The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer #2) – Brent Weeks

Haven’t read the previous novel, The Black Prism? Check out my review here!

Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 671
Release Date: September 11, 2012

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.

What an incredible sequel. The Blinding Knife ups the ante for every character while delivering incredible world building and intense action sequences.

The Blinding Knife picks up where The Black Prism left with Gavin, Kip, and company recovering from the battle at Garriston with thousands of refugees. The opening chapters are filled with fun action as Gavin demonstrates once again how powerful he is despite unfortunate predicament. The characters split up and readers follow Gavin, Kip, and Liv.

As much as I adore Gavin, despite some of his choices, I loved Kip’s chapters in The Blinding Knife more than I did in The Black Prism. Kip is tasked with the almost impossible assignment of joining the Blackguard. Even with the blatant favoritism, joining the Blackguard is no easy feat. Thus begins the typical magic school arc as Kip learns about who he is vs. who he wants to be, friendship, and sacrifice.

Liv’s chapters were some of my favorite, but I only appreciated them in hindsight. Keeping Liv with The Color Prince adds a layer of understanding to enemy’s plans, motivations, and beliefs. Though Liv can be annoying at times, I came to appreciate her arc and role in the narrative. I’ve read a few pretty negative (and that’s putting it lightly) thoughts about her POV that I find unwarranted. What her chapters accomplished for me was seeing a different belief system in terms of drafting and all its benefits and consequences. It adds a level of uncertainty.

Side note: There is a surprising amount of graphic sex scenes in this book. The scenes are not as graphic as some romance novels, but graphic nonetheless. This isn’t a criticism. I was just surprised.

I devoured this book in a matter of days because I couldn’t get enough of it. The characters, the world, the magic system, the intrigue, the deception, and the twists and turns make the Lightbringer series amazing. As soon as I get my hands on the next book, The Broken Eye I will be reading it immediately because I can feel a hangover coming on quick.

Have you read The Blinding Knife? What did you think?