Lord Vetinari, ruler of the city-state of Anhk-Morpork, has a problem that he must address immediately. The Postal Service in his city has become rather rundown and technological innovation seems to be leaving it behind. The Clacks, a type of visual telegraph system, allows people to send messages across great distances almost instantly, so nobody wants to use the Post Office any longer. Vetinari won't stand for this in his city, so he does what any shrewd ruler would do and offers the job of Postmaster General to a con-man who is on death row.  After all, who better to breathe new life into a dying institution?

Zane is not a successful person and when things finally get too rough for him, he decides it is time to take his own life. As he starts to pull the trigger, he notices the Grim Reaper coming right for him. So instead of taking his own life, he turns the gun on Death himself and shoots him right between the eyes. Wow, Zane just cheated death, finally a lucky break right? Not exactly. This is when Fate pays Zane a visit and explains that the rules dictate that whoever kills Death takes over the job. This means Zane is in store for some immediate on the job training and he is now behind schedule.

Gavin Guile is technically still the Prism, but unfortunately he is not capable of fulfilling the needs of his office in any way. Once the most powerful man alive he now finds himself an oar slave aboard a galley out at sea and even if he were to find a way to escape it really wouldn't matter much. After all he can no longer draft any color of magic after being stabbed with the Blinding Knife for a second time and what value is a Prism that can't draft? None at all which means he isn't even a valuable hostage. Things can't really get any worse for Gavin Guile at this point can they? Oh yes indeed, they most certainly can...

Suddenly everyone wants the prostitute Clara, but not for her professional skills. She was kidnapped and locked in a warehouse with a man because someone knows her secret; that she's a shapeshifter in a city where magic use is illegal for humans. Drugged and unable to control herself she killed that man and now every bounty hunter in town is after her. She has fled into the complex Labyrinth surrounding town and one old woman is determined to save her. In reality Clara is simply the bait in an elaborate trap that is the next move in a plan to take over the universe. Too bad failure was only part of the plan.

Book two of the Lightbringer series picks up right where The Black Prism left off, which means things are in a bad state for Gavin Guile. After losing the battle against the Color Prince, the Seven Satrapies are now only six in number and Gavin is on the run with boatloads of refugees. This alone would be a major issue for anyone, but for Gavin it is only one of many. His tenure as the Black Prism is in jeopardy for many reasons, but none more dire than the fact that he has lost access to the color blue. This ultimately means that he is dying.

Aside from some of the ancient sagas what we now call grimdark fantasy kicked off in 1984 with two books, The Black Company by Glen Cook and Legend by David Gemmel. Rather than follow the anti-heroes, Gemmel wanted to explore why and how people can choose to stand before overwhelming odds to fight for their beliefs. From the beginning the reader is told that its a hopeless fight. One well built but neglected fortress with nine thousand poorly trained defenders protecting their empire from half a million barbarian warriors. The dying nobleman in charge sends two desperate calls for help. He sends to the White Temple for the Thirty, a band of psychic warrior monks willing to die for the right cause, and to his old comrade in arms, the famed Druss the Legend who has never lost a battle. 

Brent Weeks serves up a complex magic system based on the colors of the spectrum and he does it in a story that unfolds in provocative ways. Magic users, called drafters, use their powers to turn light into various effects based on color. This magical system, known as Chromaturgy, allows multiple colors of light to be combined in interesting ways, and for each drafter to have different skills based on their personal color abilities. There are also meaningful downsides to using this power, which makes a person's ability to draft a mixed blessing at best. The color spectrum is not only fundamental to the magic system, but also the religious and political systems as well, and all three are at the heart of the conflict that unfolds. As each layer of the story is revealed it picks up in both momentum and complexity, and it rewards you for paying attention to the details.

Neil Gaiman has made a name for himself as a contemporary fantasy author, but unfortunately for me that is a genre that rarely grabs my attention. It seems like it should be right up my alley but very few of my forays into this realm result in an engaging experience. The stories always seem interesting but for me they always take it too far, so I was hoping this might be different. Because this book is a stand alone novel, and also pretty short in length, it seemed like a decent way for me to dip my toe in the water and experience Neil Gaiman with little commitment. Was it worth it?

Don't open your eyes. Nobody knows what started it, or why it started, and nobody even knows what the threat actually is. That is because anyone who actually sees it does not survive long enough to tell anyone else. The only guaranteed way to survive outside in Josh Malerman's apocalyptic setting is to be sure that you can't see a single thing. You must take drastic steps to ensure you won't accidentally see anything outside and any mistake will end your life. Needless to say, that makes things a little difficult for everyone because you can't stay inside forever...

At 9 years old Jorg experiences a terrible trauma that shapes the rest of his life. As his mother and brother are killed, he is helplessly caught within the thorns of a nearby briar patch unable to help in any way. After the incident, his father (the king) is unwilling to risk war with Count Renar, who is the person behind the murders, and he basically agrees to put the matter aside in exchange for some economic concessions. Jorg can't accept this outcome and this series of events ultimately shapes him into a monster bent on revenge against both Count Renar and his own father. Jorg's mind becomes a very dark place and this book is experienced from inside that mind.