This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s
Exalted Permission
Title:
Shadow's Edge
Series:
Night Angel #2
Author:
Brent Weeks
Rating:
4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre:
SFF
Pages:
645
Format:
Digital Edition
|
Synopsis: |
Kylar has sworn to give up killing to live in peace with Elene. They move to another city and Kylar begins life as an apothecary. But his hunger for justice causes him to go out each night, and while not killing, he does distribute justice to lowlifes and criminals.
All of
that changes when his best friend Jarl, now the Shinga of Kylar's
former city-home, comes begging for him to do one last job: Kill the
godking. Unfortunately, another wetboy, Viv (who's a girl) is on the
job to kill Jarl for the godking. Kylar watches his best friend die
before his eyes. To make matters worse, Kylar must leave Elene (who
he was going to ask to marry him the next day), for good. Because
killing the godking is a one way job. He won't be returning from it.
He
ends up hooking up with Viv through an incredible amount of
circumstance twisting and they decide to work together to kill the
godking. Turns out Viv is the godking's daughter and he has a magical
hold of her. Kylar and Viv overcome through the magic of love (or at
least, bonding magic) and everything is hunky dory.
Except
Elene is kidnapped, Kylar can never be with her, he is magically
bonded to a woman who killed his best friend, most of Kylar's friends
and acquaintances are dead by the godking's hands and yet another
city-state is waiting on the border to take over. And Kylar still
doesn't know the cost of him coming back to life each time. He should
really find out, you know?
|
My Thoughts:
|
Man, I plowed through this in 2 days, or just a little less really. I started Friday evening (hence my post A Small Selection) and was done by 10am Sunday morning. It was not a “I have to get through this, so man up, soldier and start marching” kind of drive. I just couldn't stop reading. Even while I knew roughly what was going to happen because this was a re-read.
The
main downside to this book was that I had just read Return
of the Crimson Guard and
that book, while leaving me somewhat frustrated, also awed me with
its depth, amount of plot threads being woven simultaneously and the
battle scenes. Sadly, Weeks did not, really could not, compare. His
writing was not bad, it was good in fact but it just wasn't AS GOOD.
When you read two Epic Fantasy Books almost back to back, comparisons
are going to happen whether you want them to or not. So read this
after reading something by Michael Crichton or Modesitt and
everything will be just fine.
For
the record, I rated this higher than Crimson Guard. I
enjoyed it more.
The
biggest upside was a scene where Weeks totally riffs on Star Wars. As
I stated, Viv is the godking's daughter. She's been developing
feelings for Kylar during their stint together. Then, during one of
the climactic clashes between the 2 wetboys and the godking, the
godking lets it out that he's also Kylar's father. So a total Leia
and Luke scenario. But it gets better. The godking then hollers out,
“Just kidding!” I just about died laughing. Even now, while I'm
typing this up, it still makes me laugh. And if you don't get the
Star Wars reference, you'll lose nothing from the story. It just
won't be as rich.
Like I
mentioned in my Small Selection post,
the violence here is pretty intense. Thankfully, it is not
glamourized, but Weeks doesn't hold back in the slightest. Also the
profanity is at the same level and of the same style as in Book 1.
It's very anachronistic, besides being unnecessary.
There
is another whole storyline revolving around Logan, the rightful King,
that I'm not going to touch on.This is a 2 weave story and his is the
second. It's pretty much about what a good man will do to survive and
not cross the line into becoming a villain.
This
book was just as good as when I read it in '09 and the trilogy as a
whole is holding up as well.
*double
thumbs up*
★★★★ ½
No comments:
Post a Comment