Customer Reviews

Beyond the Shadows (The Night Angel Trilogy)

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks is the third and final novel in the Night Angel Trilogy. The first book in the trilogy is titled The Way of Shadows (The Night Angel Trilogy) and the second is titled Shadow's Edge (The Night Angel Trilogy). As I read this novel, I began to become more and more depressed; simply because I knew that with each page I turned I was that much closer to the end of such a wonderful trilogy. While Mr. Weeks may be a new author, there is nothing beginner about his writing or stories. Here are my thoughts on this novel.

The plot of this novel feels different from the first two books. Where the first two books were more intimate in setting and scope, in this book the reader is really introduced to the world of Midcyru. Readers begin to understand the vast and storied history of the world and each region within the world. The one aspect that I liked above all others in regards to the plot was things that were hinted at, and briefly talked about during the first two novels rear their head and are explained in great detail in this book. Normally, in this section of my reviews I give a rather brief idea of what to expect in terms of plot. However, with this novel, I don't think that's really possible as so many things happen in this novel. What I can say is if you have read the first two books in this trilogy and can think of a plot line that has yet to be resolved; it is resolved in this book. Yet, not all plot lines are resolved in ways that readers would want, or expect, them to be resolved. Mr. Weeks holds true to his ability to drag his characters through hell and back, and not all of them come back. I was very pleased to finish this book and not have any loose ends not tied up from the previous books, just for the sake of teasing the reader about possible future novels. The ending fit the feeling and theme of the first two books perfectly.

If you like a novel with rich and detailed characters, you will most certainly enjoy this book. There are numerous characters that not only receive face time, but also have their own significant character development. I can not recall reading a novel with this many characters who all get this amount of development, and not lose track of the story or another character. All of the characters that readers would expect return in this novel; Kylar, Logan, Dorian, Solon, Vi, Neph Dada, Terah Graesin, Sister Ariell, and many more. One thing that may get overlooked by some readers is that while there are many characters, each one comes across as a unique and different character. They all have their own motivations, specific ways they talk, they all have flaws. It's simply amazing that this level of character development could occur with each of these characters and still keep the story moving. Each character has a specific purpose for the story, there are no fluff characters in this book. You can be sure that if a character is in a scene, there is a specific reason for that scene and character being there. The back stories of the character are varied and interesting. It is so rewarding to a reader when a great plot is mixed with great characters, and that is exactly what has occurred in this book and trilogy.

One minor criticism about this novel:

Through the first two books, and parts of this book as well, the story moves at a frenetic pace and it makes the events feel dire and important. However, there are a couple times in this book where the pace slows dramatically as certain plot points and decisions are explained in great detail. The only reason I list this as a criticism is because when this occurs it feels out of place with the rest of the storyline.

Some things I liked about this novel:

1 - The depth of the story line. All of the sub plots, the main story arc, and how it all comes together at the end of the novel is fantastic. For a trilogy to cover as much as this trilogy does, and wrapping up most of it in the third book, is nice. It seems the growing trend in fantasy right now is to write multi-volume sagas. Here it is a simple trilogy that covers everything it takes other authors to cover in eight or none books.

2 - The characters. I enjoyed how each character was a separate individual, there were very few clichés used in this novel and if they were they were not presented as the traditional cliché. Each character elicited some type of reaction, which is something I have rarely run into in a fantasy novel.

3 - The amount of world building that went into this novel, and trilogy. It is never more evident than in this book how much history the world has. Each area has a different feeling to it as well as having its own separate history. I applaud Mr. Week's efforts in making this world come alive. There were several times where the world was almost another character.

Rating this book as a single novel, it is a fantastic read. Rating this novel as part of a trilogy, it ranks up there as one of the best trilogies I have read in a very long time. Mr. weeks has not only made his mark on the fantasy genre, he has kicked in the doors and announced he is here to stay. The quality of these books, the world building, plot development, and character development makes reading Mr. Week's books a joy. Fans of the fantasy genre should not hesitate to pick up these books; there is something in these books that everyone will enjoy. People who are simply looking to dip their feet into the genre would also be well advised to dive into this trilogy. I will certainly be recommending this book, and trilogy, to anyone that will listen. I only hope that our wait to revisit Midcyru is short. I can not wait to see what Mr. Weeks has in store for readers. I have little doubt that he will have a long and successful career. This was simply a joy to read, well done Mr. Weeks!

To Weeks's credit, this entire trilogy was extremely entertaining and difficult to put down. That said, it certainly had a few problems.

The foremost of said problems is that, in several instances, things simply happen with no explanation whatsoever. Occurrences that have been built up to and leave a reader anxious to read on are simply resolved in a paragraph with no real explanation of the middleground between the onset of the problem and its resolution. While I understand it was probably a product of length guidelines, this came off as being resultant of Weeks writing himself into a conflict that he couldn't write himself out of, which makes for utterly disappointing reading. It seems to me that a few more months in the drafting stages could have fixed up these problems.

I read a blog written by Brandon Sanderson in which he stresses the importance of an author having an intimate understanding of his magic systems, so as to make them more real to readers. While certain elements of Weeks's magic systems are concrete and understandable, too often they seem to have too few boundaries and too little explanation.

Finally, the ending of the book -- of the trilogy -- is, frankly, pretty silly. Being an avid reader of fantasy, I don't use that term lightly, but here it is deserved. A solid conclusion is there, but a final twist is thrown in unnecessarily, and silliness ensues.

Given all of that, some of the character development is fantastic, the world-building is outstanding, and Weeks is just plain fun to read. It's worth your time if you can see past its faults.

It is what it sets out to be, entertainment.

Weeks delivers...
- an light, quick page-turning read
- relatable characters, who behave and grow true to their natures
- a fast moving plot(enough action and story for 6 books--no fluff here)
- an interesting world with imaginitive political, social and criminal groups, all with their own agendas
...AND BEST OF ALL, you don't have to wait 10 years for the author to finish it!

All said and done, one thing matters for a work of this type, was it a fun ride/read?

Big YES here, to all three books.

Allow me to preface my review with the statement that I did in fact enjoy this trilogy. Both the world setting and characters resonated with me and the writing was eminently readable.

That said, I found "Beyond the Shadows" to be a disappointment. The ending in particular left me underwhelmed. Weeks concludes his trilogy in a saccharine and all to pat manner. Love represents a major concept in these novels. Therefore, I have no problem with the meditations on the subject which permeate this trilogy but I find the trite sentimentality of the "all conquering power of love" ending tired.

The expansion of some characters powers also seemed unwelcome to me. One character (I won't spoil whom) shows such a vast and varied array of powers that many of his actions in the first book are completely undercut.

Finally, although I admire Weeks' for resisting the fantasy staple of the never-ending series, The Night Angel books would really have benefited from the decompression allowed by a fourth book. Events in the final third of "Beyond the Shadows" fly past with a dearth of explication probably due to space limitations.

Don't let my criticisms dissuade you from reading this series. If you are looking for enjoyable, light fantasy fair you can not do much better than Weeks' trilogy.

OK-ish!

I'm not sure what was wrong with this book/series. It had all the ingredients of a superb fantasy book; a really great basic tale, interesting and fairly well developed characters, magic, great battles, interesting and intriguing villains, love with some erotic qualities, and above all, the unexpected. So what is missing...what's wrong?

When I started this 3rd book I thought the author had finally 'got it right' but by the end I was left scratching my head, wondering about some of the unexplained events and appearances of people and objects. There were areas that were developed only to be 'dropped', seemingly forgotten; items that were lost and then turned up, unexplained. There were areas where I could hardly wait to turn the page to find out what would happen and other areas that I had difficulty understanding what was going on. A little more completion of some of the tales, a little more explanation as to how things transpired and/or were accomplished would have added so much to this 'almost' great tale.

Conclusion:
This book had all the trappings of something special; all the ingredients of truly great fantasy were there...just untapped. A good editor could have been invaluable to Mr. Weeks. Good fantasy...just not great. 3 1/2 Stars.

Ray Nicholson

Do yourself a favor and order all three books before you make the mistake of ordering book one only to see if you like this series. Speaking from experience it is an awful long wait until the next two books show up.
I think it was the cover art that sold book one to me. I had just come off reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law series so the bar was set pretty high for Mr. Weeks and his Night Angel trilogy.
I really don't want to give any plot details away so you can enjoy how things unfold in this gem of a series. This kind of reminded me of Jennifer Fallon's Lion of Senet in that I can see these characters staying with me for a long time.
I'm not sure what is next for Brent Weeks but count me in.

This review is intended to cover the entire trilogy, although I will mention specific aspects of the final novel. Warning: spoilers within.

I struggled as to whether to give the trilogy a 3 or 4 star rating. It is hugely entertaining to read. It never bogged down, the characters were engaging, and it was at least adequately original. I didn't hesitate to buy the second and third books after reading the first. But ultimately I'm not sure whether I will read more of Mr. Weeks' work. I had two complaints, both of which may seem like nit-picks... but in a fantasy genre with so many options available, I can be picky.

1. There are occasional, jarring shifts in the tone of the writing. I'm not talking about the liberal use of profanity - I find it quite realistic that criminals, soldiers, etc. in a fantasy world would swear just like contemporary criminals, soldiers, etc. However, outside of the profanity, Weeks generally uses the slightly anachronistic language common to fantasy novels. Except when he doesn't. And sometimes "except when he doesn't" comes at a sufficiently random time to knock me right out of his universe.

2. Spoiler...
I objected to the deus ex machina ending. Dragging all the characters to the final battle felt forced and artificial. It seemed like Weeks himself felt that it was forced and artificial, with characters just showing up in the allies' command tent as if on cue. And it all wrapped up far too neatly, especially considering that the series was quite dark at inception.
The picture-perfect ending also undermines the moral ambiguity that was one of the more compelling themes in the series. Throughout the series we were invited to question whether the ends justified the means. But in the final outcome, we see that Dorian's utilitarian attempt to do evil for the sake of good resulted in unmitigated disaster, while Logan's insistence on taking the high road produced no negative consequences at all. Logan's principles compelled him to kill Kylar, his best friend, but his best friend was conveniently immortal. That immortality was paid for at the cost of Kylar's wife's life... but thanks to the deus ex machina ending, she needed to die for a higher purpose anyway. So there are no unpleasant consequences whatever to Logan's scruples - a cheap answer, it seems to me. And that cheap answer made the series merely entertaining, rather than thoughtful.

What can I really say about this last trilogy that I haven't already said about the previous two novels? Honestly not much! These books are just that good, for a first time author Weeks has created a masterful debut Fantasy series. As with the previous two novels this book is written brilliantly with Great in depth characterization and a beautifully set back drop.

The story has progressed a great deal from the second novel, there is a new Queen in Cenaria, alas for her nation she proves to be a corrupt incompetent who only cares for her own power. The true King Logan is off hunting the last of the God Kings armies while his friend Kyler tries to warn him that he is marching into an ambush that could destroy him and any hope for the future of Cenaria. As for Kyler he will learn the bitter truth of his immortality he must also figure out a way to save a nation and restore a King to his throne, along the way he will meet old friends and older enemies.

All in all I can honestly say this is one of the best debut Fantasy trilogies i've ever read, if you're stuck for something to read then this will definitely make you sit up and think. Brilliant trilogy!

Beyond the Shadows is the third book of the Night Angel Trilogy. This book focuses more on a realm in chaos and the tough decisions that the leaders must make in order to restore order. There's still plenty of action because the rulers don't see eye to eye. This book also focuses more on character building than the other books.

Plot
The story continues for the characters from the other books. I won't list who they are because some are dead and I don't want to spoil anything. After Shadow's Edge, the realm is left in chaos and rulers are struggling to gain power and restore order. Sacrifices must be made, people must be led, and battles must be fought.

Characters
The characters in this book are excellent. The author does a great job at making sure they read like real people with real emotions. The story is full of characters that you'll love and despise. In this book, the relationships between the characters grow.

Writing Style
The writing style is pretty accessible to just about anyone. It's pretty simple. The action scenes are also well written and easy to visualize. The Chapters are about three to seven pages long, and you'll find yourself reading five to ten Chapters per sitting. In the near 700 pages, there are a few nonsensical sentences and lines of anachronistic dialogue. But these are easy to overlook because the story and characters are very good. The author, Brent Weeks, does a great deal of world building, but never sacrifices the fast pacing of his book to do this. The world is vast and deep and there's just enough detail for the reader to 'get it.'

Dialogue
The dialogue does a great job at portraying the relationships between the characters. Brent Weeks also writes what the characters are thinking as they are speaking. It becomes clear that some characters say things to further their own selfish goals or trying to inspire others to make the world a better place. Some of the dialogue feels like modern day slang, and seemed out of place, but this is easy to overlook.

Maturity
This book is not as brutal as book 2, but it's still for mature audiences because there's language, violence, gore, and sex.

If you want a fast paced, epic adventure, in an original fantasy world, then you should pick up the entire trilogy. The writing style may be too simple or anachronistic for literature fans, but fans of popular fantasy should enjoy these books. Most fans of GRRM would like these books.

Overall, this is a fun trilogy to read. The world is interesting, the action is exciting, and the characters are good. It doesn't feel like a classic, but the trilogy is very entertaining.

The trilogy was excellent, but of the three books, the third was the weakest by far. I'm assuming most people by now have read the books, who are reading this review, so I'm going to give away a few things. Largely, Kylar has given up being an assassin/rogue by book 3, which is disappointing. Using his skills as an assassin was what made the first two books interesting. In book three he's more of a Superman character relying on the power of the kakuri to do magic. So he's more of a magic user than a rogue/assissin in book 3.
The one time that a real rogue is needed to steel back the sword we don't see any of it. Durzo drugs Kylar and when he wakes up Durzo has stolen the sword. This could have been an interesting chapter in which Durzo is forced to use all his hiding and sneeking abilities to avoid detection but we get none of that.
Ending battle was pretty intense. Kylar does backstab a huge titan using some of his assassin ablities but the way it was done is not realistic. Ending though was generally a let down. Khali seems to have been a lot more powerful in book two, then she was tamed down for book three. Maybe this is because she was outsmarted by Elene but seems like a weak plot device.
One very interesting aspect I haven't seen discussed much in these reviews is how the author shows how individuals justify evil acts in their own minds, either to survive or in pursuit of what they think is a higher good. It's pretty chilling to see, and done in a realistic way so you can understand why people with good intentions nonetheless do despicable things. One character in the novel who is one of the ultimate heroes descends to some awfully low levels, at one point raping a 13-year-old girl, and some other almost as bad things. I'd say this was one of the best depictions of how good people become corrupted by the lure of evil and choose to do evil as a means to an otherwise good end, and how once a person starts down this path they end up sliding all the way.
I'd like to see Weeks write more about this world. But book three focused too much on magic. Book one, where magic barely ever comes into play was a much better book. Magic can become too much of a deus ex machina, which it did in book 3.