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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Azoth is a starving child gang member in the Warrens - the poorest, most dangerous part of the city. After a chance encounter with notorious 'wet-boy' killer-for-hire Durzo Blint, he convinces Blint to take him on as apprentice - just as his only two friends are being tortured by the gang leader.
Review
I thought, remembering back, that perhaps I hadn’t given Weeks enough credit for this book – that I’d scored it less than it deserved. But I checked my records, and I gave it the same score I’m giving now, so kudos to me for recognizing talent. Many books don’t stand up to a second reading quite as well as they do in memory. This is an exception – it’s exceptionally well written and constructed.
I like to re-read series in their entirety when a new volume comes out – a habit that is now honored far more in the breach than the observance; I just don’t have the time I used to. But it had been so long since I read the Night Angel books that I wanted to go through them again. I’m glad I did, though it appears I did forget to start at the very beginning, with prequel story The Perfect Shadow.
This isn’t a perfect story – there’s some clumsy infodumping at least once, and some other minor issues – but it is a very good story. The prose is good, the characters engaging, the plot meticulously constructed, and it has all the neat things I like to see, from ancient lore to clever magic. I highly recommend this book.
The only downside for me is that Weeks’ books rarely go on sale, and so much does go on sale, that I haven’t gotten past book one of his second, Lightbringer series. And my records say I didn’t like books two and three of this series quite as much. But we’ll see, and this book is so good that I doubt myself a little.
Summary
Azoth is a starving child gang member in the Warrens - the poorest, most dangerous part of the city. After a chance encounter with notorious 'wet-boy' killer-for-hire Durzo Blint, he convinces Blint to take him on as apprentice - just as his only two friends are being tortured by the gang leader.
Review
I thought, remembering back, that perhaps I hadn’t given Weeks enough credit for this book – that I’d scored it less than it deserved. But I checked my records, and I gave it the same score I’m giving now, so kudos to me for recognizing talent. Many books don’t stand up to a second reading quite as well as they do in memory. This is an exception – it’s exceptionally well written and constructed.
I like to re-read series in their entirety when a new volume comes out – a habit that is now honored far more in the breach than the observance; I just don’t have the time I used to. But it had been so long since I read the Night Angel books that I wanted to go through them again. I’m glad I did, though it appears I did forget to start at the very beginning, with prequel story The Perfect Shadow.
This isn’t a perfect story – there’s some clumsy infodumping at least once, and some other minor issues – but it is a very good story. The prose is good, the characters engaging, the plot meticulously constructed, and it has all the neat things I like to see, from ancient lore to clever magic. I highly recommend this book.
The only downside for me is that Weeks’ books rarely go on sale, and so much does go on sale, that I haven’t gotten past book one of his second, Lightbringer series. And my records say I didn’t like books two and three of this series quite as much. But we’ll see, and this book is so good that I doubt myself a little.
adventurous
medium-paced
I really liked this book. I had a hard time putting it down. There were enough twists and turns to keep me riveted (maybe a few too many since it is hard to re-read sections on a Kindle).
There wasn't a lot of flowery descriptions which generally works for me, but it made the book seem a bit hollow at times. I would have liked a little bit more about the characters. Their history and what motivated them. There was some of that in the book, but I would have like just a little bit more.
There wasn't a lot of flowery descriptions which generally works for me, but it made the book seem a bit hollow at times. I would have liked a little bit more about the characters. Their history and what motivated them. There was some of that in the book, but I would have like just a little bit more.
I think I'm getting desensitized to fantasy assassin/warrior stories. Everyone is almost impervious to the antagonists' steel, magic and skills and it's kinda getting annoying.
Don't get me wrong... The story is compelling, if you like this stuff. There's assassins and betrayals and intrigue and magic. Essentially everything you'd want from such a story, but it started wearing out when the protagonist started going through enemies like hot water through snow.
Don't get me wrong... The story is compelling, if you like this stuff. There's assassins and betrayals and intrigue and magic. Essentially everything you'd want from such a story, but it started wearing out when the protagonist started going through enemies like hot water through snow.
Jeg havde ikke hørt om denne serie før Tellerup skulle udgive den, og selvom jeg var intimideret af bogens tykkelse, så lokkede bagsideteksten alligevel. Selvom jeg normalt ikke læser så mange voldelige historier, så var denne bog simpelthen så spændende og nervepirrende! Der sker noget hele tiden, og man keder sig aldrig, hvilket er ret praktisk når bogen er så lang. Der er så mange karakterer og intriger, som man får indblik i og man når næsten ikke at trække vejret - hvilket var en ret positiv overraskelse for mig.
Jeg kunne godt lide, at man aldrig rigtigt kunne forudsige, hvad der ville ske. Vi følger forskellige personers perspektiv, og selvom nogle af karaktererne kan virke overflødige, så formår de alligevel at få en 'rolle' senere hen i historien, som var ret uventet. Actionfyldt og virkelig spændende!
"Han stirrede til hendes ansigt forsvandt, og han kun så røde snit og flænger hvor hendes ansigt havde været. De røde snit blev hvidglødende og brændte sig ind i hans hukommelse, brændemærkede ham. Han stod fuldstændig stille, så arrene i hans sind ville bevare et fejlfrit billede af hvad han havde gjort, bevare et perfekt billede af flængerne i hendes ansigt." - citat side 79.
Grænsen mellem hvad der er rigtigt og forkert, samt hvad der er godt og ondt, er meget tvetydig. Det er op til læseren at afgøre, hvem der er de onde, og hvem der er de gode - og det bliver til tider en anelse for politisk. Men historien er helt sikkert gennemført, og jeg glæder mig til at læse videre i serien - Brent Weeks skriver virkelig fængende!
Jeg kunne godt lide, at man aldrig rigtigt kunne forudsige, hvad der ville ske. Vi følger forskellige personers perspektiv, og selvom nogle af karaktererne kan virke overflødige, så formår de alligevel at få en 'rolle' senere hen i historien, som var ret uventet. Actionfyldt og virkelig spændende!
"Han stirrede til hendes ansigt forsvandt, og han kun så røde snit og flænger hvor hendes ansigt havde været. De røde snit blev hvidglødende og brændte sig ind i hans hukommelse, brændemærkede ham. Han stod fuldstændig stille, så arrene i hans sind ville bevare et fejlfrit billede af hvad han havde gjort, bevare et perfekt billede af flængerne i hendes ansigt." - citat side 79.
Grænsen mellem hvad der er rigtigt og forkert, samt hvad der er godt og ondt, er meget tvetydig. Det er op til læseren at afgøre, hvem der er de onde, og hvem der er de gode - og det bliver til tider en anelse for politisk. Men historien er helt sikkert gennemført, og jeg glæder mig til at læse videre i serien - Brent Weeks skriver virkelig fængende!
Total page turner. An assassin book with lots of twists, continuing on in the series.
This is the first book by Brent Weeks that I've read and I must say that I'm impressed. This is a very well written book. The characters and plot are excellent. I hope the rest of the trilogy is as good.
I'm not the target audience for this series.
Some interesting characters and ideas. Possibly suffered from being read in small chunks round looking after a small one.