The Black Prism Review by Brent Weeks

Just as he did with Mistborn, Weeks has done it again.

I finished reading this book some time ago and I’ll have to say, it was very good. The first 20% or so drug a bit and it seemed that it may end up on the shallow side. After that the character development takes off and so do the dynamic twists that leave you begging for more. Seriously, this book contains some great plot devices with the twists executed with perfection.

While the magic system is very original (based on the color spectrum and light reflection) it feels a bit stretched at times. I had trouble fully understanding and grasping how it worked or even what is really going on. There is a definite, defined structure to the basis of the magic being used but to say exactly what is happening when users are “drafting” (the word used for creating/using solidified color. Here is a blurb on the system:

“When a candle burns, a physical substance (wax) is transformed into light. Chromaturgy in The Black Prism is the inverse: A drafter transforms light into a physical substance (luxin). Each different color of luxin has its own strength, weight, and even smell: blue luxin is hard, red is gooey, yellow is liquid, etc. But even as drafters change the world, the luxin changes them too, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The color change of a drafter’s eyes is only the beginning…”

A fan of fantasy can’t read that and not be interested, come on!

I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan out there but don’t expect your traditional sword and sorcery.

How I rate books

I have a slightly different rating system for books than I do for, say, movies or television shows. For the latter I typically rank them with a star system, the traditional 1 – 10. I find this very hard to do for books for some reason. There are so many factors that go into make a “great” book or a “good” book. I can’t explain it but it just doesn’t feel right to give a numerical or arbitrary ranking to books, at least for me.

Instead, I use a tier system. I would also like to say that I cannot take credit for this as an original idea of mine, a close friend of mine whom is also an avid reader, introduced me to this abstractly.

The way the system works is pretty easy and most people would probably believe it to be cop-out for not having to be decisive enough to “rate” (again, this is typically synonymous with a numerical system). Many people would find this system open to being subjective, and I’m not sure I could disagree, but then again, it is my system .

The basics is that I have three tiers with the first being reserved for the best of the best. To get a feel of what falls into Tier 1 think LoTR, The Bell Jar, Dracula, the Harry Potter series and Name of the Wind. Fairly selective.

Second being reserved for those books that I really enjoyed but that I could qualify as “elite” or “special”.  Most books I review on this site as favorable would fall into this category. Examples being most of The Sword of Truth series (with the exception of books 1 and 5 which would make it into Tier 1) and the Night Angel trilogy. Good stuff, but certainly not elite.

The third tier is typically books that I enjoyed and would probably recommend (to certain audiences most likely) but would rarely or ever read again and really had no lasting impact on me. Percy Jackson series falls into this category.

So there you go, hope this doesn’t confuse. My movie rating are much simpler to comprehend .

What I’m reading now

* Black Prism – This book sort of surprised me. I was expecting it to be released on 8/31 and instead it was released on 8/25.  I later confirmed that this was indeed an early release. Why? I don’t know, I find it odd but it was a very pleasant surprise.  So far it is good. Just as he did in The Night Angel Trilogy, Brent Weeks is introducing a new and very interesting new school of magic, this time dealing with colors. I’m not going to describe it here but you really need to check it out. I honestly wouldn’t care if Brent Weeks continues this throughout his career. I’m a sucker for schools of magic and he can write trilogies around new ones from here to kingdom-come for all I care.

* Red Pyramid – First book of The Kane Chronicles, Rick Riordan’s follow up to the Percy Jackson series, this time based on Egyptian gods/goddesses. This will be one of those that I pick my way through in short spurts. Not bad so far, feels different enough from PJ for me to justify it so far.

* WoT Book Four: Way of Shadows - Started this next installment when I thought I had a while to wait for Black Prism (and Way of Kings). Still trudging…

* Making the Bible Work for You – Fun book, picking through it at times.

REMEMBER: Brian Sanderson’s The Way of Kings is being released on 8/31!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Short Series Review

So, I didn’t finish Dragon Reborn. I did read two more chapters though…

What I did do though is finish The Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. Overall I really enjoyed it. I do have a few critiques however:

• There were certain parts and sections that seem to drag on and on, especially towards the end of the book. The final battle is approximately the last half of the last book and somehow it just ends up being boring when all is said and done. There was some great action and great individual story-arcs but it just didn’t all mesh for some reason. I contribute this to the author trying to wrap up every loose-end and try to continue the action. In this regard, Rawling he isn’t.
• There are a LOT of characters in this series and it can get confusing at times, even for an adult (me). I’ve always been a big fan of Greek Mythology but the hardest thing is trying to keep up the names of all the varying gods and what they are actually patrons of. This series suffers from that. One thing that would help would be an index in each book listing the names gods, their “areas of interest”, their powers and their children. I would love to see that. George R.R. Martin did a great job with this in his Ice and Fire series for all his characters, he also updates it at the end of each book to reflect deaths etc.
• I am NOT an authority on Greek Mythology but I just can’t buy that the son of Poseidon should be as powerful as Percy is in regards to the other demigods. I guess the moral is that you can be as strong as you want to be? Hard work, dedication and loyalty pay off in the end? His name is a direct correlation of Perseus, a son of Zeus, and even reenacts some of his feats (slaying Medusa for one example).

Overall this is a great series for kids, pre-teens and adults who are obsessed with Fantasy (I know I can’t be the only one) . I don’t think the teen crowd would hang on much past the first book however do to not being able to overlook the cheesiness factor.

Wheel of Time – again…

Okay, tonight I will finish up The Dragon Reborn (Book 3 of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan). I have no idea why I struggle so much with this book/series. This is at least my third attempt at it and have yet to make it through this single book. The strange thing is that I really enjoy it. The writing is excellent, the story is as fantasy as fantasy gets, the characters (and their development) are phenomenal.

Don’t get me wrong, as an avid fantasy reader I am absolutely ashamed that I was not up to date on this series a decade ago (see above rant). I will be update in 12 months, guaranteed.

Percy Jackson – book and movie

For a set of kid/teen books I have really enjoyed this series thus far. I’m a sucker for a rich world and a defined “rule set” which Rick Riordan has given us. I’m not going to go into a full review here but if you are at all a fan of hero stories and/or mythology in general I highly recommend the Olympian series. Obviously lighter reading than most since it is targeted at a younger audience. When my kids are old enough to read at that level this will most likely be the first series I put in their hands. Harry Potter will come shortly thereafter but it is another level up the skill tree imo where reading comprehension and ability are concerned.

The movie was different. Recently I have came to understand that I MUST judge a book and its screenplay adaptation as two separate entities. It is my natural instinct to critique a screenplay/movie on how closely it matches the book (or series) it is based on. I know believe that is not the right approach, they should be treated individually. I’m probably only saying this because if I didn’t make myself believe, I would hate nearly every movie adaptation ever done.

That being said, The Lightning Thief movie is pretty good. It gets the point across without dragging the movie out past two hours. Has great graphics and a descent script. This movie is packed full of big time actors including Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson and Catherine Keener (who I think is one of the most underrated actresses in Hollywood).  Quite a ridiculous cast if you ask me. The actor playing Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) pretty much stole the movie and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t start seeing a lot more of Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth) and Logan Lerman (Percy). I would def recommend pre-teens/teens/adults who were fans of the book to catch the movie but you may want to hold back on the little ones as it does have a few more “bad words” than I would have imagined in it.

Book Reviews

So I’ve currently read several series of books and I’d like to throw out a shout out if anyone is looking for something to read currently.

• The Gentleman Bastard Series by Scott Lynch – Perhaps the most non-fantasy of everything on the list but it still has something that I have to put it into that category. Not much magic being thrown around here but what a great, great story. Two books are currently out, The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies. Seven books are planned with the third, The Republic of Thieves, coming Spring 2011.
• Mistborn Trilogy by Brian Sanderson – You may recognize him as the cat who took over the Wheel of Time empire with the passing of Robert Jordan but his is original work from him and it is good. It is in the fantasy genre and fairly typical. Main character is female starting about halfway through book 1 (Mistborn) which proves to be very interesting. Superb  character development and a great back-story make this original IP from Sanderson worth the read. More info at http://www.brandonsanderson.com/book/Mistborn.
• Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks – Much more gritty than most “main-stream” fantasy this set of books focusing on a deadly assassin is another great change of pace series. With essences of magic, horror, mystery and some-how even Sci-fi this is another must read series. More info at http://www.brentweeks.com/
• Seventh Swordsman Trilogy by Dave Duncan – This is both your typical sword fantasy and, then again, not at the same time.  Not packed with traditional magic, however without it the story would exist. Very interesting premise and a good read. Lighter fare than normal. More info at http://www.daveduncan.com/ss/reluctant.html
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – I could very easily go on a long diatribe about how much I enjoyed this first book or Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles and how it the best stuff I’ve read since Ice and Fire.  However Orson Scott Card summed it up much more elegantly than I ever could: “Not a word of the nearly-700-page book is wasted. Rothfuss does not pad. He’s the great new fantasy writer we’ve been waiting for, and this is an astonishing book.” Read it now. More info at http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp

With those listed here is what I’m looking forward to soon. More are on the horizon but I’ll post those when they are closer:

• Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. First book is The Black Prism and due 8/2010
• Stormlight Archives by Brian Sanderson. First book is The Way of Kings and is due 8/31/2010.

…gone?

Haven’t posted much, life has been hectic and boring at the same time.

I have been reading the second book in the Song of Fire and Ice series, Clash of Kings. It is very good, probably better than the first one.

I thought the Super Bowl was an excellent game. Wasn’t too impressed with the commercials but I’m one of the few people I know that could care less I suppose. That being said I was very impressed with the trailers for G.I. Joe and Transformers 2. I also thought that the new Land of the Lost with Will Farley looks like it has potential.

BTW, both Chuck and Heroes started again this past Monday and both had great episodes.

I am planning on watching a few new movies in the coming week so I’m sure I’ll post a review or two.

Balance update

Well, contrary to my last post it seems that balance is becoming harder to keep. After some thought and reflection I’ve determined this might be an issue with my initial thought on what constitute balance and my aspirations.  So far the only issue I’m having (seemingly) is practicing the guitar. For all the other things that I like to do (read, play games, watch t.v., watch movies, surf the net) I don’t mind take a night (or even two) off especially if it means adding something new or partaking of something else in my list. However I have a real problem with NOT practicing my guitar, especially for more than one night in a row. However if I want to watch a movie with my wife or play a game with my friends for a little longer one night it must be sacrificed.

Let’s take last night for example. We went out to eat and went to bit of shopping and did not get home until well after 8:00pm. By the time we got the groceries put away and got my daughter to bed it was after 9:00pm and I have less then 2 hours of free time.  When you say it out loud or read it that seems like a long time but let me tell you, it’s NOT. So I grab a snack, log on to my computer for a few minutes to check some news and blogs, I look up and it’s 10:00! I have an hour to read, practice play etc. I quickly pick up my guitar and practice for about 30 mins. I really want to read some and make progress on my book so I quick practicing and pick up my book. I read about 4 chapters and it’s 11:00. Obviously I have to work today and need sleep so I quickly pack my lunch and get to bed. I felt pretty good about it since I squeezed in everything but I didn’t feel satisfied about any of them. I didn’t practice long enough and I really wanted to see what that next chapter in my book held.

Now not EVERY night is the same as last night but to be honest most nights are. I rarely do anything like read or practice while my daughter is up so that leaves 2-3 hours a night.

Still working on it.

New robots.txt for the Whitehouse website

This is a bit technical (and nerdy) but I thought it was very interesting.

Follow this link to see the robots.txt file for whitehouse.gov from yesterday and then a resived version for today. Dramatic difference, I suppose change may really be on the way.

FYI, the robots.txt file is a special file included in website (or on the web servers) that tells search engines (such as Google) what to include and not include (“ignore”) when they crawl the site and see what people can find in their searches (include in their indexes).