The Blood Mirror

The Blood Mirror had to meet some lofty expectations, as The Broken Eye ended on a combination of climaxes, cliffhangers, and revelations that is the author's signature. Brent Weeks knows how to whip up the fans into a froth, and I tore into the fourth novel expecting sheer brilliance. This is tough to pull off. I want a novel that ramps up slowly, but simultaneously coming off a thrilling conclusion, I want the book to keep going at the blistering pace of a third act.

I think The Blood Mirror is a success there. There are plenty of scenes that are the calm before the storm, but they're still tense and full of energy. And the novel lands some of the biggest surprises of the series so far, and that's really saying something.

My biggest gripe is that Kip is the star instead of Gavin Guile. This confuses even the marketer writing the back of book, who keeps referencing Gavin while never mentioning Kip. I love the fantasy of watching the lowest of the low, through willpower and intellect, grow into one of the greatest warrior-leaders in the world. But I'm absolutely sympathetic to the fan that has given up on this series because the author keeps sidelining Gavin Guile. The Prism steals the show in every single scene he's in.

Recommended with one reservation: if you are truly sick of the author making Gavin a secondary character, this novel will not make you feel any better.

There is no cheating in life, only success and a thousand flavors of failure.

This was a solid read, a good addition to the series, but something felt off that I can't quite describe. The same characters had their POV chapters but at a different proportion. Some reviewers considered this book to be unnecessarily stretched out, or that it could have been filler, and to an extent I agree.

Anything that was out of place didn't bother me at the time, it was only when I thought back on the book that the story was amiss. Weeks intended this story to be a trilogy and it grew in to a fourth, and then a fifth book. Maybe what was a problem with Lightbringer #4 is that it is setting up the finale. Characters (Pygmies) and mysteries were rushed through (Dazen, Will and Soul Casting) because they are necessary for the finale or need to clear the way for something else in the final instalment.

I am disappointed that history and chapters from the previous three books have now been unnecessary because of new revelations, but I will remain hopeful that there is a purpose to all of that in the final book...otherwise it feels like a big Undo button.

There is nothing unique in my suffering. A thousand within shouting distance have suffered worse. The world is hard.

Kip has grown as a character but for someone uncertain of himself and having difficulties finding a 'family', he quickly grew in to the leadership role. I realize he learned technique, theory and strategy from books he read growing up, but it seemed like Kip the Lip didn't have a misstep when building his army.

The relationship with Tisis continues to ground Kip and show that he is still maturing. I did feel that the sexualization of their relationship may have been a bit heavy. Between Martin's "sexposition" and Sanderson's avoidance of all things sexual there is a balance but Kip and Tisis felt unnecessary.

The climax (pun intended?) came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting the story to end where it did, I was hoping for at least one more gotcha or a treat like the double Epilogue we had previously; instead the story just stopped.

Another reviewer summarizes my feelings pretty well on the ending with this review:

This book suffered from that lack of an exciting ending that advanced the plot and payed off different character arcs although it did a very good job of setting the next book up to provide that decisive ending

(Audible version)
I liked it, the premise is still good.
However, the Gavin storyline felt contrived, as if Brent Weeks' publisher told him to extend the series to 5 books, and the thought, hey, let's make all this a bit more complicated and retcon things happening in the first book.
This book made it very clear what will probably happen in the fifth book.
Kip's storyline with his wife... well... I'm not squeamish about a tasteful bit of sex in a book. But this was ridiculous. I applaud Brent for bringing the problem of vaginism into the fantasy world, really I do. That's very laudable. It's just that it was done in a terrible, once again contrived, way. With way too much sex (or lack thereoff).
I don't know. The first two books of this series were brilliant. The third was a little worse, but not much. But the fourth... I don't know. It was an entertaining read, and I like Kip and Gavin, but if I am to look critically at the book, Brent really dropped the ball here. I hope he can get his shit together for the last book.

I have really enjoyed this series overall, but I was a bit disappointed with this book. It's entirely possible that I just glossed over things, but, for the most part, the first three books were pretty clean of any gratuitous and salacious content. Call me a prude, but it's almost like Weeks read Game of Thrones and said, "I need to get me some of that!" This book didn't just have innuendo, it had pretty graphic depictions of sexual encounters, including really awkward discussions of the participants' inability to make things happen. Had this been the first book, I would have walked away like I did with GoT, but it's not, and I "have" to know how it ends, so I powered through. It was a good book that could have been better had it not been for all consummation troubles (though it would have literally been half the length). Here's hoping for a better book 5.