--- product_id: 105082846 title: "The Black Prism (Lightbringer Book 1)" brand: "brent weeks" price: "€ 16.72" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/105082846-the-black-prism-lightbringer-book-1 store_origin: NL region: Netherlands --- # The Black Prism (Lightbringer Book 1) **Brand:** brent weeks **Price:** € 16.72 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Black Prism (Lightbringer Book 1) by brent weeks - **How much does it cost?** € 16.72 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nl](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/105082846-the-black-prism-lightbringer-book-1) ## Best For - brent weeks enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted brent weeks brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description In a world where magic is tightly controlled, the most powerful man in history must choose between his kingdom and his son in the first book in the epic NYT bestselling Lightbringer series. Guile is the Prism. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live. When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. If you loved the action and adventure of the Night Angel trilogy, you will devour this incredible epic fantasy series by Brent Weeks. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Asin | B003JTHY76 | | Book 1 Of 5 | Lightbringer | | Edition | 1st | | File Size | 5.6 MB | | Isbn 13 | 978-0316087544 | | Language | English | | Publication Date | August 25, 2010 | | Publisher | Orbit | | Screen Reader | Supported | | X Ray | Enabled | ## Images ![The Black Prism (Lightbringer Book 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91GEWagNhyL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The start of a promising fantasy series *by on Reviewed in the United States January 30, 2013* Black Prism is the start of Weeks' second fantasy series. It concerns a world with what may be the most unique magic system that I've seen in a fantasy series. This magic is entirely based on turning light solid, with the solid form of each color having both different properties and a different effect on the person casting this magic. Casters in this world are called Drafters. The majority have the ability to "draft" a single color, others may draft multiples. The greatest tragedy, however, is that casting color magic in this way is fatal - Drafters will inevitable go insane. An entire religion in this world has been built up based on controlling Drafters, including a tradition of suicide rather than madness. This religion is built around the "Prism", a person whom has the ability to take white light and shatter it into its component colors, drafting any of them. Prisms are considered the head of the religion, but have a lifespan that is measured in multiples of seven years. Small multiples; four is unheard of.The book centers around the current Prism - Gavin Guile. In so many ways, this is a story about a family dynasty and the effects that it has had on the setting. Before the book, Gavin fought a war with his brother (Dazen) over who would be Prism. The results of this war set the stage for basically every character in the book - a list which includes the brother, whom has been kept secretly captive for the entire gap of time.The action focuses on the viewpoint of just a few characters and in this neatly avoids a trap that many other epic fantasy has fallen into. This includes Gavin, Dazen, Gavin's newly discovered bastard son Kip, Gavin's ex-fiance Karris, Corvan; a General from the war, and his daughter. These characters are, in fact, tightly entwined - a fact which gives the book an extremely strong focus.Other than the magic concept, one of the strongest points for this author is characterization. Every one of the characters listed above are actual people - the author takes great care to flesh them out, give them motivations that extend beyond "being good". Each character, in the course of the book and before, does things that a reader would find terrible; sometimes in the pursuit of the greater good and sometimes not. This extends to the primary villain of the book, whom I've taken care not to say much about (the book hinges on several revelations, of which this is just one). His motivations are such that it is somewhat easy for the reader to sympathize with the goals, if not necessarily the methods.As stated - the plot is tight and well thought-out. The book hinges on several revelations, one of which comes very early. Each of these revelations makes sense in the scope of the plot; as you hit them, you can understand where they are coming from. Further, the writing is top-notch. The best example for this, as far as I'm concerned is chapter 78. The author presents two separate, entwined scenes that serve as point/counter-point better than any that I've seen before. Further, he does a great job of showing a weapon early in the book, that you know will end up involved in the climax. Really, the only negative I have is that the prisoner plotline starts and seems to end with no actual progress being made. I suspect this thread will be followed up in a future book, but its the only thread like that in the book.Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new fantasy series in the wake of the end of Wheel of Time. Its a long read, and thus far the author thinks that it will require four books for the full telling of it. There's no real indication if this will become the kind of bloated mess that Wheel of Time (in the middle) and Storm of Ice and Fire has devolved into, in my opinion. That said - the scripting is tight enough that I have hope it won't. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Black Prism Review *by on Reviewed in the United States May 5, 2025* The Black Prism is a strong and promising start to what sets up to be an epic fantasy series. Brent Weeks wastes no time throwing readers into a vividly original world, anchored by one of the most fascinating magic systems I’ve encountered in fantasy—Chromaturgy, the art of drafting light into solid luxin. The way color ties into emotion, personality, and even a drafter’s lifespan adds depth and consequence to every use of magic. I found myself wishing Weeks had included more detailed breakdowns—either within the narrative or as appendices—on each color’s specific properties, emotional associations, and how they manifest uniquely in each drafter. The system is rich, but it leaves you hungry for more structured understanding.Similarly, the different ethnic groups and nations—like the Ruthgari, Parian, and Blood Forest tribes—are introduced quickly and sometimes without much context. It can be disorienting to track which people belong to which culture, and how those cultures intersect politically and historically. A map or glossary of factions would’ve gone a long way in grounding the worldbuilding for readers trying to fully immerse themselves.Character-wise, Gavin and Kip are standout leads. Gavin—charismatic, powerful, and deeply conflicted—carries the burden of impossible secrets with grace and grit. Kip, on the other hand, is a refreshing protagonist: awkward, overweight, uncertain of himself, but fiercely determined. Their individual arcs are compelling on their own, but it’s their evolving relationship—full of tension, mentorship, and mystery—that truly drives the heart of the story. Both are wrestling with inner demons, and it’s their struggle for identity, purpose, and truth that makes the narrative more than just an action-packed fantasy.The plot twist near the end—without spoiling anything—was unexpected and brilliantly executed. It recontextualizes everything we thought we knew and sets the stage for a far more complex narrative in the books to come.Overall, The Black Prism is a brilliant entry point to the Lightbringer series. With high-stakes magic, morally complex characters, and a world teetering on the edge of revolution, it promises a journey that’s as emotionally resonant as it is thrilling. I’m excited to dive deeper into the series and see how the light—and shadows—continue to evolve. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Incredible, unique magic system and expansive world. New favorite series! *by on Reviewed in the United States September 4, 2019* In The Black Prism, magic is based on colors, where drafters can create a solid form from the different colors in light waves. Each color creates a different texture and has a different property. But the more you draft color, the closer you come to your death because the magic is slowly killing you.I have been looking forward to reading the Lightbringer series for quite a while, and that small bit about how the magic system worked was all I knew before starting. I didn’t know about the plot at all, but knowing about the color magic that slowly kills its user was enough to hook me into reading the book. While I’ve been excited to read this series, I’ve also felt a bit intimidated because each book is 600-700 pages and I knew it would be a commitment. I shouldn’t have been scared to start the series though because this book was so easy to read. I fell right into the story, even with the new and complex magic system, and I found myself engrossed in the plot and the characters and the magic. I usually can’t sit and read for hours on end but with this book I found it to be easy to do just that. I never wanted to put it down, but life’s duties kept calling.I actually started this book by reading through the whole glossary and appendix because, a few chapters in, I already had questions and I didn’t want to be confused. This helped me understand the magic system and the world right from the beginning, which I found to be super useful. This is one of those books that I constantly kept referencing the information at the back to keep everything straight in my mind, and I’m so glad the author included these reference materials.I’m also grateful for the map because I love to reference locations as they’re mentioned in the story. The only problem I had was that the map is upside down—South is at the top—and it took me five minutes of staring at it to realize this. I hope this has some important meaning we find out later because otherwise what’s the point of an upside-down map?The description of the Chromeria with colorful buildings that turn to always be facing the sun sounds so neat and I wish I could see a city like that in real life, or at least some fanart depiction of it. But as much as I love the Chromeria so far, I feel like it is actually not a very good place.This book had some pretty great characters. Gavin was a really neat protagonist. I enjoyed learning about him as the Prism and what those duties entail as far as keeping all the colors balanced in the world. He has a lot of secrets, and I loved discovering snippets of these throughout the story. For example, what are his seven purposes? I really want to know!I also rather enjoyed Kip and the mystery surrounding his parentage because it was clear from the beginning that Gavin wasn’t telling anyone the full story. We got bits and pieces along the way, and I love a good mystery aspect in a book. Although I will say that Kip was rather impulsive at times. He would blurt out offensive statements then immediately be like “crap why did I say that?” I just wasn’t sure why he was acting that way but I guess that’s just who he is.I still don’t know how I feel about Dazen. It’s interesting that we learned right from the beginning that he wasn’t dead as everyone suspected, and I’m curious to see how this will play out in future books. Because of very spoilery reasons, I actually feel sorry for him right now.Karris was okay. I mostly just felt like she was angry the whole time, but I guess part of that can be expected because of her history with Gavin. I kept waiting for her to learn the full truth because I wanted so badly to see her reaction. I think I will like her more as the series progresses.I really liked Liv from the first chapter. And knowing what her mission was and that the Prism didn’t know what or who she was in the beginning just added to the suspense and made me even more excited to keep reading about her. Plus I really like that she’s a superviolet drafter. For some reason, that’s the most interesting color to me, so I loved seeing what she could do with it. Also, she has me very intrigued with what she could do given her position at the end of the book. I’m very excited to see her character progression.Even though I know Lord Omnichrome is the villain and a terrible person, I can’t help but agree with some of his ideals. What he says about the Chromeria makes sense in a way. The good are not always fully good and the bad are not always fully bad. I’m very curious to see how his beliefs affect other characters and the rest of the story in other books.One minor problem I had was the writing style at times. Weeks’s writing was good for the most part but occasionally he would explain something and I wouldn’t understand what he was saying and I would be confused about that aspect of the world or magic system. I did have to reread a few paragraphs because of this issue, but for the most part, I thought the writing was good.One thing, though, that was kind of jarring about Weeks’s writing style was that thoughts in the first person were not italicized. It really threw me off for the first few chapters that I saw it, but it gradually became a normal part of the story and I stopped noticing it as much. I thought this was an interesting way to approach writing in third person, and even though I didn’t think I would like it, I did. It was kind of like third-person limited mixed with first-person.Something else I didn’t really like was how long the final battle scene was. It was almost two hundred pages long, and by the end, I was just exhausted of reading about the drafters fighting. I much preferred the non-combat scenes of the book. I’m positive there will be many more fight scenes in the later books, so I can only hope they do not last as long or they are written in a way that is more entertaining to me. I was fine with the first three-fourths, but during the very ending I was just wanting to be done with battle and I didn’t really care what happened anymore.This book was very compelling, not only because of the story itself, but also because each chapter ended on a cliffhanger but the next chapter would be a new character’s perspective. I had to keep reading to find out what happened next for each of the five character perspectives. It’s been awhile since I read a book like this, one where I was actually excited to know what would happen next in such a way.Overall, I thought The Black Prism was a fantastic book. It has a very unique and impressive magic system, a well-built world, a great cast of characters, some mysterious aspects, intense fight scenes, vivid imagery, and a compelling plot. The writing did take some getting used to in the beginning, but eventually I came to enjoy it. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for an enthralling fast-paced epic fantasy. I’m very much looking forward to where this series takes me on its journey.“Moments of beauty sustain us through hours of ugliness.” --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nl/products/105082846-the-black-prism-lightbringer-book-1](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/105082846-the-black-prism-lightbringer-book-1) --- *Product available on Desertcart Netherlands* *Store origin: NL* *Last updated: 2026-08-15*