by Brent Weeks
The Way of Shadows is the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. This is a dark story of assassins or I should say wet-boys (assassination is a term for thugs as far as wet-boys are concerned). The story starts out with young Azoth an orphan and street urchin in a large city. We follow our hero Azoth as he navigates this difficult world., finding a precarious balance in order to keep himself and a small group of friends alive. Without spoiling the story for you though this balance is soon overthrown and the young boy finds himself apprenticed to Durzo Blint, by far the most accomplished wet-boy in the city.
I have to say I was thoroughly engrossed throughout this book. I found I couldn’t put it down, often staying up late into the night reading into the wee hours of the morning. If I read for one more hour I can still get 4 hours of sleep before work... was a common refrain in my head. Though 4 would become 3 and 3 would become 2 and so on. Till I would groggily climb out of bed, still not wanting to put down the book. I wouldn’t say the plotting or character development of his series is the best. Or the love story to be honest. But the whole series is fun. He blends fun adventure and tragedy well. Though none of the individual elements of this series are the greatest, his series overall combines to be very entertaining. With some wonderful set pieces of great action and side characters that you just can’t get enough of (Lantano Garuwashi is a badass!! Vi is hot and sexy and tragic).
The series is on my re-read list. I hope to get to it in the next couple months so I can experience the wonder of the Night Angel terrorizing people and reawaken my love for Durzo and his brutal-seeming ways. Its a great series to get yourself lost in for a few weeks (or days in my case) from a new author to the genre. I can’t wait for him to finish up his next series. I have already read the first book, The Black Prism and the second book will be published soon. I have to say Weeks has done a masterful job with the plotting of The Black Prism. His writing seems to get better and better. I especially like how he plays with typical fantasy tropes (fat hero, good guy/bad guy dichotomy). The magic system is very unique too.
Night Angle Trilogy
The Way of Shadows
Shadow's Edge
Beyond the Shadows
Lightbringer Series
The Black Prism
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