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: Beyond the Shadows
Title: Beyond the Shadows
Series:
Night Angel #3
Author:
Brent Weeks
Rating:
4 of 5 Stars
Genre:
SFF
Pages:
699
Format:
Digital Edition
|
Synopsis: |
The kingdom is safe now that the Godking is dead. Ha. The godkings various sons are duking it out to see who will rule in his stead and once that is determined, the winner is coming back for some real vengeance. At the same time another kingdom is taking advantage of the chaos to annex a large of chunk and they've brought troops to back up their claims.
Logan won't take the kingship since he
pledged his oath to Terah Graesin but she is the worst possible thing
to happen. Kylar must kill her to allow Logan to ascend the throne.
He must do it in such a way though that it doesn't look like Logan
asked him to do it.
Kylar is still linked to Vi and both
Elene and Vi are in the Sisterhood. Who want to use Kylar, somehow.
Superpowerful magical swords are involved, as are near immortal
creatures and a host of millions of undead. Elene gets possessed by
Khali but for the purpose of containing it [as it is a fallen angel]
so Kylar can kill her with the magic swords and thus truly destroy
Khali.
It all comes together in one HUGE
battle is so stupendous that I'm not going to even try to describe
it. Kylar saves the world at great cost and everyone is sad at
Elene's sacrifice and Vi still wants to jump Kylar's bones.
The End.
|
My Thoughts:
|
Good stuff!
My only complaints are as follows. The
profanity still sticks out. Seeing the F word is just jarring. It
doesn't fit. Second, the amount of history we're deluged with from
Durzo Blint is a bit much for one book. I'd really liked to have seen
a prequel trilogy following his adventures in his various personas.
Other than that? Rock'em Sock'em Robot
success!
True love. Magic swords. Magical killer
creatures that are unstoppable. Hordes of undead that aren't all
human sized shamblers. 2000 women who can control magic? Aes Sedai
anyone? That really stood out to me this time. It just seemed a very
blatant ripoff where as back in '09 I didn't even make the
connection. Either way, I enjoyed it this time around.
The storyline dealing with Dorian
Ursuul, the prophet and son of the Godking, was wicked hard to deal
with. He sees the future, gives up his gift because of what he sees
and then ends up becoming something just as bad as his father ever
was. Since he was introduced as a character who wanted to only do
good since the beginning, that fall from grace was just brutal! Weeks
really digs into what it could cost to see the future.
The violence is not ratcheted down any
either. There was one scene where I just put my kindle down and had
to catch my emotional breathe. Kylar was bound on a water wheel to
kill him for him killing the queen. His own friend Logan, who became
king of that action, was the one who had to pass sentence. Logan also
knows that Kylar heals super quick, so the water wheel will take
days. He breaks a table leg off and just smashes Kylar's arms and
legs so that he'll die. A friend having to execute his best friend,
having to physically destroy him, it was intense. I had ALL the manly
feelz.
While the writing definitely shows that
this trilogy was Weeks' first go, it is in no way sub-par. It just
isn't as nuanced as experience will make him. Heck, comparing this to
the latest Light
Bringer Novel, Blood Mirror is
a good exercise in watching someone grow their literary wings.
It
would be cool if at some point Weeks returned to this universe, but
at the rate the Light Bringer novels
are coming out, I don't see that happening any time soon.
★★★★☆
No comments:
Post a Comment