Shadow's Edge -Night Angel Trilogy, Book 2-

Very solid sequel, especially near the end
I won't spoil the fun here with revealing anything. Shadows edge was a very good sequel to Way of Shadows, and they were very different books. The middle of Shadows Edge got a little slow, but the end picked up with a lot of action, suspense, romance, etc. I have the 3rd book here in my hand and can not wait to see what happens in the conclusion. I kind of agree with another poster here who said that since Kylar is SO good, its not fun to read. But Kylar is also very flawed and torn inside, he's just unbeatable on the outside. But the other characters are very well developed so the reader has many others to follow and/or hate. Overall, it is definitely worth the read!

Best Sci Fi book for some time
I read a lot of Sci-Fi books. I really enjoy the majority of them and even if they're a little dull, I pull through. I found it extremely hard to put this book (and the 1st and 3rd books) down once I picked them up. This is much to the chagrin of coworkers and my boss and my husband and my daughter. They survived... right? However, on a happier note, it's the first time my husband has picked up a book that isn't a graphic novel or magazine in about 5 years. He's currently on the third of the series and I've already loaned the first book to another friend. Pros: Fast paced, colorful, has unexpected actions (yes, people you like will die), love the cliff hangers Brent leaves you with Cons: The main character seemed a little whiny, but I dealt with it.

A worthy sequel
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.

On the Edge of my....Shadow
So Kylar Stern has become one of the most skilled wetboys (assassins) in the city, he's crafted the beginnings of a legend in his name, he's obtained a strange power that he's only just begun to discover the potential of....and he's off la-di-da-ing as an herbalist with an incredibly Good and kind "wife" (Elene) and a little "daughter" who's witty but cute (Uly). The author was very good at displaying the conflict within Kylar and I DID really find myself wanting happiness for him, but i couldn't help growing impatient for the moment where he'd take up his wetboy grays again. But maybe that was another of the author's tricks--to make the reader truly feel Kylar's inner shadows calling from beneath the light of his new life. Or maybe i just liked the story better when Kylar was killing people. Hard not too, when it's much more exciting that way. Book 2 in the Night Angel Trilogy really sucked me into it's depths (nearly down into the Hole) and left me turning pages so fast I got papercuts (not really). The tale takes off the moment Kylar makes the decision to take up the way of shadows again. Time to kill the Godking. Stuffed with subplots and character development, this book follows Kylar, Vi, Logan, Elene, Garoth Uursul, and a host of others on their separate journeys. Between all the characters that fill this story, some are traveling wide distances to reach their ultimate goals (Kylar), and some are just stuck in a hole for most of the time (Logan). All, however, are traveling defenseless within their own souls, and that is what truly gives substance to the intricate, interweaving plotlines. The themes run deep into the human spirit, and there's lots of emotion felt these pages, which does a lot of good in developing the characters, most prominently Vi, the famale "wetboy" who played a much lesser role in the first book. I have to single her out because she really steps foward as a complex anti-hero/protagonist. I liked this book better than the first primarly due to her storyline and the development of her character. Could just be my opinion, but she's also a stronger character (in terms of development and depth on the author's part) than Elene. I wanted to like Elene, but she just seems to simple to be compelling (maybe that will change). The writing style and author's language is basically like the first book--fairly simplistic but fueled with emotion. Some reviewers dislike the modern day slang and the modern-sounding dialogue in general, but I really like it. There's no right way to speak here--not all fantasy novels need to include stiff, stale dialogue. I particularly like the metaphors and extended metaphors the author uses to portray a situation or a character's emotions as well. They really enrich one's understanding--they do what a metaphor should do (not what metaphors often do) and don't seem forced (even when part of a character's dialogue). I found them helpful. You really sense the importance of everything that is happening, and a certain few scenes really forced me to sit back and reflect on what I'd just read (especially the Nocta Hemata). Logan's portion of the story was helpful, because he seemed pretty useless in the first book, despite that I liked his character the first time he came onto the page. Now I see why he was important to introduce in book one. I clung to every word of his speech toward the end of this novel, and for me that was definitely the climax of all the significance beyond the plot. I really liked that speech. It wasn't your average cut-and-paste "we will strive and rise above" speech, its emotion was very specific to the events of novel. The culture of the world also grows some depth and everything seems to be laid out on a larger scale than before. The magic system was a bit confusing at times, but it wasn't anything drastic. There's a lot sexual-related content, so if that bothers you, don't read this. It's also pretty graphic at times, so you know, do what you must to avoid what bothers you. I'm probably rambling, so I'll leave you with encouragement to pick up Shadow's Edge if you've read The Way of Shadows and thought it was even only "pretty good." I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this trilogy, but I finally decided to and i'm glad I did. It just keeps getting better. If you've stumbled onto this page and don't understand half of this review, I suggest reading The Way of Shadows. Brent Weeks is a promising author and I repsect his attention to the characters especially. To me, the plot means nothing without true, complex characters to drive it. This author proves what good can come from telling a character's story rather than throwing characters into a story. There's a difference. Happy reading.

A change for the worse - Everybody Loves Kylar
After a reading the first book I was excited to read the 2nd in the series. Boy was I in for a surprise. This book is nothing like the first and the fact it got so many great ratings tells me the author has a lot of relatives. The biggest problem is that the book swings back and forth between the gritty, Dark Age realism that I liked so much about the 1st book and a farcical comedy. On one hand we have graphic brutality, rape, and even cannibalism. On the other hand we have a sexless union between Kylar and Elene (who has become a self righteous nag) accompanied by a wise cracking Uly (who obviously watched too many episodes of The Cosby Show). Between scenes of warfare, executions, and people eating each other we have Kyler putting on frilly aprons, selling enchanted swords to buy wedding rings, arguing with Doll Girl about his feelings, her feelings, money, etc (no kidding, it's worse than Dr. Phil). He basically takes more crap and gets less sex than Ray Romano. Elene and Uly became so unsympathetic that I was hoping they would be killed and put me out of my misery. If you were into the whole assassin thing, you are SOL. Kyler basically becomes a supernatural hero in this novel, which is lucky for him as he is constantly getting killed in the most banal manners possible. The book is very busy with respect to characters. The last one had a bunch, but handled them well. This one has more and does not to the point where you pretty much don't care about any of them. Unlike other people, I am not as bothered by the author's liberal dropping of the f-bomb and other gratuitous use of modern slang (if he says that's how people talk in Midcryu who am I to say otherwise?). I am normally not a very critical reviewer but I felt this book broke faith by being hugely dissimilar to the first one in the series.