudgy out of shape kid.

I think the author used the f-bomb once in the book (that jumped out). And it just struck a discordant note for me showing up in the fantasy world here and felt unnecessary.

While a lot happens in the book looking back it almost feels like less happened just because everything was so fast paced. I will definitely read the next book but I don't like being stuck at a cliff hanger ending for a year. =(

I've had several people say that this series is their favorite over the Night Angel series (by the same author). Still not convinced but I'm keeping an open mind.

[jercox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good sequel, moves the story along. Twists and turns aplenty.

[Ellie G · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Way better written and plot than the 1st book, but jeez, the writer is obsessed with talking about breasts. All the 'strong women' stuff feels so superficial and its making me want to drop the series

[kinwolf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining, good continuation, interesting characters, a really fun read. Hoping it goes on in the 3rd book and that Bent doesn't repeat the small mistakes he made in the Angel books, which was to start to many sub-plots as the books went on.

[renbedell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The sequel in the Lightbringer series carries on the adventure of Gavin(?) and Kip as the world gets closer to war. While I did enjoy this book more then the first (maybe due to listening as audiobook instead), I still wouldn't recommend it. There are pointless chapters, characters that should have had more time focused on them, characters that should have not been in the book at all, way too long explanations on things that are tedious, not enough explanation on the world building, and too much telling instead of showing. The audiobook does make it much more entertaining though.

[ninelarks-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story carries on where the first book left off. War is crashing into their lives and it's hard for Gavin Guile to keep saving his country and people when he's dying and his colors are disappearing. It's a game of deception and lies. Nothing is as it seems.

This was a fantastic sequel. The characters are still lovable as usual. Who doesn't like Gavin Guile? Inevitable in his will, charming, saving the world easily. But still flawed and completely in love. Kip is almost the stereotypical boy-into-a-man story. But it works.

I love the magic system. It's a world that makes you want to know more. It's fairly ingenious, this world. Only quibble is that Weeks sometimes has long paragraphs (e.g. monologues) of explanation of magic or strategies. People don't talk in paragraphs. But it didn't happen too often, just often enough for me to notice, so it's okay.


I was blown away by the deception from the book summary! It completely took me off guard when Gavin killed his brother because I was expecting the opposite. I loved it, to have lies within a summary to make me expect something and throw something else.


I think Weeks doesn't exactly know how to write women. This book is very much still a man's world. Even though the women are strong and influential, like Karris and the Third Eye, you start to notice that all of them don't really stand alone in their strength. They are all tied to a man. Okay, maybe except for the White, but that's because she's old and Weeks doesn't consider her for sex appeal. But whenever girls and women are mentioned, it's all about their femininity and how much the males would like to take them to bed. Meh. I don't think he does this intentionally and eh, the story is powerful enough to overlook this. It's just I don't think he knows how to write women who are just women. But of course, it's not something he's concerned about, what with his two main male characters. And regardless, he does better than a lot of other male writers (and some female writers, for that matter).

The story progresses extremely well. I was never bored or slogging through the pages. There was action, there was emotion, there was character interaction. The ending was made me curse the appendix. I was so sure that the boo was longer, and then it just ended with Gavin in that boat. Like, argh are you serious!! I need to know what happens next! But that's fantastic. I know I want to finish this series. Weeks is a great writer. I can already see him setting the scene for future books. I'm curious to see what will happen with paryl, the white luxin, the blinding knife, how the light will be balanced, and such. There are so many unanswered plot lines, but this book manages to tie up a lot from the last book. It's the perfect balance between revealing intentions and hidden mysteries. It's not confusing, it's foreshadowing. So many authors have a hard time with the difference between the two. Weeks nails it here.

A solid three and a half stars. I was tempted to round up to four because of how engaged I was throughout the book. However, at the end of the book, it's just a good read. I always need a little something more - something that changes my world, my preconceived notion of something, expands my horizon. It was a marvelous read, yes. But it doesn't leave me with anything else but "hmm it was a good read" when I close the book. So three and a half very good stars.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves fantasy with well-built characters and a fascinating magic system. But read the first book first, obviously.