Brent Weeks Answers Questions Five

Brent Weeks introduced himself to the world of epic fantasy in 2008 with something few new authors can offer – a completed trilogy. The Night Angel Trilogy was released in three successive months in mass market paperback making it very accessible to the average reader. As a result, Brent has seen quite a bit of success, including the resume entry of New York Times Best Selling Author. The trilogy begins with The Way of Shadows (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound, my review), continues with Shadow’s Edge (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) and concludes with Beyond the Shadows (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound). Brent is currently hard at work writing.

Thanks to Brent for taking the time to answer Questions Five.


So, why don’t you own cats or where a pony tail?

BW: Oh, man, I hope that didn't come out too snarky. Once I got my contract, I went to the book store and was flipping through people's bios and author photos and I was like, Um, wow. Good thing I'm not weird.

If the Night Angel Trilogy were a fortune cookie, what would its fortune be?

BW: 11 26 38 02 21. Oh, you mean the OTHER side of the fortune?

How would you interpret this fortune if it were your own?

BW: You already got lucky enough to get published, why should winning Keno be any harder?

Please describe one reason why the Night Angel Trilogy would inspire a reader to strip naked and run into the forest.

BW: That tickle on your back? Not a tickle. Spider. Poison that liquefies flesh. Incurable. Untreatable. Read chapter 1, you'll get it.

Why should the Night Angel Trilogy be the next thing that everyone reads?

BW: It's like Jane Austen, without the boring stuff. Hold on, that doesn't make any sense at all. It's like James Bond, but with character development. Wait, no better. It's like Dancing With the Stars, without the awkward celebrities or commercials. Dang! It's like Saturday Night Live, but funny sometimes. Okay, okay, last shot. Here's how I'd describe it to my former high school students: it's like a book, but fun.

Review: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

In 2008 Brent Weeks hit the SFF world with a fury as Orbit released the completed Night Angel Trilogy over a two-month period, starting with The Way of Shadows (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound). Message boards were buzzing, reviews generally positive, and Weeks can now call himself a New York Times Best Selling Author. Of course in reality, opinions are mixed, including mine, as I found The Way of Shadows to be equally compelling and uninspiring average, the characters easy to like but inconsistent, and so on and so forth.

The Way of Shadows follows Azoth, a young orphaned street rat struggling to survive in a horrifying underworld as he stands up to an abusive guild boss and apprentices himself to the city’s foremost assassin, Durzo Blint. Under the tutelage of Blint, Azoth must give up his previous identity to become Kylar, a minor noble as he trains relentlessly to release his innate magical ability and become an assassin as dangerous as his master. Haunted by the loss of the few real friends he had and conflicted about the killer his has become, Kylar finds himself at the center of his nation’s struggle for survival.

Weeks shows the true horrors the underworld Azoth as claws his way out and through the horrendous abuses of the guild boss, Rat. While nothing is explicitly described, rape, sodomy, and mutilation are but a few of the abuses favored by Rat. Sure to garner that all-too familiar ‘gritty’ label, the abuse does fit the world Weeks creates and drives his characters future motivations. However one aspect immediately stood out in a very negative light. A male friend of Azoth’s suffers sexual abuse from the boss Rat, and when we meet this friend later in the story, has apparently become homosexual as a result of this sexual abuse. Whether intended or not, the implication is that homosexuality is the result of sexual abuse, that it’s some sort of mental illness – I found this ignorant and offensive and while it’s an rather minor point, it jumped to forefront, ripped me from the story, and damaged the tale Weeks wants to tell.

The characters of The Way of Shadows suffer from Weeks’ fan-fic feeling need to be larger than life – to be the best, most bad-ass people of the bunch. Sure, they have weaknesses and are conflicted, but these guys are still the best of the best – and they are assassins working for the criminal underground that runs the city. This makes them extra cool. While characters of this sort are generally a necessity for epic fantasy, Weeks fails to distinguish them from so many others in the genre. This combines with what feels like uneven, inconsistent, and at times, unbelievable actions – most particularly from Durzo Blint, whose actions and revelations near the end of the novel fail to convince. Where Weeks does manage to succeed with his characters is depth. Most show more than two-dimensions with Azoth and Blint in particular playing out an interesting commentary on humanity, love, sacrifice, justice, retribution, and even mercy.

In spite of the weaknesses mentioned above and a few others (such as the overly long and slow start), The Way of Shadows eventually becomes a very compelling read. In spite of the uneven characterization, I eventually needed to know what was going to happen. The high-octane events of the last third of the book raised my heart-rate as Weeks laced the action with tension. It was readable and it was entertaining reading.

Brent Weeks’ debut, The Way of Shadows, begins the Night Angel Trilogy, followed by Shadow’s Edge (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound), with Beyond the Shadows (US, UK, Canada, IndieBound) completing the trilogy. Weeks’ suffers from being a bit too fan-like with inconsistencies and improbabilities that at times can’t be ignored. Yet his gripping writing shows promise and saves The Way of Shadows from being tossed into the epic fantasy slop bucket. It was good enough to get me to come back for more. 6-6.5/10

Related Posts: Brent Weeks Answers Questions Five

Winner of the Brent Weeks Contest

With the help of random.org, I have the winner of a copy of the first two books in Brent Weeks’ new epic fantasy The Night Angel Trilogy – The Way of Shadows (US, UK, Canada) and Shadow’s Edge (US, UK, Canada). In the world of randomness, the winner happened to be the last entry - Luke from Fisher, Australia.

I suspect that he may have entered on November 2nd when the contest ended on the first, but it was still November 1st here in Arizona when the entry was received. I am amused by the subtle strangeness of that. Thanks again to the slight error over at Orbit that made this contest happen.

Brent Weeks Giveaway

Sometimes when a publisher sends me books they never arrive – and sometimes when a publisher sends me books I get double. Thanks to the latter, I have an extra copy of the first two books in Brent Weeks’ new epic fantasy The Night Angel Trilogy – The Way of Shadows (US, UK, Canada) and Shadow’s Edge (US, UK, Canada). These books are already gaining a certain amount of buzz on some SFF messageboards and look promising. Below is the publisher’s description of The Way of Shadows and you can read Chapter 1 on the Orbit webpage.

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.

So, the giveaway is simple. Just send an email to nethspace ‘at’ gmail ‘dot’ com. Remove and replace the ‘at’ and ‘dot’ with the appropriate symbols or use the email link in the sidebar. Use the subject of ‘SHADOW’. Please include you're name and mailing address. We'll say the deadline is Sunday, November 2. Only one entry please and this is open to all. Good luck!