Beyond the Shadows - Brent Weeks

I hate to leave a series unfinished if it is at all palatable and while the first two books of the Night Angel trilogy where not brilliant, I still couldn't stay away from the final book. In Beyond the Shadow Weeks continues the relentless action he has filled the first two books with. After reading Shadows Edge, which was a lot better than the first volume The Way of Shadows, I had hoped would be able to continue improving. Unfortunately Beyond the Shadows is a bit of an unfocussed book. Better than the first book, not quite as good as the second.

Cenaria is saved and while Logan may not have been able to claim the throne many things now seem possible. This general sense of optimism does not last long. Soon it becomes apparent that several parties are trying to relieve the weakened nation of it's new found independence. While Logan is willing to settle for a role in the shadow, Kylar clearly believes he should be king. He is even willing to take up his old profession for it. A major disagreement about how to save the country yet again is in the making.

In the mean time the prophet and disowned son of the late Godking Dorian has made his way to his home country. As soon as word of the Godking's demise penetrates to his capital a bloody battle between his offspring ensues. One of them must succeed him and only the strongest and most ruthless of his sons stand any chance at all. Dorian came to the capital to rescue Logan's wife Jenine but he soon becomes involved in the civil war. The only way to really change something about the brutal culture that rules Khalidor is to take charge himself.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this book really. I didn't think it was bad but it's not great either. As I mentioned in the introduction the book is a bit unfocussed. It frequently changes point of view and visits many locations in Weeks' world. No less than seven armies are on the move trying to get to the big battle at the end and getting in each other's way. The Night Angel himself is first trying to be a hero in Cenaria before running off the see Elene and Vi but despite all his powers he does not have a clue what he is supposed to do with them. In fact, it takes Kylar some 500 pages to figure it out. For the main character in the trilogy he is pretty unimportant to the overall story. That is not to say he doesn't do some pretty cool things of course but I won't spoil that for you. The whole triangle with Vi and Elene seemed a little over the top too. Even if it does get him laid finally in this book. Somehow with Kylar's backgroudn a 20 year old virgin does not seem terribly likely.

Although he can be whiny at times, the character that I thought was most interesting in this book was Dorian Ursuul. The way he has been trying to distance himself from his father's tyranny and the way he falls almost falls into the same trap of violence followed by more violence is very well done. I think Weeks could have spent a bit more time on the moment where Dorian finally realizes what he has been doing since taking his father's place and what he can do to break the cycle. It would have improved the ending, which relies heavily on an enormous outburst of magic to tie off many story threads and force some prophecies to become reality.

As with the rest of the trilogy I enjoyed reading Beyond the Shadows at some level. It is not a great book though. Like the previous books it relies on the fast pace and action scenes to carry the book and that is simply not enough for a really satisfying read. Maybe he overshot zooming out from the city of Cernaria, which is pretty much the focus of the entire first book, a bit as well. If it had not been for Orbit's unusual marketing strategy, I suspect this trilogy would not have received quite the attention it did last year. It's not bad for a début but I don't think I will rereading this trilogy.

Book Details
Title: Beyond the Shadows
Author: Brent Weeks
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 689
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84149-742-6
First published: 2008

Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks

I read Weeks' debut novel The Way of Shadows a while ago. It was not a brilliant book but it kept me entertain enough to try the second part in the Night Angel trilogy, Shadow's Edge. With only a month between the publication of each book this trilogy it is the perfect series for a reader who doesn't like to wait for the next book. On the whole I liked Shadow's Edge a lot better than The Way of Shadows. With the wider scope of the story it is a much more satisfying read than the first book in the series. Even if it still has a number of annoying flaws.

The story picks up right where we left the characters at the end of book one. The army of the Godking (as he styles himself, there is little in the way of proof of his divinity that I can see) Ursull has taken the city of Cenariain an orgy of violence and blood. The nation appears subdued, all resistance broken. Kylar has decided to give up his life as an assassin and prepares to move away from the city with his beloved Elene and their adopted daughter Uly. Elene has made Kylar promise not to kill again whatever the circumstances but Kylar finds that a promise impossible to keep.

I becomes even harder after his old friend Jarl shows up on his doorstep and tells him Logan Gyre, the recently appointed heir to the last king of Cenaria and close friend of Kylar is still alive. To escape the Godking, he has hidden himself in the most unlikely of places, the worst prison in the country, a place known as the Hole. It is only a matter of time before Logan is discovered or perishes in his hellish prison. Kylar needs to act and he needs to do it now. Especially since the Godking does not seem to have forgotten Kylar either.

Were the story of The Way of Shadows was very much confined to Kylar and the city of Cenaria Shadows's Edge zoomed out a little. There's a lot less emphasis on Kylar's character and we get to see more of the politics surrounding the conquest and occupation of the nation. It gives the story more depth than the first part of the trilogy. I still think a bit more detail on the Godking and the search that drives him would have done the story good but there is something to the mysterious bunch of magicians opposing him. I guess Weeks does not want the puzzle resolved too early in the trilogy.

I like the character of Kylar a bit better too, now that he finally admitted to himself he is in fact an assassin. With the control over his powers increasing Kylar gets into a number of very cool, almost matix-esque fights. His relationship with Elene on the other hand is a bit over the top. Considering Elene grew up in one of the worst parts of town and has seen more than enough human misery you'd expect her to hold a somewhat more realistic view on human nature. Her religious views were so at odds with the world around her that no reasonably intelligent being would expect themselves to live up to her ideals. It did make for some funny scenes with Kylar trying to talk her into having sex with him though.

I am not all that fond of another of the major female characters either. The second most talented wet boy after Kylar is Vi. Her apprenticeship with the successful but excessively cruel Hu Gibbet puts her through the same mental and physical abuse Kylar suffered but on top of that Hu heaps enough sexual abuse to break even the strongest spirit. Vi puts on a brave face but ultimately she has very little control over her emotions and this makes her easy to manipulate. Hu is described as a very cruel man so I guess the cracks in his apprentice's psyche are fitting. For the story it is something off a loss though. Vi would have made a very good strong female character but somehow Weeks has turned her into a helpless woman in denial, at the mercy of anyone who is clever enough to pull her strings.

Where The Way of Shadows leaned heavily on the action scenes the pace in this book slows down just a little, to allow a bit more worldbuilding to slip into the story. Personally, I feel Shadow's Edge is a bit more balanced and a much better read than previous novel. In fact, for a middle book it has a surprisingly satisfying end. Weeks leaves a number of story lines open for the final part in the trilogy of course, but the story arc in does book doesn't suffer from these loose ends. Unfortunately he manages to undo some of that good work in the epilogue with a plot device that is turning into a pet peeve for me. I can't tell you without spoiling the book though. A lot of improvement over the first book. After The Way of Shadows I doubted I would continue this series. Now, I look forward to the final part in the Night Angel trilogy, Beyond the Shadows.

Book Details
Title: Shadow's Edge
Author: Brent Weeks
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 636
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84149-741-9
First published: 2008

The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks

The books of the Night Angel Trilogy were among the big releases of 2008. A brand new writer publishing a complete trilogy with only a month between the books. Something that, as far as I can tell, hasn't been tried by any major publisher. I don't know what it did for sales and the books certainly weren't unanimously declared brilliant by reviewers, but it did garner a lot of attention on Internet. I read several review of these books right after they were published but they didn't appeal to me enough to buy a copy, my to read pile is still rather large. Recently my girlfriend got a copy of the first book so after she was done with it I decided to give it a go. I thought it was a decent read but by no means the best début I've read.

The novel follows the life of Azoth, a boy growing up in the bad part of the city of Cenaria. Part of a gang of beggars and thieves, he grows up in a very violent, poverty stricken world. His chances of getting out are slim indeed. He pins his hope on the master assassin (or wetboy in Weeks' terminology) Durzo Blint. A man who has elevated assassination to an art. The price of becoming his apprentice is high. Azoth needs to prove himself capable of cold blooded murder and cut all ties to his old life. Love, friendship, compassion, these are weaknesses a wetboy cannot afford to get in the way of his business. Azoth adopts a new identity and learns his master's trade. Despite his master's warnings he is not able to completely let go of his past and the few friends he has made. Durzo is a hard master, any sign of weakness could mean his death. But ultimately Azoth needs to make his own decisions. As he gets more and more skilled the tensions between master and apprentice rise, eventually leading to a confrontation on one of the bloodiest nights the kingdom has seen in centuries.

The Way of Shadows aims for the gritty atmosphere many recent fantasy novels adopted. It is quite violent right from the start. This includes quite a bit of sexual violence, although the worst excesses of Azoth's world are only hinted at. Life in the slums is brutal and short and Weeks makes this abundantly clear. It doesn't help that as Azoth progresses in his studies, we're treated to a number of meticulously described and often bloody assassinations. As we near the end of the book these actions scale up to an superhuman effort in death and destruction by both Azoth and Blint. Especially early on in the book the cruelty seems to serve little purpose and in the final chapters I think Weeks is overdoing it. He is sailing right beyond gritty realism into the realm of action movie gore in the final part of the novel.

Don't get me wrong, I like a little action in a novel and Weeks' fighting scenes are pretty good. This novel however, leans too much on this one aspect. The motivation of the characters is often unclear and we get to see only the vaguest outline of what is going on in the wider world. Durzo in particular turns out to have quite a history. With all the trauma and loss he has suffered he could have turned into a very interesting character but Weeks never really develops that. Durzo remains the near perfect assassin, never allowing himself to feel anything, rarely letting anyone see him crack. At several points in the book he gets into fights with Azoth and lets something slip. These revelations usually come as a complete surprise and rarely shed much light upon his previous actions. Azoth has a different problem. He may be an assassin but he doesn't actually want to kill anyone. When push comes to shove he has to be forced into it, which is something of a handicap in his line of work and in the later stages of the book not entirely convincing.

The finale of the book involves an invasion by a foreign and rather nasty ruler styling himself god-king. His resources include the services of quite a lot of strong magic wielders but why he actually wants to rule, or at least conquer, Cenaria is a mystery to me. It seems to have very little of real value and if the little history we are provided with is correct, it is also pretty hard to hold. The plan to take the nation is quite ingenious but why it requires them to commit so much of their magical resources to it remains unclear. Indeed the magic in Weeks' world is only covered on a very basic level, it's limits remain unexplored and the price for wielding it unknown. It's almost like Weeks is telling a story that has no context, constantly keeping the reader off balance with unbelievable scenes, characters miraculously escaping death and unlikely plot twists.

Despite my criticism this first book in the Night Angel Trilogy is not a punishment to read. Especially readers looking for an action packed read will appreciate it, The Way of Shadows is quite a big book but it a quick read nevertheless. It has some good fights and the dark mystery of an assassin's world going for it. Weeks neglects other parts of the story to an extend that it hurts the story though. Maybe if you let yourself be carried away with the relentless action that takes place in the later chapters it is even possible to overlook the novel's problems. I was not able to do so. Weeks has a lot of exploring left to do in this world. Let's hope he gets to it in the next book. I'd say The Way of Shadows is an entertaining read but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Book Details
Title: The Way of Shadows
Author: Brent Weeks
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 688
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84149-740-2
First published: 2008