The Broken Eye & The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks (4.2 Stars)

As the old gods awaken, the Chromeria is in a race to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe, Gavin Guile. But Gavin's enslaved on a galley, and when he finally escapes, he finds himself in less than friendly hands. Without the ability to draft which has defined him . . .


Meanwhile, the Color Prince's army continues its inexorable advance, having swallowed two of the seven satrapies, they now invade the Blood Forest. Andross Guile, thinking his son Gavin lost, tasks his two grandsons with stopping the advance. Kip and his psychopathic half-brother Zymun will compete for the ultimate prize: who will become the next Prism. 

And in book 4:
Stripped of both magical and political power, the people he once ruled told he's dead, and now imprisoned in his own magical dungeon, former Emperor Gavin Guile has no prospect of escape. But the world faces a calamity greater than the Seven Satrapies has ever seen... and only he can save it.
As the armies of the White King defeat the Chromeria and old gods are born anew, the fate of worlds will come down to one question: Who is the Lightbringer?

Premise: How compelling or unique is the overview of the story?
----- 9/10: By this point, we know the story. It's fully realized and all the pieces are on the board. The previous entries in the series have set events in motion, and the reader's task is to keep our head above water with a twisting plot that's executed at breakneck speed.

Plot: How well does the action of the story fulfill or even expand the potential of the premise?
----- 7/10: The plot was frustrating to me. There were unexpected twists and excellent payoffs, so perhaps I'm being critical here, but I felt lost with the import of certain events. It felt like I didn't always know the stakes, especially now that we're delving into a more extraterrestrial threat. We move away from the main conflict against the Color Prince, who is content to take it easy and let our heroes cut their teeth on politics for a couple books. After the events of books one and two I felt like three and four dialed things down unexpectedly.

Characters: Overall feelings towards the characters. Are they memorable? Exciting? Human? Do we even like them?
----- 10/10: As always, the Lightbringer characters shine brightest. These guys are real human beings, and experience tremendous growth. They consistently jump off the pages.

Pacing: How strong is the momentum of the story? Is it hard to put the book down?
----- 8/10: I had a hard time putting these books down, so I'm probably being overly critical. At the same time, I do think there were some issues here with the focus of the action. We're spending a lot of time with politics and espionage and secret organizations that all seem like side shows to the real looming conflicts.

Prose: Does the author have strong writing skills? Is the text easy and enjoyable to read and not jarring or distracting?
----- 9/10: Typically for me, I like Weeks' writing more and more as I've gone along. Actually picked up his first trilogy (Night Angel) and wow, it's obvious he's grown as a writer.

Depth: Do elements of the story combine to form an immersive setting? Is it easy to visualize and well thought out?
----- 8/10: Again, I question some choices here. Seems like these books could have doubled down on the first two and continued to drive home the initial conflict but have instead opened up another can of worms, essentially opting for breadth over depth. We'll see how the final book is able to wrap this expanding conflict up!

Epic-ness: Are cool things happening? Are story elements used to creating plot action that is exciting and satisfying?
----- 8/10: The climatic scene of The Broken Eye was amazing: a rampaging, gun-slinging escape.
 Other than that, these books mostly relied on character plot twists (which are done well, and on an impressive scale). You're really never sure exactly what is going on in some respects. Which can be a little maddening.

Total: 59/70: For as much as I loved reading these two books, they have real issues when you really dive into some of the plot mechanics. That said, there is still plenty to like and this is easily one of my favorite fantasy series ever.

Content warning: Both books have harsh language and book 4 especially has sexual content