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I'm going to say that I liked this, because I did. Really liked it? Hmm, no, I don't think so.
I really liked the opening - Brent Weeks has a real talent for introducing his characters and putting you right in the action without losing you. But, later, I did find I got a bit lost. There were twists and turns and double-crosses that, eventually, I stopped "backing" some characters - I just didn't care anymore. And the main love interest, Elene ... she got a bit boring. I was actually rooting for Kylar to change his mind and go after Vi - she was cool and deserved some happiness. I think it was her flaws that drew me to her, actually.
It's an enjoyable enough read, with shades of real promise. I can see why it's popular; Mr Weeks does have some talent.
I'm glad I read [b:The Black Prism|7165300|The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327921884s/7165300.jpg|7534979] before I read this. I fear that if I'd read this first, I wouldn't have picked up Mr Weeks' latest offering. Maybe/Maybe not hard to know for sure. But the newer offering shows signs of improvement in my opinion. I've already ordered my copy of the next book!

I liked it. But, I'm not going to go raving about it - partly because I'm sure anyone who's interested has already heard about it, and partly because it lacked something I seek when I read: a real connection to the characters. And, I can accept that. I don't think that was the goal of this book. So, that's fine. It's YA. It's brief. It creates a sense of drama and suspense.
But, it also felt formulaic. Not least because it was actually divided into three parts ... 3-Act structure, anyone? Right off the bat I thought "This was written to be turned into a movie". To me, it was written for a movie-watching audience. That's not a terrible thing. And, it was a fun ride.
Oh, the other thing was that I thought it was way older than it is. It totally surprised me to see the "First published in 2008" in there. Why? Because I am sure I've seen a movie on this idea previously. With adults rather than kids, but still. So, no, it didn't feel it was totally original and wow.
That's not to say it's not good. It's an enjoyable and (for me) light read.
I know some people would be like "What? Light?!" (where is that interrobang key?). But, yes, for me, light. I wasn't drawn into Katniss. And so, I didn't feel the losses. The drama felt designed to make me feel the losses, but I didn't. I think it's a show vs tell thing. We were told that Rue reminded Katniss of Prim. So, we could see that it would be sad for Katniss to see anything happen to that wee girl. But, because of the brevity of the book, a lot of the real meat of the characters was skipped over. So, no, I didn't feel much. I read it. And it kept me interested in just how things would turn out (I mean, it was obvious (people were gonna die, Katniss was gonna survive), but there were enough little twists to keep the "just how is she gonna play this?" alive).
It's a good YA story. And, it's worth considering the ideas presented. But, no, it's not my favourite read. I'm sure the movie is good, though.

So, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ... in this case, it was fair for me to. When I was looking to randomly spend some money on a new book or two, I saw this series, but, instead chose Brent Weeks' later effort [b:The Black Prism|7165300|The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327921884s/7165300.jpg|7534979]. Why? Because the covers of this series screamed "Teenage boys' dream" to me ... And, that's how it read to me, too. Granted, I did enjoy it, but it lacked a certain something that I was after.

This is a first novel from an accomplished writer.

It started strong - we met our main character, Azoth (later Kylar), and his friends and saw their dismal life. We rooted for Azoth to get out of there, and to get his friends out, too. Great start. I care.
I think the trouble started when Mr Weeks started to get all the twists and turns in there. Twists and turns are great - keep the reader guessing. Only, don't keep the reader guessing so much that they no longer know who to care for because they might actually turn out to be a bad guy ...

I think other reviewers have mentioned this lull. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but I think it was a growing confusion, or, maybe a stepping-back because I was too busy concetrating on all the dropping hints to stay with the characters. Whatever it was, it was there.

My other gripe would have to be the love story. It was such a huge part of the story, but we never got to know the love interest, Elene, not really, and so, I didn't really care. We knew Kylar found her attractive and "pure", but we didn't know her. If he had had his head turned by another girl, I would have accepted it ... just sayin'. It meant that when things finally went their way, I was turning from the page, finger pointed down throat, going "urgh!" On a brighter note - now I know that boys do like to read romance just as much as girls.

However, having read Brent Weeks' later novel [b:The Black Prism|7165300|The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327921884s/7165300.jpg|7534979], I know he has improved as a writer/storyteller. With that in mind, I expect this series to improve as it goes on. So, I will be reading the rest. Question is, do I wait for my order to turn up, or do I need to go get the next book out of the library?

'You gotta read this! No, really. C'mon, there's a maa-aap.'

Yes, I am one of the sad saps who read to the end of the acknowledgements.

OK, so I'm not entirely certain how I feel about some of the characters. But, I did feel rather attached to one in particular (and even him I'm not totally sure about how perfectly moral he is ... but, mostly he tries), and that counts for a lot. Would I like to read the next one? Yeah, I'd be tempted to give it a go. Only problem I see is if my fave character bows out too early. But, I can see a chance he might make it a bit longer. If so, then I'm sure I could go the whole trilogy.

I really like this idea of light magic - the visual imaginings were fun (picturing people with bright lights flashing out of their hands and the like). Yeah, it was cool.

It could have been a huge risk having a super powerful protagonist, but he has enough issues going on around him that he has the potential for everything to come crashing down any minute ... that's a pretty big weakness.

Kip, I didn't totally gel with. Don't know if I ever will. But, maybe his recklessness can be put down to his being a teen. I don't know. I think what bothered me most was how quick he went from "Poor me" to "Die you bastards" several times ... and it just seemed to happen. As the book progressed we got a little more internalization that let us see the switch, but there were a few times I missed it, and it threw me off kilter as far as Kip goes.

And, I wish that Dazen wasn't called Dazen. I can't pronounce it in a way that sounds sexy to me at all. And I so, so wanted to ...

95 relatively short chapters still adds up to a lot of words. But, there was a point in there where I didn't want them to stop ... and, yes, I am going to miss one or two of these guys while I wait on the next volume. So, I consider that a victory for Mr Weeks. Well done, that man.

30 January 2012: And this is where I admit... I would NOT have picked up this book if it had had the new cover... The cover I picked up (the one associated with my review) drew me in... But, I guess they want a different kind of reader...