Brent Weeks Prism Series

[Berniece Leonhardt]

Iactually did very much enjoy the Black Prism, so I'm happy to hear the sequel is coming out. The way he set up how colour magic works is pretty neat, and would actually be great fodder for video games.

I'm about a 40% of the way through the second (latest) prism book. its dragging a little, but i think that's more me reading really slowly. (i've just checked, its almost 700pages, thats why its taking me so long)

The Lightbringer Series was lent to me without the authors name being mentioned. I was mildly horrified when I received it because I felt obligated to read it... but I'm glad I did! Because I enjoyed it very much.

Hey my old thread I'm currently reading book 3 of lightbringer, i'm only like 15% in. In quite an unexpected turn it seem like they're laying in an extra layer of mysticism by introducing gods into the mix, I'm not entirely sure yet that is what is happening and I kinda hope not, I prefer when its a little more grounded, the stakes don't seem to matter so much when gods are involved.

I'm way more into Lightbringer than I was into Night Angel. Night Angel had some good stuff, but the world building wasn't there for me. It didn't help that I kept imagining Weeks thinking "BADASS MAGIC NINJAS" the whole way through. Tales of the Otori was a series that had ME going "BADASS MAGIC NINJAS!" all the way through. That series is probably too much of a soap opera for most readers though.

To my mind, Lightbringer is Weeks looking at the Green Lantern power set, and going, "I can do better." And he totally does. All the outer ranges, physical properties, smells, and emotional states give this magic system some weight for me. Curious what white and black do! As well as what various other Mirror/Prism type beings there are.

So far I'm not sure that people are actually becoming gods, so much as imbuing themselves with so much magic that they become metaphorical avatars of what their magic represents, then calling themselves gods. The Blue God is the avatar of logic, Green freedom, etc.

The Night Angel series established Brent Weeks as part of the new school of Epic Fantasy authors going for the darker path while also embracing his own twisty style of story telling. In the past Weeks mentioned his intention to return to the world of Night Angel, but not until after he finished the Lightbringer series, which started strongly with The Black Prism. But he has a special treat in store for all the Night Angel fans out there. As mentioned earlier Brent Weeks has just finished a Durzo Blint short story. I couldn't help but try to find out more and Brent was kind enough to answer my questions.

WARNING: If you haven't read the Night Angel series there is something mentioned below that can be considered a spoiler.

MH: This Durzo novella sort of came out of nowhere. What made you want to delve back into Durzo's history? Fan response or have you always had this story in mind?

WEEKS: First, I should throw a caveat in here. Technically, it's a novelette--it's 16,000 words (60-ish pages), and a novella is 17,000 to 40,000. But I called it a novella in my tweet because, heck, who's ever heard of a novelette? So readers should expect like a really long short story, rather than a short novel. I'm an epic fantasy writer, so I'm incapable of writing a short novel. However, blowing way past the limits of a short story--that, I can do.

My sneaky idea, which I have no idea if it will really work out, because the creative mind loves what it loves, is to do one Durzo short story between each of the Lightbringer novels. That way, I'm keeping something alive for the fans of Night Angel, I'm getting to experiment and do something different while engaged in a multi-year project, and I'm showing more of the world I'll eventually come back to after Lightbringer is finished. Durzo has been around for a long time, and I've always thought it would be fun to tell more stories about him.

The story came out of nowhere because it's got a really different flavor. I demand more of my readers in this one. Quite honestly, I didn't know if I could pull it off. So I didn't want to sell it before I wrote it and then be obligated to turn in something--because that something might not have been that great. And I worked on it for a couple weeks at the end of the summer, didn't think it was going anywhere, and then got caught up in touring, and then after touring sat down to work on the next Lightbringer book--but this stupid thing just started scratching to get out. Now that it has, I'm really quite proud of it.

MH: Does the novella have a working title? And what sort of release is planned? Your publisher Orbit announced a few months back a short fiction eBook program so that was brought to mind.

WEEKS: Well, since Orbit has only just received the story, I probably shouldn't tell you my brilliant title ideas (or crappy ones), in case those get rejected in favor of something else. Because then I'll get fans writing me, saying, "But I thought you had another short story, called X! This one was terrible. I want to read that one!"

What sort of release is planned? Ha ha ha. You think there's a plan? The Orbit short fiction program will probably be its first home, and I definitely have some other hopes--but nothing's been signed yet, so I better sit on that one.

MH: What can we expect from the novella? Does it take place right when Durzo gets his powers or earlier when he was becoming someone important in the land of Midcyru?

WEEKS: The bulk of the story is literally how Gaelan Starfire becomes Durzo Blint. So you'll see a younger Momma K, assassinations, ka'kari and more. I think it stands on its own, but it will be much more rewarding if you've read the Night Angel trilogy. I don't do a lot of hand-holding in this story. You can catch things, or just miss them. It moves really fast. I did have moments where I thought, "I could easily turn this into a full length novel." And if I didn't feel an obligation to fans to finish Lightbringer in some relatively reasonable time frame, I might have entertained those thoughts more, because this was really fun to write.

MH: What's next for you? Vacation to some fabled island where authors can relax or are you jumping into the next Lightbringer novel?

WEEKS: When I sent my agent this Durzo story for his comments, he gave me some great suggestions, and then at the end, he said, "Great story, brilliant, wonderful. Now get back to work."

So I'm back to working on Lightbringer 2: tentatively titled The Blinding Knife.

MH: Thanks for your time!

Brent Weeks is the New York Times best-selling author of The Way of Shadows, Shadow's Edge, and Beyond the Shadows. To learn more about Brent Weeks visit his blog or follow him on twitter.

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A few weeks back, I emailed Brent Weeks, author of The Night Angel Trilogy and the current Lightbringer Series, in hopes that he would allow me the honor of interviewing him for The Sci-Fi Christian. I was more than pleased (dropped jaw, eyes wide) when he enthusiastically responded to my email stating that he would, indeed, be up for it.

I was first introduced to Mr. Weeks through an interview by Paeter Frandsen over at Spiritblade.net. I was thoroughly impressed by his sincerity and humor, and ultimately intrigued by the concepts behind his first trilogy. I immediately purchased The Night Angel Trilogy and within a short amount of time, I had become engulfed in the land of Midcyru and the life of an orphan turned Wetboy (way cooler than your average assassin).

I feel that it is my duty to introduce others to the works of Brent Weeks, so that they, too, may enjoy what has easily become my favorite fantasy series. I am now pleased to present to you my interview with Brent Weeks!

BW: I started writing my first novel when I was 13 years old, and actually got a couple hundred pages in before I realized just how incredibly bad it was and gave up. Ira Glass talks about the gap all artists have between having good taste and being able to produce good work. And when I was in college, I decided to try to close that gap by writing a novel or two and seeing if I was any good. I figured that if it turned out I had no talent, I could then still get a real job and do something productive for society.

M: Can you tell us about your first trilogy, The Night Angel series? What is the over-arching theme or concept? How did you come up with the idea for the story? Were there personal elements that translated to the page? I read through the series within a couple of months, beginning about a year ago, and I was blown away.

M: I was enticed by the contrast between, what I would call very dark and adult themed elements in the novels along with the intertwining of Christian themes. How did your personal faith affect the darkness, and many times, tragedy of the story?

M: Can you tell us about your newest series, The Lightbringer? How does this series differ from The Night Angel Trilogy? What new elements are you bringing to the table this time around? How long do you expect the series to run for?

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