Eye Opening

I have (very slowly) been working my way through the Lightbringer series by author Brent Weeks. I've blogged about the first two books -- and though it gets harder to share spoiler-free thoughts about the series as I get deeper in, I thought some kind of post was in order for book three, The Broken Eye.

This book sees a powerful major character brought low even as another character is learning to tap their own potential power (both magically and as a leader). One character bristles against restrictions imposed upon her for reasons she doesn't understand, while another character struggles to honor her own principles as she's both recruited and coerced by a shadowy organization.

The world of the Lightbringer remains an interesting one, though by this third book, it does seem as though Brent Weeks has fleshed it out to near full potential. (It's all about narrative now, with little "table setting.") That's okay; the light-and-color-based magic system may no longer be novel, but enough story arcs are now at play that such inventiveness is no longer required.

At least two of those story arcs seemed especially compelling to me in this book. Teia was first introduced in book two, and feels like the most important character in the story to me by this third volume. She seems to be at the most risk -- some by choice, some unavoidably -- and is the least confident in her own abilities to overcome that risk. Elsewhere in the book, Karris White Oak is on a slow journey of her own (perhaps too slow, at times), but it builds steadily to an exciting climax that tees things up wonderfully for the next book.

Though this series has bucked certain conventions of fantasy fiction at times, this book does not do so for its main protagonist, Kip. Having given himself five books to work with, Brent Weeks did not have to chart a direct "hero's journey" for the character; the greater space allowed more room for false starts, "side quests," and setbacks. But by this book, it certainly seems as though Kip is the sort of character archetype we expected him to be from the very beginning. I don't resent indulging such tropes in just one part of a sprawling volume, but nevertheless, this story line isn't really one of my favorite elements of the book.

Someone who seems not to be on a hero's journey is Gavin Guile. Over books one in two, he was clearly shown to have a dark side. We learned of his secrets, and suspect he has even more yet to be revealed. Though he did some heroic things, it doesn't seem that we were ever meant to think of him as a good guy. That said, he certainly spends this book being punished. He may well deserve it, but it becomes almost monotonous how he bounces from one misery to another. And it doesn't seem to be in an "act two, all is lost" sort of way that falls in the middle of most stories, either. I'm not sure how much more torture I can stand to see visited on one character -- not out of my feelings for that character, but out of the distastefulness of the repeated depictions.

All that said, I still enjoyed the book overall, and I still remain committed to finishing the series. Listening to them in audiobook format as I have been, and with each volume being a true doorstop of a tome, it's going to take a while. But I'm now past the halfway point, with just two more books to go. I give The Broken Eye a B+. And I suppose I'll be back later in the year with a few thoughts on book four.