Product Description

Kylar has rejected the assassin's life. In the wake of the Godking's violent coup, both his master and his closest friend are dead. His friend was Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria's throne, but few of the ruling class survive to mourn his loss. So Kylar is starting over: new city, new companions, and new profession. But when he learns that Logan might be alive, trapped and in hiding, Kylar faces an impossible choice. He could give up the way of shadows forever, and find peace with his young family. Or Kylar could succumb to his flair for destruction, the years of training, to save his friend and his country - and lose all he holds precious.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1563 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 642 pages

Review
'I was mesmerized from start to finish. Unforgettable characters, a plot that kept me guessing, non-stop action and the kind of in-depth storytelling that makes me admire a writer's work' Terry Brooks

About the Author
Brent Weeks studied at Hillsdale College, before brief stints walking the earth like Caine from Kung-Fu, bar tending, and corrupting the youth. (Not at the same time.) He started writing on napkins and, eventually, someone paid him for it. Brent doesn't own cats or wear a ponytail.

Customer Reviews

New Feel to fantasy fiction!
Kyler Stern has settled down to a life of comfortable domesticity...at least he's trying; however the synchronicities of life conspire to pull him back into his darker avatar of the Night Angel (sort of a cross between Jet Li and the Shadow) to seek justice, right wrongs and just beat up bad guys in general.

"Shadows Edge" by newcomer Brent Weeks is as much fun as the first in the Night Angel trilogy "Way of Shadows". In the first novel Azoth/Kyler is being trained (by his teacher Durzo Blint) as a Wetboy, sort of a super assassin. In this novel Kyler has rejected the life of a professional killer but cannot fully accept the life that his fiancé wants for him, that of a budding herbalist. In a way, this is the coming of age of a young Kyler Stern. The novel does an admirable job of describing that time in most of our lives when we are forced to create of ourselves a new person; an amalgam of the person that our parents, teachers and mentors want us to be and the person that we ourselves wish to be as well the person that destiny has chosen for us. All change is difficult, especially when it requires that we may disappoint the people that we love the most, and this is the case for a young Kyler Stern. We see Kyler struggle with opposing sides of his nature in an attempt to be true to himself but keep the love and acceptance he has struggled for his whole life.

An emaciated but much wiser King Logan Gyre has escaped prison and taken his place at the head of an army to fight the Godking. This is a story of honor, war and redemption as the young characters from the first novel are all forged in the heat of despair to create the men and women that the realm needs in order to defeat tyranny.

As other reviewers have mentioned, there are a lot of story lines here but I did not find myself bogging down with them and in fact enjoyed the fleshing out of the trilogy. I highly recommend "Shadows Edge" and will be the first in line at the end of this month for my copy of "Beyond the Shadows", the conclusion of the Night Angel trilogy.

Absolute brilliance from a first time author!
I have to keep pinching myself to remind me that this trilogy is the authors first series he has written. Yes these books are just that good! This book continues on from the war and conquest of the God King and the subsequent terror unleashed by him on the populace of Cenaria. We also see the very difficult realities for people who are under the boot of an occupation army, starvation, murder, rioting and rape are a daily reality for the people. Most affected are the poor of the Warrens who find themselves brutalized on a daily basis, through such adversity they manage to gain the power to stand up and and fight back against the God Kings hoard.

What I do find great is the characterization Weeks has created for his characters. We see the lives of people like Kyler greatly changed as he finds the women he loves and takes her away from a life of a pain and misery and ultimately from Kylers work as a wet boy. But will Kyler be able to leave his exciting life behind? Will he have just one more job to complete? Also we get a glimpse into the like of the ousted King Logan as he tries to survive the hell and misery of the hole. Will this peril be to much for him? Or will he survive to become stronger in himself?

I'm about to start the third and final book in this series, i'm hoping it wll be as good as the first two.

I hope this review was of some help to you.

Not the greatest, but damn great anyway :)
I've read the first book, which I thought was "Pretty good, but not too great.", but the second installment really has me hooked.
It's more gritty, though a lack of Durzo Blint gives it less "edge", more grueling, more gruesome and all at the same time, more compelling and heartfelt.

It's definitely a book worth reading, if you like fantasy and books that are not meant for 10 year olds ;)