Beyond the Shadows

Paperback, 689 pages

English language

Published Nov. 9, 2008 by Orbit Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-84149-742-6

(1 review)

A new queen has usurped the throne and is leading Cenaria into disaster. The country has become a broken realm with a threadbare army, little food, and no hope. Kylar Stern plans to reinstate his closest friend Logan as King, but can he really get away with murder? In the north, the Godking's death has thrown Khalidor into civil war. To gain the upper hand, one faction attempts to raise the goddess Khali herself. But they are playing with volatile powers, and trigger conflict on a vast scale. Seven armies will converge to save - or destroy - an entire continent. Kylar has finally learnt the bitter cost of immortality, and is faced with a task only he can complete. To save his friends, and perhaps his enemies, he must assassinate a goddess. Failure will doom the south. Success will cost him everything he's ever loved.

4 editions

Kadomi reviewed Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks (The Night Angel Trilogy)

Review of 'Beyond the Shadows' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Almost 4.5 stars, but then not quite. Which is a shame. I loved the first book of the trilogy, enjoyed the second despite some qualms, and really enjoyed the 3rd one as well. Just not enough to click on the 5th star here on Goodreads.

In Beyond the Shadows, the series moves away from what I loved about it in the first book (young assassin gets training in a fantasy city full of intrigues) to large-scale epic fantasy. Which is something I usually highly enjoy, but here, it was a bit much. Armies of thousands, multiple nations involved, at the pinnacle a conflict resolved at Black Barrows, the former home of Acaelus Thorne, better known to the reader as Durzo Blint. Some stuff about this resolution didn't even make sense to me, like the whole deal with the Wolf, and Ezra's Wood. I didn't get it 100%. Because there was …

Almost 4.5 stars, but then not quite. Which is a shame. I loved the first book of the trilogy, enjoyed the second despite some qualms, and really enjoyed the 3rd one as well. Just not enough to click on the 5th star here on Goodreads.

In Beyond the Shadows, the series moves away from what I loved about it in the first book (young assassin gets training in a fantasy city full of intrigues) to large-scale epic fantasy. Which is something I usually highly enjoy, but here, it was a bit much. Armies of thousands, multiple nations involved, at the pinnacle a conflict resolved at Black Barrows, the former home of Acaelus Thorne, better known to the reader as Durzo Blint. Some stuff about this resolution didn't even make sense to me, like the whole deal with the Wolf, and Ezra's Wood. I didn't get it 100%. Because there was so much content to fill the pages of the books, some stuff seemed rushed. I would have loved to spend more time with Vi and actually see her grow. She went from rebellious wetboy to accomplished battle mage in the blink of an eye. I wanted resolution for Durzo and K, and what about Uly? Yeah, not tied as neatly as I would have liked.

Regardless of all my dislikes, it's fast-paced, rife with action and lots of magic, and I was moved by it. That's quite a lot of good things to get from a fantasy series.