Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks is the first book in
the Night Angel Trilogy. It follows the story of Azoth, a young child born in
the Warrens, a poor, destitute area of Cenaria. Azoth, as an Orphan, has to
join a small Guild in order to survive, this involves, spending his days trying
to find or steal enough money to pay his dues in order to continue having the
small sense of security the Guild provides.
However, being a member of the Guild isn’t a completely safe
option as Azoth and the other youngsters are at the mercy of the older members
and in particular the leader Rat and life for Azoth is full of violence and
threats and so Azoth longs to escape his life through an Apprenticeship with
Durzo Blint, a legendary Wetboy.
A Wetboy is an Assassin that has a small amount of magic, or
talent as it is referred to in the book, this allows them to do things that are
not usually possible, such as breaking into even the most heavily guarded
places, changing appearances and even having some measure over control of a
person and means that when a Wetboy accepts a contract on someone that person
is as good as dead.
And Durzo Blint is the best Wetboy.
Azoth, after a truly horrifying incident, convinces Blint to
take him on as an apprentice and the book follows Azoth as he learns what it
means to not only be a Wetboy, but to be a killer.
The book moves along at a great pace, you never have to wade
through pages of world building or unnecessary scenes or characters that don’t
have some influence on the main characters and the plot and this means that
your attention never wavers from the main storyline and the Characters, which
is great as both Azoth, Durzo and most
of the supporting characters are well written and engaging.
The great thing about this book is that it explores morality
by putting these characters in positions where they have to do bad things and
exploring how it affects them, whether this is becoming a hired killer, selling
your body or even worse.
I found the weakest parts of the book to be the two “pure”
characters, Elene and Logan. Both of whom are good to the point of annoying and
while Logan develops and grows as the book goes on Elene remained too pure to
relate to.
Another problem I found with the book, although this isn’t
necessarily a bad point, is the fact the book moved so quickly through the
story, from Azoth becoming an apprentice, to training, to growing into an adult
and a full blown assassin, that I was regularly left wanting more.
I wanted to read more of Azoth’s training, see more of him
living undercover and explore more of his early jobs and how they affected him.
The reason I wanted more details was not because the story was lacking in detail
or wasn’t interesting, it was the exact opposite, the story was so good that I
didn’t want it to end. Luckily, The Way of Shadows is the first in a
trilogy.
In summary, The Way of Shadows, is a fast-paced book
that tells a great story and has engaging, well rounded characters that leave
you routing for them. There are some very dark themes and scenarios and isn’t
suitable for younger or even young adult readers but does act as an easy read
and intro to fantasy or even a good way to take your mind of the real world and
get lost in a good book.
