The Way of Shadows (Night Angel Book 1)

To be up front - I read Weeks' "Lightbringer" (trilogy) first, and loved it, and so I was very disappointed with this series - though to be honest, I only made it through half the first book. Light bringer wrote women very well. Way of Shadows? Not at all. It was, honestly, a bit disgusting.

Every woman in the book is first described in terms of physical appearance (either an old hag or sexy beauty). She is either a literal "whore" with lose morals (never mind the fact that the men in the book all pay for their services -- yet nevertheless insult the whores by calling them whores, standing on their oh-so-high-pedastels), or a perfect AngelBeautyGoddess who renders moral advice (but doesn't talk all that much - except to gossip about boys). Or she is the SexySeductressAssassin. Who also has loose morals. In Weeks' world, women are proprietary fodder hoping for marriage (and they are whores if they develop romantic relationships outside their loveless arranged marriages) or plain old pay-for-it whores.

I put the book down about halfway through when a father tried to arrange to give his business to an adopted son - rather to one of his three daughters. He's rather marry one of them off to the adopted son.

This book GRATED especially after Gamergate etc. It plays right into the narrative of geeky boys objectifying women (and worse).

Brent must have learned his lesson, though -- Lightbringer features many female perspectives, who have all the foibles, emotions, motivations, and strengths as the men. I recommend that series to anyone who is either (1) female or (2) actually friends with a female. This one? STAY AWAY.

So, this is a book I've had my eyes on for a while, but hadn't gotten around to picking up because of my never ending pile of books to read. My roommate, however, loves this series about as much as I love Mistborn (which, you may know, is a lot) and kept telling me to give it a shot. When I got the complete trilogy for my birthday, I knew it was the perfect time to give them a go.

Way of Shadows starts off following a young street rat named Azoth, who, in an attempt to protect himself and his friends, gets himself apprenticed to Durzo Blint, the best wet boy in the city. The book follows Azoth- later called Kylar- as he learns how to be a wet boy (a wet boy is, basically, an assassin). Besides Kylar and Blint, though, there are plenty of other characters that are followed, and each will play an important role in the next era of their world.

Let me start with my two major problems with this book: the character growth and the world building. There are so many characters in this story that I had a hard time keeping track of them all. They would be thrown in at random moments and then described as being very important to either the story or the world and I was always left wondering why we either found out about them so late in the game, or why they weren't developed enough. The characters that all had narrating chapters were rather bland, and didn't have defining features in their personalities, just their pasts. So while it wasn't horrible, it felt like weak writing that made it hard for me to really connect with anyone. The world building was in the same vein- there was so much world to build, that it almost felt like the author had become lazy as he wrote and didn't feel the need to let the reader know what something was before it became central to the plot. While in some cases that can work well, it shouldn't be left to every single aspect, especially the mythology, which was never explained well and really should have been. Again, not terrible, but not the best strategy for an epic fantasy novel.

The strongest part of the writing was the dialogue. It was so good, so smart and quick, that I couldn't keep my eyes off the page during these scenes. It added to the quick pace of the story, even though several years pass over the course of it.

I liked the plot as well, though it didn't wow me. My roommate assures me that this is more of an origin story than anything else, though, and that the next two books advance things much more. I trust her opinion on the matter. The ideas behind it, and the way everything wrapped together, was well done, though, and it did tell a good story.

I will start off by saying, like other reviewers, that this is actually my least favorite of the series. Not because Way of Shadows is a bad book, but because the other two are just better.

My main issue with this book is that the focus of the story ends up shifting away from Durzo and Azoth/Kyar to focus on the political figures. When reading the first book, I was expecting an assassination story, but it ends up being almost ancillary to the world at large.

However, I liked it enough to read the second book (and subsequently the third as well), where the non-assassin characters begin to actually be interesting and fun, and not just something to trudge through so you can read more about the deathly arts.

This is a solid, fun read, but you are better off treating it as more of an epic than a story about assassins. There is a hell of a lot going on, and the killers-for-hire aspect is less important than the title and description implies, especially as the story moves along.

This book is such a rehash of old ideas and situations and so poorly written that I could not even finish it, and it was a $1 download! The initial setup was promising but Weeks takes every cliched step you would expect. Its almost like reading a fanfic book. The characters were all wooden, cardboard cut outs of real people, they act just like you expect and without any real depth. Really people? All the glowing reviews? Giving this book a 4-5 star is like saying the taco i had for lunch was good so I am going to give it a 5 star review. No, the taco was just ok. It doesn't get 5 stars. Thats why the store has 1-5 stars, so we can rate books on a scale.

Orphan street kid has it rough (check, been there), apprentices to a gruff but caring rogue (cough, han solo), orphan street kid has latent power that makes him special and wonderful (check, cough luke skywalker), latent power (gosh what a surprise!) finally shows itself at the end and shows the boy to be a powerful jedi, um, I mean magic user.

And worst of all, the writing was amateurish, juvenile, predictable, uninspiring and even filled with a few modern slang terms I can't believe and editor didn't catch.

Folks, try Robin Hobbs, or George R.R. Martin or early Ray Feist or early Terry Brooks or newcomer Ken Scholes - anything but this.

Book Info: Genre: Dark epic fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
Recommended for: older YA, fans of dark epic fantasy who don't mind typical tropes
Trigger Warnings: murder, killing, assassination, violence, rape (mostly M/M), torture, mutilation, stealing, slavery, cannibalism, infidelity

My Thoughts: The beginning of this book is pretty typical epic fantasy fare, other than the fact that our hero is an antihero. But Azoth is an orphan, he's taken in against the odds by a powerful man who learns that Azoth is more than he appears, rising up from his poverty-stricken roots, etc. And, of course, the love interest that is forbidden. Still, once Kylar is on the scene, things heat up and I found myself tearing through the pages to find out what happened next. So don't let the typical trope throw you off from reading this book if it sounds like something in which you are interested.

However, I was astounded by the sloppy editing on this book. It was released through one of Hatchett's publishing groups, and editing errors were heavily scattered through the book. There is a part where Azoth calls another character by his first name in a familiar manner, even though he has not yet met that character and really doesn't know much about him. And there are a lot of missing words from sentences. I'm amazed that a professional editor working for a major publisher would be so sloppy. If that will bother you, keep it in mind.

Still I did enjoy the book, despite how dark it often is. If you like dark epic fantasy, antiheroes, and don't mind the typical tropes and editing problems, then check this one out.

Series Information: The Night Angel Trilogy
Book 1: The Way of Shadows
Book 2: Shadow's Edge
Book 3: Beyond the Shadows

Disclosure: I purchased the omnibus edition of the trilogy for myself. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly—and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics—and cultivate a flair for death.

This is a well written book with some beautifully descriptive insights. However, the content is disturbing. The only reason I kept reading after the first (of many) insinuations of child rape is because he didn’t go into details.

The problem with having deeply disturbing content in a book is that its all that people will remember about your book I’ll probably remember this was a good book, but I will simultaneously remember that it had disturbing content that made me uncomfortable and overshadowed the book. After reading this book I’m left with a vague, yucky feeling that makes me wonder if it was worth reading at all.

I am the sort of person who doesn't finish boring books, I put them down because they get in the way of reading other better books. I did manage to finish this one.

The Good: The author manages the reader's knowledge of each character's knowledge pretty well, and several surprises in the story are from us not knowing what the point of view characters know. Most of the time this works and is entertaining. There are plenty of twists and plenty of action.

The Bad: The story hinges a few times on some poorly developed juvenile romances. Sex is dealt with in a really weird way, prude and kind of explicit all at the same time. When a certain character was revealed to be a virgin, I had an involuntary eye-roll and actually said "Oh come on" out loud.

Over all it was okay. The book does strange moral gymnastics to keep you thinking of a pair of assassins as the good guys, and the writing sometimes reads as if the author is explaining his choices to an incredulous editor, but if you like fantasy you'll be okay.

I have read all of the currently released Lightbringer series (books 1-4) by Brent Weeks and, while waiting for the fifth installment, decided to try reading these books authored by him that were released earlier. Overall, I found The Way of Shadows to be not quite as polished or as much of a "page turner" as the Lightbringer series. I would attribute that to this being his first major book ( I think) and therefore was likely a learning experience; he also probably has different editors now that he is quite successful. Still, not too bad and I plan to read the other two books in the series. I'm interested to see in which novel he starts creating the clear and very captivating prose as seen in the Lightbringer series.

I've been thinking about writing this review for days but I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to convey my feelings about it. There are some books that even once you are done reading, you just want to stop and absorb before trying to explain it to someone else. This was one of those for me. Ever since I saw this book recommended me to by the store, I was curious about it but I kept putting off getting it I finally picked it up while coming home from a vacation to give it try and I'm immensely glad that I did so. It was one of those books that I just clicked with from early on. When thinking about how to rank a book, I ask myself a few questions. Could I put the book down even when I was tired and ready for bed? Did it ever surprise me enough to make my mouth drop open and reread a section to make sure it said what I thought it said? Did I want to reread the book after I'd finished? Did I find myself pulling for the characters and conflicted about their problems and decisions?

There's a lot of things that go into my rating, obviously, but this book answered all of the above with a resounding yes. I couldn't put the book down, I even found myself wanting to come home from work not to play video games or watch tv but to find out what happened next. The last night I planned to read a chapter or two because I was exhausted and ended up staying up until almost one a.m. to finish the book. As for wanting to reread the book, I seriously considered starting it a second time right after finishing it the first because I didn't have the next two yet. The only book that I've ever done that with was A Game of Thrones. I refrained this time only because I'm planning on getting the others soon.

I loved a lot of things about this book but there were also some things that detracted from it enough to keep it out of the five star range for me. First of all, as a reader who shared many favorite authors, I can see some borrowing that I'm sure is unintentional. Particularly from Martin and Jordan. Even if it's just names or something similar from their worlds, I feel that Weeks is still finding his feet as an author in this book and breaking away from the books he loves to find his own voice. They weren't blatant or annoying, just nuances that I happened to notice. Also, I wasn't crazy about the timing of the book. From one chapter to the next, years could pass which I found a bit of a poor tactic. Things happened in those years that shaped our main characters that we as the reader aren't privileged enough to know so it leaves holes in our understanding of the character. The important events are highlighted, true, but sometimes those small events are as important as the major ones. Though, I understand it's impossible to chronicle so many years and keep a decent length book, even in fantasy.

The story is gritty and dark at times which, personally, I love. I'm always pleased when an author isn't afraid to injure main characters or have unexpected things happen to people. Though I do feel he balanced it fairly well with things working out miraculously which also keeps the book from being a five star for me. I would definitely recommend this book.

Cenaria is not a place you’d like to grow up – but the backstreets, of the worst district, of the most corrupt city in the world, is the place Azoth does. Ruled by a weak, arbitrary king, and effectively run by the Sa’kage, the underworld criminals, Cenaria is rotten to the core, the very epitome of a dog-eat-dog world, and it leaves its mark on many of the characters.

Azoth, orphaned, surviving on the streets in a gang run by a boy who uses rape and cruelty as a means to control other children, is both moulded by his early experiences, and yet defies them. It is the fear and terror of his childhood, the raping of one friend, the deliberate maiming and scarring of another, that drives him to apprentice to Durzo Blint, the best wetboy in the city. The sheer misery and terror of these children’s existence is enough to make a reader want to cry, and this is important, because it’s this background that makes us forgive Azoth’s future as a trained killer.

Blint refuses to train Azoth unless he can kill the boy who tormented him; the nasty piece of work, or ‘twist’ as is the slang in the book, deserves everything he gets and more, but it isn’t an easy task for Azoth. When he completes his task, if too late to save his friends Jarl and ‘Doll Girl’ from their own torments, Blint takes Azoth in, gives him the name Kylar, and teaches him the black trade of death and all the lessons that go with it. Assassins have targets; wetboys have deaders. A wetboy cannot love. Life has no value. Despite the lessons Blint teaches him, Kylar cannot move past the basic decency that led him to share his meagre food with his street-friends. Though he learns to kill, surely, he cannot always take the actions Blint would take, or urges him to take.

Durzo Blint is, at first blush, irredeemable, corrupt, cold-hearted. But the author gives us enough clues to know the man is not as cold and callous as he’d like us to believe, but rather only desperate to ensure everyone does believe he is cold and callous. Bitter experience has taught him love is weakness; if you love someone, they can be used against you, hurt to make you comply. It’s not that Blint doesn’t care; it’s that he dare not let anyone know he cares, and most especially not his enemies.

These two are supported by a host of other characters; Momma K, the retired whore pulling the strings of the city; Count Drake, an example to Kylar that one can turn away from the darkness; Elene, Kylar’s childhood friend ‘Doll Girl’; Logan, the impeccably ethical heir to Duke Gyre; the duke himself; the king, and his family; the prophet, Dorian Ursuul, and his friends, desperate to divert an horrific future; and the God-King Garoth Ursuul, architect of that future.

Of them, Elene and Logan are two least affected by the corruption in Cenaria, but while I admire and like Logan, Elene annoys me. Logan always tries to do the right thing, but doesn’t necessarily expect others to live by his code. Elene, who knows she has been saved from a life of prostitution, poverty and cruelty only by Kylar’s sacrifices, presumes to judge him for the deeds he has committed in making those sacrifices. Where Logan comes across as a pillar of morality, Elene appears only self-righteous and judgemental, and expecting all to live according to the word of her One God. It is hypocrisy to be simultaneously grateful for the life one has, and judge another for the acts committed to give one that life.

The events of the book centre around six magical artefacts called ka’kari, made to fix people who would otherwise be brilliant mages, but who are ‘broken’ and have no way to access their power. As a side effect, the ka’kari also grant immortality. The God-King wants one to extend his rule into eternity; Durzo, blackmailed by the God-King who takes his lover, and later his daughter, hunts one to try and save their lives; Kylar inadvertently calls one to himself because he is broken, but would give it to Durzo if he could. Everyone seems to want it, and no one can get their hands on it, and the price is paid in blood by many.

And so, Durzo and Kylar, loving each other like father and son, are driven against each other. Durzo must take the ka’kari to save his daughter, but doing so means the death of Kylar. Kylar would give it to him if he could, but he can’t, and he must stop Durzo’s end-game or watch his best friend, Logan, die.

Which is the better wetboy? Can either bring themselves to kill the other? What are the secrets Durzo hides, about himself, about Kylar? What is the secret of the ka’kari? What is the conflict between Momma K and Durzo? Plots within plots weave about plots, intrigue within intrigue. Keeping up with all the schemes, who is on whose side, who is betrayer or betrayed, will keep you on your toes and turning the pages.

Though the book is not perfectly written (it is a debut novel), the story is compelling enough, the characters likeable enough, despite all their flaws, and undeniably real enough, to immerse you in the story and have you hanging on to know what happens next.

The emotional importance of Kylar’s and Blint’s relationship and affection for each other could have been cranked up a notch to add to the conflict, but admittedly that’s difficult to do when both are trained killers who conceal their emotions. Nevertheless, a must-read fantasy book, especially if you like assassins!

I really struggled with this book to begin with. The writing felt YA in style but the content was very mature and dark in places, and the two didn't sit easily together. There were also areas of poor editing, especially the use of repetitive words or phrases close together, something I wouldn't have expected from a novel published by one of the major publishers. The characterisation also felt a little erratic, as if the author hadn't quite settled on exactly who each character was.
But
After a couple of hundred pages things began to gel. The story came together, I finally cared about what happened to Azoth / Kylar, and the political intrigue sucked me in.
The book isn't without faults, the author tends to introduce things late into the story which have never been mentioned before as a means of escaping particular situations, and there's a particularly leery description of a 15-year-old girl that did't sit well with me, but the story hooked me and I raced to finish the book in just a few days.

This was such a fantastic book! It started out a little weakly with some very stereotypical characters - the poor, goodly collection of orphans ruled over by the foul, villainous Rat and his crew gave the feel of a Disney movie. Luckily, that didn't last, so for anyone who might find this initial set-up discouraging, please read on!

THE GOOD

Well thought-out storyline. There is a LOT going on in this series, even just in the first book. It may start out a little slowly, but by the end of the book, there is a great tension. A couple of times, my jaw dropped a bit. You wind up getting engrossed in the action, and I couldn't get this book off my mind. There is a ton of background information that is meted out in just the right doses without too many info dumps. Entire cultures, complete with histories, religions, etc. exist, and as a reader you can tell that the author is one of those who knows what every single one of his characters had for breakfast that morning.

Well-done grittiness without losing that last bit of hope. This is a very dark book and a very dark series. Rape, prostitution, murder, poverty, torture, and abuse are rampant. Children are forced to live in terrible conditions and lead lives of hunger and despair. The king is an utter prat who cares nothing for his people, even his own children. There aren't many glimmers of hope in this book, but there is just enough that it doesn't lose the oppressive grittiness of the story, but also doesn't allow the gloom to overshadow any joy a reader might get from these pages.

Some great characters. My top two characters: Logan Gyre and Durzo Blint. It would be easy to make these characters into boring cardboard cut-outs, but instead they are very likable and interesting. They are characters who try to do their best with each path they are set upon, but are flawed, and not in superficial ways that somehow also manage to make them endearing. Most of the other characters are well-done, too, if not a little too stereotypical: Elene, for example, never grows beyond her role of the sweet, innocent childhood darling. Jarl, on the other hand, has taken the cards he was dealt and built a house out of them. He's another character that I ended up loving when I expected him to just sort of fade into the background. Kylar, although he was the main character, went a bit back and forth for me. Sometimes he seemed just a bit over-the-top, but I really enjoyed watching him bluster his way through some of his training. He had a sharp wit that sometimes was a little too good, getting him and others around him into trouble and resulting in some very real and very severe consequences.

THE BAD

Excess of characters. I work at a bookstore and while I frequently recommend this book to people who are browsing the fantasy section, I usually warn them about the fact that there are a lot of characters in this book, and with all the revelations and betrayals and such, it can be difficult to keep track of them.

Female characters - I love a strong female character. This book has none. Women in this series are essentially valued according to their sexual ranking. Nearly all of the female characters are either sluts or prostitutes, and not one of them has a thimbleful of brains. Even Vi, who fortunately has a better role in the second book, is introduced as a huge threat to Kylar in terms of wetboy skills, but the first time we meet her, she is using her body as a distraction. In this series, it seems like sex is the one and only weapon any woman possesses, or else they are the victims of sexual abuse.

Lack of description - while you get a good feel for what sort of person each character is, I found that I couldn't really picture the majority of them physically. Very little is done to give you an idea of their appearance, or there will be a single feature or two that gets harped on far too much and that is the only thing that sticks out.

Random bits of real-world references. While Weeks has definitely created a world all his own, there were a lot of real-world references that detracted from the story. The biggest one that stuck out for me was the use of the commonly-known St. Francis of Assisi quote, "Preach always; if you must, use words." Especially when used by Count Drake who follows the One God and a religion that is very much like Christianity, this sort of overlap between the world that the reader lives in and the world that the characters live in pulled me out of the story.

The love twists. Too many and most of them are completely unnecessary. This is a great book without all the sappiness.

Despite the drawbacks, I really enjoyed this series. I love a book that really grabs me and gets under my skin so that whenever I'm not actively reading it, I'm thinking about it and counting down the hours left before I can leave work and read it some more. Can't wait to see how the series ends!

Growing up in the nastiest alleys and streets of Cenaria dreaming every minute of better life is how Azoth lives. Day by day wishing for the "wetboy" Durzo Blint to apprentice him so Azoth can escape this dreadful life of fear of being beat up everyday if you don't pay your share of the dues and also to take care of his best friends Jarl and Doll Girl.

It's a dark journey for this young boy to have the weight of so much on his shoulders, watching after Doll Girl whom he feels responsible for and leading a group of rag tag homeless kids against people in his own guild let alone all the others trying to take over their territory. Azoth must destroy his enemy, provide a better life for Doll Girl and somehow get the lands deadliest assassin Durzo Blint to notice him and be willing to apprentice him. And that's all before he reaches his teen years.

"The Way of Shadows" is a rich full book of the life of Azoth later to be named Kylar and his journey to becoming a "wetboy" so he can escape reality. The plot twists are many and the character development is really strong. The relationship between Azoth and Durzo is a special one fraught with love, appreciation, jealousy and master/apprentice dynamics. Durzo becomes like a father to Azoth and trains him to become the best "wetboy" around. Azoth struggles with the solitary life of an assassin and his love for Doll Girl whom he must abandon to keep her from danger but also provides for her in secret. Sacrificing his life to make sure she has one. It's a love story.

The characters in Azoth/Kylar's life are very well defined and you develop feelings for them. From his best friend Jarl from the life he left behind to Logan the Prince and soon to be King whom Kylar at this point befriends out of necessity. The double life Kylar must live between lower noble to assassin provides plenty of intrigue and a cast of characters that add a lot of flavor to the book especially Momma K.

You have all the great things that go in a good fantasy book in "The Way of Shadows" and very little of anything negative. I don't want to give anything away in this review but suffice it to say it's a must read fantasy book. For Brent Weeks first novel this is a very strong effort and I can't wait to get to the other two books in the series.

Find out more about Brent Weeks at www.brentweeks.com

The Way of Shadows: The Night Angel Trilogy: Book 1

This review was originally posted here: http://clubfantasci.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/the-way-of-shadows-by-brent-weeks-review-by-david-lowry/

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

The Way of Shadows is the first book in The Night Angel Trilogy. The second book is Shadow's Edge and the final book is Beyond the Shadows. This was the first published book that Brent Weeks has written. After writing this trilogy, he has gone on to start a new series titled Lightbringer, which includes The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife, due out in the Fall of 2012. He as also written a short story that ties into The Night Angel Trilogy titled "Perfect Shadow", dealing with a main character in the trilogy. The Way of Shadows is published by Orbit and released October 2008.

It has been a hard life for Azoth and his two friends, Jarl and Doll Girl. The slums of the Warrens is no place for the three children, but it's their only home that they've known. What makes it worse is the guild that they belong to doesn't make life any easy for the three children. The leader is slowly dying and his second, a vile boy named Rat, is quickly assuming the role of leader. The only way that Azoth hopes to escape this life is to become an apprentice to Durzo Blint, Cenaria deadliest and most respected wetboy, otherwise known as assassin. But Blint doesn't take apprentices, but offers Azoth a chance. All he has to do is sever himself from his old life, by killing Rat. But things don't go as planned and Azoth's friends pay a price for his hesitance. Now with a drive, Azoth goes through with it, but now assumes a new identity, Kylar Stern. Now, under Blint's watchful eyes, Azoth now Kylar, has to learn how to become the perfect killer.

Criticisms:
1) Background. There is a sever lack of background when you first start The Way of Shadows. This is rather common in most fantasy novels with a new world, but it is still a problem. There were a lot of things that were brought up that didn't have any context and were never really explained. There were a lot of political information that is never really explained and only tossed at you without having any idea why. A lot of other nations are mentioned, but once again, the reader has no idea what kind of society, people, and customs it has, but it seems like you should know. That's the main problem with this issue. Everything that is mentioned feels like you, as the reader, should know what it is. But you don't know because you are entering into a new world without any knowledge of anything in it. The best example is when an object called the ka'kari is brought up. They are never really described and aren't really given any real tangible background to what they are. There is some history given, but it's brief and does leave a lot left unsaid. What do they do? Why are they important? These questions aren't answered until the end, and even then they are still vague. There is a point to this with Kylar just learning about them as the reader does, but it feels so foreign and alien that it's hard to grasp. All in all, it would have been helpful if things were better described, but still left vague enough that the reader can understand what such-and-such is without feeling so left in the dark.
2) Time. There is one bothersome thing in The Way of Shadows and it deals with time frames. Sometimes days come across as through they last forever, while at others, they are extremely short. This causes a very unique problem for the reader. You don't know the time frame of a lot of things that happen, even when it's stated. Setting aside the jumps in time, there were a few events that felt like they lasted a lot longer than they should have and others that felt like they were shorter. It's one of those problems that are rather hard to explain. Usually, one can get the feel of how time passes in a novel through the writing and clues within it. Here, it felt like time was random. There never felt there was an accurate passage of time. Then you have the time jumps. In The Way of Shadows, there were quite a few years that pass by in a blink. It was handled rather well, but it still didn't feel right. The things that were skipped over felt like they should have been included, such as Kylar's training with Blint. It's shown, but only for a little while and then we have a time jump to when he's fourteen, another to when he's about eightteen, and one final jump to when he's around twenty. The problem is these jumps happen back to back and only last maybe a few pages in length. There could have been more of a focus on how Kylar is dealing with his training, but it just jumps ahead. It just seemed like it happened overnight. Thankfully, towards the end of the novel, this problem does become less noticeable, but it still is there.

Praises:
1) Characters. The Way of Shadows is one of those rare novels that have a lot of characters and all of them are interesting and surprisingly developed. It's quite rare to have so many characters that all feel important in one way or another. Setting aside the names are just dropped once or twice, everyone who had a line or two really were interesting and surprisingly likable. It was hard to find anyone in the novel that you didn't have feelings towards, rather it be love or hate. All the characters, from main characters to minor characters, made themselves surprisingly memorable. Another credit to the writing is that all the characters were distinctive and that none of them seemed to blend into one another. Everyone had a distinct personality and characteristics that made them unique. As for the two main characters, Kylar and Blint, they were fantastic. Truth to told, talking about them in any detail would ruin the story. However, they are everything that you want the main characters to be; likable, complex, and interesting. Kylar and Blint really had everything and are some of the best characters you'll likely find. The Way of Shadows really shines with its characters and that makes it that much more enjoyable.
2) Story. The Way of Shadows has a very complex and interesting plot. On the surface, the plot is only about Azoth and how he becomes a wetboy under the tutelage of Blint. But there is so much more to this story than just that. There is a vast amount of side plots and side stories that keep you interested and pulls you deeper into the world. The story also doesn't focus on fighting, like most fantasy novels do. Instead there it focuses more on intrigue and characters. It relies more actions. There is a good amounts of fighting and combat, but doesn't carry the story. This really does deserve to be read because the is so much going on, but it's all easy to follow and enjoy.
3) Themes. There are some basic light and dark themes in The Way of Shadows that are used very well. The story has this very interesting play on light and dark elements. The darker elements of the story really do stand out and make this feel like a very gritty novel. Make no mistake, this is a dark novel with a lot of dark imagery and subjects. There are very few happy moments that they really do stand out. It's surprising to look back after reading this novel and realize that there was a lot of good that came out of the bad. It may be hard to spot, especially seeing how things unfold later in the novel, but they are there and they are good. It's an interesting duality with these two concepts, and they play off each other surprisingly well.

Side Notes:
1) Extras. There is a very interesting interview with Brent Weeks at the end of the novel where he gives insight to what influenced him and a lot of other things.
2) Cover Art. If there is one thing that really bothers me about book covers it has to be the generic, bland pose shot on a plain background. It's not interesting, it's not eye catching, and it comes off as extremely lazy. The cover of The Way of Shadows is all these things. It's a generic pose on a white background. Nothing else is going on. It doesn't catch your eye and there is nothing on the cover to make you interested in picking up this book. The only positive thing that I could mention is the purple smoke coming off of Kylar, but that just seems lazy. The cover art is as overly simple, uninteresting, and as lazy as you can get. For comparison, look at the covers for the France, Spain, and Russian versions. The French version looks dark and gritty, and it works. The red of Kylar's pants really stands out and draws your eye in. The Russian version may look plain, but there is something actually going on in the picture. Finally, the version from Spain does the pose shot right. It looks cool and makes you wonder who that is under the mask. Honestly, I would have preferred any of these covers over the bland, generic, lazy, boring cover that most of the editions have.

Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
The Way of Shadows is a fantastic way to start a series, but it still has a few hiccups. One of my biggest issues with any novel is when there is a severe lack the background of the surrounded world and when names, places, and things are thrown at you with little to no explanation. It really does turn the reader off because everything that is mentioned seems alien to them. It would have been nice to find out what some of these things meant. Another problem that the book has is with how random time felt. It may be a personal thing, but I found it hard to believe the in how time was passing. Days felt like they lasted forever, while others went by quickly. This is also a problem that is really hard to explain. It's easy to explain how the book jumps from year to year within a page, and it does do that, but the way events unfolded felt random. Thankfully, these issues don't really take away much of the enjoyment of the novel overall. The characters are where The Way of Shadows shine. There is a vast amount of them, but they all came off as interesting and developed, even if they only appear for a page or two. It's surprising how quickly you may like or hate someone within a few sentences. Then you have the amazingly main characters of Kylar and Blint. These two really stole the novel, and made it something special. The story itself was a complex, enjoyable ride from start to finish. There is so much going on in this novel that you don't know what side is up from down, but it's all very understandable and that's something that hardly ever happens with complex narratives. Then you have the simple, yet very surprising take on light and dark themes in this story. On the surface, The Way of Shadows is an incredibly dark story that doesn't end on a very happy note. However, when you reflect on what you've read, you see a lot of hope and good in some of the events. It's something that I didn't expect after reading The Way of Shadows. When all is said and done, is The Way of Shadows worth checking out? Of course it is. It's one of those novels that you must read.

An excellent start for the Night Angel trilogy. The first book of this trilogy, begins with the life of an apprentice assassin, Azoth. He grew up in a slum area, infested with thieves, whores, and all the filth of the society. His regular life as a petty thief and pick pocket changed when he met the real deal, a professional assassin, who later accepted him as an apprentice. Without the knowledge, that his apprenticeship would change his life forever, and made him into the pivotal point of the destiny of his kingdom.

I read this book after I read The Black Prism. The creation of the world and magic system is not as good and as complex as the world in The Black Prism, remembering that he wrote this series before he wrote The Black Prism (Light Bringer series). The magic system does not depart too far from the mainstream fantasy, even though I admit that Weeks added some original concepts in it, such as the "conduit". But I guarantee you, the magic is not a bore.

The character, which is an assassin (or more precise, a wetboy), is also nothing new in the fantasy world. But again, Weeks is original in creating the psyche of the underworld, the world of beggars and petty criminals. It is eerily realistic. You would imagine the underworld of our today society like the one described by Weeks in this novel.

Even though Weeks did not really create a whole new system, I think Weeks can be very original. He used a lot of "big words". He even made a pun out of it in the novel (hey, what do you expect, he is an English teacher). He also borrows a lot of foreign culture in our world in creating this fantasy world, including the vocabulary. He borrows heavily from Japanese Ninja culture in forming the world of the assassin, which I think is very realistic. The assassin is indeed a ninja, without using the word in this novel.

Final verdict, a strong 4 stars, not yet to be a fiver. Will definitely finish the entire series. And by this book, I am convince that Brent Weeks is my new favorite fantasy writer.

I really enjoyed this book. There's a lot to it. A lot of politics in particular and I confess that I did not do all that well with keeping the political stuff straight. I think if I had, I would have enjoyed it even more because I know all that backstory was important. But you can read and enjoy this book without paying too close attention to the politics. The story is excellent on its own, even without the level of detail the author tries to impart.

There are several places in the book where whatever I desperately did not want to happen actually did happen, and I admit that I shouted at the author in my head a few times, but in many ways, that's the mark of a good story. Those things needed to happen. And the payoff for it all is exactly what you want. In fact, if you never chose to read another book in the trilogy, you could put this book down and be happy. That said, I am looking forward to reading the next book to see what the author does.

The descriptions of the fights here are expertly done, and there's the right level of detail so you can really "see" what's happening, and feel it, without being overwhelmed. There's enough misdirection that you never are totally certain until the end who did what and there's one spectacular twist that I never saw coming.

So read this. Don't worry if you don't follow along with all of the politics, and know that it doesn't matter too much in the end. The real brilliance of the book is the characters and they shine through even without knowing all of the politics.

When I do read fantasy fiction, my preference is for kind of dark and grimy and small scale, with a touch of humor and weirdness -- Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories are probably my favorites in the genre. I picked this first in the "Night Angel" trilogy up after having heard it was pretty dark and gritty compared to most. Having just finished the 650 pages, I will concede that it is indeed dark and gritty (the author appears to have been highly influenced by George Martin's propensity to kill off major characters), but it ultimately didn't do much for me and I'm not bothering to continue with the next two books in the series.

It starts very promisingly, with an adolescent boy crawling in the mud under a tavern for loose copper coins to pay his guild dues. The whole introduction very effectively portrays the brutal reality of what a slum existence could mean to a child in a fantasy-setting city. It continues to be promising as we meet the "wetboy" (kind of an assassin/hitman with magical skills) who we know will become the boy's mentor. All that table setting is pretty engaging and has a dark and realistic tone to it.

The scope of the story then starts to expand to the nobility and royal family of the nation, and beyond to the geopolitics of neighboring empires, and before long there is talk of various legendary artifacts, there is a seer of sorts, a prophecy, and generally far too many trappings of the traditional fantasy epic -- leavened with a fair amount of the kind of detailed combat scenes that I'm sure my 12-year-old self would have loved. I guess I'm just ultimately not a fan of the Jungian "Hero's Journey" storyline, and prefer my tales to stay in the gutter, rather than the castles. I also have a hard time caring when the protagonists are both so thinly drawn and so absurdly powerful and skillful that they are invincible to all but others of their ilk. It's the same reaction I have to almost all superhero movies -- when two shallow but tortured demigods start battering each other and throwing cars around, I start to yawn.

There are some interesting elements to be sure -- I definitely liked the different varieties of magic and how they seemed to work, and there are some well thought-out set pieces scattered here and there. But it's ultimately just not my cup of tea. And while it's not something I generally notice, my guess is that female readers might find the book especially bothersome, as just about every single female character is either literally a whore, or a saint, or prone to betraying the men in their lives.

I must have picked up this book at Barnes and Noble a dozen times before I finally decided to buy it. It always looked interesting, but it seemed like an unusual choice for me. It's an urban dark fantasy with very little romance and very little paranormal - not my typical first choice. Now that I've read it, I wish I had picked it up sooner! I loved it! It is going to be tough to write a summary about this book without giving away any of the MANY secrets of the book, so I apologize in advance if this is a little more vague than I normally write.

Azoth has lived in the streets all his life. He has no knowledge of his birth parents, he only knows the "family" of street kids he lives with. They live on stolen money and food, and find protection from the rest of the world by sticking together. Unfortunately there is a bully in his group named Rat who often makes their lives miserable. Rat extorts money from the younger kids and beats/rapes those who do not bring him their weekly tithes.

Azoth is determined to protect his friends from Rat, but in order to do so, he has to learn to fight. Risking his own life in the process, Azoth pursues an apprenticeship with Durzo Blint - the most dangerous assassin to have ever lived. But, becoming an assassin means that he will have to cut all ties to the very people he is determined to protect.

Almost ten years later, Azoth is living under the name Kylar Stern. By day he is a poor member of the upper class, close friends with the 2nd most powerful heir in the kingdom, and living with a decent supportive family. By night, Kylar is deadly. He is not however, able to make use of the magical powers he was born with. His magic remains dormant inside him.

As the story unfolds from here, every chapter reveals a new secret about the main characters and their purpose in the world. The whole story culminates to a deadly battle, with all of the major players being scattered in different directions. I was blind-sided constantly by the twists and turns in this story. Literally, this is all I can say without revealing any spoilers.

Admittedly, I did not become absorbed in this story until about 1/3 of the way into the book. Early in the story I felt like too much time was spent in Azoth's childhood when nothing was really happening. If you were going to put down the book without finishing it, this would be the only place I could see that happening. Eventually it becomes clear that the beginning was very important to understanding the dynamics between the children as they grow into adults. So don't give up early in the book! The magical people and battles don't come in to play until the 2nd half either, but you will not be disappointed when the action finally starts.

At this point, I am so absorbed in the story and so emotionally invested in the characters, that I am literally running to my mailbox every day to see if the next book in the series has arrived yet. I haven't ever read anything else like it, so trying to make a comparison would be pointless. I loved the book and would highly recommend it.

I am probably about 1/8 through the book and am really looking forward to finishing it. On that note, this is a review solely based on the first 130 pages, with NO SPOILERS. I promise. I will also be updating this review once I have completed reading the book.

I spent maybe two hours last night reading the first portion of this book and was gripped by the storyline. However, my major gripe thus far has been with the editing. WHO ON EARTH EDITED THIS BOOK!? They should be fired! I have found myself re-reading portions because it seems like whole paragraphs have been removed where a new chapter should have started. But, rather than start a new chapter they skipped that and just made it a new paragraph. I have also read a few reviews on here (I was curious if anyone else had any gripes with the editing) and people complain about the random switch offs between characters. This is done in a Robert Jordan like fashion where something awesome will be about to happen.. Then you go into another storyline and have to deal with some boring stuff before you can get back to the good stuff. This also seemed to be the only real strategy that they used to change chapters (my own problem with it). The editor (and somewhat author's fault) seemed to really dislike using chapter changes for anything except changing characters. So, you'll end up with one paragraph that the protagonist is going to sleep in, and the next paragraph they are sparring. I've spent half my time reading doing a re-reading to make sure that I didn't just skip 10 pages that explained how something was led up to.. This is probably my biggest problem, so far. It definitely messes with the flow of the book if you have to re-read portions and then draw your own conclusions because it was poorly written/edited.

Edit:

Alright, I finished the series. I would recommend this to friends. The Author got better as the books go on, and he seems to have fleshed out his writing style quite a bit during the interim. I still feel as though this is the three book version of the wheel of time. You can tell that the author got a lot of inspiration from Robert Jordan. However, this is still a good series, and a good attempt for a first go at creating a trilogy. I look forward to seeing how Brent weeks develops his ability to tell a story, and write. Also, many of the problems mentioned earlier are a lot more spaced out and rare in the later books. The first one is definitely a book that should have been edited quite a bit more. I am going to give this series 4 stars for a good first attempt. I upped this from my 3 star rating because it was entertaining to read despite a few oversights in the story, and methods of telling it.

This series is absolutely stellar. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of the author before. My SO, our two best friends & I all utterly devoured these books, hardly sleeping. I hope to see much more from this author.

This is your typical "assassin with a heart of gold" trope, but it's beautifully done with expert storytelling, a nice magic system, good world building, and outstanding character development. Books this good are rare treasures.

Initially, I started reading this book and rejected it because the dialogue was very modern and American. Then someone pointed something out to me that made me feel foolish. Who said that everyone who lived in a completely made up fantasy world must speak in a British accent and speak eloquently? Why couldn't they speak in an American accent and use modern profanity that we use in the real world? I mean, it's a completely fictional world. Anything is possible. So with this in mind. I gave this book another chance. It is an amazing story. Extremely well written with characters and a plot that engulfs you and makes you forget the real world. That kind of book doesn't come around very often. I highly recommend this book, and I plan to read everything from this author that I can get my hands on.

I was most intrigued by this book due to the idea of an assassin who was unstoppable. What were the techniques, tools, deceits, and perhaps magic involved? What compelled them to work and who could trust them.

Brent Weeks starts off a his Trilogy with complex characters, a bit of class-warfare, and the assassin who will bridge the gap between the classes. I found this book enjoyable. It is a quick, action-packed read that keeps the characters few, but complex. The story is filled with twists, turns, and some of the best action / fighting writing around.

My only negative was with a bit of historical narrative. Brent doesn't spend enough time in this first book explaining some of the background between countries, principalities, etc. He has this wonderful world, but too much of the time in this first book I was left wondering why? The author kind of glosses over this with action, action, action.

There are several sympathetic characters in this series and I hope they return in future series. You really do root for the good guys and want retribution against the bad guys. Even though there are plenty of gray areas where you get to see both sides, there ends up being enough going for and against each character that you have something to sink your teeth into.

Pros:
o action packed / fast paced
o well written characters
o interesting magic system

Cons:
o needs a bit more background in this first book to help the reader understand motivations of characters better

Overall - I recommend this book to fantasy genre reading fans. A satisfying series by a good new author on the scene.

This is the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. I was really looking forward to reading a series by another great epic fantasy author. This is a really great epic fantasy. It has an intricate plot, great characters, and is of epic proportions. There were some things that bothered me but most were forgivable. I listened to this on audio book. The audio book was well done, although it was tough sometimes to tell when the reader had switched to a different character's prospective.

Azoth, and his friends Doll Girl and Jarl, are street rats who lives in the warrens under the abusive hand of a boy named Rat . When Rat goes too far, Azoth vows to apprentice himself to the best wet boy (assassin with magic skills) in the city, Durzo Blint. Azoth does what he has to become Blint's apprentice and ends up taking on the guise of a young noble lord named Kylar. Kylar becomes one of the friends of a powerful young noble named Logan. In the end Azoth/Kylar becomes deeply embroiled in the intrigues happening both in nobility and the underworld. The fate of the country is in the hands of Logan, Kylar, and others. If they can navigate the complex political moves, perhaps they can save the country...and maybe even themselves.

This book had a number of things that I really enjoyed. I enjoy reading about assassins; and there was plenty of that in this book. There are many nifty action scenes, you learn about crazy devices the assassins use, and about the poisons they develop. The magic system wasn't as well-defined as I like, but it did have some interesting elements to it and the reader is still learning how it is all connected at the end of the book.

The point of view changes between many characters throughout the book. In the beginning we mainly see things from Azoth's point of view and Durzo's point of view. As the book continues we see things from many, many points of view (generals, kings, etc.). It was pretty easy to keep track of what was going on. At some points minor things earlier in the book had major impact and Weeks does a good job of reminding you what happened just in case you missed it (or forgot) from earlier.

People who loved Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy should enjoy the characterization in this book as well. All of the characters are a solid mix of bad and good. They are very grey and make stupid mistakes at times; basically they are very, very human. As such they were engaging to read about and in general had enough good to them that you were really pulling for them. There are also some major female players in the book, which was awesome (I hate it when epic fantasies relegate the ladies to minor roles).

The book ended well and completed the story nicely. Of course they are major things that aren't resolved. The writing was very well done, if a bit wordy at times. The plot twists and turns so many different ways that it is impossible to predict the ending; so as a reader you are kept on your toes. This is a book for adults; there is sexual abuse, physical abuse, loads of swearing, and plenty of gory violence.

There were some things that I didn't enjoy with this book. Azoth/Kylar makes a lot of incredibly stupid mistakes; he does it so often that I was left wondering how anyone could ever think he was a good assassin (again reminds of Fitz from the Farseer trilogy). I think a little less blundering on Azoth's part would have made this book more believable and engaging. Additionally the pace of the story starts to drag towards the end. The last fourth of the book Weeks throws so many crazy plot twists at you that I ended up kind of rolling my eyes and thinking "Okay, so can we just get on with the story at some point and progress it instead of twisting it?"

My last problem with the book was that Weeks does not care about killing off characters. I mean seriously he will spend all this page space to develop characters and then just kill them off like it's nothing. Towards the end of the book I thought I was reading a Shakespearean tragedy so many characters were dying. It was unbelievable. I think it is great to use a major character's death to grab the reader, but Weeks killed off so many major characters that I started to expect everyone to die. At that point it was just depressing and predictable and not a good plot device.

Overall this is an excellent epic fantasy read. I really enjoyed the characters, the story, and the world. The writing is very solid...if a bit lengthy at times. The pace of the plot is relentless in the beginning of the book and then drags a bit at the end. I liked this book a lot better the Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One), but not as well as Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set, Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1), or Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1). I will definitely be reading the next book, Shadow's Edge (Night Angel Trilogy, Book 2), and hope that it is a bit faster paced and that Kylar doesn't screw up so much.

3.75 stars. Very good book. The only things holding it back are (1) a significant number of loose ends at the end of the book and (2) a lack of clarity in physically describing environments and people.

As for the former issue, this is a three-part series, so I do not fault Mr. Weeks for that. That said, this book closes few loops and leaves many open.

As for the second, with a few exceptions, e.g., the throne room, I never felt immersed in the environment. Places like the jail, the Warrens, the east bridge, and the various castles and mansions all had a vagueness about them individually and in connection with one another, i.e., where one was located with respect to another. Same goes for people. The descriptions of certain important characters, e.g., Dorian, seem glossed over. This is a relatively minor issue, but I found it to be repeatedly distracting. Otherwise, an outstanding job.

Ultra-assassins, corrupt kings, political intrigue, prostitutes and street urchins wishing side-by-side for a better life in a world that refuses to let them gain it...those are just a few of the better trappings of epic fantasy, and this first volume of the Night Angels trilogy is a book that uses them well. The tale of youngster Azoth and trained killer Durzo Blint proves a tantalizing twist on the "precocious youth is taught by a wise old man" trope, jolting it up with moral ambiguity and a tense, hostile relationship between the two of them.

Brent Weeks has begun a trilogy that I look forward to finishing. He had me hooked right from the opening scene. He did a terrific job of fleshing out his characters, and got me to care about them. More than a few scenes and character arcs were emotionally intense, and I appreciated how he gave his protagonists enough hell so their outcomes truly were in doubt. He doesn't pull a lot of punches, develops this world adequately, and he makes sure we have an investment in the outcome. Even when he indulges in cliches of romance, royalty, prophecies, and mages, Weeks pulls it off so well that you don't mind reading about the same thing one more time. It's a gritty world, full of gritty characters, so if you're tired of squeaky clean epic fantasy and have already devoured A Song of Ice and Fire, this might be a good book for you to grab.

Shadows is not without its weaknesses. Some truly intriguing characters are set up for their own great stories that could have been threaded through the next book, only to be killed in some arbitrary manner, a la George R.R. Martin. Not that that's always a bad thing. It just made the experience of their deaths incredibly frustrating, rather than an intense part of the story. The quality of the writing itself is uneven. It normally doesn't have standout description, and oscillates between pedestrian and wordy (something that isn't as grating when you listen to an audiobook, which I did in this case). And there are one too many viewpoint characters, in my opinion, at least when it comes to the single-chapter minor viewpoints.

Another weakness here is that the villains are cackling cartoons who take delight in their overt wickedness. Even though I cheered whenever one of these evil creatures died, I wished they were characters who saw themselves as heroes and doing what was right or necessary, instead of R-rated versions of the mustache-twirling devils on a vaudeville stage.

My overall impression of this novel is that it gets its strength from the character development, which fortunately makes up for the elements that don't shine quite as brilliantly. Still, it has to be said that Brent Weeks has kicked open the door and gotten us off to a great start. This is a series that I intend to finish. Thank you, Mr. Weeks. You have done well.

I love reading. That is what I do to unwind. I want to be swept into another world and captivated. I had recently read George RR Martin's series and went through all of those. I was looking for something similar and a website recommended this series. I don't want to get into a chapter by chapter critique of the book because none of my degrees are in literature, English, or related field. So I would be speaking from ignorance (lack of knowledge). So all I can offer is my opinion as an educated person who loves the sci if genre. This is simply one of the best books I have read, ever. I have started into the second book and it is great too. I simply can not put either book down. The imagination, the story line, the characters, the wrestling with moral issues... Well I'm just going to say read it and you won't regret it. I'm surprised I had not heard of the series or Brent Weeks. But I'm glad I did.

The Way of the Shadow is a superbly written novel, delving into the dredges of what it means to be human, to walk away from life or to accept and fight for what is right and what should not be allowed.

The characters introduced are not inherently good, nor are their reasons morally right, but there is enough in their character that shows that in life there is a line, and when it cannot be crossed, the decision made will define who the character can be and whether redemption is possible.

There are many crucibles in life for these characters and the following books will surely drive them to the breaking point. Some will come out alive and some will be broken beyond recognition.

Brent Weeks is a master at character and world building. The history and characters are fully realized and beautifully described, making it easy to be drawn in and lost in The Way of the Shadows.

**Originally posted on goodreads

Where does one even start to talk about this book? It's unlike anything I've read in recent memory. I'll be perfectly honest, it was the cover art that grabbed my attention. Then I saw it was pretty cheap as an ebook on another site. I thought, why not? Best decision I've made in a while. Brent Weeks is a masterful storyteller. The characters and plot are deep and engaging. He puts you in the characters heads and tears you along the path of their life. You feel their pain. And there is a LOT of pain.

Initially, I was a little put off by the fact that the assassin angle is really the subtext, the background of a powerful narrative. But it works so well and helps fuel the story from both a foundational, as well as kinetic level. The pacing in the first half of the book is on and off, at times rapid and intense and other times a bit more plodding and pensive. But by the last half of the book, I envision every action taken by every character to be at nearly a full sprint. He literally doesn't let you catch your breath for something like 300 pages. I couldn't believe it. You expect that in a 300 page book, that half of the story will be at full speed but not in a beast such as this.

I generally have no trouble putting a book down to read more later. But this book kept me up at night, turning pages. I was half asleep at my desk during the work day due to staying up far too late reading.

The downside, for some readers, may be that it's hard to keep track of what's going on, who is at risk, who is a threat and who is backstabbing whom. If you have trouble following in depth plot lines with lots of political machinations, this book may not be for you. If you just want straightforward stealth action, this may have a bit too much intrigue.

Lastly, as others have said, this book is VERY dark. Of the 8-10 main characters, only about 2 of them are even fit to draw breath in a fair and honest world. Most in the book are disgusting, despicable, and loathsome monsters, frequently as a result of their environment, but nonetheless, there they are. The book deals with some dark subject matter, child molestation and abuse. Rape. Torture. It doesn't delight in them and it gives them the appropriate amount of disdain, but it doesn't shy away from it. So be prepared. This is NOT a warm fuzzy story. The characters experience enormous amounts of emotional anguish and are faced with impossible moral dilemmas. And death. Oh the death. There is a massive amount of death. This book is serious business and not appropriate for younger readers.

All that being said, the read was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it. The prose is strong but not earth shattering. The style is somewhat unique as Weeks jumps rapidly from character to character, with little warning. If you're feeling adventurous, pick this book up, but be prepared for a story than will take you places you may not want to go.

Sorry, but I just didn't like this book. Unfortunately, I bought the entire trilogy, but I don't think I can bring myself to read any more of it. Therefore, I'm just reviewing book one "Way of Shadows". Briefly.

The beginning of the novel was interesting enough and I had hopes that I was going to enjoy it. Yet the further along I got, the more difficult it became to stay interested. To quickly summarize all of my grievances with this book: the characters were underdeveloped, the writing was clumsy and at times truly awful, the abrupt switches between POV's was very confusing, the dialogue was awkward, some of the names (Momma K, Doll Girl, Wetboy for example) were just embarrassing, the obsession with the breast size of the female characters came across as juvenile, and some of the action scenes read more like a bad comic book which, for me, made it nearly impossible to follow what exactly was happening. Also, I don't mind profanity in general, but as another reviewer stated, it seems Weeks used it more for shock-value than anything. Lastly, Weeks' usage of very modern language and current slang made it impossible for me to believe in the medieval world that he was trying to create.

I'm sure Weeks' writing has improved since this first novel came out (I can only hope), and perhaps his books appeal to many people, but not to this reader. I'll just stick with Martin, Hobb, Rothfuss, Lynch and a few others.

I won't recount the plot, as I'm sure that many others have already done that quite well. This book is non-stop action and suspense all the way through. The plot has layer after layer of intrigue, and it amazes me that one author could weave a tale this complex all on his own. Absolute outstanding storytelling at its finest. So why four stars, you asked? The storyline itself is worthy of five stars, and without reservation, I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys complex, well thought out storylines (even if you are not a scifi/fantasy buff--as, I, myself, am not). The only drawback, in my opinion, is the major character dump at the beginning of the book. I could not keep the characters (beyond the main five) straight until over halfway through the book. All the characters are introduced right away, and then some don't reappear until almost the very end of the novel. This is my only complaint with the book: Too many characters without enough introduction or storyline (at least in the beginning) to be memorable. That, in my opinion, is a huge drawback, since you read about these characters, but don't know how they fit together. So, the four stars. But as I said, despite that, a really great story, with characters you either love or hate, but still want more of. Great, great storytelling. Well done Mr Weeks.

To be honest, I first picked up this book purely because of the cover. Come on, it's an assassin in the front. Besides, the description in the store wasn't much help and certainly does not foreshadow any of the millions of things that happened in this book.

The book began rather simply-I thought-with the brutal lives of impoverished children. Azoth is part of that life, and to save himself from it, he apprenticed to Durzo Blint, the best "wetboy" -assassin-in the city. The first 1/3 of the book might have covered 10 years, from when Azoth was a kid to when he was 20 or so. Then the real events began. It's from here that we can see the intricate plotlines emerge and how well Mr. Weeks had planned this book from the first page to the last.

There's plenty of action and court intrigue to keep the reader guessing as to what will happen, not to mention that every character is unpredictable in some way. One can never be sure of who will do what or betray who in this book. At points that's really sad when someone you thought you could trust just betrayed another character, but that's what happens in a world where everyone is trying to survive.

I guess the only thing I didn't like is the ending. It felt way too mushy and didn't really match the rest of the book, but it does give the feeling of hope and redemption. Perhaps that is the point. Anyway, I definitely would recommend this to everyone. Whether you're new to fantasy or is a regular fantasy lover, I'm sure you'll find plenty of plot twists and characterization to keep you going until you're at the last page!

Unpredictable, exhilarating and fast-paced, The way of the shadows grips you by the arm and takes you for a joyride across a new fantasy world conceived by debutant Brent Weeks. The series has its share of action, drama, politics and magic however what sets it apart is the blistering pace at which it moves forward and the very matter-of-fact plot with no sympathy or time for idle paragraphs. The book's start is very strong as we see Azoth living the life of a "guild rat" and hunting for any coins that he can lay his hands on. Very quickly, we are taken to the evolution of Azoth into an apprentice of the most accomplished assassin of the country, Durzo. This character does make a mark on the reader's imagination and I think is the best character of the book. The cover, start of the story and overall plot were, for me, reminiscent of The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs which is also about a boy apprenticed to an assassin. However the two series are as different as they are similar and Weeks' writing style is very different from that of Hobb, who has a beautiful flow to the way she writes. There are a few grammatical errors that the editors obviously missed and the narrative at times can be a little too simple however the book is excellent as a debut. Weeks has managed to adopt a writing style that adequately matches the pace of his conceived plot, and that to me is the book's biggest achievement. When you have read a large number of fantasy series, the jewels among the rubbish become extremely difficult to find. This is because they all start seeming similar (e.g. this book also reminds me of The Black Magician Trilogy) in some respects (magic, wizards, court politics, coups etc) and hus the differentiating factors require something special. I think The way of the shadows is one of those special books and a very fast read.

I simply must tell you that I have read this book (let alone the Night Angel Trilogy) more than once. Brent Weeks is an amazingly talented author, and his characters and world come to life in his words. I only wish I could see a show version of this because it would be amazing to see with my two eyes. I recommend it if you like adventure, intrigue, sex, violence, language, love, magic...it’s simply thrilling.

This was my first Brent Weeks novel. I'm not sure it was the best introduction to his work. It was a decent plot overall, with plenty of twists and turns. But before I go into more detail, the book was too slow.

Brent Weeks takes us to a place where life is dark, dreary, and deadly. Our main character begins his life on the streets, and the book constantly revisits them. Death abounds even upon children, innocents, royalty and the homeless. This world is one where everyone you befriend is a liability, every love a potential loss.

The darkness is not just around the characters but in them as well. Our protagonist has to make tough choices and does. Though at what cost? Can a young boy, even a tough one, take the leap from struggling in poverty to a powerful assassin and not lose part of his soul?

One thing I loved included the action scenes. The detail and flow of these was quite entertaining and drew me in fully. Sheer variety in weapons, attacks, and how each character approached the fights was worth the price of admission. Eric Lustbader eat your heart out. True ninja style stuff here.

Another strong point to this book is the depth of characterization. Weeks spared no amount of words making sure we understood each character, not just as their job or profession, but who they are inside and how they came to be there. He lets us peer into the mind of a prostitute turned leader, and a man who sold his soul for immortality.

Lastly a compliment to the author for making no one black and white. Not even characters as simple as some of the guards were entirely simple.

Though the book was long in the tooth at points, if you love tails of assassins, ninjas and the like, then this is a good read. Young adult is almost an unfair category for this as it will more likely appeal to a slightly older reader.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS:
THE WAY OF SHADOWS starts out following a young boy by the name of Azoth and the reader is immediately introduced to the troubled life of guild rats in the slums of the Warrens. Life is hard, and is especially hard for Azoth who takes it upon himself to look after the other guild rats.

Azoth's luck changes when the most accomplished and deadly assassin (wetboy), Durzo Blint, agrees to take Azoth in as his apprentice, providing Azoth with the opportunity to leave his old life behind and learn the trade of hiding in the shadows, all sorts of medicinal poisons, and the art of weaponry and killing. The price to be allowed to be Durzo's apprentice? Killing the corrupt and brutal leader of Azoth's current guild.

Thus begins the compelling transformation of Azoth into Kylar Stern, a killing machine in his own right. He is cleverly placed in with a family so he can learn the art of politics and nobility and further establish his new persona.

On top of following the master and the apprentice through countless training exercises the reader sees a city in turmoil and under siege.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
THE WAY OF SHADOWS is one of the best recent fantasy books I have read, if not one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. There are many strengths to this engaging book; but, one of the strongest is definitely the characters and their moral/ethical dilemmas. THE WAY OF SHADOWS is an emotional ride of vengeance, mercy, justice, terror, and humor.

While learning the ways of being an accomplished wetboy, Kylar has a continuous dialogue about his purpose and him wondering when his master, Durzo, will actually kill him at a moment's notice. Kylar and Durzo's dialogues are in top form, and masterfully written. They are believable characters, with believable motivations and interests.

The political nature of this book adds a certain element which is only enhanced by the political power of the wetboys, used as tools for the bigger picture. There is so much development throughout the book that it could almost be overwhelming; but, Weeks does a masterful job of stringing the reader along and introducing only as much information as is necessary to further the plot and satisfy the reader without overwhelming the reader with pages and pages of history, lore, and development.

Finally, the book shines in the raw portrayal of an assassin's life, putting the assassins against others and themselves as they struggle to follow the "wetboy code" that is counter intuitive to their moral fiber.

Overall, I would not miss this book if you are a fan of the fantasy genre or like political intrigue and assassin books. I would certainly recommend keeping Brent Weeks on your radar as he has the potential to become one of the next great fantasy writers.

Durzo, an assasian,takes an apprentice. Azoth, Durzos apprentice, becomes Kylar. Kylar soon beomes a skilled assasian but without access to his talent he can't become a wetboy like Durzo.
Durzo learns that that Kylar can bond to the ka'karie, which would allow a Kylar to use his talent. The boardering country wishes to invade Cenaria and bring a huge war to the Warrens.

The book was fast passed and kept me on my toes. The charcter development was excently described and the plot was told flawlessly. There were some parts that I could easy guess as to what was coming next but the overall story was always changing.

I noticed some gramtical errors throught the book that were really easy to spot and threw of the fluidity of the sentence or even paragrapgh. Some of the names used were rather weird names when looking at the surrounding characters.

My overall impression of the book was that it was a good book. Not five star quality but deffinitly four star quality. I would like to give the book a four and a half star rating for interesting characters and an amazing story line. This book took many fantasy stories and combined them into one while throwing real life into the mix.

I would be taking a half star away due to awakard names at times and gramtical errors. Also at the begiming of the book the story jumped arpund so much that it was hard to follow. There were times that the story would do it again but it wasn't as often.

Overall I really liked what Mr. Weeks can do with a story and look to read more of his work in the future. I dont normally rate a book as high as this one but,I almost feel compelled to rate this one at high just due to the story.

I will now apologize for any spelling or capitalization errors that are in my review. I am writing this review solely on the kindle. Once again sorry for any errors within the review.

Kylar (and Elene and Logan) may be a shade more noble than the rest of the hundreds of characters in this book, but he's still not good. He would be okay if I had real hope that things would get better, but there was just too much death and gruesome violence. A lot of it was needless. I can't bring myself to really believe there are that many cruel and twisted people in the world. I can't believe that they would win. This book is like a pit in my stomach after a sweet taste in my mouth. I should have expected as much from a book about assassins, but I was spoiled with the lighter-hearted nature of Legend of Eli Monpress, despite its 4 MCs being a thief, a bounty hunter, a wizard, and a demon.

The plot was convoluted and complex. I really think I would have loved it in a less grim setting. There were lots of povs, but I never lost track of them, despite new ones introduced over halfway through the book.

With books this dark, it does make me appreciate even more the characters who lived. Still, their hope seems drowned out by all the ones who died.

Incredible action, jaw dropping suspense, throw in some romance, and have it take place with a bad *** lead character. I loved every page of this book and could not stop reading. I only got two hours of sleep the night I finished this fantasy masterpiece. The characters in this book jump out of the page at you and while I was reading, it felt as though I was in that world. Such vivid detail and terrific plot elements throughout. Jump into this one and prepare for a wild, fantastic ride. I particularly enjoyed the way "magic" works in this world, brand new and exciting. I'm glad there are two more books because I want more of this story!

The Way Of Shadows is a brilliant first novel for Brent Weeks, his skill at writing his characters is only eclipsed by a few of the top Fantasy writers. Not only are Weeks's characters great the story as whole is amazing considering this is Weeks's first novel, the world is well fleshed out with great nation building and a new look at magic, but my favourite parts are the action sequences, they're fast paced and well thought out and you can definitely tell that Weeks has a martial arts background.

Amongst my favourite characters are Azoth later Kyler who dreams of leaving the slums and never being afraid again. Azoth finally gets his chance when his a given an apprenticeship to the famous or infamous Wetboy(magical assassin)Durzo Blint and learns this trade of killing. Along the way Blint introduces Azoth to many of his friends like Momma K the leader of the Pleasures Guild a tough and robust woman who teaches Azoth how to blend into polite society, and also Blint's long time friend Count Drake who will teach Azoth that there is more to life than the fame of being the best assassin there is, Drake will teach him it is possible to love even in the hardest circumstances. After many years of training and hard work Azoth is ready to take his first contract and his new name, and just in time as the armies of the God King march across his country putting all he loves at risk.

I usually shy away from assasin books... something about them tends to ruin my suspention of belief. while this book does trigger that at times (the wetboys dont seem to ever lack for work how many people can a small group of elite assasins be hired to kill?) I thuroughly enjoyed the book and am searching for the second one (i passed it over the first time as i was unsure i would like book one)

having said that I would like to temper all of the gusshing reviews with a bit of negative.

While the subject matter is definatly mature the writing style often leaves the impression of a teenager eagerly telling about a weekend party. not that it lacked depth... it just "sounds" a bit young

The author also has to work on his transitions... there were times where i a couple pages into a chapter and had to go back because i was totaly lost as to whos point of view i was reading from. I often found it hard to immagine what was happening because he does not always give a full description the first time we meet a character. he often uses the writing technique of simply giving you information from the characters level of familiarity and letting the story fill in the blanks later. Only it may be half a book before you fully grasp the full description or implication of something.

trust me its not a horrible thing but i found it annoying at times.

lastly if your an avid fantasy reader like myself you may get a touch of dejavu when reading through the first half of the book as he seems to borrow from many other writers. not steal or purger... but you can reccognize where he got ideas from. As an example The "island race" or seafaring race in the story are similar to the seafaring race in "Song of Ice and Fire" (black sailors who often go nakked on their ships)

once again its not a horrible thing. but its noticable.

Like i said I look forward to the next book and I look forward to following this writers career as he grows because if this book was any indication Brent Weeks is destined for a long wonderful career.

I literally just finished reading this book. I enjoyed it and there was a lot of action but I felt like the book left a lot of unanswered questions. Now sometimes, unanswered questions are a good thing in a book, they give me just enough information that I can't wait to read the next book. In this case, with the exception of the main plot, the sub plots left a lot to be desired. I felt like a lot of the sub-characters weren't given enough story time for me to be interested in them. They seemed to be mentioned every now and then but then nothing was ever given in detail to develop them.

Also, the speech in the story was a bit awkward. The book would switches from old style speech to modern speech, it was a bit jarring at times.

When I finished the book, it felt like the story had literally just began. The story revolves around the main characters who have something called Talent (magic) but by then end of the book, I still don't have much of a grasp about how the talent can be used and the "history" of talent.

I will finish the series but only because I like to finish what I started. I had high expectations when I read this book due to all the outstanding reviews. Though I don't regret reading this series, I am a bit disappointed. I hope the next few books will be a bit more rewarding.

This book was refreshing.I do not want to gush and take with a grain of salt the authors anecdote in the book about how well received it is.

Fantasy often falls into familiar rhythms and sometimes a work comes along to break them. Here we have a tale that twists things about so that you are left unsure, even in the final cadence of how things here turn out. Those twists will keep you engaged and surprise you.

We have seen works that start with the world viewed through the eyes of children, and this tale starts that way. Some of the adult concepts given to children who have yet to reach puberty, in a world that does not have the modern medias onset of accelerating the maturing of our children, seems a little too much, but by the end of the tale this is forgotten.

Some devices are a little too pat, where our protagonist hero perhaps gains too many advantages too offset the hard tasks he will face. Or that the spider at the center of the web of evil that our hero ultimately is poised against continues to increase in its corruption.

Then action sequences might also be too many as the conclusion nears its end. There should be a balance between action and character development. But these are really minor quibbles for as the novel continues the whole is a really good read. Well worth the effot and worth reading again for delving into its nuances.

To me, five stars isn't just the best. It's the kind of thing you'll go back to over and over. I've read the whole series before and just started re-reading it. It's been four years, and it's just as good the second time. Not only is each book excellent, but the trilogy is very well planned out. Like he wrote them simultaneously instead of one at a time.
I highly recommend this book and this trilogy to anyone who enjoys a well written, exciting, heart wrenching, magical story about good people in bad places. It can be pretty gritty at times, but he doesn't go into too much detail (depending on your own experience, I suppose). Just enough to show you how screwed up the people are and then move on with the story. The writing is so good, you never feel like you're reading a book. You may put it down at the end and think, "Wow I have a crazy good imagination. Wait, didn't I buy a book recently?" Easily worth twice as much as they charge.

The story is fairly simple in essence, but it's engaging and it's very well managed by the author. I found some of the coincidences that come out later in the book a bit hard to swallow at times, but certainly nothing unforgiveable. There was sometimes a sense of the author trying too hard to surprise the reader. I won't say any more on that to avoid spoilers.

I also had some problems with the writing now and then. It's not a particularly literary book - it's written very openly and simply. On the whole it's written very well, but I found some hiccups in the writing that could have been better editted. Things like, "He picked up the jug of water and poured a glass of water." Word repetition like that can be distracting to the reader.

However, regardless of these small gripes, I greatly enjoyed this book. There's good stuff about the life and training of an assassin, heaps of action and intrigue and characters that you can really understand and care about. To me, that's quality storytelling.

I'd readily recommend it to fantasy fans. There are two more in the series and I'll certainly pick up the next one.

Seeing all of these five-star reviews makes me question readers' low standards. This novel has a fair enough plot and an intriguing premise, but the writing is simply painful to slog through. Though the first third of the book focuses solely on the protagonist via his perspective, the latter portion of the book jumps around from one insignificant character's viewpoint to another's, dragging out a single day of action for chapter upon chapter of dry narrative. As for the narrative style, this is cliched fantasy at its worst, where Weeks relies upon the technique of telling a character's thoughts about a situation, then retelling them, then telling them once more with a few regurgitated cliches again, only to have the character question whether he should take a different approach. This is agonizingly slow, and for a book that sort of sells itself as action and intrigue in print, it delivers little of it.

What makes this even more painful to get through is the fact that there ARE plenty of wonderful works of fantasy that take their time to develop characters in a realistic fashion. I actually prefer that sort of book, styled after Tolkien's rich approach to characterization, but Weeks manages the character-driven novel no better than one based on action. If you want fantasy with a brain, this isn't it; try Joe Abercrombie, George R.R. Martin, or Patrick Rothfuss for a far greater reward.

I was somewhat suprised at people who 1 star'd this book saying the writing was bad. I have to strongly disagree. I do not think the writing style is poor, nor is its execution. What it is, is contemporary. Some people need sword and sorcery to have an "old" feel to it, and thus they did not give it a proper chance.

I believe what Brent Weeks has created here will become a very prominent selection of fantasy literature. Its a very well thought out plot, with many twists and turns (in a good way), and characters who are actually interesting. Its a long book series of long books, which is to be expected with a fantasy epic.

I won't give a summary because its done about 100 times in the reviews, but if you like Sword and Sorcery fantasy stories, buy this. Its a very well done book.

My only complaint is regarding the use of japanese names for weapons. I understand that in Weeks world, there is a country that is supposed to be asian. But for some reason seeing japanese words kind of threw me off. But that is a very small complaint about a very good book.

Wow! Wonderful start to an absolutely fascinating world. In a kingdom where the king really has little to no power but is too dumb to even realize it. Instead the government is controlled by a mafia type of ruling system that uses assassins as a primary means to solve their problems or advance in structure. Azoth is an 11 year old orphan boy with no family or background. He barely survives the streets and yet still gives what little he has to his only two friends. Horrible, horrible things happen to his friends and Azoth blames himself. He sacrifices himself to save others and so the story begins.

Amazing to realize that this is this author's first novel. It was superbly done. The world created and all its characters were unique and well-rounded. There was even a romance added. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the interaction between characters. Despite turmoil and devestating circumstances, to still believe in each other was actually very heartwarming. I thought this aspect was a nice contrast to all the hurt and death.

I would recommend this excellent book to any and all readers.

For me, this has been the first fantasy-fiction novel in about 10 years I have had trouble putting down. The characters are rich and their motivations believable. The story is a bit "formulaic" for Kyler who goes from nobody to ultimate assassin but you are so drawn in by his plight you hardly notice.

Life is hard, and Weeks has really captured that struggle in a way that makes you feel nothing but put compassion for even some of the less noble characters.

I could go on and on but this author and novel has the drama and realism of R.R. Martin with the action and sense of plot purpose that R.A. Salvatore brings to his works. The result is 600 pages that left me headed back to the book store to buy the rest of the triology and research his other works.

With no hesitation a five star novelist!

This was really a pretty good fantasy novel. I was pleasantly surprised, and I'll now be buying the next two books in the trilogy to see what happens next.

This story is Dark Fantasy and focuses on wetboys, which are assassins, and the main character is being tutored by the most famous wetboy in the city in Durzo Blint. The main character starts off in the Warrens, the poorest part of the city and is in a thieves type of guild, where most people end up who do not have a home. But the main charcter after being taken in by Blint gets his former life killed off and he now takes the name of Kylar. He poses as a petty noble and learns the way of being a wetboy. Now this is what the story seems to be, but it morphs into something much larger in the last third of the book that starts to make the story epic, and leaves open possabilities for the next book in the series.

- Great stuff here, I easily recommend it!

This book was fun, riveting, and well developed especially the characters. The characterization in this book was incredible. They were all deep and they all had convictions, morals, and personalities that made this book an amazing read. I loved the plot.

This book is about a kid named Azoth that is an orphan that lives in the Warrens or the slums of Cenaria. He will do anything to get out of there including becoming an assassins apprentice. Durzo is an assassin without conviction or at least that's what everyone thinks. He runs into Azoth and decides to take him as an apprentice. Then one da all hell breaks loose in Cenaria and a war inside the city has rendered everything in ruins and Azoth aka Kylar is the only one who can save it. As I said a great plot with a lot of twists and turns and a lot of well developed subplots.

This is the first book I read by Brent Weeks, and it's truly a journey through an action-packed world. The Magic system is intriguing but vague, and it definitely has that "this is the best side quest in an Elder Scrolls game" feel to it. There are tons of plot lines to follow, and sometimes it gets lost and confusing with the fantasy elements, but the action and character development are spot on. If you are looking to dive into complex characters in a fantasy world that is lower on Magic, this is a great read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Azoth as an assassin in training is a little timid, and a bit helpless, but his mentor Blint makes up for that weakness strong will and unflinching adherence to the way of the wetboy (assassins with special powers). There is murder, mystery, magic, and more in this book, and I loved every word. What reviewers say on here is true though, at times the book will cut to a viewpoint that seems unimportant and boring, it does take a bit away from the flow of the story. I only minded this a few times, when we were transported to placed we haven't heard of and had to read about people we didn't know, that ended up not having a big part in the plot. That is definitely not a reason to not read this book. If you decide to read this book you are in for an epic journey of a boy who doesn't really want to be an assassin, who is forced to get over his old life and assume a new role. You will get to follow a boy who is eager to please his master, even when his master may seem to be on the wrong side of things. I can not wait to read the rest of this series, what a great start!

I enjoyed this book - it was good. But it was disappointingly amateur which kept it from being great.

The world building was good enough barely to give context to the main characters, but gave no detail about the countries to the "north" and "south". The foreigners were extremely 1-dimensional plot props. I always feel like foreign countries important enough to come wreak great evil in your country could at least be given a decent map and decent motivation (some true dimension would be even better).

The characters all suffered from a lack of ability to communicate - even with the reader. So while they were not quite 1-dimensional, they didn't get past 2 dimensions. We were told who they were like but they didn't show it themselves much. ---SPOILER -- Kylar was in love with Elene while admittedly knowing nothing about her. Blint didn't want to die, didn't want Roth to win but would kill Kylar for Roth but wouldn't kill Kylar, ... what? --- END SPOILER --- For characters that were all coincidentally "super intelligent," there were way too many times in the book where I thought why don't you just ... "insert easy, smart option that was totally missed here".

The magic was interesting but also underspecified. Like those movies with infinite rounds fired and no reloading scenes. We were never clear on the boundaries of the magic for any particular person or scene. This allowed magic to too often be a convenient prop that made the story building lazy.

The prose was full of holes and vastly underestimated the memory and intelligence of the user. ---- SPOILER -- "Oh no, my ka'kari is way over there" - but you called it to you 2 chapters ago. "Oh no, I'm in such pain but whoa my mind just cleared for no reason" ... Umm ok. "Ooops I don't want to get killed by wytches so I'll take a one way trip to a hole of cannibals where no one leaves or gets real food." said no one with sense, ever (except the super intelligent Logan). ---- END SPOILER ---

Overall entertaining but missing key elements and with those annoying plot jerks across plot holes that make no sense.

The flaws of this book are numerous. First and most obvious is the quality of prose, which was amateur. More than once, I had to reread a line to figure out what the author meant--not a good thing when the style is as straightforward and no-funny-business as in Way of Shadows. In addition to that, I could see a notable difference between the quality of writing in the first half of the book and the second. Beyond the technical sentence-stringing aspect of quality, there was also a great deal of "tell" as opposed to "show" happening. Irksome for reasons I'll get to in a bit.

Also a problem for me was the number of characters given viewpoints. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is particular annoying as a reader. Bottom line is that, in the thick of the action at the end of the book, I don't give a rip about some random woman on a boat from whom we only hear once. I really don't. And I'd prefer not to have the narratives of the main characters interrupted just so some random character off doing something can get his time on stage. To me, this is another sign of amateur or inexperienced work, since a writer ought to be able to tell the story, entire plot and all, without needing random viewpoints--especially not the amount Weeks employs.

Another issue I had was with the dialogue. While I want to give Weeks a huge high-five for creating dialogue that actually acknowledged how people change how they talk depending on whom they're talking to... I had trouble believing that the young kid characters would be talking like the young kid characters of our world today, complete with 'likes' and 'totally' and elongated 'soooo'. It threw me out of the story more than once.

Furthermore, the worldbuilding had me confused for pages and pages. I couldn't keep the names of countries and ethnicities straight, especially because there was no rhyme or reason to the naming of things. Here we have something with a Germanic name an then we have something with a French name and then an attempt at an Arabic name and we musn't for'get the' pre'sen'ce of' lots' of a'pos'tro'phes' ev'ery'where'.

And because I guess I'm just itching to get flame comments, I further took issue with the plot. It was going so splendidly, this slum kid apprenticed to the by-his-own-moral-compass assassin. Had a nice plot arc, Azoth becoming an assassin in more than just profession. It was juicy and wonderful in its simplicity, and that was what kept me reading after the first chapter (with which I was less than impressed.) But then, halfway or so through the book, Weeks turns on Epic Fantasy Mode and suddenly there are invading armies and Godkings and prophecies (ugh) and Capitalized Nouns and destiny and weapons of mass power and ancient heroes.

I've read all that crap before, two and a half dozen times or thereabouts. What I hadn't read was the story of this particular boy, Azoth, becoming an assassin in the apprenticeship to this madman Durzo Blint. That's what I wanted. That was what was so juicy to my mind. But I didn't get that, I got the epic-ized fantasy instead, with Weeks turning the route of many fantasy authors nowadays who somehow feel a compulsion to make everything grandiose and, well, epic. Which is not to imply that The Night Angels couldn't have become more epic-like, but in the first book? At the expensive of so much potential deliciousness? Sigh.

Now, before all the flames come: for all the novel's flaws, I kept reading. One reason is that I'm disinclined to let any book go unfinished. Another is that the author's enthusiasm and love of the story is evident (more than I can say for Sanderson and some of his books, which to my understanding were merely "practice" for others.) The main one is because the story is so damn good; I found the arc of Azoth becoming an assassin and the dynamic between him and Blint highly compelling. Perhaps that's why I'm so strongly opposed to the epicification of the story, as it came at the expensive of my favorite aspect.

I read somewhere that Weeks is regarded as having excellent characters. I both agree and disagree. Agree because I was invested in Azoth/Kylar and in Blint and in the relationship between them. Agree because I believed the other characters as well, and Weeks didn't merely assign traits and tropes in some formulaic fashion. Agree because given the writing style and the fast pace, it's amazing the amount of character that got packed in. Disagree because while the depth of character was there, it never came out and went to work. We never felt the depth of Blint or Kylar, just told at best. Made me sad, all that potential gone untapped just to get a plot-stuffed, epicified story.

In the end, my expectations for Way of Shadows were wrong. I was expecting a court intrigue with Kylar in the mix of things, the story of him and Blint, the sideplots worked in to add further depth, etc. I was disappointed when I got otherwise. But the potential of the characters and the enthusiasm with which Weeks writes give me hope for this new author. He could be a major contender for a ruling spot in fantasydom, if he gets his writing up to speed and starts choosing depth instead of shallow surface plots and cheap pacing tricks.

It took me quite a while to get into this story. In fact, I was almost halfway through the book before I decided to stick with it. I found Brent's writing style to be heavy-handed and if possible, overly descriptive at the beginning.

Once I got into the story, I enjoyed it although I spent a good deal of time frustrated with the majority of the characters. I also found it frustrating that it took almost the entire book to find out what the difference between a "wetboy" and an "assassin" was. To save you some time, a wetboy is an assassin with magical powers.

I will eventually get around to reading the others books in the series, but they aren't at the top of my list. (And don't even get me started on the cover, which is one of the worst that I have seen in some time!)

Night Angel: Way of the Shadows is a richly textured, multi-layered fantasy crowded with characters who have substance and cast shadows. It is a coming of age story played out against a backdrop of politics and magic, The first of Brent Weeks' epic story cycle, it compares favorably to George R. R. Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" books in terms of complexity and world-building.
The relationship between an orphan "guild rat" and a master assassin named Durzo Blint is at the heart of the story, but both Durzo and the boy have lives that connect to a web of other people. Durzo warns his apprentice that "love is a noose," but by the time they meet, it's already too late for the boy to heed the warning.
This is an epic story filled with darkness and cruelty but also stuffed with terrific characters, great friendships, large themes and genuine emotion. The early chapters are especially grim, and almost unbearable at times, but also familiar to us--the fantastical extension of Dickens' version of poverty. This world is not sentimental and those who escape the pull of the Warrens are grateful for their reprieve.
The world-building here is outstanding, on a par with Frank Herbert's Dune or J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, or the afore-mentioned George R. R. Martin's Seven Kingdoms. There is very real magic here, with "talents" that range across many different disciplines and mages that must hide their magic. There are places where a fan of the genre can almost identify the author's influences (because they're the classic books every fan has read) and he hits all the tropes and memes out there. Which is not a bad thing.
This is a "Chosen One" story, filled with humble beginnings and magical artifacts, and impossible loves, and politics both personal and grand. The chance for betrayal is everywhere and not necessarily because those doing the betraying are traitors
The characters here are richly dimensional and both men and women are heroes and villains. Some are even both. And unlike a lot of fantasies where even the magical creatures all seem to be white and blonde, there are characters with darker skins (like Jarl) and ambiguous sexuality. Women are just as likely to run things in this book as men, and no aspect of society is denied them.
There are families by birth and blood but also by necessity (like Jarl, Doll Girl, and Azoth). Durzo lives by the concept that "love is a noose" and yet he loves his apprentice and allows the king to manipulate him in order to protect his daughter.
The politics of the backdrop are convoluted in the way that actual politics are convoluted. The identity of the Shinga--the one who controls the criminal network that dominates the realm--is a true revelation and comes out of nowhere the way a good secret should.
Bad things happen to good people. Little children are mutilated, good women are murdered, people die and are hurt and are ruined. And yet, nothing feels gratuitous.
There is sex and there is death and there are magic swords and mad Godkings and well, just about everything you might want in a fantasy.
And when you're through--there are more books to read.

a friend originally sent me this trilogy and highly recommended it. As I got reading I couldn't put it down again. It was a steady read with characters that developed more and more as the books progressed. Book 1 is a great start to the twists and turns and occasional surprises that occur through this series. I strongly recommend anybody looking for a good fantasy read to pick up these novels and have a go. I really don't think you'll be disappointed as Brent is an excellent author.

At 11 years old Azoth has only ever known the poverty the warrens of Cenaria and his friends in the gang he lives with. All this is about to change when he decides that apprenticing himself to the famous wetboy Durzo Blint is the only way he can make a real life for himself, but to do so will require him to prove he is capable of the assassin's life.

Azoth proves to be a talented apprentice - and while his trade is horrible both Azoth and Durzo prove to be interesting and strangely likeable characters. Being the first book in a trilogy this is obviously a set up novel, but the author writes the story well enough that I kept picking up the book wanting to know what would happen next.

I'd heard on the grapevine that this is a good series and so far I'm glad I picked it up. I'm currently in the middle of the second book and so far the series has continued to hold it's quality and tension. If you like a good character driven fantasy with a nice dose of magic then this is recommended.

Cenaria may be governed by an unpopular king but it is ruled by corrupt and conniving guild leaders (the Sa'Kage). It has maintained its independence largely because it is not worth the trouble of invading. That is about to change as the Godking of Khalidor, its northern neighbor, turns his imperialistic eye upon the land in search of a magical relic (the mystical Ka'Kari). Against this backdrop, a destitute young guild rat is to become apprentice to the most feared and renowned wetboy (think magical assassin) in the city. A tale of friendship, murder, love, war, magic and betrayal unfolds at an often dizzying pace.

There is a lot to enjoy in "The Way of Shadows." Though an action fantasy (and it is one of the more action-packed stories I have ever read), it is equal parts mystery and court intrigue. It is an intelligent yarn. The main characters are circumspect and vividly rendered (admittedly a few characters are clichéd role players). I enjoyed the introspection and internal struggles of the characters, even if it crossed the threshold into melodrama on occasion. The world is complex and although the reader's knowledge is left purposefully vague it appears quite obvious that the author knows the world well and is quite sure where the story is going. Readers who want everything given them up front may be frustrated at times. Whole characters remain the merest of shadows through the end of this first book - even characters with pivotal roles. Cryptic prophecies drop hints of what has gone before and what is yet to come, but they are obscure. Little is spoon-fed the reader (as an avid fan of Ericson's Malazan series, I'll take your cryptic). The dialogue was frequently clever and humorous (as an example, when the renowned wetboy hesitates to relinquish his weapons before a meeting, a bodyguard says to him, "Why don't you pretend not to be a threat, and we'll pretend we're the reason.").

The book could not rise above three stars for me, however, for one primary reason: it felt too scripted. The most glaring example is in the story's use of magic. The power seems uniquely able to accomplish anything needed at a given time. You need three ships swallowed into the sea... done. A wytch (what is up with that spelling?) is going to kill you unless his horse kicks him... done. Suddenly there is no limitation and instead of watching a believable albeit fantastical story unfold I realize I am subject to the author's every whim. As a non-magical example, a promised letter holding key information (in)conveniently becomes illegible just before coming into our protagonist's hands. If the author is being purposefully vague and chooses not to reveal something, fine. Puzzles and mysteries can be entertaining. But if he claims he is about to reveal something and then rips it away, I feel cheated and resent it. Without some understood boundary the author is willing to submit to, it becomes an exercise in getting jerked around. Some readers may enjoy this... not me.

So though there was some very good work here, I am unsure if I will continue the series. I just don't trust the author to play straight with me.

Reader be warned: this is a dark story, not for the squeamish.

I can't praise the quality and complexity of this story enough! The plot and pace kept me engaged and wondering, as the greater story began to unfold it drew me deeper into the world and grounded my interest in each character. Despite the many characters I found myself genuinely attached to each successive one.

I don't want to talk specifically because that would rob you the opportunity to experience this book as it should be! 10/10 would recommend!

I read all 600 and some pages of this book in 18 hours. I've not done that to a book since going back to Grad School. An excellent plot that is written well. His characters are believable and you will find yourself caring about them. The author isn't afraid to kill characters or to put them through the awful mess that is life. The hero is brave and a coward, just and a murderer all at once. There are a few sections that were bogged down in wordy prose that could have been better but this book is well written and highly recommended. I love stories that ask moral questions and this book makes an entire plot based on one. Can you care about a killer? What would you do to escape a life of abject poverty and abuse?
I personally bought all three at once in a set. Essentially the third book is free when you do it this way. It was a risk but it was a risk that paid off.
I'm off to start book two.

Overview (4 to 4.25 stars):
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This is Brent Weeks first novel and the first novel in the "The Night Angel" trilogy. The story starts with the very depths of human depravity and slowly builds into a moral driven epic style novel. The main characters are taken from childhood in the worst of the slums growing into young adults with a vast political intrigue weaving in and out of the story.

Characters (4 to 4.5 stars):
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There are several main characters which are all very well developed in the "if it does not kill you it makes you stronger" school of thought. The point of view shifts from character to character that can be distracting to the overall effect of the novel. Durzo Blint is a masterful character with many layers -- very well developed. Kayla is the apprentice to Durzo Blint who becomes a "wetboy" (super [...] -- magically enhanced, well-trained assassins) and later a Night Angel.

The other characters play minor parts but blend into a complex and interesting trapestry. There is a lot of development for each character; it may start slowly but depth of description shines as the story develops.

World Setting (4 stars):
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The world setting seems to be an amalgum of Earth and several other fantasy settings. The description of each country is spread thourgh the entire story so it can get a bit like reading "War and Peace" where a name appears with minimal context resulting in confusion or irrelavence.

The magic system is not well defined but interesting enough to add vs. detract from the story & world setting. The different types of magic (6 schools) where some powered by internal reserves, other evil forces and some solar power/heat. It makes me want to find out more about it.

Action (4 to 4.25 stars):
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The story is action packed with assassinations, difficult training exercises, chance encounters and large scales battles. The tone and length of the action is well described (some quite graphic) and has a good pacing. The author does a good job of walking the fine line of great descriptions (very detailed) to develop the characters and making the story more interesting while keeping the plot moving.

Note: Thematic topics are quite graphic and brutal. There is quite a bit of violence toward children and by children.

Prose (3.25 to 3.5 stars):
--------------------------
The writing by Brent Weeks is pretty good. The format is more for a YA type audience. I would have liked a bit more complexity in the writing style but it does work early on given many of the main characters are young children. There was a slight evolution of the tone as Kylar gets older; I would have liked to see more especially since he is a smart person and well trained.

I hadnt read a fantasy book in quite a while and when this book first came out, I picked it up off a suggestion from a friend and I was glad for it. I liked the angle Weeks takes with his protagonists, looking at the main characters from the perspective of the seedy, dark underground of thieves and prostitutes that no one wants to think about. I thought Weeks did a good job of characterization and setting structure.

If you like fantasy, adventure, and books with alot of action and good characterization, check out the new fantasy adventure A Chance Beginning: Book One of the Shadow's Fire Trilogy

The Way of Shadows is the first book of the Night Angel Trilogy. The trilogy focuses on a secret society of ninja-like assassins in a fantasy realm. However, the assassins must rely mostly on martial arts, stealth, poisons, and weapons, rather than spells. There's a bit of magic, but no fantasy races like elves, no mystical creatures like dragons, and quite a bit of political intrigue. This isn't the kind of story where every 4th person has healing magic. Magic is scarce, so characters can be killed by serious wounds. If I had to make a comparison, it's fairly close to George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Note: There are more fantasy creatures and more magic in the later books.

Plot
The story begins in the warrens (slums) of a nation called Cenaria with a poor street urchin named Azoth, struggling to find a few copper coins so the 'fist' of his gang of thieves doesn't beat him. He stumbles upon a legendary assassin named Durzo Blint and discovers that his best chance of survival is to become the assassin's apprentice. The adventure eventually leaves the slums and branches out through the rest of Cenaria. The book is over 600 pages, and there are plenty of twists and turns.

Characters
The characters in this book are excellent. The author, Brent Weeks, did a great job at making sure they read like real people with real emotions. The story is full of characters that you'll love and love to hate. Believe me when I say that.

Writing Style
The writing style is pretty accessible to just about anyone. It's pretty simple and you won't have to open a dictionary every six pages. The action scenes are also well written and easy to visualize. If you read closely, many of the major events in the book are foreshadowed. The Chapters are also about ten pages long, and you'll find yourself reading five to ten Chapters per sitting.

Dialogue
Ranging from clever, to humorous, to emotional, the dialogue does a great job at portraying the relationships between the characters.

Maturity
This book is for adults or teenagers who like a dark element to fantasy. There is violence, gore, sex, and rape. It's Rated R.

If you want to read a dark story about the roles of assassins in a fantasy setting, you should really pick this one up. If you're a fan of GRRM and you're tired of waiting for his next book, you will most likely enjoy this one. Don't let the 600 pages deter you, the story moves fast and something interesting happens every few pages. It's a really good book.

Avoid this one if you like your fantasy with magical races, dragons, or lots of really happy moments. This book might be too dark or too light on magic for you.

[This review is based on an Advanced Reading Copy]

I found The Way of Shadows a rather enjoyable read but with a few minor flaws. Weeks does a great job with most of the main character's development but lacks on some of the minor ones. All in all a great world and story was created and it's going to take the other books to flesh it all out.

Pros

+ Well thought out dark and gritty criminal underworld. The orginization of the criminal/black market guilds is well layed out and explained. You really get a sense of the evil and corruption that happens within these groups.

+ Decent moral struggles and lessons. Kylar's first kill was a powerful scene to read for example.

+ Action scenes are well written, described and fast paced.

+ In depth description of an assassin's trade through the use of various weapons, poisons and skills.

+ Interesting plot twists.

+ Beautiful cover art.

Cons

- Various characters lack description and development. It left me guessing "who are you again and what's your purpose?" For example, I didn't realize Jarl's character was black until the very end of the book.

- While I was happy to see a world map included I found it a bit confusing and difficult to read where characters were. Also an in depth map of the city would have been REALLY helpful as that's where most of the story takes place.

- A family tree for the royalty would have also been useful. I found myself grasping to remember how all of the royalty was connected.

- All of the assassin training and skill seemed to have been thrown out the window when "Talent" was introduced. It felt like the assassin's went from perfectly trained killers to magic using swordsmen.

A good read and I look forward to continuing the series.

I read this book back in 2010 in Iraq and I always remembered fondly how I couldn't put this and the next two of the trilogy down. It took 5 years, but I decided to read it again on a long flight and I went through all the enjoyment of the book again in just a couple days. I can't recommend this book enough! It touches on all the aspects of stories that I love 1) training to become something better 2) game of thrones style politics 3) a love story wrapped up but not overly done 4) a magical world that you can imagine living inside

Living in the gutters of Cenaria City, Azoth must beg and steal in order to survive. It's a hard life for a child, and he dreams about the day he can be the kind of man who instills fear in others, instead of being afraid for his own life and the lives of his friends. He sees his chance in Durzo Blint, the city's best wetboy--an assassin who uses magic as part of his craft--and convinces Durzo to make him his apprentice.

Little does Azoth know the sacrifices he must make in order to escape one hard life for another.

These novels are Weeks' first published books and while the story that runs through the three books (each runs about 700 pages) is long and involved, it's easy to tell that they're first novels: the writing lacks the polish of more experienced writers. Cliché is liberally sprinkled and there's a rather steep learning curve for the large cast and their names. There are some bumps in the story when he writes too much or too little, or a turn of events feels contrived. The fight sequences, while well done and fun to read, can sometimes be flashy or over-the-top. And while for the most part Weeks is consistent with his third-person narrative, his POV will occasionally switch jarringly between characters within the same scene. But this isn't why you'll read this story. In fact, these are minor complaints compared to the excellent plot, characterization, and magic system as a whole.

The first book starts off a little slow, but picks up speed in the second and third books. We watch Azoth as he trains to be a wetboy, takes on a new name, new life, new identity and is propelled into a world where magic is used to kill. When he discovers that Durzo Blint is more than he appears, Azoth's life is turned upside-down--and he must cope with not only his own new magic, but as a wetboy he finds himself intimately involved in the political upheavals that surround him.

The characters are an interesting bunch of cynics, idealists, and innocents who sometimes have to do terrible things for the sake of what's right or simply to survive. The main characters all evolve in satisfying ways as the story progresses and it's easy to become caught up in their dilemmas. Nothing seems to go right for these people and it's a continual struggle clear to the end. In some ways I want to compare it to The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) since it has the same feel because of the harshness of the lives the characters live (although Abercrombie is a better writer, it is gloomy stuff); but 'The Night Angel Trilogy' is more hopeful and redeeming, with its themes of mercy and love, which makes the characters enjoyable to read.

It's clear to me in reading these books how much of an influence Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' series has on the author. The map layout is similar, and you'll notice a few other things such as a sisterhood of women mages who live on an island in a big tower, or a magic sword that makes the weilder very powerful. But these things are minor and don't flavor the story unnecessarily.

The magic system, at the start, seems pretty standard, but as we learn more it becomes more fascinating. Magic seems to basically come from an individual's innate ability to use the magical energy in and around them, but a culture's proclivity seems to influence one's strength with a certain kind of magic, whether it be for fighting, healing, or academic. There are magical items that strengthen one's magic or focus, or gives the user supernatural abilities. Then there's the vir, which is funneled by an immortal being whose followers unknowingly empty their magic reserves twice a day via a religious prayer. The Godking and his magicians are the only ones who can draw on this almost endless reserve of magic--it makes for a powerful and cruel bunch and for an interesting take on how a magic system could work and be the basis of a religion and culture.

I'm very interested to see what Brent Weeks comes up with next.

I think I'm speechless. Seriously, I love fantasy, but Durzo Blint takes the cake for heroes to love.

The world is believable, the characters dirty, gritty, raw, and REAL.

The journey these characters take is intense.

I can't wait to see where Brent Weeks takes me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please raise your hands so our employees can ensure you are securely fastened in. If you have any loose items, now is the time to turn them over until the end of the ride. As a final reminder, children under twelve and those with a history of neck injury should come aboard only at their own risk. Thank you for riding The Way of Shadows.

Yep. That's basically it. This is a roller coaster, pure and simple. I initially avoided these books, to be honest, because the cover art gave me the mistaken (or, well, who knows, actually) impression that it was some sort of Assassin's Creed fanfiction gone pro.

That's not the case, although sometimes, to be honest, I wished it was. But be that as it may. Let's move on.

The story mostly centers around Kylar Stern, an assassin-in-training under master killer Durzo Blint. These two gentlemen live in possibly the most corrupt city on the planet, where they become, over time, enmeshed in the maneuverings and designs of a wicked foreign king. They also struggle with the designs of the local mob, called the Sa'Kage; and with Kylar's various friends and acquaintances, who seem to have an incongruous amount of pull over him, especially for an assassin, much to the displeasure of his master.

It all sounds very good, and in some ways, that's just what it is. This is an exciting, fast-paced story. There are lots of twists, lots of battles, lots of sudden revelations and cliff-hangers. It's all great fun.

Where it falls a little short, like any coaster, is in actually crossing that line between "fun" and "meaningful". While I definitely enjoyed the tale a lot, I did find it rather difficult to take seriously. It's all a little cartoonish.

Weeks lacks something needed to go the distance with a story of this darkness, and at the risk of sounding crude, I think it's probably a sufficiently badass attitude. Kylar Stern just does not feel like a contract killer, not in any respect. He's admitted to be more ethical than he's "supposed" to be, but Weeks makes no bones about the fact that we should regard Kylar as dangerous and full of dark glamor nonetheless. Nope. For one thing, it's his insistence on being called a "wetboy" rather than an assassin, which has got to be one of the most ridiculous names for a contract murderer I've ever heard. But for the most part, it's just that Kylar feels too nice. This isn't a hired blade in the shadows, waiting for his chance at the jugular. This is the guy you play basketball with.

It's the same with the situations, in many respects. Weeks can always see the POTENTIAL in a scenario about hired killers fighting each other on rooftops, or doomed princes taken prisoner, yadda yadda, but when he tries to be dark and shocking, it always feels as if he's trying too hard. He's most comfortable on the lighter side of things, treating Kylar, Durzo, Logan, et al. as though they're really all just a bunch of good buddies hanging out ready to have a cold one at the end of the day. Even his dramatic sequences have, stylistically, something almost tongue-in-cheek about them. The characters are earnest to the point of endearing even when locked in epic combat, and the clumsy way every female in the story seems to fall over herself at a glance from our virgin assassin lad is more corny than anything else. Even Durzo Blint's typical mode of address to Kylar, as though he's some old cowboy addressing the young buck, feels a touch unintentionally funny. The adventure is like a big Bond movie, to be honest. Not Daniel Craig new-and-improved Bond, either. Good ol' Pierce Brosnan Bond. Villains who are just SO EVIL THEY'RE ACTUALLY A LITTLE FUNNY, and heroes always with a glint of mischief in their eyes.

This book is great fun. It just never quite manages to reach that final millimeter and actually become the grim, brooding quest an an anti-hero it aspires to be. So if you're reading this expecting brutal assassins waging amoral wars on each other (or, you know, under the delusion that the little "the perfect killer is such-and-such" catchphrases on the cover are accurate to the material) then you're likely to be disappointed. But if all you're looking for is a good time with some likable characters and a bouncy, entertaining plot...it's easy to like. Give it a try.

And, as a final good argument for this series, Weeks is already done with it, so you've got the next installment lined up in Wetboy II: The Quest to Lose Kylar's Virginity To That One Chick He's Fixated On...er, I mean Shadow's End, of course. Heh.

As many other debut fantasy novels I pick on random, my expectations were very low when I picked this one off the shelf. The corny cover and the description on the back didn't help either.

But I was desperate for something to read on the train ride to work. So I paid for it and caught the train to work. I didn't really realize that I missed my station until the guy next to me got up and forced my off my seat. Realizing that I had been so absorbed in the story that I missed my station, I was really happy that on the ride back I would enjoy a great book.

It started smoothly and with a bang and didn't let up either. However, as the story progressed I really was frustrated for the following reasons:

1. Plot: The main plot was great. The story of Azoth and then Kyler was very interesting however, there was so many sub plots in the book that never got resolved. A sub plot would start and would end in a couple of pages with no further explanation. Case in point was when one character's mother tries to declare him too young to rule his household and then the story line fizzles in 3-4 pages.

2. Characterization: The main characters in the book were great however, as with the sub plots, the supporting cast were left undeveloped. Secondary characters were introduced and then thrown away with no further explanations in a couple of pages. Case in point is the same said mother in the above subplot. Once the subplot fizzled, we never heard of the mother again

3. Concepts: Concepts (and even world history) were introduced so suddenly and then not explained in great detail that I was not quite sure what a Shinga meant until probably the last 50 or so pages. Some writers can pull this off very well i.e. Steven Erickson, but Mr Weeks was unable to do so in this book

All in all, I really liked this book even though by the end it was becoming kind of predictable. I wish Mr. Weeks had gotten a good editor before publishing this. In that case, I would think the book would have had the potential to be a great debut and not just a good one.

Cheers

Azoth understands survival of the fittest first hand in his hometown of Cenaria; a city run by a criminal oligarchy. He knows that if he does not make a move soon, the constant beatings especially from the bully Rat will kill him. The young street thief loathes most of the gang with Rat being the most despicable but also cares what happens to his only friends Jarl and Doll Girl. Azoth needs to escape somehow but urchins like him have no options.

However, Azoth envisions making an alternate lifestyle choice. He must become the apprentice of legendary assassin Durzo Blint, who would never take on a rascal like him. Shockingly the aloof cantankerous Blint will accept him as his wetboy trainee if he assassinates Rat within a week. Reluctantly as he converts himself into the killer apprentice Kylar Stern, the lad fears the one shadow that remains inside him; the link to his former self as Azoth wonders how his beloved Doll Girl will react to his killing one of the gang.

The story line is fast-paced in spite of this being the opening gamut in the Night Angels saga, which denotes setting up the culture and environment and providing insight into the key characters. However, the plot is character driven as the key players which include Regent Prince Logan Gyre are not always what they first seem; instead shadowy twists that feel genuine and quite exciting will surprise the audience. Especially fascinating are the poetic legendary assassin and his new apprentice with his new identity. Fantasy fans will enjoy a visit to Cenaria, a place where the felonious rule.

Harriet Klausner

After being told by someone to try this series out, I did and let me tell you this is one heck of a series! Brent weeks is one of if not my favorite authors out there now. He draws you in with a little street urchin and doesn't let go this tale of vengeance, coming of age, and yes possibly even love is a must read if fans of assassins or coming of age tales. I highly recommend this to anyone not just fantasy fans.

Fantasy is a very hit and miss genre for me; most novels are either so unoriginal and cliché that I enjoy them very little, or they fall in a middle ground. However, "The Way of Shadows," Brent Weeks's debut novel, seemed so promising and original that I decided to give it chance. Having now finished it, all I can say is "wow." Spoilers follow.

The novel opens with the harsh, gritty image of child guilds in the warrens, the poor part of town. Azoth is a young orphan, desperately trying to scrounge up enough coins to pay his dues every month to his guild's cruel leader. He desires to be a wetboy, an elite assassin, and is given the chance to be apprenticed to the best of the best, Durzo Blint, if he can kill Rat, the guild leader. Azoth succeeds and leaves his old life behind to be Kylar Stern, an apprentice wetboy.

After nine years of training, Kylar is a competent assassin, but he lacks what he needs to become a true wetboy: the Talent, the magic that can be manipulated to enhance the wetboy's skills, giving the user a significant edge over the general assassin. He discovers that he needs to find a ka'kari, a magical item that will enable him to use the Talent and make him practically invincible. Master Blint also wants it. In the midst of a brewing plot, and much to the displeasure of his master, Kylar acquires the ka'kari and his Talent...just in time for the country to be invaded.

The invaders are led by a figure from Kylar's past. Many die in the coup to overtake the castle and, in an unfortunate twist, Blint also falls. Kylar manages to defeat the invasion's leader, but practically dies in the process. Through the ka'kari he is revived and the book ends with him and Elene, whom he loves and has known since childhood, leaving town to find a better life.

"The Way of Shadows" is a big book - over 600 pages to be exact - and the story is certainly worthy of the size. It's complex, action-packed, and well thought out (and therefore very difficult to summarize). Although Kylar is the main character, other characters often take the spotlight, plots brew and unfold, and a certain amount of political intrigue is present. The book is difficult to put down, the plot keeps you guessing until the end; some things are foreseeable, while others you can't see coming. On the surface, it's an assassin's tale; inside, it includes so much more. Weeks has managed to weave an exciting, unique tale worthy of the book's thickness.

The author's writing is very simple and easy to follow. Whether or not this type of writing works will likely depend on the reader's taste. I'm not particularly fond of overly poetic, complicated prose, so the clear writing was a plus for me. The story itself is great and complex; the clear writing makes it possible to focus primarily on the story and characters rather than getting caught up in prose. Parents and younger readers should be warned that this is a very graphic, descriptive book. The portrait Weeks paints of the guild children's and assassins' life is very gritty, and no detail is spared. I am often torn on how to feel about descriptive gore; here, I think it better emphasizes that the characters do no live in a nice world. They live in a cruel world where death and betrayal is common; bad things happen to even the best of people. The writing is simple and straightforward, emphasizing the story and characters while still providing a good description of how Weeks's world works.

When it comes to characters, "The Way of Shadows" is quite a treat. A vast majority of the characters are very complex and morally ambiguous. Many of them do bad things (ranging from killing people, to whoring, to betraying friends, and beyond) yet they still manage to be likeable. Despite the questionable actions of, say, Durzo Blint, it becomes apparent that he really cares for Kylar, as well as one or two other people in his life; for this, he is saved from being a mindless killer and becomes sympathetic. One of the leading characters, Momma K, is a brothel owner and former prostitute, so her past and stories are rife with debauchery and cruel happenings, but she turns out to be an interesting character with some nicer, relatable qualities. Even those who seem perfectly good now (such as Count Drake) did horrible things in the past. Most of the characters are this way; few are black and white and they all have very human qualities in their actions and mistakes.

Kylar, the protagonist, is equally flawed. He wants to not only be a wetboy, but to be the best wetboy, yet he struggles with the morality of killing innocent people. He assassinates quite a few unfortunate figures in the book, and he seems to struggle emotionally with almost all of them. I found it to be refreshing that there were actually consequences for his choices and mistakes; things sometimes don't go as he plans and there is always some sort of reaction to it. Even gaining the use of his Talent doesn't make him an unbelievable character. He grows quite a bit as a character in the course of the novel and seems to learn from his mistakes. Kylar isn't simply an assassin, he's a flawed, human character who struggles with decisions and the results of his choices.

The book has a lot going for it: the story, the writing, the interesting and sometimes amusing dialogue, and the characters. No book, however, is perfect and there are a couple of irksome things that should be mentioned...

The first is the author's annoying tendency to showcase the point of view of a random character, only to have that character never appear again. For example, we are torn away from Kylar's story to read about a female pirate transporting Khalidoran meisters. This character is never revisited, and I was a little frustrated that I was pulled away from the main story to read about this unimportant figure. Perhaps Weeks was trying to show us more of his world? Give minor characters the spotlight? I have no idea, but it was distracting to be engrossed with one character's story, only for the focus to suddenly shift to an unimportant, never-to-be-seen-again character.

The second is the character of Doll Girl/Elene. It can be assumed from the beginning that she'll be Kylar's love interest in the novel (even if it tries to throw you off by Kylar being told to never see her again), and I thought she had a lot of promise in the beginning. A mute female lead would be unique and intriguing and the scars gave me hope that the protagonist wouldn't be focused on her beauty so much, but rather her personality. Unfortunately the potential is wasted when we learn that she can speak and that she is apparently the most beautiful woman in the land with the perfect body, perfect hair, perfect eyes, and a gorgeous face that is only slightly marred by her scars (but not enough to detract from how amazingly stunning she looks). As if this wasn't enough to kill the character, she struck me as having a very one-dimensional personality. She's kind, brave, smart, pious, loved by everyone, great with old people, great with children, a virgin, loyal; she's portrayed as the epitome of perfection, and it became very tiresome to read about.

Third, every single female presented in the story had large breasts, a perfect body, and a beautiful face. It doesn't matter if the girl in question is a minor character, focus character, or just a side character, she will always be a prime example of the ideal female physique. I hoped throughout the book that a more realistic female would enter the scene, but it never happened.

On a random note, the subplot of the three mages with the magical sword left me with mixed feelings. Though they played a role in the end, their parts felt forced and were, for me, uninteresting. I assume they'll play a larger role in the next two books, but I felt that they were given too many pages here.

Despite these flaws, I loved "The Way of Shadows" as a whole. While reading, I wasn't sure if I would want to continue with the series (especially after Blint, one of my favourite characters, died) or just enjoy the first book for what it is, but after finishing it, I have to read the next one; I must know what becomes of these characters and their world. The story is compelling and worthy of the book's thickness, the world is portrayed in a very gritty way that complements the story, a majority of the characters are wonderfully complex and flawed, and the novel is wrapped up well while leaving you wanting more. This was a very refreshing example of the fantasy genre. It gets four and a half stars, rounded to five for how much I enjoyed it.

Brent Weeks' first book in the Night Angel trilogy is very good - full of dark humour, dangerously shifting politics, struggles for power and, of course, an apprentice. Another reviewer remarked that it doesn't cover any new ground, but the characters are compelling (you really, really hate the bad guys. oh yes.) and the story can easily sustain a trilogy (I actually felt that this series was 4 or 5 books compressed a bit, probably because I want more worldview explanations. As it is, you figure things out on the way, during action and it can be a little dizzying.)

I would recommend this to anyone not quite ready to take on, say Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, but is interested in an excellent introduction to fantasy heavily embroiled in politics and bloodshed.

I took a look at this gift offered by a friend, while waiting on Lightbringer book 5. The story unfoldeded slowly, continuously building up momentum as it dipped and weaved along. Can't wait to finish the rest of the series! Lifelike characters: check, gripping story: check, world building and feel: check, mysteries and magic: check.

This book started out GREAT - although can we please get a break from the whole student/master cliche for at least 10 years? Really, enough is enough. However, the first half of this book reminded me of a cross between the George RR Martin books and Patrick Rothfuss' excellent "the name of the wind". Gritty, good flow, intrigue, action, love, just wonderful all the way around.

However, the final third of the book we start to see complex twists that turn in so many circles that I lost track of who did what - so and so did this, but then they didn't, then it was revealed they really DID. Huh? That happens at least three times in the final 250 pages.

Secondly, there were several passages where I found myself re-reading it to make sense of what happened. There are a few examples of this. Just a case of Mr. Week's lack of writing skill shows through.

Finally, Mr. Weeks seems to suffer from the same malady as Tolkien... he just can't seem to end the book. Just when you think it's over (or should be) there's - wait - ONE MORE LOOSE END. It goes on forever. The last 100 pages were a lot more tedious than they should have been.

Overall, the story did loose much of its sheen by about page 500, but luckily it was so good to begin with that I still highly recommend the book. Unfortunately the shortfalls of this book prevented it from being amazing. But "very good" is still a step up from much of the cliche fantasy that's out there these days.

I'm hoping that the rest of the books are better.

Despite the cheesy "hooded dude" cover, this was a great bit of epic fantasy. It was recommended by a twitter follower and turned out to be one of the better "classic medieval fantasy" books I've read in recent years. Certainly the best since I found The Name of the Wind in 2008.

Weeks borrows heavily and to good effect from 80s fantasy tropes. This is city fantasy, almost entirely set in a corrupt capital. Our protagonist is a young boy who apprentices with a deadly "wetboy" (assassin who uses magical powers). The prose is clean and workmanlike, sometimes even modern and flip. Weeks doesn't bother to make anything sound too medieval, in fact, it's so modern as to sometimes sound anachronistic. Still, despite the length, the novel is not overwritten and the writing doesn't get in the way of the excellent storytelling and world building.

For fantasy fans, this book is an appealing ride. We have good characters, sordid and ambiguous underworld figures. We have a well conceived world with detailed and engaging political intrigue. We have a decent, albeit minimalist, magical system. And we have a lot -- I mean a real lot -- of very well written action scenes. Weeks is a great writer of physical action and he uses it to good effect. This book contains fight after fight. Plus lots of sneaking around. And it's not overdone. Each individual skirmish is compact enough, well integrated into the intricate plot, and brilliantly executed.

Again, despite the length, this makes for a breakneck pace and near total immersion into the seedy underworld. The book is pretty dark too, with some serious abuse in the early chapters. It's not A Song of Ice and Fire dark, but there is some good insight into the nature of meanness. Bravo. The adventures continue into two sequels.

Andy Gavin, author of The Darkening Dream

This book was all right. I really wanted it to be better because it seemed like the exact type of book I should like. But I found the character motivations to be unrelatable and often downright bizarre. Characters who were established as downright psychotic would spare enemies for absolutely no reason just to advance the plot or keep beloved characters alive. And magic seemed to simply be a convenient device to let his hero win against all odds when skill or craft failed him, which was a bit lazy. It just didn't really add anything new to the genre in my opinion.

Way of Shadows is a page turner for sure. The main characters are great but the others aren't very fleshed out. The plot is the best part of this book, though a few events feel extremely contrived. My biggest complaint is that the writing is salted with present day vernacular and sometimes comes across like a drunken sailor at the mall. I found myself thrown out of the story repeatedly by language that is out of character from the rest of the story. Worth reading since Way Of Shadows was a fun book but be warned that the style isn't going to be for everyone.

Like so many others I picked up this book to pass the time waiting for GRRM to publish. Well, I'm over half-way through the second in this series and I LOVE IT! Yes, it even made me forget GRRM....

Weeks really knows how to write-- especially dialogue. The characters seem real, different, and interesting. There is so much going on in the book you can't get bored. Kylar/Azoth is a very human good guy who also just happens to be an assassin. Sound too weird to swallow? Well, it's not. Like Martin, Weeks knows how to develop characters who aren't always perfectly good or bad, but rather human, making us like them all the more. He also doesn't hesitate to snuff a character if need be.

I love the new world Weeks has created and feel like there are endless possibilities for future novels. (I'm really hoping he is writing more RIGHT NOW. This minute. More!)

So, my advice is to take the book slowly, there are only 3 of them, and they are hard to put down....

So I picked this book up because it was about assassins, and I love books about assassins (there are too few books about assassins, really in my opinion). I didn't really expect much more than a standard fantasy - if I was lucky.

Turns out I was very lucky indeed. I should have guessed, since he thanked me in the last paragraph of his acknowledgments, called me "quirky" and said we'd get along fine together. :) Brent Weeks is a terrific new talent, and if I had to choose an author he reminds me of, it would be George RR Martin. Intense depth in his world-building and characters, a head-spinning amount of intrigue and politics...and yeah. You're running to keep up the whole time you're reading, and you're loving every moment of it. Weeks isn't shy about killing characters either, nor is he afraid of putting them into some horrific situations. I had to read one particular section twice to be sure he was really doing that. As soon as I finish writing this review I'm buying the last two volumes of this trilogy.

I've always enjoyed fantasy books and all the various sub-genres, but lately I've been constantly disappointed. Everything blurred together, not a single book stood out with originality or managed to make me feel involved. I'd pick up a book...and set it down later only to find I really didn't care if I ever picked it up again. Brent Weeks broke the drought, he pulled me in, immersed me into the story and I gobbled it up greedily. Thankfully. Like a starved man given free reign at an all night buffet.

The Way of Shadows is the first of a trilogy, which you've probably already figured out by now. DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE PRINTED DESCRIPTIONS!!! I was, it's why it took me so long to finally say, eh...to h*ll with it, and read the blasted thing anyway. Thank goodness I did. The descriptions here on the store and other websites just don't do it justice. They make the book sound bland and boring. IT ISN'T.

It is a coming of age story, you've read those before. But Brent Weeks manages to combine realism and fantasy, the story literally sucks you in so that even though it's four o'clock in the morning and you have to get up in two hours...you still have to force yourself to put the book down. I didn't want to quit reading, and I can't wait to start the second book of the series.

Okay, now that I've raved about how great the book is, let me tell you a little what it's about while trying not to give away. It starts by showing us a very gritty, very real life of the common streetrat and the struggle our main character deals with just to survive. Desperate steps must be taken, but exactly what those steps are and what the consequences will be remain a mystery. It's masterfully weaved storytelling by Brent Weeks.

Think...ninjas mixed with fantasy-story assassins. There are parts of the book that brought to mind the Kushiel series, Robert Jordon's Wheel of Time series, and even Tolkien...no surprise given who Mr. Weeks names as his influences. There is romance, tragedy, action packed fighting sequences that never once went over my head or bored me with knit-picking details. There's every type of humor you can imagine and fantastic characters who seem -real- instead of drably shallow and two dimensional.

The point of view changes often, something not everyone enjoys, I know, although I loved it. It gave me a chance to get to know characters intimately, to understand the true depth of the plot and exactly what this or that action really entailed. What was a great tragedy for one character might be what allows another to even dare to hope and the reader is caught delightfully in the middle. I'm still not sure who the real villains or heroes in this series will prove to be and the mystery is wonderful.

It's complex, interesting, impressive, and a definite page-turner. There's something in here for everyone...mystery, intrigue, drama, romance, magic, and a new delightfully constructed world and culture. In the beginning, there is some brand new vocabulary and vague references that left me confused, but I eventually caught on. The sheer number of characters mentioned and involved can be daunting, but Mr. Weeks manages to pull them and their storylines together impressively well. It's also a long book, but I like that. The ending wasn't rushed, the story is given its proper due and unfolds at a constant, pleasant pace that never once left me bored.

It's worth reading. It's worth buying. Mr. Weeks...thank you. I'll be reading more and I can only hope the second book is as good as this one was.

-Kat-

coworker loaned me this book with his recommendation.

This is your typical assassin with a heart story. There is an element of magic thrown in, a dash of destiny, and just a hint of enduring love. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish the book, but not interesting enough to want to read the sequels.

If you're a fan of this story type, I would recommend it. Just be warned that it's 645 pages.

storyline is intriguing, but Paul Boehmer is a TERRIBLE NARRATOR and really ruins the flow. i cannot see myself gettign thru 3 books with the struggle i am having with the first. too bad, Weeks tells a great story.

Week's while not being original is engaging. This point more than any others is what I look for in a book. So many fantasy stories fail at this point. They have an original idea and fail to make it stick. Week's approach is more interesting. He took a cliche and he made me care. The orphan boy. The wise, but bitter older figure. Evil kings and god kings. All are pretty much standard tropes in fantasy. But at no point did I lose interest. The action and the pacing of the book pull you along,and while there are touches of world building being attempted, it is whizzed past in favor of story.
I do enjoy world building, it makes the world richer, but the lack does not feel lacking. It feels purposeful.
For the younger reader, mid to late teens. Older people will likely roll their eyes.

I purchased the 3 in 1 trilogy and did not get off of the couch for 5 days. Brent Weeks will be on my must read list in the future. Great fast paced story about an orphan that begs to be apprenticed by the master deader Durzo Blint. First he must prove to Durzo that be will be willing and able to do a "kill". From there Kylar feels Durzo is a friend and a father and is trained for years. There are many characters in the story and each one is woven into the story beautifully. I think Brent Weeks set the bar for himself very high. Just hoping his other stories will be as good. If you like this genre it is similar to Scot Lynch in 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and Patrick Rothfuss 'The Name of the Wind'.

This book was is really good! It has enough detail that it gave me a good feel for the main character but not so much that it was irritating. Sometimes that is a fine line to balance and Mr. Weeks did a great job.

The story line takes a number of unexpected twists and turns and there's just no way you can figure it out--just have to go along for the ride.

There are bits that are maybe not appropriate for teens, but it's not trashy which is pretty unusual these days. One of the best reads I've had in a while.

This one of the worst books I've ever read. I gave up 2/3 of the way in. Bad writing, bad characterization, thin plot....I could go on. I do not understand all the glowing reviews for this book. I wish I went with my first hunch (based on reading the beginning which was chock full of horrible writing) and skipped but I figured with all the 4 and 5 star reviews it must get better. It does not. Not even a little. Be warned.

This is a pretty good series. Weeks does a good job with character development, even though I often got tired of the Azoth/Kyler at times. The story line flows well and pulls the reader in. He does a good job of developing the antagonists to the point that the reader really dislikes them. The thing that I enjoyed most about the story was that just when I thought I had the story line figured out, the storyline or plotted changed direction or followed a line that I had not considered.

Overall, a good read that I would recommend to anyone.

This book has so much potential but fell short for me. The concepts and the ideas are amazing and pretty original but they are never explained fully or if they are, they are only partly so. An example of this is the term 'wetboy'. This term is introduced fairly early in the story but is never 100% explained. When it is explained, it's only in small chunks that cause you to want to go back and read what you already learned to see how it ties in with what you already know leaving you to realize that it doesnt tie in at all. You find out a short way into the book that the difference between an assassin and a wetboy is magic. Further on you find out each magic user has certain strengths in the magic but then you are never told who has what strengths.

Oh this story has magic in it? Only when there's a battle and never during common use or how it effects the daily lives of everyone. You also never learn its limitations or the rules of the magic itself. You also never find out exactly what the differences are between the different types of magic that seem to only exist commonly in other kingdoms. In the main setting, it almost seems like people only think about and remember magic exists only when it's right in front of their noses. It clearly wasn't thought through all the way. When I first read about the magic, I thought it was only knowledge held in certain closed circles and used in circumstances where normal methods would be impossible, but later you find out that there's an entire history of magic users and artifacts (some of these artifacts are crucial to the story but you're never told why they were made in the first place or what importance they hold now) and there's a complete other kingdom built on magic and ruled by a godking (who you can only assume is extremely magically powerful since its never explained).

All of these things aside, my biggest grief with this book are the characters. The only character I was ever made to care about throughout the story was the main one, Azoth. The story is told from the perspective of many characters but everytime the story is told through the eyes of someone else I was left wondering, why is this person or any of the people I just saw important? Even when I was introduced in the beginning to Jarl and doll girl who are the closest friends of Azoth at the start of the story, you're never told how they became loyal friends, why they remain friends, what does Azoth get out of their relationship, or why does Azoth feel responsible for them. You're expected to accept most situations, no matter how ridiculous it is that they arrived there, and be fine with it.

Most books that I have read that include instances that don't make much sense, I always feel that I can go back and see what I missed or sometimes I can simply overlook it. But when every page has something so obviously wrong with it, it makes it hard to get into the story completely without being snapped right back out of it to wonder how someone who just fell from a window in a tower was able to grab a ledge further down and then swing back up through the window and get back into the fray.

The funniest thing. I searched for a new book to read in the fantasy section and stumbled on this. Loved the cover, so bought the book on a whim. As I have a degree in English, I hated the fact that Brent Weeks over uses the verb "to be" - and probably could use a better editor. But the fact is that the story drew me in and I ended up buying the whole trilogy!

I don't know if I'll buy any of the other books that Brent writes, but I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Yes it is very violent - but hello, it's about assasains, so what do you expect?

I had heard many things about this trilogy and Brent Weeks, all of it good. I didn't Know if it was for me or not. Not always into the assassin thing. I checked out the audio book from my local library. I found myself listening to it at every chance I got. I was enthralled by the story and characters. So much so that I bought the trilogy with my X-mas gift card. I can't wait to read the rest of Kylar's story.

I like this book. Excellent dark beginning. Great character development. Storyline, A+. I think two things kept me from giving it a 5 star: (a) lack of explanation on the magic and (b) overly sensational. (A) I'm a skeptic by nature, so with fantasy, I really need some logic behind out magic works. This book doesn't give you any explanation. In fact, no history whatsoever. (B) Jumping up walls. Glued to ceilings. Invisible. Destroying 20 magicians with one swoop. You get the idea.

But overall, Brent is a great writer. You do enjoy the word flow and story.

Enjoy.

There is so much bad fantasy out there it is quite refreshing to read something new, something different, something fun, and something that is only going to be 3 books.

Based on reading the 1st book: the world is cool, the politics and history are interesting, and the magic is believable.

Most importantly there are great characters and unlike some books, bad things sometimes happen to these great characters.

George RR Martin brought life back to epic fantasy. I have been looking for good fantasy since, since now even Martin's last book disappointed. Rothfuss was great but who knows how long for his next book, Jordan's wheel of time dragged on and on, I could not get into Erikson, and Ruckley's Winterbirth was a near miss (it was almost good). Brent Weeks shows great potential and this series started off great.

Weeks puts the reader in a gritty, harsh, world and creates interesting characters you care about. There are some cool themes and ideas, and some great scenes (like Logan in the Maw with its sinew-chewing horrors). The books are fast-paced and have enough action to keep you entertained. The books steal a bit from existing works (like Hobb's Farseer Trilogy), but also contains enough originality to be unique.

One drawback is that it reads like Weeks kind of makes up magic as he goes along ("Oh so now Blint has that power too? Oh, that's possible in this world too hu?"). But his world and its magic become consistent and make sense by the end. It was also fairly predictable, and the main character's internal struggle got a little old.

But all-in-all I feel confident dark fantasy fans will like The Dark Angel. I enjoyed these books and missed the characters when I was done.

I bought the Night Angel Trilogy not knowing if it was any good. I was desperate for a book I figured I might as well buy all of them at once. I was not disappointed. The story is great and very involved. The characters are highly developed and the world is very well thought out.
The only reason I gave the book a 4 star rating is because there were parts that were pretty gruesome. I skipped paragraphs because some of the descriptions were just too much for me to read.
I would not recommend this for young kids or for the faint of heart, but it's a good story and I'm excited to read the others.

I went into this book expecting something different, namely drawn-out characters with depth. However, this book reads more like a video game without even a good backstory to keep it interesting. The characters are one-dimensional, the story flat and some of the twists are quite farfetched. But it is well-written in terms of language flow, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an uncomplicated fantasy book with fast paced, well-written action scenes.

OK, bad timing for this book - hard on the heels of too many juvenile fantasies. See my reviews of Croggon, Goodkind, Kay, Paolini,Taylor, or references to Jordan, Feist, Brooks - just for a start...

Sure, this is a slight variation in the Teen fantasy genre (although `assassin fantasy' is probably a well established sub-genre by now). He's got plusses and minuses that I could go through according to this standard - as I have with the earlier ones I just listed - but this time I'm just going to have a more specific rant about one area of this book which is pretty common, almost definitive, of this sort of fantasy. Oddly it's not anything to do with the fantastical - dragons or magic swords or faux-medieval settings or whatever - it's more about a failed attempt to mix genres, deliberately taking some of the gloss off the classic/heroic/larger-than life model.

We are meant to see the raw human side of our (problematically stereotypically superlatively talented/dangerous/shrewd/magical etc.) characters and settings, portrayed not as mythic, but as hard-bitten realism. Some of these guys (particularly, say, Goodkind, Kay and Taylor) set themselves up as going beyond the shiny archetypes of Tolkien's noble settings, and dealing with the gritty, dark and complex aspects of violence and sexuality. They would see their characters as being more layered than merely heroic, acknowledging their inner demons, trauma and struggle. We don't just trot by the poor villagers or the slum area of the city, but are confronted with stench and homelessness and abuse.

This may not have to be bad - although I'm not sure. One problem is that if you keep the larger-than-life aspects - the peerless fighting skills, the eon shaking magical abilities or artefacts, dragons for goodness' sake - this is no longer our world. Some elements of our mundane world just make no sense and jar in these contexts: if you are the one true prince, blooded in battle, touched by the gods and the only hope to turn back the numberless hoards of chaos descending on the ancient citadel, you're not going to work to the same motivations as the high school kid who's reading about you. You don't have to to be: Gandalf is `realistic' to his world - only a demigod (or earth-walking angel) could do what he does, and while he feels fear, joy, pain, fatigue, he is different given his powers, experience and responsibilities. The more I read of the books I'm carping about here, the more I'm impressed by, say, LeGuin's Ged, a magician who starts like the characters in these books - headstrong, playing with his abilities to impress, unaware/unconcerned with how his actions affect others - but then radically changed by his experience, by the real fallout of his choices. He matures - not something that can be said of the eternal teenagers of the books I'm bitching about here. Wolfe and Gemmell deal with this differently - but ably - creating heroes that might not mature or change, but have legendary personalities as essential to their legendary feats and prowess as their washboard abs; if you dump an everyman character on a hero, he could never have become a hero. Yet, for example, despite years of gruelling training and phenomenal gifts, Azoth emerges with the same insecurities, motivations and reactions.

But putting aside the issue of whether you even can successfully mix earthy realism with fantasy realms, my real beef is that these guys can't actually do earthy realism. Different story in SF - where you can get an outstanding author like Iain Banks who can write a character based straight ahead novel like Espedair Street, then turn around, add his middle initial, and play with the galactic scope of the Culture series. And the `earthy' bits enrich the mind-bending stuff, such as the exploration of third and first world responsibility, seen in both genres (e.g.The Business and Inversions). One of the greatest improvements in SF since the early days is the (general) development of character depth. I'm sure there's stuff out there, but I have not seen the same trend in fantasy. Definitely not in this fantasy. To put any of these supposedly developed characters in a novel would be laughable. Likewise Tolkien's - but they were always designed to be larger than life. Rather than coming across as subtly flawed and more human, rather they're childish - in contexts (and at ages) where childishness is implausible. Similarly the mean streets: here Weeks' ludicrously over the top opening of blood and sexual abuse has much more in common with the nonsense of Harry Potter's exaggeratedly vile step-family (one of the weaker elements of that series) than with, say, Walter Mosley's gritty urban sketches. I'm not saying there aren't places that brutalise children, where life is cheap and abuse commonplace. But I am saying these authors haven't lived in them, don't really know anyone who has, and only imagine TV/movie stereotypes of prostitutes and criminals.

Generally the novels I've read that impress me, and here by `novel' I'm meaning character based books (as opposed to, say, horror/crime/pirate/whatever `novels'), are set in contexts that the authors are familiar with. So Lodge's people are academics, Hornby's central characters age with him and live in the UK, Eliot and Austen have much to say about marriage and class. Whereas the fantasies I most enjoy are deliberately in a different dimension to the everyday, consciously drawing on mythic realms, and containing characters that could rub shoulders with Arthur or Ulysses. I don't know if Banks is a musician, but I am, and the aforementioned `Espedair Street' moves very comfortably within the band setting. But for Weeks or Kay or Goodkind et. al. to think they can present insights into the effects of, say, sexual abuse, is just insulting.

I think part of the appeal to teenagers relates to comments I made relating to Eddings, unfavourably comparing him to Voight, for grooming his audience's ego in thinking a superficial view is a profound one. The Guardian Film Show review of `The Fault in our Stars' really resonated with what I'm getting at. The reviewers bridle at the film's claim that, `This is the truth' - supposedly going beyond cliché about the tragedy of dealing with cancer - while airbrushing, even accessorising this awful disease - which seems to barely even inconvenience our two A-list attractive leads: they're not fatigued, their lifestyles aren't shaped around extended, debilitating treatments, and they look just great!

So if going for truth, do some research, or draw on your genuine experience. If going for fantasy, you can leave that behind. Just don't hand me derivative cliché and call it truth.

This happens at a plot level as well as a character one. The point of no return for me (i.e. when I shut the book and moved on) was where supposedly mega-assassin Azoth tries to inconspicuously get into a private function, nobles only, using a constructed alias, to have access to his target. On the way in he even ducks back into his carriage briefly to avoid being recognised by a colleague. And then he has a massive public fight with one of the, say, top five celebrities in the city. I was waiting to read how this was something he carefully engineered as part of a clever strategy ... but straight after he's just decked the king-in-waiting in front of everyone ... he thinks something like, "OK, better get back to work now. I'll just go melt invisibly into some shadows." !! This is, and I never thought I'd have a chance to say this, even dumber than Tom Clancy having the President's son as the top secret assassin, doing a hit in the bathroom of a café where he's just drawn particular attention to himself by spilling drinks all over the place. There's other clangers too (e.g. apparently super-player Momma K has always known about Azoth's messianic importance, yet inexplicably left him in constant danger of dying from malnutrition or commonplace assault). There's Donaldson/Cherryh style tortured melodrama treating every conversation or interaction as climactic. There's annoying repetition of the terms `wetboy' and `deaders', mistakenly thinking they hold more currency and impact than `assassin' and `target'.

There's other books I should be reading.

The Way of Shadows is book one in Brent Week's Night Angel series. This was one of those books I picked from the bookstore at random. I'd never heard of Brent Weeks or the series. All I knew was it was sitting in the Sci Fi/ Fantasy section and was about an assassin. I bought the entire trilogy in one shot, hoping that I would at least find it mildly engaging because otherwise I had just wasted 20 bucks that I probably should have used for gas money. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was hooked.

Azoth is trying to eke out a meager existence as a street rat. His attention is focused on not getting beat into a bloody mess and trying to make sure he and his two friends don't starve to death on the stinking streets of the Warrens. But he has dreams beyond the slums. If he could land an apprenticeship with the most deadly assassin in Cenaria, Durzo Blint, then he would never have to fear anything ever again.

We watch as Azoth grows both in age and skill. He learns to navigate the seedy underbelly of his rotted homeland and, under Durzo's ruthless tutelage, he becomes an important piece in the dangerous game played by those with money and power. But Azoth, later given the alias Kylar, must learn the hard way that being a professional killer means forfeiting pieces of your humanity one by one.

A young boy born into destitution must face constant peril and rigorous training at the hands of a mysterious master so that he can come into his full and daunting potential, and be revealed later to actually be far more than his miserable beginnings suggest. Heard some variation of it before? Eragon, Rand al'Thor, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, the list goes on. Not that there is anything wrong with it. There is a reason the bulk of the world knows at least a couple of those names. It's a story that works. However, despite the familiarity of the plot, Weeks throws in large helping of thrilling action, complex characters, and some raw emotions to make it feel new again.

The Way of Shadows is most definitely a dark fantasy. There is plenty of blood and graphic imagery. The setting is grimy and deplorable. The characters are flawed, some way more seriously than others. Weeks sets you down right in the middle of the dark alleys but he doesn't leave you without some light in the night. Through the muck, there is still honor and compassion. Kylar, who makes a very good living on murder, is a likable character. And he's by no means the only one.

There is a strong influence of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire in The Way of Shadows. The multiple point-of-view characters, the struggles of a kingdom in the midst an ineffectual leader, the best and worst of what it means to be human living side by side. It also means you might want to watch which character you get attached to. So far, the characters of the Night Angel series have not been subjected to the same high mortality rate as the Song of Ice and Fire, but I have a suspicion that this may charge.

I give The Way of Shadows an 4 out of 5. I docked a point for the semi-formulaic plot. I fully intend to read the rest of the series, which continues in Shadows Edge and concludes in Beyond the Shadows. I will also be on the lookout for more novels from Weeks who revealed in an interview that though the Night Angel trilogy is complete, we have not seen the last of Kylar and his world.

For those of you who have already enjoyed the Night Angel series, I would suggest you take a look at the previously mentioned series, Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The series its quite the epic fantasy and begins with A Game of Thrones.

"Assassination is an art, milord. And I am the city's most accomplished artist." - Durzo Blint, The Way of Shadows

So I picked this book up because it was about assassins, and I love books about assassins (there are too few books about assassins, really in my opinion). I didn't really expect much more than a standard fantasy - if I was lucky.

Turns out I was very lucky indeed. I should have guessed, since he thanked me in the last paragraph of his acknowledgments, called me "quirky" and said we'd get along fine together. :) Brent Weeks is a terrific new talent, and if I had to choose an author he reminds me of, it would be George RR Martin. Intense depth in his world-building and characters, a head-spinning amount of intrigue and politics...and yeah. You're running to keep up the whole time you're reading, and you're loving every moment of it. Weeks isn't shy about killing characters either, nor is he afraid of putting them into some horrific situations. I had to read one particular section twice to be sure he was really doing that. As soon as I finish writing this review I'm buying the last two volumes of this trilogy.

I've always enjoyed fantasy books and all the various sub-genres, but lately I've been constantly disappointed. Everything blurred together, not a single book stood out with originality or managed to make me feel involved. I'd pick up a book...and set it down later only to find I really didn't care if I ever picked it up again. Brent Weeks broke the drought, he pulled me in, immersed me into the story and I gobbled it up greedily. Thankfully. Like a starved man given free reign at an all night buffet.

The Way of Shadows is the first of a trilogy, which you've probably already figured out by now. DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE PRINTED DESCRIPTIONS!!! I was, it's why it took me so long to finally say, eh...to h*ll with it, and read the blasted thing anyway. Thank goodness I did. The descriptions here on the store and other websites just don't do it justice. They make the book sound bland and boring. IT ISN'T.

It is a coming of age story, you've read those before. But Brent Weeks manages to combine realism and fantasy, the story literally sucks you in so that even though it's four o'clock in the morning and you have to get up in two hours...you still have to force yourself to put the book down. I didn't want to quit reading, and I can't wait to start the second book of the series.

Okay, now that I've raved about how great the book is, let me tell you a little what it's about while trying not to give away. It starts by showing us a very gritty, very real life of the common streetrat and the struggle our main character deals with just to survive. Desperate steps must be taken, but exactly what those steps are and what the consequences will be remain a mystery. It's masterfully weaved storytelling by Brent Weeks.

Think...ninjas mixed with fantasy-story assassins. There are parts of the book that brought to mind the Kushiel series, Robert Jordon's Wheel of Time series, and even Tolkien...no surprise given who Mr. Weeks names as his influences. There is romance, tragedy, action packed fighting sequences that never once went over my head or bored me with knit-picking details. There's every type of humor you can imagine and fantastic characters who seem -real- instead of drably shallow and two dimensional.

The point of view changes often, something not everyone enjoys, I know, although I loved it. It gave me a chance to get to know characters intimately, to understand the true depth of the plot and exactly what this or that action really entailed. What was a great tragedy for one character might be what allows another to even dare to hope and the reader is caught delightfully in the middle. I'm still not sure who the real villains or heroes in this series will prove to be and the mystery is wonderful.

It's complex, interesting, impressive, and a definite page-turner. There's something in here for everyone...mystery, intrigue, drama, romance, magic, and a new delightfully constructed world and culture. In the beginning, there is some brand new vocabulary and vague references that left me confused, but I eventually caught on. The sheer number of characters mentioned and involved can be daunting, but Mr. Weeks manages to pull them and their storylines together impressively well. It's also a long book, but I like that. The ending wasn't rushed, the story is given its proper due and unfolds at a constant, pleasant pace that never once left me bored.

It's worth reading. It's worth buying. Mr. Weeks...thank you. I'll be reading more and I can only hope the second book is as good as this one was.

-Kat-

coworker loaned me this book with his recommendation.

This is your typical assassin with a heart story. There is an element of magic thrown in, a dash of destiny, and just a hint of enduring love. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish the book, but not interesting enough to want to read the sequels.

If you're a fan of this story type, I would recommend it. Just be warned that it's 645 pages.

storyline is intriguing, but Paul Boehmer is a TERRIBLE NARRATOR and really ruins the flow. i cannot see myself gettign thru 3 books with the struggle i am having with the first. too bad, Weeks tells a great story.

Week's while not being original is engaging. This point more than any others is what I look for in a book. So many fantasy stories fail at this point. They have an original idea and fail to make it stick. Week's approach is more interesting. He took a cliche and he made me care. The orphan boy. The wise, but bitter older figure. Evil kings and god kings. All are pretty much standard tropes in fantasy. But at no point did I lose interest. The action and the pacing of the book pull you along,and while there are touches of world building being attempted, it is whizzed past in favor of story.
I do enjoy world building, it makes the world richer, but the lack does not feel lacking. It feels purposeful.
For the younger reader, mid to late teens. Older people will likely roll their eyes.

I purchased the 3 in 1 trilogy and did not get off of the couch for 5 days. Brent Weeks will be on my must read list in the future. Great fast paced story about an orphan that begs to be apprenticed by the master deader Durzo Blint. First he must prove to Durzo that be will be willing and able to do a "kill". From there Kylar feels Durzo is a friend and a father and is trained for years. There are many characters in the story and each one is woven into the story beautifully. I think Brent Weeks set the bar for himself very high. Just hoping his other stories will be as good. If you like this genre it is similar to Scot Lynch in 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and Patrick Rothfuss 'The Name of the Wind'.

This book was is really good! It has enough detail that it gave me a good feel for the main character but not so much that it was irritating. Sometimes that is a fine line to balance and Mr. Weeks did a great job.

The story line takes a number of unexpected twists and turns and there's just no way you can figure it out--just have to go along for the ride.

There are bits that are maybe not appropriate for teens, but it's not trashy which is pretty unusual these days. One of the best reads I've had in a while.

This one of the worst books I've ever read. I gave up 2/3 of the way in. Bad writing, bad characterization, thin plot....I could go on. I do not understand all the glowing reviews for this book. I wish I went with my first hunch (based on reading the beginning which was chock full of horrible writing) and skipped but I figured with all the 4 and 5 star reviews it must get better. It does not. Not even a little. Be warned.

This is a pretty good series. Weeks does a good job with character development, even though I often got tired of the Azoth/Kyler at times. The story line flows well and pulls the reader in. He does a good job of developing the antagonists to the point that the reader really dislikes them. The thing that I enjoyed most about the story was that just when I thought I had the story line figured out, the storyline or plotted changed direction or followed a line that I had not considered.

Overall, a good read that I would recommend to anyone.

This book has so much potential but fell short for me. The concepts and the ideas are amazing and pretty original but they are never explained fully or if they are, they are only partly so. An example of this is the term 'wetboy'. This term is introduced fairly early in the story but is never 100% explained. When it is explained, it's only in small chunks that cause you to want to go back and read what you already learned to see how it ties in with what you already know leaving you to realize that it doesnt tie in at all. You find out a short way into the book that the difference between an assassin and a wetboy is magic. Further on you find out each magic user has certain strengths in the magic but then you are never told who has what strengths.

Oh this story has magic in it? Only when there's a battle and never during common use or how it effects the daily lives of everyone. You also never learn its limitations or the rules of the magic itself. You also never find out exactly what the differences are between the different types of magic that seem to only exist commonly in other kingdoms. In the main setting, it almost seems like people only think about and remember magic exists only when it's right in front of their noses. It clearly wasn't thought through all the way. When I first read about the magic, I thought it was only knowledge held in certain closed circles and used in circumstances where normal methods would be impossible, but later you find out that there's an entire history of magic users and artifacts (some of these artifacts are crucial to the story but you're never told why they were made in the first place or what importance they hold now) and there's a complete other kingdom built on magic and ruled by a godking (who you can only assume is extremely magically powerful since its never explained).

All of these things aside, my biggest grief with this book are the characters. The only character I was ever made to care about throughout the story was the main one, Azoth. The story is told from the perspective of many characters but everytime the story is told through the eyes of someone else I was left wondering, why is this person or any of the people I just saw important? Even when I was introduced in the beginning to Jarl and doll girl who are the closest friends of Azoth at the start of the story, you're never told how they became loyal friends, why they remain friends, what does Azoth get out of their relationship, or why does Azoth feel responsible for them. You're expected to accept most situations, no matter how ridiculous it is that they arrived there, and be fine with it.

Most books that I have read that include instances that don't make much sense, I always feel that I can go back and see what I missed or sometimes I can simply overlook it. But when every page has something so obviously wrong with it, it makes it hard to get into the story completely without being snapped right back out of it to wonder how someone who just fell from a window in a tower was able to grab a ledge further down and then swing back up through the window and get back into the fray.

The funniest thing. I searched for a new book to read in the fantasy section and stumbled on this. Loved the cover, so bought the book on a whim. As I have a degree in English, I hated the fact that Brent Weeks over uses the verb "to be" - and probably could use a better editor. But the fact is that the story drew me in and I ended up buying the whole trilogy!

I don't know if I'll buy any of the other books that Brent writes, but I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Yes it is very violent - but hello, it's about assasains, so what do you expect?

I had heard many things about this trilogy and Brent Weeks, all of it good. I didn't Know if it was for me or not. Not always into the assassin thing. I checked out the audio book from my local library. I found myself listening to it at every chance I got. I was enthralled by the story and characters. So much so that I bought the trilogy with my X-mas gift card. I can't wait to read the rest of Kylar's story.

I like this book. Excellent dark beginning. Great character development. Storyline, A+. I think two things kept me from giving it a 5 star: (a) lack of explanation on the magic and (b) overly sensational. (A) I'm a skeptic by nature, so with fantasy, I really need some logic behind out magic works. This book doesn't give you any explanation. In fact, no history whatsoever. (B) Jumping up walls. Glued to ceilings. Invisible. Destroying 20 magicians with one swoop. You get the idea.

But overall, Brent is a great writer. You do enjoy the word flow and story.

Enjoy.

There is so much bad fantasy out there it is quite refreshing to read something new, something different, something fun, and something that is only going to be 3 books.

Based on reading the 1st book: the world is cool, the politics and history are interesting, and the magic is believable.

Most importantly there are great characters and unlike some books, bad things sometimes happen to these great characters.

George RR Martin brought life back to epic fantasy. I have been looking for good fantasy since, since now even Martin's last book disappointed. Rothfuss was great but who knows how long for his next book, Jordan's wheel of time dragged on and on, I could not get into Erikson, and Ruckley's Winterbirth was a near miss (it was almost good). Brent Weeks shows great potential and this series started off great.

Weeks puts the reader in a gritty, harsh, world and creates interesting characters you care about. There are some cool themes and ideas, and some great scenes (like Logan in the Maw with its sinew-chewing horrors). The books are fast-paced and have enough action to keep you entertained. The books steal a bit from existing works (like Hobb's Farseer Trilogy), but also contains enough originality to be unique.

One drawback is that it reads like Weeks kind of makes up magic as he goes along ("Oh so now Blint has that power too? Oh, that's possible in this world too hu?"). But his world and its magic become consistent and make sense by the end. It was also fairly predictable, and the main character's internal struggle got a little old.

But all-in-all I feel confident dark fantasy fans will like The Dark Angel. I enjoyed these books and missed the characters when I was done.

I bought the Night Angel Trilogy not knowing if it was any good. I was desperate for a book I figured I might as well buy all of them at once. I was not disappointed. The story is great and very involved. The characters are highly developed and the world is very well thought out.
The only reason I gave the book a 4 star rating is because there were parts that were pretty gruesome. I skipped paragraphs because some of the descriptions were just too much for me to read.
I would not recommend this for young kids or for the faint of heart, but it's a good story and I'm excited to read the others.

I went into this book expecting something different, namely drawn-out characters with depth. However, this book reads more like a video game without even a good backstory to keep it interesting. The characters are one-dimensional, the story flat and some of the twists are quite farfetched. But it is well-written in terms of language flow, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an uncomplicated fantasy book with fast paced, well-written action scenes.

This book, and in fact the whole series, is an entertaining, quick read with witty dialogue and a good balance of dagger-in-the-dark assassin antics, subtle and interesting magics, and political/conversational intrigue. Azoth is a likeable hero you can easily become invested in, and Durzo is the right kind of mysterious and sarcastic. Very enjoyable read!

OK, bad timing for this book - hard on the heels of too many juvenile fantasies. See my reviews of Croggon, Goodkind, Kay, Paolini,Taylor, or references to Jordan, Feist, Brooks - just for a start...

Sure, this is a slight variation in the Teen fantasy genre (although `assassin fantasy' is probably a well established sub-genre by now). He's got plusses and minuses that I could go through according to this standard - as I have with the earlier ones I just listed - but this time I'm just going to have a more specific rant about one area of this book which is pretty common, almost definitive, of this sort of fantasy. Oddly it's not anything to do with the fantastical - dragons or magic swords or faux-medieval settings or whatever - it's more about a failed attempt to mix genres, deliberately taking some of the gloss off the classic/heroic/larger-than life model.

We are meant to see the raw human side of our (problematically stereotypically superlatively talented/dangerous/shrewd/magical etc.) characters and settings, portrayed not as mythic, but as hard-bitten realism. Some of these guys (particularly, say, Goodkind, Kay and Taylor) set themselves up as going beyond the shiny archetypes of Tolkien's noble settings, and dealing with the gritty, dark and complex aspects of violence and sexuality. They would see their characters as being more layered than merely heroic, acknowledging their inner demons, trauma and struggle. We don't just trot by the poor villagers or the slum area of the city, but are confronted with stench and homelessness and abuse.

This may not have to be bad - although I'm not sure. One problem is that if you keep the larger-than-life aspects - the peerless fighting skills, the eon shaking magical abilities or artefacts, dragons for goodness' sake - this is no longer our world. Some elements of our mundane world just make no sense and jar in these contexts: if you are the one true prince, blooded in battle, touched by the gods and the only hope to turn back the numberless hoards of chaos descending on the ancient citadel, you're not going to work to the same motivations as the high school kid who's reading about you. You don't have to to be: Gandalf is `realistic' to his world - only a demigod (or earth-walking angel) could do what he does, and while he feels fear, joy, pain, fatigue, he is different given his powers, experience and responsibilities. The more I read of the books I'm carping about here, the more I'm impressed by, say, LeGuin's Ged, a magician who starts like the characters in these books - headstrong, playing with his abilities to impress, unaware/unconcerned with how his actions affect others - but then radically changed by his experience, by the real fallout of his choices. He matures - not something that can be said of the eternal teenagers of the books I'm bitching about here. Wolfe and Gemmell deal with this differently - but ably - creating heroes that might not mature or change, but have legendary personalities as essential to their legendary feats and prowess as their washboard abs; if you dump an everyman character on a hero, he could never have become a hero. Yet, for example, despite years of gruelling training and phenomenal gifts, Azoth emerges with the same insecurities, motivations and reactions.

But putting aside the issue of whether you even can successfully mix earthy realism with fantasy realms, my real beef is that these guys can't actually do earthy realism. Different story in SF - where you can get an outstanding author like Iain Banks who can write a character based straight ahead novel like Espedair Street, then turn around, add his middle initial, and play with the galactic scope of the Culture series. And the `earthy' bits enrich the mind-bending stuff, such as the exploration of third and first world responsibility, seen in both genres (e.g.The Business and Inversions). One of the greatest improvements in SF since the early days is the (general) development of character depth. I'm sure there's stuff out there, but I have not seen the same trend in fantasy. Definitely not in this fantasy. To put any of these supposedly developed characters in a novel would be laughable. Likewise Tolkien's - but they were always designed to be larger than life. Rather than coming across as subtly flawed and more human, rather they're childish - in contexts (and at ages) where childishness is implausible. Similarly the mean streets: here Weeks' ludicrously over the top opening of blood and sexual abuse has much more in common with the nonsense of Harry Potter's exaggeratedly vile step-family (one of the weaker elements of that series) than with, say, Walter Mosley's gritty urban sketches. I'm not saying there aren't places that brutalise children, where life is cheap and abuse commonplace. But I am saying these authors haven't lived in them, don't really know anyone who has, and only imagine TV/movie stereotypes of prostitutes and criminals.

Generally the novels I've read that impress me, and here by `novel' I'm meaning character based books (as opposed to, say, horror/crime/pirate/whatever `novels'), are set in contexts that the authors are familiar with. So Lodge's people are academics, Hornby's central characters age with him and live in the UK, Eliot and Austen have much to say about marriage and class. Whereas the fantasies I most enjoy are deliberately in a different dimension to the everyday, consciously drawing on mythic realms, and containing characters that could rub shoulders with Arthur or Ulysses. I don't know if Banks is a musician, but I am, and the aforementioned `Espedair Street' moves very comfortably within the band setting. But for Weeks or Kay or Goodkind et. al. to think they can present insights into the effects of, say, sexual abuse, is just insulting.

I think part of the appeal to teenagers relates to comments I made relating to Eddings, unfavourably comparing him to Voight, for grooming his audience's ego in thinking a superficial view is a profound one. The Guardian Film Show review of `The Fault in our Stars' really resonated with what I'm getting at. The reviewers bridle at the film's claim that, `This is the truth' - supposedly going beyond cliché about the tragedy of dealing with cancer - while airbrushing, even accessorising this awful disease - which seems to barely even inconvenience our two A-list attractive leads: they're not fatigued, their lifestyles aren't shaped around extended, debilitating treatments, and they look just great!

So if going for truth, do some research, or draw on your genuine experience. If going for fantasy, you can leave that behind. Just don't hand me derivative cliché and call it truth.

This happens at a plot level as well as a character one. The point of no return for me (i.e. when I shut the book and moved on) was where supposedly mega-assassin Azoth tries to inconspicuously get into a private function, nobles only, using a constructed alias, to have access to his target. On the way in he even ducks back into his carriage briefly to avoid being recognised by a colleague. And then he has a massive public fight with one of the, say, top five celebrities in the city. I was waiting to read how this was something he carefully engineered as part of a clever strategy ... but straight after he's just decked the king-in-waiting in front of everyone ... he thinks something like, "OK, better get back to work now. I'll just go melt invisibly into some shadows." !! This is, and I never thought I'd have a chance to say this, even dumber than Tom Clancy having the President's son as the top secret assassin, doing a hit in the bathroom of a café where he's just drawn particular attention to himself by spilling drinks all over the place. There's other clangers too (e.g. apparently super-player Momma K has always known about Azoth's messianic importance, yet inexplicably left him in constant danger of dying from malnutrition or commonplace assault). There's Donaldson/Cherryh style tortured melodrama treating every conversation or interaction as climactic. There's annoying repetition of the terms `wetboy' and `deaders', mistakenly thinking they hold more currency and impact than `assassin' and `target'.

There's other books I should be reading.

The Way of Shadows is book one in Brent Week's Night Angel series. This was one of those books I picked from the bookstore at random. I'd never heard of Brent Weeks or the series. All I knew was it was sitting in the Sci Fi/ Fantasy section and was about an assassin. I bought the entire trilogy in one shot, hoping that I would at least find it mildly engaging because otherwise I had just wasted 20 bucks that I probably should have used for gas money. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was hooked.

Azoth is trying to eke out a meager existence as a street rat. His attention is focused on not getting beat into a bloody mess and trying to make sure he and his two friends don't starve to death on the stinking streets of the Warrens. But he has dreams beyond the slums. If he could land an apprenticeship with the most deadly assassin in Cenaria, Durzo Blint, then he would never have to fear anything ever again.

We watch as Azoth grows both in age and skill. He learns to navigate the seedy underbelly of his rotted homeland and, under Durzo's ruthless tutelage, he becomes an important piece in the dangerous game played by those with money and power. But Azoth, later given the alias Kylar, must learn the hard way that being a professional killer means forfeiting pieces of your humanity one by one.

A young boy born into destitution must face constant peril and rigorous training at the hands of a mysterious master so that he can come into his full and daunting potential, and be revealed later to actually be far more than his miserable beginnings suggest. Heard some variation of it before? Eragon, Rand al'Thor, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, the list goes on. Not that there is anything wrong with it. There is a reason the bulk of the world knows at least a couple of those names. It's a story that works. However, despite the familiarity of the plot, Weeks throws in large helping of thrilling action, complex characters, and some raw emotions to make it feel new again.

The Way of Shadows is most definitely a dark fantasy. There is plenty of blood and graphic imagery. The setting is grimy and deplorable. The characters are flawed, some way more seriously than others. Weeks sets you down right in the middle of the dark alleys but he doesn't leave you without some light in the night. Through the muck, there is still honor and compassion. Kylar, who makes a very good living on murder, is a likable character. And he's by no means the only one.

There is a strong influence of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire in The Way of Shadows. The multiple point-of-view characters, the struggles of a kingdom in the midst an ineffectual leader, the best and worst of what it means to be human living side by side. It also means you might want to watch which character you get attached to. So far, the characters of the Night Angel series have not been subjected to the same high mortality rate as the Song of Ice and Fire, but I have a suspicion that this may charge.

I give The Way of Shadows an 4 out of 5. I docked a point for the semi-formulaic plot. I fully intend to read the rest of the series, which continues in Shadows Edge and concludes in Beyond the Shadows. I will also be on the lookout for more novels from Weeks who revealed in an interview that though the Night Angel trilogy is complete, we have not seen the last of Kylar and his world.

For those of you who have already enjoyed the Night Angel series, I would suggest you take a look at the previously mentioned series, Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The series its quite the epic fantasy and begins with A Game of Thrones.

"Assassination is an art, milord. And I am the city's most accomplished artist." - Durzo Blint, The Way of Shadows

I love that the author doesn't shy away from the gritty, abusive, dirty reality of the world he created. The characters are delightfully flawed, there is a perfect balance of action/adventure/philosophy, and you are really rooting for everyone even when they are pitted against each other. Very entertaining! And yes, I read the acknowledgements. :)

These novels are some of the best fantasy novels that I've read in a long time. To those who are dubious about fantasy novels due to their in-depth, and sometimes pompous, description of politics and trivial, chapter eating quests, don't worry - Weeks doesn't bog down his novels with tedious material. He gets right into the meat of the story and keeps on digging.

A few complaints:

As a final book in the trilogy, I do have to say I was a bit disappointed in the ending. It's hard to let a storyline that you've loved and followed breathlessly for thousands of pages sum itself up in just a few short chapters.

There is very little character development in this third book - most of the characters have already been fleshed out by now, but there are still a few disappointments. Elene and Uly being two of them. Elene's character feels flat and one dimensional compared to the spectacle of emotions that runs through the rest of the novel. Even the "support" characters feel more fleshed out than she does, and she's the pin on which the whole novel hinges. Her one emotion, love, feels a bit cheap when confronted with the grittier, more realistic characters that we meet during this trilogy. Uly, who had such a big role in the second novel, is not even present. She has not one line in this novel - not one.

The Chantry shows up late in the "game of thrones", if you will, and it feels exactly that - late. with so little mention in the earlier books, and becoming so pivotal in this one, it feels a bit tacked on.

Aside from these few minor complaints, this book is entertaining and amazing to read.

The Bottom Line:

Fantasy novels are notorious for taking their readers on an adventure the likes of which they will never see in real life. Readers learn what it means to be mages, kings, or even assassins (or, really, "wetboys"). Brent Weeks not only shows us what it means to be the fantastic, he shows us what it means to be something more infinitely precious: human.

Fast paced action, incredible plot twists, and characters that are really the shining glory of this trilogy added to a gritty realism, and an ending that leaves you panting to know more (but not irritated that you don't know enough), creates a set of three novels that you will read again and again for the pure pleasure of it.

I eagerly await more novels from this author!

This last title of the Night Angel trilogy left me dissapointed and partially conflicted. I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit and was hoping the final chapter would be back on track to what I liked about it. The second book was good, but deterred a lot from what I thought made the first one great. Shadow's Edge seemed to lose focus and jump around too much, but second books in trilogies often do that. Unfortunately, I found Beyond the Shadows to be more of the same and the worst in the trilogy.

It's hard to judge a series as a whole when some parts I like and some I do no not. I didn't want to review books one and two because I wanted to wait until I was done with the third and review the trilogy as a whole. But now that almost seems unfair. It's as if a different author wrote the first book and partially into writing the next, got bored with the whole thing and passed it onto someone else who had a whole new idea for how the story should go. If I say I dislike the whole trilogy, it'd be unfair to the first book. But enough about telling you that I was dissapointed, I'll explain why.

Book one hooked me instantly as all truly good fantasy novels do. A compelling world, a sympathetic main character, lots of plot twists, no clear line between good and evil. These, along with some fun violence and gritty storyline are the things I love about fantasy, at least "dark fantasy" or "gritty fantasy" as it were. Now even with book one I wouldn't say Brent Weeks compares to the likes of George R.R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch, but it's better than a lot of fantasy I've read. What I loved about it was Kylar's story and the focus being almost solely on him. I know it's not a first person novel, but to me it read like one. It was like a grittier version of Assassin's Apprentice. I wanted to know what happened to Kylar next and it's what kept me reading.

With book 2 and continuing in this one, the story just explodes and goes all over the place. Is this a bad thing? Some might not think so. They might consider the second two books more exciting for this, but for me it just made me lose interest. I found the more the author expanded the storylines and started throwing more and more character viewpoints in, the less interesting it became, like a radio signal attenuating as it grows and expands farther out. The story was less about Kylar and more about all of the events in the world, all of the different factions and their goings on. I just don't think the world here was quite rich or interesting enough to keep me excited on its own. It was the characters that drew me in.

Without giving too much away for those who haven't read the trilogy (although if you haven't read the first two, you shouldn't be reading too many reviews on book three anyways), another reason I started losing interest with book three was the main plotline itself, or the lack thereof. The largest focus of the trilogy was resolved at the end of book two, and I would've been much more satisfied if the author had found a way to just end it there. Beyond the Shadows seems to be more about everyone picking up the pieces in the aftermath of Shadow's Edge than anything else. The new villains and worries in this last book just couldn't hold my interest.

Another thing that grated on me was the occasional cheesy moments of humor that didn't seem to fit the style at all, an element I didn't notice until after book one. One notable example was the black ka'kari. Not only was it a sentient being but it often gives Kylar advice and makes bad jokes, such as forming a smiley face on Kylar's skin and winking at him when it was being sarcastic. Moments like that were way too out of place and really kill the mood of the story for me.

As you can see, I still gave the book 3 stars. Brent Weeks is not a bad writer. While his prose may not be especially sophisticated, it has a nice flow to it and is very easily readable. And even with the characters becoming less and less interesting, I still found myself caring about them (well, some of them.) Logan Gyre, while predictably noble, has some interesting sides to him. Vi is the best female character in the trilogy and one of my favorite female characters in fantasy. Dorian comes to his own in this book and his storyline is particularly brutal. The Wolf: mysterious and very interesting, one of the sole reasons I decided to read keep on reading and finish book three. Kylar is still an okay character but unfortunately becomes more of a god than the assassin boy I liked in book one and loses empathy from me.

So would I recommend this trilogy to others based on my opinion of this book? It's hard to say and that's where I find myself conflicted. It's hard to tell someone to just stop at book one or two when there will be still so many stories and plotlined unresolved. So I won't recommend either way. Just read what I have to say and form your own opinion about it. I will say that this book hasn't deterred me from Weeks altogether and I might be picking up his new book when it's out in paperback. But if you want an author who's a bit more focused and never loses track of his characters, (even if they are all murderers, mercenaries and scoundrels) read Joe Abercrombie. I'm almost done with Best Served Cold. Now that is some truly amazing gritty fantasy.

I loved this book. It's dark and gritty and downright vulgar in places, but it's beautiful and brilliant in its presentation of character and theme. The world is enjoyable if never fully expressed (I would have loved the author to have taken fuller advantage of the early hints at an Oriental-esque society), but despite some of its minor stylistic problems, the story had me hooked from beginning to end.

I liked the development of the characters. They were multi-dimensional and I enjoyed the reveal as we learned more about their past, and their motivations. It wasn't overwhelmed by magic but their was an interesting couple of magic systems.

This is the first in a series that changed my mind about epic fantasy once again. I have been reading fantasy novels since I was 11 years old and picked up the Chronicles of Prydain. As I grew older, I latched on to Mercedes Lackey and Terry Brooks as well as James Clemens and Robin Hood. Unfortunately having been drawn into the sprawling worlds of Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, two authors whose series unraveled over time with less and less cohesiveness, I lost my taste for Epic Fantasy and became a firm follower of the Urban Fantasy movement. After reading many authors like Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Simon R. Green and others, I dived back into the realm of epic fantasy with the Furies of Calduron and thought once again that epic fantasy will always be my true love. Reading this trilogy strengthened that ten fold. I read all three of these books in three days and was tempted to read them again they were so good. The character of Kylar is amazing, flawed yet redemptive and the other characters in the novel, Logan, Elene, Vi, Durzo, Mamma K, Count Drake, Solon, Fier, and Dorian as well as a few others all have well developed and fleshed out characters and interweaving stories that come together in the end. I STRONGLY encourage anyone who grew up loving epic fantasy to purchase not just this book but all three!! Trust me, at the end of the first book you'll be ready to order the next one anyway. Save yourself the trouble and order all three now. I did that for books 2 and 3. Trust me, this is the first review I have written, yet I have been reading fantasy books for years as well as reading many of the reviews posted on the store, but I absolutely felt compelled to write about this series because I firmly believe this is the best trilogy I have read in a long long long time.

Well, I've finished the whole "Night Angel Trilogy" but want to comment on the first book, although my review's points wouldn't change for the following books either, which is why I phrased it more general. Please be patient with my writing style, as English is not my native tongue.

I have read many of the reviews on here, but when some people criticize the book for Kylar Stern's stereotypical feelings of guilt when killing, then they dismissed that one of the main themes of the book is indeed the fight "Good vs. Evil". It is unfortunate that Brent Weeks only slightly touches those moral themes, as its impacts on the characters are at times barely visible, despite making them the CENTER of the novel among politics and hope-to-be-couples.

I was disappointed that hardly any character continuously believable grows during the novel. All in all, the characters make sudden turns by events which are either traumatic or promising for the future.
Their attitudes vs. their actions don't match up at all times as they might e.g. develop an anti-killing attitude but keep doing it which causes me, as the reader, not to follow up the development, as the characters growth is contradicting to themselves.
They also preferably rise and fall regarding power and influence, instead of changing their relationships to one another, which when once established, stay the same. It is also interesting to note that certain side characters develop more than actual main characters in their position of importance as well as motivation.

The novels always gave me some sort of a "cinema feeling". Don't assume I'm talking about vivid imagination, though the books have some precise described scenes.
When I read them it felt like the Night Angel Trilogy was a movie in the first place, and turned into a novel while watching. This is at least how I perceived it, since Brent Weeks strongly focuses on actions and scenery, instead of inner monologue.
We only get immediate reflection/analysis (regarding the ongoing action) by the character of whose perspective the chapter is written. Other characters' reactions are not included.
To be fair, it's similar with most novels, but in The Night Angel Trilogy you really don't connect to the characters for the previously mentioned reasons.

At turning points of the novel, artefacts appear, chunks of past history are explained or the rules of magic circumvented by the author himself, what makes those rules seem inconsistent. It is confusing when the writer suddenly includes things which hadn't had any impact on the story before. Literally everything that is a few hundred years old has either been forgotten knowledge or is considered a fairy tale. However, I was surprised at times since it added new insights to some characters.
Mini Spoiler as an example for "old stuff":
The "ka'kari" (magic which allows great increase of power) for instance, are backed up with a weak back story to them. Little is known about their creation or how they work. Most people who owned them forgot what their use might be and so on, despite triggering the potential to be god-like powerful. That'd be especially important since they take one of the main roles in the books.

Female characters are especially shallow described, plus they are sexualized to a ridiculous extent. All women (except for one elderly woman called Sister Ariel and a few sisters which live in a monastery) are somehow involved in rapes or their attempts, use their sexuality as a tool, or work as whores. Rape is described as cruel, though the women always as tempting beauties. Due to the dark history in Midcyru the situation for the women who are raped and molested seems justified to some. I consider it to be too sexualized, as women barely take any other role than being slept with at some point. I don't say it is inherently bad to show things like rape and molest as they happen in real life. However, my real problem with that is that the author seems incapable of portraying some in depth problems of women (and society in general as he portrays a sick society) WITHOUT rapes.

To sum my long review up at this point, I think that the main idea for the plot is common, yet carried out with complexity. Finally, the plot leads into a heavily clichéd novel and ineffectually Good vs. Evil theme, as its impact is unbelievably affecting the characters' attitudes and actions in the long run. If the characters grow, then it seems to happen too sudden. For this, traumatic/inevitable events are used which makes those changes hard comprehensible to the reader, as reflection and inner monologue are lacking. Unfortunately, the writer just seems to make up new spells, artefacts etc. out of nowhere as no detailed background information given. I recommend this series to readers which can forgive the Night Angel Trilogy its mistakes regarding character development, and appreciate many side characters which all impact the story in their own way with their unique motivations. Also, the story's Good vs. Evil theme is more dark and elaborate than in many other novels.

The Way of Shadows was a surprisingly fun read. It's not the most polished book ever, as it's Brent Weeks' first novel, but the plot is lots of fun, has some good twists and climactic moments. Most of all, it has some great characters - particularly Durzo Blint and Logan Gyre. If you like fast paced action in your fantasy, you'll probably enjoy this.

This book was decent but in my opinion was nothing special. I was very glad when I reached the end of this book to find that the story felt self contained and to know I would be able to put this series down without feeling like I had unfinished business. I felt the begining of this book, while enoyable, was very derivitive of Orson Scott Card's excellent Ender's Game. Spoiler ahead - It was toward the end when the magic or "talent" gave the character super powers that I lost interest. It became a bit silly IMO and not believable. That being said the author does have a nice narrative style and while I will not be reading books 2-3 of this series I will look for subsequent series where, hopefully, the work becomes more original and mature.

Amazing !! This book is a masterpiece. From the opening page the action begins and the characters pull you into their world. There are so many plot twists and vivid characters and landscapes to explore. With how it all pulls together, I could tell that for Brent Weeks this book was a labor of love. Now I know why these books were selling out so quickly from my local bookstore.

Good book and a good world, but I doubt I will ever read the third book. The second book destroyed it for me.

Full review on my blog:

https://redletalis.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/the-night-angel-trilogy-b-weeks/

A very satisfying debut novel. A fast pace, great characters and an interesting plot make this book something special.
As all novels do, this book has its fair share of faults. I'll keep those till the end.
The story opens up with Azoth desperately searching for money to pay the sadistic Rat. As all guild smalls, and bigs (Young, and old) he must pay a membership fee, so to speak, or risk getting beaten by the basher ambiguously named Rat. A beating is not the worst that Rat can inflict though, wait for a truly disturbing abuse towards Azoths best friend.
While Azoth is searching we're introduced to one of the most interesting, complicated characters I have seen in a book: Durzo Blint.
The most important thing about this first scene is TO PAY ATTENTION. A lot of foreshadowing, and important character, plot points are introduced in this first scene.
The interaction between Azoth and Durzo is by far the highlight of the book. If you don't love, or at least feel sorry, Durzo then you're completely devoid of feelings.
The plot is brilliant, and just enough cunning. I'll leave you to find out how good the plot is for yourself.
The villain in this story really proves that a villain need not be sympathetic. Or likeable. Or have any desirable qualities. This is one of those old school villains that love to torture, kill, rape and all manner of dark deeds for fun. He himself admits he's close to addiction. Addiction towards murder, not drugs. I actually found it a slight but difficult to read through his perspective. It's is quite honestly truly, twisted evil. Bravo Brent weeks! Bravo!
Now on to the faults. I must admit this book has a good number of faults. Luckily, the good stuff is so good, and the faults are fairly inconsequential.
The first fault is that some of the fights are in the format of: He ploughed through his enemies. But the real big fight that I , and probably everybody, was looking forward too was executed brilliantly.
The world is just not very interesting. The political structure is good, but there isn't really much flavour in the world itself. You'll see what I mean when you read it.
Characters mentioned in passing become incredibly important characters towards end. Which truthfully caused a moment of: Who the hell is that!
And I must admit I would've liked to see more Assassins training, and not a year's later sort of thing. Although that probably worked best. Just me being nitpicky.
If you can look past the faults it's a must have, and I'd recommend it.

I picked this book up on a whim. I read a lot of SciFi/Fantasy and I have to say, this book, which is the 1st of three, is wonderful.
The characters are consistant and well-thought out. No one is just 'evil' for the sake of being evil or 'good' for the sake of being good. The plot is fast paced and interesting. The characters develop well, growing and changing, while not letting go of who they were. If you liked Assassin's Apprentice - these books are equally, if not more satifying. Do yourself a favor and read The Night Angel Trilogy.

The Way of Shadows is the first in the Night Angel Trilogy by newcomer Brent Weeks. Let me start by saying that Brent Weeks writes action like Jet Li fights! He seems to have a good understanding of how action sequences flow and how to describe them in such a way that they are detailed without bogging down. Bravo.

The story begins with some frankly darkly disturbing descriptions of life on the streets which include child sexual abuse and extreme violence. Though The Way of Shadows is fiction, there is a sad truth in the darkness that these children face and the extreme actions that the fight for survival creates within humankind. This portion of the story could happen anywhere in any big city on Earth; and because of this Weeks' characters and motivations are believable and three dimensional. One of the mistakes that new fantasy writers often make is to become so excited by their magic and dragons that they forget that all good stories are about people. Brent Weeks I'm happy to say does not make this mistake. His story is about people and their motivations first and magic and abilities second. Our similarities bind us, but our differences make us interesting.

Young Azoth sells his soul to a "Devil" by the name of Durzo Blint in order to protect his friends Jaral and Doll-girl. Blint is a "wetboy" or super assassin, who's abilities are trained, but also a product of his "Talent"...an innate magic that augments his ninja-like skills. At first glance Blint is a complete sociopath with no connection to the humanity around him. Azoth turns out to have the abilities to become the physical equal of Durzo Blint, but the real story takes off when he is tested in order to discover if he has the heart (or lack thereof) to become a Wetboy.

I loved this story and anxiously await the next two novels to be released in October and November of '08.

If you like your fantasy gritty in the vein of Matthew Woodring Stover and George R.R. Martin you'll enjoy this new treat by first time novelist Brent Weeks.

i am in afghan right now and the units that have gone before me have built quite the selection of books there are probly 200 books in the reading tent, i have bounced from book to book not really getting cough up in it, well let me tell you this book is my nightly escape!! the way the writer has put u in the story it takes me right away from here! def worth the read, and i wll be ordering this trilagy , and leaveing it for the rest!

I picked up this book immediately after finishing "The Sound and the Fury," so I'm pretty sure that I'm not just mistaking mild mental stimulation for legitimate enjoyment.

For those of you who are familiar with my previous reviews, you are aware of how much four stars counts for (a lot). I selected this volume on a whim (the same mechanism by which I discovered, "The Summoner"), a mechanism that had not served me well until I managed to pick up this volume. Brent Weeks is an author who is not afraid of broaching topics that would cause other fantasy authors to tremble with fear: homosexuality, sociopathic behavior, homosexual rape, normal rape, murdering children, children that are murderers, prostitution, and child rape (seeing a theme yet). Yes, every character in this book has committed murder, been murdered, or buggered. Weeks is exceptionally adept at crafting his character's personalities as a product of their environment, and simultaneously making them believable without seeming weepy or preachy.

The story is fairly generic, but contains enough original elements to keep it engaging. Purchase this book for its memorable characters, not its groundbreaking plot-lines. Four stars. Buy it, read it, love it.

At first glance this book looks childish to me and I almost didn't buy the trilogy, but after hearing so many good reviews, I did.. and I'm glad I did! Wow, this book is adventurous and twisted - and a lot of characters die. I know that sounds wierd but in so many books I read of characters that just keep on living and living and it's just good to read something that when the main characters get in twists, they might actually die. Excellent book and I'm halfway through the second which, so far, is just as good. Read it.

I love that the author doesn't shy away from the gritty, abusive, dirty reality of the world he created. The characters are delightfully flawed, there is a perfect balance of action/adventure/philosophy, and you are really rooting for everyone even when they are pitted against each other. Very entertaining! And yes, I read the acknowledgements. :)

These novels are some of the best fantasy novels that I've read in a long time. To those who are dubious about fantasy novels due to their in-depth, and sometimes pompous, description of politics and trivial, chapter eating quests, don't worry - Weeks doesn't bog down his novels with tedious material. He gets right into the meat of the story and keeps on digging.

A few complaints:

As a final book in the trilogy, I do have to say I was a bit disappointed in the ending. It's hard to let a storyline that you've loved and followed breathlessly for thousands of pages sum itself up in just a few short chapters.

There is very little character development in this third book - most of the characters have already been fleshed out by now, but there are still a few disappointments. Elene and Uly being two of them. Elene's character feels flat and one dimensional compared to the spectacle of emotions that runs through the rest of the novel. Even the "support" characters feel more fleshed out than she does, and she's the pin on which the whole novel hinges. Her one emotion, love, feels a bit cheap when confronted with the grittier, more realistic characters that we meet during this trilogy. Uly, who had such a big role in the second novel, is not even present. She has not one line in this novel - not one.

The Chantry shows up late in the "game of thrones", if you will, and it feels exactly that - late. with so little mention in the earlier books, and becoming so pivotal in this one, it feels a bit tacked on.

Aside from these few minor complaints, this book is entertaining and amazing to read.

The Bottom Line:

Fantasy novels are notorious for taking their readers on an adventure the likes of which they will never see in real life. Readers learn what it means to be mages, kings, or even assassins (or, really, "wetboys"). Brent Weeks not only shows us what it means to be the fantastic, he shows us what it means to be something more infinitely precious: human.

Fast paced action, incredible plot twists, and characters that are really the shining glory of this trilogy added to a gritty realism, and an ending that leaves you panting to know more (but not irritated that you don't know enough), creates a set of three novels that you will read again and again for the pure pleasure of it.

I eagerly await more novels from this author!

This last title of the Night Angel trilogy left me dissapointed and partially conflicted. I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit and was hoping the final chapter would be back on track to what I liked about it. The second book was good, but deterred a lot from what I thought made the first one great. Shadow's Edge seemed to lose focus and jump around too much, but second books in trilogies often do that. Unfortunately, I found Beyond the Shadows to be more of the same and the worst in the trilogy.

It's hard to judge a series as a whole when some parts I like and some I do no not. I didn't want to review books one and two because I wanted to wait until I was done with the third and review the trilogy as a whole. But now that almost seems unfair. It's as if a different author wrote the first book and partially into writing the next, got bored with the whole thing and passed it onto someone else who had a whole new idea for how the story should go. If I say I dislike the whole trilogy, it'd be unfair to the first book. But enough about telling you that I was dissapointed, I'll explain why.

Book one hooked me instantly as all truly good fantasy novels do. A compelling world, a sympathetic main character, lots of plot twists, no clear line between good and evil. These, along with some fun violence and gritty storyline are the things I love about fantasy, at least "dark fantasy" or "gritty fantasy" as it were. Now even with book one I wouldn't say Brent Weeks compares to the likes of George R.R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch, but it's better than a lot of fantasy I've read. What I loved about it was Kylar's story and the focus being almost solely on him. I know it's not a first person novel, but to me it read like one. It was like a grittier version of Assassin's Apprentice. I wanted to know what happened to Kylar next and it's what kept me reading.

With book 2 and continuing in this one, the story just explodes and goes all over the place. Is this a bad thing? Some might not think so. They might consider the second two books more exciting for this, but for me it just made me lose interest. I found the more the author expanded the storylines and started throwing more and more character viewpoints in, the less interesting it became, like a radio signal attenuating as it grows and expands farther out. The story was less about Kylar and more about all of the events in the world, all of the different factions and their goings on. I just don't think the world here was quite rich or interesting enough to keep me excited on its own. It was the characters that drew me in.

Without giving too much away for those who haven't read the trilogy (although if you haven't read the first two, you shouldn't be reading too many reviews on book three anyways), another reason I started losing interest with book three was the main plotline itself, or the lack thereof. The largest focus of the trilogy was resolved at the end of book two, and I would've been much more satisfied if the author had found a way to just end it there. Beyond the Shadows seems to be more about everyone picking up the pieces in the aftermath of Shadow's Edge than anything else. The new villains and worries in this last book just couldn't hold my interest.

Another thing that grated on me was the occasional cheesy moments of humor that didn't seem to fit the style at all, an element I didn't notice until after book one. One notable example was the black ka'kari. Not only was it a sentient being but it often gives Kylar advice and makes bad jokes, such as forming a smiley face on Kylar's skin and winking at him when it was being sarcastic. Moments like that were way too out of place and really kill the mood of the story for me.

As you can see, I still gave the book 3 stars. Brent Weeks is not a bad writer. While his prose may not be especially sophisticated, it has a nice flow to it and is very easily readable. And even with the characters becoming less and less interesting, I still found myself caring about them (well, some of them.) Logan Gyre, while predictably noble, has some interesting sides to him. Vi is the best female character in the trilogy and one of my favorite female characters in fantasy. Dorian comes to his own in this book and his storyline is particularly brutal. The Wolf: mysterious and very interesting, one of the sole reasons I decided to read keep on reading and finish book three. Kylar is still an okay character but unfortunately becomes more of a god than the assassin boy I liked in book one and loses empathy from me.

So would I recommend this trilogy to others based on my opinion of this book? It's hard to say and that's where I find myself conflicted. It's hard to tell someone to just stop at book one or two when there will be still so many stories and plotlined unresolved. So I won't recommend either way. Just read what I have to say and form your own opinion about it. I will say that this book hasn't deterred me from Weeks altogether and I might be picking up his new book when it's out in paperback. But if you want an author who's a bit more focused and never loses track of his characters, (even if they are all murderers, mercenaries and scoundrels) read Joe Abercrombie. I'm almost done with Best Served Cold. Now that is some truly amazing gritty fantasy.

I loved this book. It's dark and gritty and downright vulgar in places, but it's beautiful and brilliant in its presentation of character and theme. The world is enjoyable if never fully expressed (I would have loved the author to have taken fuller advantage of the early hints at an Oriental-esque society), but despite some of its minor stylistic problems, the story had me hooked from beginning to end.

I liked the development of the characters. They were multi-dimensional and I enjoyed the reveal as we learned more about their past, and their motivations. It wasn't overwhelmed by magic but their was an interesting couple of magic systems.

This is the first in a series that changed my mind about epic fantasy once again. I have been reading fantasy novels since I was 11 years old and picked up the Chronicles of Prydain. As I grew older, I latched on to Mercedes Lackey and Terry Brooks as well as James Clemens and Robin Hood. Unfortunately having been drawn into the sprawling worlds of Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, two authors whose series unraveled over time with less and less cohesiveness, I lost my taste for Epic Fantasy and became a firm follower of the Urban Fantasy movement. After reading many authors like Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Simon R. Green and others, I dived back into the realm of epic fantasy with the Furies of Calduron and thought once again that epic fantasy will always be my true love. Reading this trilogy strengthened that ten fold. I read all three of these books in three days and was tempted to read them again they were so good. The character of Kylar is amazing, flawed yet redemptive and the other characters in the novel, Logan, Elene, Vi, Durzo, Mamma K, Count Drake, Solon, Fier, and Dorian as well as a few others all have well developed and fleshed out characters and interweaving stories that come together in the end. I STRONGLY encourage anyone who grew up loving epic fantasy to purchase not just this book but all three!! Trust me, at the end of the first book you'll be ready to order the next one anyway. Save yourself the trouble and order all three now. I did that for books 2 and 3. Trust me, this is the first review I have written, yet I have been reading fantasy books for years as well as reading many of the reviews posted on the store, but I absolutely felt compelled to write about this series because I firmly believe this is the best trilogy I have read in a long long long time.

Well, I've finished the whole "Night Angel Trilogy" but want to comment on the first book, although my review's points wouldn't change for the following books either, which is why I phrased it more general. Please be patient with my writing style, as English is not my native tongue.

I have read many of the reviews on here, but when some people criticize the book for Kylar Stern's stereotypical feelings of guilt when killing, then they dismissed that one of the main themes of the book is indeed the fight "Good vs. Evil". It is unfortunate that Brent Weeks only slightly touches those moral themes, as its impacts on the characters are at times barely visible, despite making them the CENTER of the novel among politics and hope-to-be-couples.

I was disappointed that hardly any character continuously believable grows during the novel. All in all, the characters make sudden turns by events which are either traumatic or promising for the future.
Their attitudes vs. their actions don't match up at all times as they might e.g. develop an anti-killing attitude but keep doing it which causes me, as the reader, not to follow up the development, as the characters growth is contradicting to themselves.
They also preferably rise and fall regarding power and influence, instead of changing their relationships to one another, which when once established, stay the same. It is also interesting to note that certain side characters develop more than actual main characters in their position of importance as well as motivation.

The novels always gave me some sort of a "cinema feeling". Don't assume I'm talking about vivid imagination, though the books have some precise described scenes.
When I read them it felt like the Night Angel Trilogy was a movie in the first place, and turned into a novel while watching. This is at least how I perceived it, since Brent Weeks strongly focuses on actions and scenery, instead of inner monologue.
We only get immediate reflection/analysis (regarding the ongoing action) by the character of whose perspective the chapter is written. Other characters' reactions are not included.
To be fair, it's similar with most novels, but in The Night Angel Trilogy you really don't connect to the characters for the previously mentioned reasons.

At turning points of the novel, artefacts appear, chunks of past history are explained or the rules of magic circumvented by the author himself, what makes those rules seem inconsistent. It is confusing when the writer suddenly includes things which hadn't had any impact on the story before. Literally everything that is a few hundred years old has either been forgotten knowledge or is considered a fairy tale. However, I was surprised at times since it added new insights to some characters.
Mini Spoiler as an example for "old stuff":
The "ka'kari" (magic which allows great increase of power) for instance, are backed up with a weak back story to them. Little is known about their creation or how they work. Most people who owned them forgot what their use might be and so on, despite triggering the potential to be god-like powerful. That'd be especially important since they take one of the main roles in the books.

Female characters are especially shallow described, plus they are sexualized to a ridiculous extent. All women (except for one elderly woman called Sister Ariel and a few sisters which live in a monastery) are somehow involved in rapes or their attempts, use their sexuality as a tool, or work as whores. Rape is described as cruel, though the women always as tempting beauties. Due to the dark history in Midcyru the situation for the women who are raped and molested seems justified to some. I consider it to be too sexualized, as women barely take any other role than being slept with at some point. I don't say it is inherently bad to show things like rape and molest as they happen in real life. However, my real problem with that is that the author seems incapable of portraying some in depth problems of women (and society in general as he portrays a sick society) WITHOUT rapes.

To sum my long review up at this point, I think that the main idea for the plot is common, yet carried out with complexity. Finally, the plot leads into a heavily clichéd novel and ineffectually Good vs. Evil theme, as its impact is unbelievably affecting the characters' attitudes and actions in the long run. If the characters grow, then it seems to happen too sudden. For this, traumatic/inevitable events are used which makes those changes hard comprehensible to the reader, as reflection and inner monologue are lacking. Unfortunately, the writer just seems to make up new spells, artefacts etc. out of nowhere as no detailed background information given. I recommend this series to readers which can forgive the Night Angel Trilogy its mistakes regarding character development, and appreciate many side characters which all impact the story in their own way with their unique motivations. Also, the story's Good vs. Evil theme is more dark and elaborate than in many other novels.

The Way of Shadows was a surprisingly fun read. It's not the most polished book ever, as it's Brent Weeks' first novel, but the plot is lots of fun, has some good twists and climactic moments. Most of all, it has some great characters - particularly Durzo Blint and Logan Gyre. If you like fast paced action in your fantasy, you'll probably enjoy this.

This book was decent but in my opinion was nothing special. I was very glad when I reached the end of this book to find that the story felt self contained and to know I would be able to put this series down without feeling like I had unfinished business. I felt the begining of this book, while enoyable, was very derivitive of Orson Scott Card's excellent Ender's Game. Spoiler ahead - It was toward the end when the magic or "talent" gave the character super powers that I lost interest. It became a bit silly IMO and not believable. That being said the author does have a nice narrative style and while I will not be reading books 2-3 of this series I will look for subsequent series where, hopefully, the work becomes more original and mature.

Amazing !! This book is a masterpiece. From the opening page the action begins and the characters pull you into their world. There are so many plot twists and vivid characters and landscapes to explore. With how it all pulls together, I could tell that for Brent Weeks this book was a labor of love. Now I know why these books were selling out so quickly from my local bookstore.

Good book and a good world, but I doubt I will ever read the third book. The second book destroyed it for me.

Full review on my blog:

https://redletalis.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/the-night-angel-trilogy-b-weeks/

A very satisfying debut novel. A fast pace, great characters and an interesting plot make this book something special.
As all novels do, this book has its fair share of faults. I'll keep those till the end.
The story opens up with Azoth desperately searching for money to pay the sadistic Rat. As all guild smalls, and bigs (Young, and old) he must pay a membership fee, so to speak, or risk getting beaten by the basher ambiguously named Rat. A beating is not the worst that Rat can inflict though, wait for a truly disturbing abuse towards Azoths best friend.
While Azoth is searching we're introduced to one of the most interesting, complicated characters I have seen in a book: Durzo Blint.
The most important thing about this first scene is TO PAY ATTENTION. A lot of foreshadowing, and important character, plot points are introduced in this first scene.
The interaction between Azoth and Durzo is by far the highlight of the book. If you don't love, or at least feel sorry, Durzo then you're completely devoid of feelings.
The plot is brilliant, and just enough cunning. I'll leave you to find out how good the plot is for yourself.
The villain in this story really proves that a villain need not be sympathetic. Or likeable. Or have any desirable qualities. This is one of those old school villains that love to torture, kill, rape and all manner of dark deeds for fun. He himself admits he's close to addiction. Addiction towards murder, not drugs. I actually found it a slight but difficult to read through his perspective. It's is quite honestly truly, twisted evil. Bravo Brent weeks! Bravo!
Now on to the faults. I must admit this book has a good number of faults. Luckily, the good stuff is so good, and the faults are fairly inconsequential.
The first fault is that some of the fights are in the format of: He ploughed through his enemies. But the real big fight that I , and probably everybody, was looking forward too was executed brilliantly.
The world is just not very interesting. The political structure is good, but there isn't really much flavour in the world itself. You'll see what I mean when you read it.
Characters mentioned in passing become incredibly important characters towards end. Which truthfully caused a moment of: Who the hell is that!
And I must admit I would've liked to see more Assassins training, and not a year's later sort of thing. Although that probably worked best. Just me being nitpicky.
If you can look past the faults it's a must have, and I'd recommend it.

I picked this book up on a whim. I read a lot of SciFi/Fantasy and I have to say, this book, which is the 1st of three, is wonderful.
The characters are consistant and well-thought out. No one is just 'evil' for the sake of being evil or 'good' for the sake of being good. The plot is fast paced and interesting. The characters develop well, growing and changing, while not letting go of who they were. If you liked Assassin's Apprentice - these books are equally, if not more satifying. Do yourself a favor and read The Night Angel Trilogy.

The Way of Shadows is the first in the Night Angel Trilogy by newcomer Brent Weeks. Let me start by saying that Brent Weeks writes action like Jet Li fights! He seems to have a good understanding of how action sequences flow and how to describe them in such a way that they are detailed without bogging down. Bravo.

The story begins with some frankly darkly disturbing descriptions of life on the streets which include child sexual abuse and extreme violence. Though The Way of Shadows is fiction, there is a sad truth in the darkness that these children face and the extreme actions that the fight for survival creates within humankind. This portion of the story could happen anywhere in any big city on Earth; and because of this Weeks' characters and motivations are believable and three dimensional. One of the mistakes that new fantasy writers often make is to become so excited by their magic and dragons that they forget that all good stories are about people. Brent Weeks I'm happy to say does not make this mistake. His story is about people and their motivations first and magic and abilities second. Our similarities bind us, but our differences make us interesting.

Young Azoth sells his soul to a "Devil" by the name of Durzo Blint in order to protect his friends Jaral and Doll-girl. Blint is a "wetboy" or super assassin, who's abilities are trained, but also a product of his "Talent"...an innate magic that augments his ninja-like skills. At first glance Blint is a complete sociopath with no connection to the humanity around him. Azoth turns out to have the abilities to become the physical equal of Durzo Blint, but the real story takes off when he is tested in order to discover if he has the heart (or lack thereof) to become a Wetboy.

I loved this story and anxiously await the next two novels to be released in October and November of '08.

If you like your fantasy gritty in the vein of Matthew Woodring Stover and George R.R. Martin you'll enjoy this new treat by first time novelist Brent Weeks.

i am in afghan right now and the units that have gone before me have built quite the selection of books there are probly 200 books in the reading tent, i have bounced from book to book not really getting cough up in it, well let me tell you this book is my nightly escape!! the way the writer has put u in the story it takes me right away from here! def worth the read, and i wll be ordering this trilagy , and leaveing it for the rest!

I picked up this book immediately after finishing "The Sound and the Fury," so I'm pretty sure that I'm not just mistaking mild mental stimulation for legitimate enjoyment.

For those of you who are familiar with my previous reviews, you are aware of how much four stars counts for (a lot). I selected this volume on a whim (the same mechanism by which I discovered, "The Summoner"), a mechanism that had not served me well until I managed to pick up this volume. Brent Weeks is an author who is not afraid of broaching topics that would cause other fantasy authors to tremble with fear: homosexuality, sociopathic behavior, homosexual rape, normal rape, murdering children, children that are murderers, prostitution, and child rape (seeing a theme yet). Yes, every character in this book has committed murder, been murdered, or buggered. Weeks is exceptionally adept at crafting his character's personalities as a product of their environment, and simultaneously making them believable without seeming weepy or preachy.

The story is fairly generic, but contains enough original elements to keep it engaging. Purchase this book for its memorable characters, not its groundbreaking plot-lines. Four stars. Buy it, read it, love it.

At first glance this book looks childish to me and I almost didn't buy the trilogy, but after hearing so many good reviews, I did.. and I'm glad I did! Wow, this book is adventurous and twisted - and a lot of characters die. I know that sounds wierd but in so many books I read of characters that just keep on living and living and it's just good to read something that when the main characters get in twists, they might actually die. Excellent book and I'm halfway through the second which, so far, is just as good. Read it.

I picked this up in the Vegas airport on a whim while waiting for my plane. I read a bit and enjoyed it enough to run and pick up the other two before my flight left for home. I finished it before I got home and read the rest of the series before the week was out. I'll be hoping there's more to the series in the future!

I thought the plot was very enjoyable, and the characters were of my favorite variety- believable and of the anti-hero quality. Although I would have liked to know more of some characters, and less of others (I admit I have 'favorite' characters, who doesn't?), I loved the book anyways and feel it's a great addition to my library.

I'm biased. Let's get that out of the way up front. In fact, Brent and I were in each other's weddings. I read (and enjoyed) an early draft of the book before he'd gotten an agent or publisher. So of course I was elated to be able to go down to Borders and support my friend by buying his book.

But once I opened that portly paperback, none of that mattered: I wasn't reading it for him--I was reading it for me.

When I'm really absorbed in a book, the need to read supersedes all others--whether food, drink, sleep, or sex--a trait which frustrates loved ones when it emerges. Sure, any casual reader reads on the bus or the can or over lunch, but how about while walking down the street, navigating with peripheral vision? How about while sitting at stoplights while driving? (I had to draw the line at driving on the highway.)

The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that it didn't quite make me cry. But it was close.

I finished all of these book a bit ago and honestly should have written this review then. They are simply some of the best books I've read to date. The stories are complex, the characters indepth, yet a the same time Brent Weeks doesnt overload you with information. He leaves lots of room for your own imagination to fill in the gaps which for me paints a much more intreating world. I'm well on my way to finishing his newer books and excited about what the future will hold.

So let me start by saying that mr weeks writes with and immediacy that keeps the page turning and the books are good. But thats not my problem its not his style. its his attention to detail and his original ideas. Sometimes the characters forget what it is they are supposed to know and two pages later they know something they shouldn't. Someones editor needs to find another job and Brent you need to pay attention to detail. There are many instances of this nature. Secondly lets talk originality. The king Logan has a Dragon tatoo on his arm, taken alone this isnt a bad thing but when the Chantry "weaves" , is all woman, and has a political issue involving men, all these Aes Sedai are missing are the Great serpent rings. The Lea'knaught, well they hate all thing magic and want to bring everyone into the " light" , can you say "Whitecloak". And Sister Ariel might as well call her brown ajah and name her Verin. I read the first 3 "absolutely amazing for me cause when i feel insulted by the autor i usually throw the book across the room" (insert terry goodkind here) so thats saying something. all the ideas behind the ka'kari excellent stuff Brent but you really should have stuck with the original ideas , we read the same stuff you do. So my opinion just an "ok" not "great". stick to the origanal ideas Brent your a good writer.

I just finished The Way Of Shadows by Brent Weeks and am picking up the second book in his Night Angel Trilogy as soon as I can. Brent Weeks creates a dark fantasy of a young boy from the Warrens (ghetto) who apprentices to a wetboy "assassin" seeing it as the only way out of his current situation. Although he does get out of the Warrens, he is faced with many challenges including dealing the the fact that he has come to be a trained killer. He must change his name and 'disappear' from society to become the perfect assassin and potentially betray his friends and kingdom for his work.

I picked up this book and couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a good read, I recommend this book. This book can be very psychologically dark and is a thrill to read.

Parts of this book is fantastically developed, the characters, the timing. Then, there are some parts that are glossed over and out of the flow, such as the battles with enemies and the love interest dialog.

A lot of people like these books so I picked the first one up to see what it was all about. I was also impressed to read it after Pat Rothfuss mentioned the books in one of his blogs. I found this book a little boring . . . slow . . . a bit self-indulgent, derrivative. I didn't like (as a person) any of the characters so that threw it off as well. You've got to like the characters or like to hate them and that doesn't happen with this book. In short, you can tell its a debut, and I'll bet that Mr Weeks gets better as he goes on, but this one was tough to plod through. I'm not trying to be mean, but nothing lept out at me and said, "this book is good," kind of the same way that nothing in this review is leaping out and saying its a good review.

I'm a very picky reader and I picked up this book because the cover reminded me of the game Assassin's Creed and I was expecting a fun, action-filled novel (and nothing more).

Wow, were my expectations blown out of the water! This book started out as one might expect--but when the plot got moving, it REALLY got moving!

There were so many incredible plot twists that I found myself overwhelmed that so much depth could be packed into a single novel. It plays out like a well-written, well-cast film of epic proportions.

I struggled to put this book down, it was so captivating!

If this were indeed a film, I would have found myself on the edge of my seat nearly 80% of the time!

This book is fantastic, and I don't normally read fantasy books. I will say it started off a bit slow and actually kind of confused me because it kept jumping back and forth between two stories, but soon it all came together so I'm glad I stuck with it. The book has kept me wanting more, I'm about halfway through this one and plan to buy the next 2 when I'm done with it.

This book is beyond fantastic. It is well written and the story well crafted. I was helplessly sucked in and absorbed by this book and cannot wait to get the next. It is real and gritty and filled with all the emotions that can be imagined. I'd recommend this to anyone.

Way of Shadows really fell through for me. The premise starts out on familiar ground; an orphan being taken in by a powerful mentor grows to be a powerful hero. In this case, the method of the orphan's rise is that of a skilled assassin. Frankly, its a tried and true plot device and should have held solid, but Weeks makes a few errors that take away from the story.

-The characters in the book use "real world" curse words, and use them liberally. This takes away from the immersion factor of the story. Hearing an assassin drop the C-word just seems weird in a fantasy setting.
-With a main character who becomes uber powerful there is little to make his fights interesting. Without spoiling too much of the story there is little chance of him ever dying thanks to a ridiculous plot device that takes all the danger out of anything he does.
-I felt that the author relied far too heavily on shock value.
- Secondary characters plot lines never become very interesting and feel like they're built upon a book that was never written.

I never got into any of these books, but judging from some of the reviews others did. If this looks good, pick up the first one but don't make the mistake I did and buy all three at once.

Brent Weeks does degradations and evil very well. I could see much potential in this work. Unfortunately he forgot to write the redemption and worthwhile bits into his characters. This story has good action scenes, much angst, and some witty quips. What it doesn't have are consistency and characters I can sympathize with. Also lacked an editor.

Self-reflection resulting in meaningful changes doesn't happen as Azoth grows from a guttersnipe to full-grown assassin/wetboy. Also the main character isn't appropriately jaded, since he doesn't even know whorehouse slang despite wintering in one for years with his child-gang. Weeks tries writing Azoth's noble 'alter ego' as naive, and it simply doesn't work. What really turned me off though is the mantra of the main character's mentor (who he worships) is 'life is meaningless' and that isn't a message I enjoy while reading for pleasure.

The other thing I found lacking in the novel was the author used made up adjectives on various customs and styles of architecture without ever describing what they were. I couldn't picture the background details well. Linodea style? What's Linedoa?

I only made it to page 265 of the book, stopping right after a scene of calculated cannibalism. Maybe it improves, but personally I wasn't happy with the amount of filth I was wading through to get a good story.

Not recommended. Not because of the kid gang sodomy, prostitution, or trick cannibalism, but because the theme is unfocused, characters use inappropriate slang, and half the scenes served no purpose. Epic fantasy shouldn't mean stuffing a 300 page work into 700 pages. Over-reliance on shock value and too many perspectives really diluted this work.

I would be willing to read subsequent works by Brent Weeks, provided they are 350ish pages, showing he has learned how to write a tighter, focused story. The man has potential, but isn't there yet.

This book is honestly part of the best trilogy I have ever read, and I have read a plethora of books. The Way of the Shadows is a compelling start to a fantastic story chalk full of relatable and realistic characters set in a world you will itch to be a part of. It will pull you through all three books with a vigor that'll make you never want to put it down. An instant classic.

I'm always looking for good fantasy books to read and have been getting frustrated, having felt like I've read everything good already. Then I came across this book, found the premise interesting, and gave it a try. I would have to say I would rank this among the best of the fantasy books I've read, and I don't know how I failed to find it until now.

My husband read these books and raved about them! This book is well written, gripping, honest, hard, and emotional. I loved this trilogy and loved being brought to true emotional outbursts in public (shocked gasps, and holding back tears - my husband admits too). The only aspect I hate is that Brent Weeks is a new author! I'm almost finished with the third book and am searching for more by this author. Ahh! Nothing more!?

Please, please read this trilogy, it is raw and wonderfully thrilling. Kudos to a fantastic new author. Mr. Weeks I applaud you!

When I read this blurb, I thought, “Wow! This sounds so cool! I can’t wait to read it!” And then I did, and wow, was I disappointed.

I made it three chapters in before I had to give up. This book is so riddled with cliches and tropes (for characters, plot, world, EVERYTHING) it made me dumbfounded. It almost seemed like a parody. Every part of the story was so predictable, so easy to guess, so unentertaining that I couldn’t make myself finish the story. I don’t even know if I can get too far into it just because I tried to purge the bit of story I read from my brain. The writing was okay, but not nearly enough to get me through the story. I’m so glad I didn’t read the whole thing.

Brent Weeks has given us a fine start to the Night Angel Trilogy, THE WAY OF THE SHADOWS. I dark story full of interesting characters and magic and assassins. Not for everyone but a brilliant start to a fun read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Plenty of reviews here if you need details. I greatly enjoyed Durzo Blint, Azoth as Kylar Stern, Elene, all the characters are rich and interesting.

Many other reviews have described the good and the bad aspects of this book. I read the full three book series, but can still only give them 3 stars. As others have said, these books are in need of editing. But so are most trilogies these days. The plot is engaging, but suffers from an over abundance of characters and complexities. The worst part of the book in my mind is the rather horrific descriptions of child abuse and violence that are graphically laid out. If the book had been more tightly constructed and with less gratuitous gore, I would have liked it much more.

Before you purchase the audiobook, make sure you listen to the sample. The narrator reads Prince of Thorns as if it was a Young Adult novel. Very difficult to enjoy. Of course, many people who listen to the audiobook will enjoy the narrator's voice -- I did not.

I read the single book trilogy and had a very difficult time putting any of these books down. I am glad they were all written before I started to read them because the waiting would have been difficult. The characters are richly developed and there is non-stop action.Plenty of surprises along the way. These books were as enjoyable as any by Terry Brooks or Terry Goodkind.

Beyond the Shadows is the third book of the Night Angel Trilogy. This book focuses more on a realm in chaos and the tough decisions that the leaders must make in order to restore order. There's still plenty of action because the rulers don't see eye to eye. This book also focuses more on character building than the other books.

Plot
The story continues for the characters from the other books. I won't list who they are because some are dead and I don't want to spoil anything. After Shadow's Edge, the realm is left in chaos and rulers are struggling to gain power and restore order. Sacrifices must be made, people must be led, and battles must be fought.

Characters
The characters in this book are excellent. The author does a great job at making sure they read like real people with real emotions. The story is full of characters that you'll love and despise. In this book, the relationships between the characters grow.

Writing Style
The writing style is pretty accessible to just about anyone. It's pretty simple. The action scenes are also well written and easy to visualize. The Chapters are about three to seven pages long, and you'll find yourself reading five to ten Chapters per sitting. In the near 700 pages, there are a few nonsensical sentences and lines of anachronistic dialogue. But these are easy to overlook because the story and characters are very good. The author, Brent Weeks, does a great deal of world building, but never sacrifices the fast pacing of his book to do this. The world is vast and deep and there's just enough detail for the reader to 'get it.'

Dialogue
The dialogue does a great job at portraying the relationships between the characters. Brent Weeks also writes what the characters are thinking as they are speaking. It becomes clear that some characters say things to further their own selfish goals or trying to inspire others to make the world a better place. Some of the dialogue feels like modern day slang, and seemed out of place, but this is easy to overlook.

Maturity
This book is not as brutal as book 2, but it's still for mature audiences because there's language, violence, gore, and sex.

If you want a fast paced, epic adventure, in an original fantasy world, then you should pick up the entire trilogy. The writing style may be too simple or anachronistic for literature fans, but fans of popular fantasy should enjoy these books. Most fans of GRRM would like these books.

Overall, this is a fun trilogy to read. The world is interesting, the action is exciting, and the characters are good. It doesn't feel like a classic, but the trilogy is very entertaining.

The characters are wooden (as has been said), and uninteresting. It was clear from very early on that despite Blint trying to pass himself off as the very best of the best ... he was flawed and full of contradictions. It was difficult to respect anything he tried to say or teach Azoth. Then the author's need to cram as much history/politics/blather in at weird times was confusing at times ... I found myself stopping and checking to make sure I didn't skip a page or paragraph because it had changed so suddenly.

On top of that, the story jumps all around, which made it difficult to figure out what was going on for at least half the book. Blint and Momma K kept saying Azoth was smarter than expected, but he really wasn't that bright. Nearly every one of his realizations came after the fact or in the middle of a situation that could have been avoided if he'd gotten the point earlier or because someone got tired of waiting for him to "get it" and just explained it to him instead. I'm definitely leery about picking up book 2.

I bought this book on a whim at an airport for a vacation. People say don't judge a book by its cover but I think I might have done, the cover is very striking!

The story I found difficult to get into at first. The changes in characters and the story didnt grab me and I found the writing not to be the greatest. The characters didnt seem to be to real to me. But as the story went on I enjoyed it more. The romance in it felt a little predictable. Having said that, it was enjoyable overall and some parts were really nicely worked out.

Not bad. The opening is a good hook, but it degenerates to a standard fantasy story. I'll try to break it down here. *STORYLINE SPOILER ALERT*

Bad:
-Love for love's sake. People fall in love and stay that way, for little reason.
-The evil wetboy and apprentice kill innocent people, but it has no apparent affect on the story or the chivalry the main character has. It looks like the killings were used to set up a "broken hero" storyline.
-The main character becomes nearly unstoppably powerful with cliched magic (light saber, "Venom" suite from spider man, etc), but in the next scene, he can't/won't/doesn't use any powers.
-In fact, half of the story is about someone being amazingly powerful, but in the next instant, cannot defeat a angry cat.
-Lots of ninja/Japanese cliched culture in the story, though Japan does not exist.
-Lots of sex or sexual tension, with the vast majority of women having movie star looks and builds. Too much detail making sure we know the female has certain physical attributes.
-Lots of Deus Ex Machina in there.

Good:
-First few chapters were good.
-Plot was not bad, though it may changed a few times.
-A few of the characters were interestingly flawed, giving them real depth

Again, this is not a bad story. It's just for young adults or adolescents, really. The prime story is always about sex, courting, and attraction.

This is my new favorite series (although I've only read the first book so far), displacing Song of Ice and Fire and the Malazan series. Interesting characters, lots of action, complicated moral and ethical conflicts. Highly recommended, provided you are ok with violence.

I was blown away by this book, it started very slowly and was hard to follow in the first chapter, but I kept reading. A few chapters in I became enthralled, the characters were amazing and the story was full of plot twists and turns that for once I never saw coming! I bought this book looking for a quick read, I finished it in 2 days and ordered the other 2 immediately! I highly recommend this book to anyone!

this trilogy...it is epic and original, gritty and touching, and ultimately moving with a cast of characters so rich they jump from the page into your imagination. I am giving it as a set for Christmas to multiple people :) you know how some things are so thrilling you wish you could go back and do them again for the first time...well that's how I feel about this series.

Some of the reviews of this book have commented discouragingly about changing viewpoints from character to character, and scenes that seem to not fit with the whole...believe me if you read the whole trilogy you will be glad the author included these. They make the world richer and more vivid, and Weeks gets that truth is always different when seen from different perspectives and through different values. It also keeps the plot interesting as he weaves so many individual stories that you don't always know how they will fit together, what is fate, what is coincidence or what is a tragedy of irony. Like i said...Loved it!

One of the best books I have read in a while. I read about a book a week, and a book this good comes by maybe 2-3 times a year, and I generally don't buy books that rate less than 4 stars on the store. The story is amazing, fast, dark, gritty, and exciting. If your a fan of fantasy you owe it to yourself to read this book it is simply outstanding.

In The Way of the Shadows, Weeks creates an entirely different - and believable - world. It's thick with suffering, intrigue, deception, and characters so colorful (and real) you feel what they feel and want what they want.

This book is worth your time, but not for the faint of heart - some of the descriptions of abuse are very vivid.

I will not repeat the plot and characters over, as so many do. I will say this, I am a woman. For the women out there, I read mostly supernatural urban romance. I am a bit prejudiced against male authors. Whew. I got that off my chest. I took a chance and read this book on a friend's suggestion. Book one has a lot of world building as the characters come to life, stick with it. Book two. Awesome, awesome, freaking awesome. Book three, great scenes, great ending, ties everything together well, but I feel like the ending may have been just a little rushed. Terrific trilogy. If you like your stories to have closure then you will enjoy this book. Get them all though, because otherwise you will throw a fit if you don't have the next one. Read it. From one woman to another.

I would never have thought to find myself reading a book of this "genre" since nearly every one i had picked up before that had a ninja-like man on the cover proved to be a horrid disappointment. I started reading this from the advice of a friend and was totally captivated by the characters. The dark plot, at the beginning was almost a turn-off, but the book is so well written that it constantly pulls you back in. There are plenty of times where you may think you see where a plot is going only to be completely thrown when something totally unseen happens; the characters truly know how to manipulate a reader's interests. With incredible characters that you can't help but get involved in, and a TRUE page turner story line, I would recommend this novel to anyone I had a book-conversation with!!

Of all the books I have read in the past few years, this has been by far one of the most entertaining. There are so many different elements of suspense that keep you going and hints of characters that prove important in later books. It is obvious that the trilogy itself was written at one and probably intended to be treated as one big book instead of three separate ones. The characters you can identify with and each one has a story you can appreciate. The only character I disliked was Elene (you'll see why in the second and third books), but beyond that it was highly enjoyable. It starts with many loose ends, but in the final book, they are all tied together in a way that is just perfect. I definitely recommend this book to anyone.

This is the first time I've commented on anything, but I felt it was necessary. I fell in love with this series from the very first page. I loved the characters, the plots, and how all the stories manage to intertwine with each other. This author is amazing and I love his style of writing, so much so that I've completed the first of his next series. I'll keep this review short, just to let whom ever is reading this to know that this book/series is a masterpiece and you should really give it a read. There, thats my vote.

What can I really say about this last trilogy that I haven't already said about the previous two novels? Honestly not much! These books are just that good, for a first time author Weeks has created a masterful debut Fantasy series. As with the previous two novels this book is written brilliantly with Great in depth characterization and a beautifully set back drop.

The story has progressed a great deal from the second novel, there is a new Queen in Cenaria, alas for her nation she proves to be a corrupt incompetent who only cares for her own power. The true King Logan is off hunting the last of the God Kings armies while his friend Kyler tries to warn him that he is marching into an ambush that could destroy him and any hope for the future of Cenaria. As for Kyler he will learn the bitter truth of his immortality he must also figure out a way to save a nation and restore a King to his throne, along the way he will meet old friends and older enemies.

All in all I can honestly say this is one of the best debut Fantasy trilogies i've ever read, if you're stuck for something to read then this will definitely make you sit up and think. Brilliant trilogy!

All I gotta say..this is a great start to a trilogy. I cant wait to read vol 2. I love the story,characters, just a very great book. Havent felt like wanted to read the next book in a series since Wizard First Rule.

Imagine a poor kingdom that even the neighbours are not interested in invading, now imagine the slums of this kingdom. Yes this is where the story starts. We are following a small street urchin through the shadows of reality in this world and see how he grows and changes the destiny of the kingdom.

I enjoyed reading this story, will start to the second book right away. If you like stories about magic, assasins, conspiracy, this book is for you.

This is a fun, exciting series. It has a feel similar to that of Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series. The only downside is the abundance of grammatical errors, especially in the second half of the book.

I would often see this trilogy prominently displayed at bookstores and intended to buy the first book but somehow it always ended up on the chopping block. I should have left it here. I finally picked it up from a half priced bookstore and started to read it. I got about 100 pages in and it hasn't grabbed me at all. I won't be finishing it.

I have two large issues with this book, the first being that it tries too hard to tell me that I should feel this way about this character or situation using some cliche and it fails at making me really feel anything. I should feel something about an 8 year old being brutally beaten and young boys being raped but its handled so badly its just distasteful. My only outrage was at the author.

The second is that in 100 pages I have no concept of the world the author is trying to build; there have been many passages going on about the architecture and the world remains as shallow as the characters and plot. There's also been mention of Talent and other magics that should have me intrigued and eager to learn about them and I just don't care enough to read on.

I didn't find the writing as amateurish as others have found, nor did I really mind the many anachronisms scattered throughout the book. I find those to be nitpicks actually.

What I did find weird was the logic. Or rather, the lack thereof.

Spoilers:

Assassin = assassin.
Assassin plus magic talent that enhances your physical attributes, can muffle sound, make you invisible, etc = Wetboy.

Kylar enters an apprenticeship with the world's greatest Wetboy. He becomes so good, even though his magic talent is blocked, that he is almost a match for the greatest wetboy in the land.

Then his talent unlocks. Then he gets access to a massively powerful artifact.

And he still can't beat his master and seems to gain no new confidence or becomes more of a danger to those around him.

With none of his talent yet active he is so skilled he wins the city's tournament of arms. He can cut through thirty men in under a minute. His talent unlocks, he gains massive power, he can't be killed, and now he can take out thirty men in, well, under 59 seconds. The logic doesn't add up.

Then the city he lives in gets invaded. In one scene his master is thrown a bow and kills twenty men in under ten seconds.

You know, when you have warriors/assassins/magic users of this caliber - your side can't lose.

I don't care that it was standard heroic fantasy with a pretty standard plot. I just didn't get any payoff at the end when Kylar becomes the Night Angel.

I found this book to be very promising at the beginning. However, as the story unfolded (slowly), the characters did not grow on me or become more familiar. In the end, I couldn't identify with any of the characters. They weren't exactly two dimensional: Weeks tries to make them dynamic and give them different sides, but they were ultimately unconvincing.

The male-female interaction was especially lacking. Weeks tries to throw feminism a bone with a few female mages here and there and the strong-willed Momma K, but overall, the women in the story turn out as either virginal damsels in distress or whores. The main character's reaction to the women in the story, especially his love interest Elene, is a bit too chivalrous. He stays a virgin for the girl he's loved and taken care of since she was a small child, never able to forget her, and in the end they ride into the sunset together, or something like that. Ick.

The writing is technically very well done. The characters should have been as engaging, but they just don't make the cut, or make the reader care.

The book starts off super slow and boring, and really doesn't pick up until over half way through. It is a sort of a mixture of Mistborn and Assassin's creed. I am being generous by giving this a 3, it has next to no plot and little to no excitement or action. The only thing this book has in full supply is sex scenes. I swear there are more parts about sex then there are about violence. I wouldn't recommend anyone reaching these.

I am sold on Brent weeks! This story and all of the other ones he has been producing have made me a devoted reader. They are fresh, creative, and very entertaining. Exactly what I need when I need a break from the day to day...

After a friend recommended this book to me, I was looking forward to reading it.

Frankly, I was very disappointed.

The author does an excellent job of making you fall in love with the main character. He also does a good job of seemingly forgetting about the main character, and writing on and on about events that completely bore you. At least, in my case. In the middle of the book, the main character just... disappears. Not because he actually does in the story, but because you're reading about other characters that have very little character development, and just leave you yearning to read more about Azoth/Kylar. Additionally, the peak climax tended to plateau, leaving me, in a way, exhausted with the book. At first, it's very exciting, then the excitement continues on and on, never really slowing down until stopping abruptly at the end.

Something that the writer may very well grow out of, is the use of present-day language in a Medieval era. It would be permissible however, if that language were consistent. I found a few scenes just flatly ruined by a random "_uck" or particularly the word "banging."

Additionally I found it very difficult to keep all the characters and countries straight in the beginning.

However, The Way of Shadows seems to set up for a great sequel. It has potential, anyway. Maybe the second book will be worth it.

This review is for the whole series. Excellent. Just plain excellent.

My ONLY problem with these books... is their covers! Not he art, which I like, but the descriptions of the books on them. Laughable I know. But It really bothered me when I thought about the HEART of this story to see "The perfect killer has no conscience" says on the front. What? This isn't a series about an assassins, it's about the Night Angel, and so much more. The cover, the desciption on the back... so inadequate to say the least. I set the books down and looked at the covers and read the backs then reflected on the series I had read. I can only say I hope that whoever authorized these had not read them. If they had read them... well, they ought to be fired. Honestly, I almost didn't read the series because I had no interest in a book that glorifed assasins. HA! What a shame that would have been.

With the way the book is written, I understand it may not compel to some people, but to me (as with many others), it was one of the most unique and best series ever written. The way Brent writes it, its almost as if you are there with the characters experiencing all of the turmoil and challenges, both physically and emotionally, that they have to go through. If you are compelled by great action/adventure/drama books then you will absolutely love this one. Two thumbs up!!!

Fantastic book by a new up and coming author. Weeks was able to take familiar elements of the fantasy genre such as royalty and magic, and blend into something altogether new with the introduction of Wetboys, an almost type of "hyper-ninja". Reading this book was like taking a breath of fresh air. I can't wait to read Shadow's Edge. In fact, I just ordered it :)

I had been looking at this book for a while before I purchased it. I had read the reviews on the store and thought the book to be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, I was horribly mistaken.

The good. Weeks does create several characters that are interesting. Kylar is a great protagonist. He has a good personality that generally brings forward the angst and pain of person who has survived a traumatic upbringing. Doll girl provides an interesting focus for Kylar. Durzo Blint seemed like a great mentor for Kylar given his personality.

The bad. Sadly, all of the good aspects of the novel that I briefly described above are just as briefly explored in the novel. We get surface images of the pain felt by all but Kylar. Kylar is often unable to describe his feelings leaving Weeks to often fall back on action interrupting the character's thought process.

Had that been the only flaw, I could have at least given a 3 star rating based on the likability of Kylar and Doll girl. The book also wandered throughout a great number of years (and pages) without any focused plot. While a character driven novel can be a good read, a character driven novel that does little to explore the characters while only starting its build toward its climax toward the last third of the novel is not a good read. We learn more about Durzo's training methods and Kylar's reactions to them than we do about any antagonist. Beyond this, however, is the fact that the world around Kylar is undeveloped. I learned little that made me worry about the external threat to the kingdom. Vague references to an evil emperor from a land that does not respect its people does nothing to instill a sense of dread that this kingdom might invade.

Conclusion. I wanted to like this book. I liked the characters, but simply couldn't get past the author glossing feelings, threats, and plot. All in all, Weeks did not reach the wretched depths that Goodkind aspired to in Pillars of Creation, but he made a valiant effort.