The Blood Mirror (The Lightbringer) by Brent Weeks

[Cyphon]

Also, it wasn't just Kip. Every PoV character was focused on sex an absurd amount of the time. Every single one. For one character it might actually make sense; it's a major theme in their stream of consciousness that the reader should be aware of. For every character? It's a major theme in the author's stream of consciousness that he couldn't manage to keep hidden for longer than 2 pages.

I haven't finished the book yet (I am somewhere in the 500's) and it is still all fresh and I don't know how long ago you read it, but I think your memories of the sex are greatly exaggerated. For the first few Kip chapters they really beat you over the head with it but after that it feels like more of a light scattering and given the ages of the characters involved, a pretty accurate account of how they would talk and act.

Another thing you mentioned about every POV, it is really only Kip's POV where it happens. You get a lot of Gavin and there is really no sex outside of the minor part with Marysia visting him. You have a lot of Teia and almost nothing as far as sex goes with her. Same with Karris.

And I will add that while you can still find it annoying to read (I did at times myself as well), keep in mind we are talking about a teenage virgin here with a hot ass wife. When I was that age more or less 90% of my day was taken up with thoughts of sex. Even at my age now it is probably close to 60 or 70% lol. So the author is giving what I would say is a pretty spot on portrayal of that type of character.

 

[Sneaky Burrito]

I haven't finished the book yet (I am somewhere in the 500's) and it is still all fresh and I don't know how long ago you read it, but I think your memories of the sex are greatly exaggerated. For the first few Kip chapters they really beat you over the head with it but after that it feels like more of a light scattering and given the ages of the characters involved, a pretty accurate account of how they would talk and act.

Another thing you mentioned about every POV, it is really only Kip's POV where it happens. You get a lot of Gavin and there is really no sex outside of the minor part with Marysia visting him. You have a lot of Teia and almost nothing as far as sex goes with her. Same with Karris.

And I will add that while you can still find it annoying to read (I did at times myself as well), keep in mind we are talking about a teenage virgin here with a hot ass wife. When I was that age more or less 90% of my day was taken up with thoughts of sex. Even at my age now it is probably close to 60 or 70% lol. So the author is giving what I would say is a pretty spot on portrayal of that type of character.

I just finished it a week or two ago and your observations match mine. Teia has a thought or two that could be construed as sexual in nature (like when she looks through a window at a couple and wonders idly about something she could do to the man with paryl) but I didn't feel like it was all-pervasive, either.

 

[Cyphon]

I just finished it a week or two ago and your observations match mine. Teia has a thought or two that could be construed as sexual in nature (like when she looks through a window at a couple and wonders idly about something she could do to the man with paryl) but I didn't feel like it was all-pervasive, either.

Oh yeah, I do remember the Teia thing. She was thinking about how she could potentially make him hard or limp with her Paryl. Given the Kip parts I can see why this would feel like more added onto an already sexually laced book (at times), but her thoughts were more medical/scientific than they were sexual. And even if they weren't, I will continue to go back to the age of the characters being written.

Good memory on the Teia thing.

 

[Cyphon]

I will start this by saying this is one of my top 3 ongoing series if not actually 1 or 2. That being said, I am pretty disappointed in this book. Of the first 3 I didn't rate a single one below a 9 and one was even a 10 if I remember correctly. This one I am at around a 6.5/10. While I can point out specific things I didn't like, I can't put my finger on exactly why this book just feels so different from the other 3. Anyway, some of my thoughts:

- I love plot twists in books and movies and think they can make or break my overall feelings on either respectively. In The Blood Mirror, there were simply too many of them and it made them all lose a bit of their impact. Because of that, I am not even sure how I feel about each of the twists. I certainly don't feel like I hated any of them but I also don't feel wowed by any of them.

- This book feels like the author losing control of his story. We go from the Color Prince and his army being a major thread in the first 2 books to them slowly becoming invisible starting in the 3rd book and being nearly irrelevant in this book. They are mentioned certainly, but there is really no progress and they are seemingly at a standstill doing nothing. It is as if the author wants to give us small reminders that they are still relevant, but in real time we won't get anything big until a book 6 or 7. Even with Kips entire storyline fighting them doesn't appear to really mean anything by the end of the book.

- While I don't mind an expanding magic system and such, it bothers me how Chi was just kind of thrown in this book with no explanation. I don't mean that it is random an unexpected, but that we finally see it "used" but with no real substance to it. No character exploring how it works or defining the laws and limits of it.

It seems the more I type my thoughts out the more I get disappointed when I think about what I just read.

6.5/10