Brent Weeks - Beyond the Shadows

Lesson: Don't judge a book by its cover!

The 3rd book of the Night Angel trilogy continues the momentum of the 2nd book ending. Vi is training to be a mage, Logan is (STILL!!) not king and serving rival Terah Graesin, and Kylar is trying to deal with all these people. But for now Kylar and the mainstream storyline takes a step back as other things are happening.

There is a new Godking: and it is a familiar character! I thought this was a very interesting development, and unfortunately this person kind of got more and more screwed up so that instead of maybe helping to bring down the Khalidorian government like I thought might happen, he really didn't do anything at all.. and instead became enamored with a woman.

Another new character is introduced, one Lantano Garuwashi. The man personifies this extremely kickass name. Lantano is a BAMF. Just sayin'. He is like Kahl Drogo from GRRM's books. The thing is, even though he's immensely powerful, Lantano can never be a king because he was born with an iron sword (a symbol of your place in society). Feir gets involved with him and he gets his hands on Curoch (actually this happens in the previous book, this is what happens when I don't update). I loved reading the Lantano chapters and he eventually comes into a sort of alliance with Logan.

Kylar's storyline takes a sharp turn when he allows himself to take criminal punishment because he knows he will come back from the dead. However, he soon learns that there is actually a horrible payment he has to make every time he dies, and he was never aware of it. Kylar dealing with this knowledge and his carelessness in letting himself be killed brings around some huge character development.

The final battle in this book is epic on a grand scale, but I think I preferred the "final battles" of the other two books more. What was really tear jerking about the ending was what happens between Elene and Kylar. It was sad and beautiful.

This series has ended, but I definitely feel like Weeks could return and write more about Midcyru. I would love to hear about Durzo's history most of all.

5/5

Brent Weeks - Shadow's Edge

So I made the mistake in not updating this blog for a while, and subsequently have finished this entire trilogy. I think it would be wrong for me to lump this book with the 3rd and review them together, so I'm going to do them both separately.

The 2nd book in the Night Angel trilogy opens with the lull, or short peace between storms, after the aftermath of the 1st book ending. Kylar tries to live peacefully and put down his assassin's ways for love - but he just can't seem to do it. This struggle persists for a while and we ALL know that Kylar is going to come back and save the world.. so it was just difficult to get through this part. More interesting is Logan's story. He has some major character development going on as his current situation in life is .. let's say, less than ideal (MUCH less) >_<

Around this point a bunch of new characters are being introduced (Sister Ariel). I feel like Weeks has somewhat of a problem with this since the introductions are awkward and the characters don't feel real until a few more chapters in. Of course, Sister Ariel later turns out to be one of my favorite characters! We hear more about Dorian/Solon/Feir who all seem to have their own complicated storylines, but these characters are not yet explored as fully as I would like. They still seem like part of an awkward backdrop.

Now, once the story finally gets moving - WOW! Some awesome stuff happens. Some ridiculous mind bending stuff happens involving Vi who I NEVER imagined would become one of the major characters here. We're left with a cliffhanger ending after a pretty epic battle scene where some people know things others don't including that some people who they thought are dead are actually alive. It leaves me thinking.. there are going to be a lot of interesting developments to come.

4.5/5

Brent Weeks - The Way of Shadows

I. Could. Not. put this book down. I did not know what to make of the book before reading it. The cover is very different from most fantasy books and I kind of didn't like it. But when I started reading it, I knew this was the real deal. Overall this book reminded me a lot of Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy - the reluctant boy in training to become an assassin, not able to use his magical talent due to blocks. Other than this theme though, the two books are different.

The book gives us only hints about the setting, focusing mainly on what's happening Cenaria City, but I have a feeling that the rest of the series will offer a much larger scope.

There are a lot of adult themes in the book (cursing, rape, general violence) despite its young-adult like pace. I swear that every chapter of the book ended in a cliffhanger.. and there were almost 70 chapters!!! This resulted in me reading it very quickly.

I really liked how Weeks dealt with Kylar/Azoth, Blint, and Momma K's emotions and worries. They really seemed like real people at times even though they committed a lot of crimes. I see a lot of foreshadowing, especially Kylar's friendship with Logan.

This is a book worth reading!

5/5