The Black Prism - Brent Weeks

BLURB:

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit and charm are all that preserve a fragile peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: five years to achieve five impossible goals.
But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

My take:

Gavin seems the good guy at first but he's keeping a secret that's eating at him from the inside out. The truth is revealed later in the book. I feel that he is a man trying to do his best for the world he lives in under rather... unusual circumstances and ways of showing his affection for his world. He is likeable and dashing. His son, on the other hand, has to battle his own upbringing. He has a weak and whiny(a little) character but when push comes to shove he mans up and does something.
The book is highly absorbing and once I picked it up I couldn't stop till I finished reading. I'm looking forward to the next book! Be warned - the book is almost a tome at 626 pages, hardcover. First in the Lightbringer series.