Posts Tagged: Brent Weeks

The Broken Eye by Brent WeeksThe Broken Eye by Brent WeeksThe Broken Eye by Brent WeeksThe Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

Some part of Weeks’ original (and screamingly fast) success is the result of the bold and unique (at the time, one must remember) covers for his original trilogy. Generally, a publisher is able to bring this sort of branding along with an author, but the hooded man (and the minimalist cover style) became so popular that Weeks brand was essentially stolen by the genre at large. Seriously, blame him for the hooded man, for he unleashed that demon on the world. Orbit has done a great job of evolving the look of the series to feel unique and impactfully branded, despite incorporating one of the most (nay, the most) overused tropes in Fantasy covers. The hooded man is prevalent, but the bold (and series-appropriate) splashes of colour, contrasted sharply against the black background, is striking and immediately recognizable as a Weeks book. Read More »

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

Publisher: Orbit Books - Pages: 688 - Buy: Book/eBook
Cover Art for The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

My first exposure to Brent Weeks wasn’t through his fiction, though his first series, the Night Angel Trilogy, was popular among other bloggers and readers like myself. Instead, I was first exposed to Weeks through Twitter (@BrentWeeks). At some point long forgotten, Weeks and I began following each other. Me, a blogger with the potential to promote his books; him, an up-and-coming Fantasy writer who had the gall to not only finish a chunky Fantasy series in three books, but publish the whole trilogy over the course of only two months. I found Weeks to be funny and generous, and a passionate fan of Fantasy, with many similar authors littering the root of his passion and mine. Most pointedly, perhaps, was Terry Brooks, one of the forefathers of modern Fantasy.

So when his next trilogy was announced, a trilogy entirely unrelated to his previous work, I decided that I’d jump in there, not just out of curiosity, but because I now considered Weeks a friend, if one connected only by the thin threads of Twitter and Facebook. My reaction to the novel was somewhat mixed. For all its successes — a likeable set of protagonists, an interesting take on typical Epic Fantasy worldbuilding, a fresh magic system — it was littered with problems — clunky exposition, an overreliance on the reader being invested in a complicated magic system — and I finished the novel feeling somewhat perplexed about my opinions. I couldn’t even be sure whether I enjoyed it or not, or whether I was interested in reading further in the series. Instead of reviewing the novel, I put it aside and just sort of let it be. Read More »

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

On release date for The Blinding Knife, the second volume of Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer series, the author, through the Orbit Books blog, has news about a new addition to the series, a fourth (and supposedly final) volume to the series:

I’m happy to tell you that the Lightbringer Series will be four books. (No, don’t worry, I’m not floating down the Never-Ending Series River, though yes, I do feel the current!) I was always torn between three books and four for this series, and as I got working on book three, I realized I was going to have to cut way too much great stuff to fit the story into three books, so Orbit and I have agreed to a fourth book. Progress on the next one has been fantastic.

While it’s always disconcerting to hear that a Fantasy series ‘needs’ to be expanded, in light of the ‘Never-Ending Series River’ that Weeks mentions, especially a successful one, like Weeks’, I’m more confident than usual about this one. Weeks has proven through five novels that he crams more content, character development, action and plot into each volume of his series than most similar authors, so I don’t forsee a problem with turgid, meandering volumes that have ruined other Epic Fantasy series. And, hey, a fourth Lightbringer just means more fun for the rest of us, as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Tomorrow marks the release of The Blinding Knife, the second volume of Brent Weeks’ The Lightbringer series. It also happens to be one of my favourite novels of 2012, and I’d love for it, and the series in general, to make it into the hands of as many readers as possible. Thanks to Orbit Books, Weeks’ publisher, the first three chapters of The Black Prism, the first volume of The Lightbringer series, are available to devour, free of charge.

Read an excerpt from The Black Prism on the Orbit Books website.

It’s not as good as a free eBook, but it’s a good way to check out Weeks’ work. If you like what you see, keep an eye out for my upcoming review of The Blinding Knife, and I’ll tell you just why I fell so in love with Weeks’ novel.

Cover Art for The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

Gorgeous. Like, really gorgeous. And a step up even from the impressive early version that leaked a few weeks ago. I say this despite the hooded figure on the cover, which is saying something. It’ll look even more sharp if they end up using the foil-stamp technique that we saw on the paperback edition of The Black Prism. Good job to Lauren Panepinto, artists Shirley Green, Silas Manhood, and the Orbit Books crew.