Genre:
Epic Fantasy
Series:
Night Angel, #2
Publish Date:
November 1, 2008
Publisher:
Orbit
Synopsis:
Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. The Godking's successful coup has left Kylar's master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession.
But when he learns that Logan might actually be alive and in hiding, Kylar is faced with an agonizing choice: will he give up the way of shadows forever and live in peace with his new family, or will he risk everything by taking on the ultimate hit?
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Don't miss the Night Angel trilogy and its novellas!!!
(covers link to Goodreads)
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**About the Author**
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| (c) travis johnson photography |
Brent Weeks was born and raised in Montana. After getting his paper keys from Hillsdale College, Brent had brief stints walking the earth like Caine from Kung Fu, tending bar, and corrupting the youth. (Not at the same time.) He started writing on bar napkins, then on lesson plans, then full time. Eventually, someone paid him for it. Brent lives in Oregon with his wife, Kristi. He doesn’t own cats or wear a ponytail.
Brent is represented by the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Stay connected with Brent Weeks
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*My Thoughts*
Note: This review contains NO spoilers
After taking a long break from the first book, The Way of Shadows, I found it difficult to get back into the swing of the story, but Shadow’s Edge did not disappoint me. The story expanded the world of Midcyru and gave the reader a taste of its neighboring nations through other characters such as Garoth Ursuul and, although brief, Capricia from Khalidor and Waedryn respectively. The characters stayed true to themselves and served their purpose in the story. Their character development was kept at a slow pace such as Elene Cromwyll, also known in the first book as Doll Face. Elene was pure, kind, and the representation of “it’s what is on the inside that counts” because of her scarred face, but halfway through Shadow’s Edge she began to understand the need to kill. After killing a Khalidoran who was poised to shoot a young boy, she killed the Khalidoran with a knife to the throat. Kylar Stern, on the other hand, was one of the most complex men. Kylar tried to hold on to his little taste of happiness, a peaceful life in Waedryn, but gave it up, picked up his killing methods to save his best friend, and along the way saved Cenaria from total invasion.
Parts of the story were a bit slow at times because it narrated the events of different characters scattered across Midcyru. But knowing what was going on with everyone was what helped me read this part of the trilogy. Each thread connected to the others delicately or in some distant relationship and the amount of information given was never-ending. Kylar’s parts of the story focused on him trying to be the Night Angel, justice, and retribution but with enough self-loathing and boyish charm that to the reader he was a wetboy with underworld experience but the naivete of a teenager regarding civilian life. His hard shell and grief carried within it a heart of gold and some innocence. Looking into scenes of the Hole, deep within Cenarian prison, and Logan Gyre changed his attitude towards the world and built both friendly and antagonistic relationships with the Holer’s. Fast forward to the war between Cenarians and Khalidorans, the Holer’s appear again as parts of a ferali or mythical, gluttonous monster that Garoth Ursuul used for war. The narrated parts of the story regarding Garoth, Momma K, and Agon helped update the reader on the happenings of Cenaria, particularly within the resistance against Garoth and the Khalidorans.
The common criticism I noticed from other readers was about the treatment of women. In the Night Angel trilogy, set in a medieval fantasy, women were cast of as useless unless they married into a higher social status or pleased men sexually. So, the completely obedient housewife or a whore. More like a prostitute trying to survive because her former peaceful nation was invaded by Khalidorans and one of the very few ways to do that was to sell her body. But you know, small details that help shape the world of Midcyru. Viridiana Sovari, also known as Vi and the only wetboy who could fluster Kylar, was a complicated case, neither a housewife or a whore. She was a wetboy that knew she had a sexy body and used it. She was brash, short-tempered, but she had some compassion after admitting she had a crush on Kylar.
In a nutshell, Shadow’s Edge is where the reader’s action scenes are and where the plot of the trilogy is riddled with twists and turns. I would say it’s better than the first because the foundation had been laid out in the first book. The war and characters just needed to progress into a cliffhanger.
My rating:
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