The Broken Eye

I picked this up right after I finished The Blinding Knife. Between books 1 and 2, I had to wait, and I forgot a lot. Because I got around to book 2 so late, I could grab this (book 3) right afterwards. So I ended up enjoying this a lot, because I wanted to see what happened. I, personally, wasn't disappointed, although I can see how some people would be.First off, if you were a fan of Gavin, he's not very interesting in this book. He has a moment of triumph midway through, but mostly, he's either a galley slave chained to an oar or a (stationary) prisoner. You also don't hear a whole lot about the war between the Chromeria (essentially the ruling body of the Seven Satrapies, the nation where the books take place) and the Color Prince (a man leading a rebellion against the Chromeria because he doesn't like some of their policies). The character Liv was the only POV character in the Color Prince's camp, and she's left it to go on a mission, so the war kind of takes a back seat (although, of course, it's influencing what goes on at the Chromeria). At any rate, if you want more Gavin and/or more of the military conflict, you will likely be disappointed. Also, Kip and some of his friends leave the Chromeria on a mission they choose very near the end of the book. I can see how this could be construed as the storyline taking a rather drastic turn, but I don't think it is. Anyone in a training program has to graduate or leave the program at some point. And what Kip says he's going to do will weave the Color Prince's part of the story back with the events from book 3. So this part didn't bother me.One other thing that bears mention -- book 2 had a lot of information about the card game known as Nine Kings. That's taken even further here. And I am starting to realize just how much the Nine Kings cards are like Steven Erikson's Deck of Dragons from the Malazan books. Plus, I couldn't help but feel like a large part of this book was based on a Magic: the Gathering card game come to life or something. I know the author needed some mechanism through which to funnel bits of background information at key times, hints about prophecies, etc. I'm not thrilled at his ultimate choice. But I did still mostly enjoy the book, despite that.This book is mostly Kip's, Teia's, and Karris's, and all are sympathetic. All undergo major changes, although Kip's is more gradual and Teia's and Karris's happen at the end.Kip is coming into his power, finally. He is physically transforming (he still thinks of himself as a fat kid, but he's lost a lot of weight and filled out with muscle). He's still awkward around women. But he realizes that he has friends, for the first time ever. And he has a sense of purpose. (Thankfully, he's still unable to stop himself from making snarky retorts.) This series really is Kip's series, I think, but I'm happy that the author has made some of the other characters compelling and sympathetic.Teia starts to come into her own, as well, although she irritates me at first. She falls for something early on, with respect to her manumission papers (she was formerly a slave), that I'm not sure I buy. A semi-plausible case is made later for why she does what she does. Teia's storyline involves a character who goes by the cheery name of "Murder Sharp." Mr. Sharp is really uncomfortable to read about. I found myself dreading his scenes and I am not sure why. Perhaps Mr. Weeks has just done a very good job of making this character creepy. Oddly, though, Sharp is not a one-dimensional villain, as characters of this type too often turn out to be. So I think I am going to chalk up my reaction to skill on the part of the author. At any rate, Teia does a few things at great risk to herself and finally starts to show some mettle. And she shows loyalty to those who are kind to her. I find her suitably complex.Karris, meanwhile, is struggling with a lot of things. She married Gavin and now she has no idea where he is. She can't be in the Blackguard any more because members of the Blackbuard aren't allowed to be romantically involved with those (e.g., Gavin) they are supposed to be protecting. She is looking for a place in the world and she does eventually find one. And I think she will fit into her new role quite well in book 4 (plus, an interesting power dynamic is set up in her story thread towards the end).Because the Color Prince is largely out of the picture for this book, there are a lot of different adversaries for our heroes. Zymun, formerly (and perhaps still?) a supporter of the Color Prince reenters the picture. No one is quite sure what Andross Guile's (Kip's grandfather) plans are. The Order of the Broken Eye, a group of assassins Kip first encountered in book 2, gives its name to the book and is mostly involved with Teia's storyline. You never really know where any one character's loyalties lie, whom you can trust, etc. That's been hinted at all along, but is really driven home by the final (non-epilogue) scene. Every kind action, every statement on the part of certain characters now seems in doubt (or at least, the motivation for these acts and statements is questionable where it wasn't before).In sum, yeah, there were a few things that bothered me about this book. But I found most of the POV characters to be sympathetic (despite their flaws), I thought the pace was pretty good (although some of Gavin's scenes dragged), and I find myself looking forward to the final confrontation in book 4. I liked the ending of this one a lot more than the ending of book 2. It wasn't a double cliffhanger like last time, first of all. It offered hope but also a hint of peril. And there were some revelations that made me question all kinds of events from the past two books. I wish I didn't have to wait so long for book 4 to be published...

But a little explicit at times. Ok, a lot explicit. Really good though. It pulled me along like Red Rising.

Loving this series! Excellent character development, unique system of magic, and an immersive world. Good read and would definitely recommend!

This book was not perfect. Let's get that out of the way first. There are some issues with Weeks' storytelling techniques. That said, this book was stronger than the previous two in the series. The story takes several unforeseen turns in this book and the scope broadens considerably.Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. This author continues to rely far too heavily on Deus Ex Machina. Too many plot points are generated by random coincidence, impossibly bad luck or timing and just generally unlikely occurrences. It has reached the point where it is a bit off-putting. The amount of times that an incredibly unlucky series of events creates drama or tension in this book is excessive. There also seems to be frequent artificial compression of time. All of a sudden, several important things will happen all at once and there is often no logical reason why that would be the case. These are things that you can get away with in a good story but not if you do it too frequently.There is also the issue of the continued struggle for the main characters to safely store important items or information. For some reason, in a world in which there are giant rotating islands, there doesn't seem to be a reliable way to put something important in a safe place. There are no safes or lock boxes apparently. The bane of the main characters' existence is someone simply entering their room while they are not at home. Again, this could have been used once or twice in the series to good effect but it's just excessive that there seems to be no solution to this problem no matter how long they live at the Chromeria.Complaints out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. This book really delves deeper into the history of the world that the story takes place in. You learn a lot about the larger context and it serves to greatly enrich the overall narrative. The evolution of many of the characters is really impressive and the author clearly has solid insight into human psychology and emotional development. Gavin, in particular, is made to examine his own beliefs and perceptions. He goes through hell and we actually begin to see the corner he has painted himself into.As for Kip; he has become a very interesting character. While some of his changes seem to come on a bit too quickly, he clearly evolves both intellectually and emotionally in this book and has become a much more interesting protagonist. He also evolves physically, although perhaps the author has a bit to learn about physical fitness. A teenager who spends an entire year training with an elite military unit rigorously (and goes through a period of extended starvation) would not still be fat.Other characters like Teia and Andross are also really well written in this book but the plot is the star of the show. It's genuinely unpredictable and the author never falls back on black and white, good versus evil tropes. I'm excited to continue reading.

Perteneciente a una de las sagas de mas renombre de la fantasia. Conseguirlo me obligó a conseguir los otros dos, tristemente solo los pude conseguir em pasta blanda y se ven chaparritos a su lado.

pois toda escuridao e cegueira deve ser queimadae para o bem disso ocorra!amen de Deus... vem a fonte

The story moves forward, albeit at a much more placid rate than previous books. Hopefully, the author won't fall into the trap of focusing on philosophy and prose as the series goes on.

Superbe histoire de Fantasy, de très haute qualité ! Ce tome 3 est aussi excellent que le 2 premiers et l'histoire progresse allègrement.On apprend beaucoup d'informations et la fin est plutôt... tonique ! Entre l'action menée tambour battant et les révélations imprévues, les 100 dernières pages de ce gros pavé passent en un clin d'oeil. Dans ce livre, Gavin Guile passe de bien mauvais moments, Karris est toujours au top de sa forme, on apprend qui a tué Lucia (c'est plutôt surprenant) et Kip a bien du mal à échapper à tous ses ennemis. Kip semble bien correspondre de plus en plus au Porteur de Lumière, mais l'auteur n'a pas encore dit son dernier mot... Le futur tome 4 s'annonce passionnant.

Esperemos que el proximo salga pronto. Muy entretenido y ameno. Se lee muy rápido. Da pena el llegar al final