Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

I am only about halfway through, wanted to get this up for those of you who had finished!

I am loving it so far...

You can spoil for this book, but please mark any series spoilers!

My review:

This is a good, action-packed debut novel. Writer is full of interesting ideas if not unique. Execution of those ideas however is not at its best. We know, in every book, writer pulls the strings of the characters, the better the book, the least you feel writers pull on the characters' strings. In "The Way of Shadows" characters felt not enough fleshed out and you can't ignore writer's pull on the strings rather than characters having their own motivation to do things.

The big revelations in the plot felt like an info dump, rather than causing an excitement of piecing together the mystery.

I can't help but compare this book to Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy and Azoth to Fitz. In both book, it annoyed me to no end that both Azoth and Fitz obsessed over an ordinary girl and plot revealed around their vulnerability due to this love interest and their insistence on having this particular dull girl caused all sorts of trouble. I never liked Molly much, same is true for Elaine. But in Farseer series, I understood why Fitz is obsessed with Molly, what she meant for him. In "The Way of Shadows" I'm not at all convinced by Azoth's love and obsession over Elaine. Feeling guilty for her scarred face does not do it for me. And keeping his "innocence" while learning to be an assassin was not quite believable for me, either. As I said above, I feel they are execution problems rather than plot problems.

Despite my gripes, I enjoyed the book half of the time, but I don't like where plot goes and I'm ambivalent to go on reading the series.

I absolutely loved this book, so I'll agree to disagree about most things in your review.

All except one....Elaine! I hated her and she annoyed me to no end. The thing that I found most illogical about her is the way she turned out. It just doesn't match the condition's she grow up in, or people she grew around.

She turn's out the be this naive, goody two shoes mary sue miss perfect saint wannabe. It feels forced to me. Because she was old enough to remember everything when she was taken off the streets. And street wise mentality stays with a person.

And this thing about feeling guilty about her scar, not logical.

And then is the thing that her wanting to do good only brings unnecessary troubles.

Elaine is supposed to be a pure good influence and bring out all the best and all that, but In me she brings out the wish to see her run-over by the heard of wild elephants:)

I finished this yesterday, and I was a little put off by some of the plot twists. I am going to let it sink in a bit, and maybe some of these get straightened out later in the trilogy.

I loved this book, but I have to agree with Ena that it was hard to read this book without drawing direct comparisons with the Farseer Trilogy. However, that being said, I found that about 2/3 of the way through the book, I stopped making comparisons as I got drawn into the Solon, Darian, and Fein trio and realized that Weeks was building another level to the novel and was teasing the reader with little hints.

I also hated Elene, and wonder if Weeks was ambivalent towards her himself, as Momma K is a more interesting, complex and realistic character. I figure that Elene was a plot device to push Kylar/Azoth along. Would like to see more the Sa'Kage if Weeks puts the same depth into the characters.

I found it hard at first to get into, and wonder if part of it had to do with my Kobo e-book edition. There was nothing to mark the transition from one character to another, and I felt like I was getting whiplash trying to figure out who was who at first. After the first 30 pages or so, the transitions were farther apart and I found focusing on the plot easier. Anyone else have this problem?

Everything digs deeper as the series continues: the characters, the plot, the world. i think you will find the next two books better than the first.

Just finished. This is my second Brent Weeks' book. I cannot help to compare it to Black Prism which I read first.

It is good, not as rich and complex as the Black Prism, but still good. For a debut novel, I would say that it's damned good!

I just want to emphasize the usage of several foreign vocabulary and the parallel of his fantasy world with our real world. In one way, you might see it as unoriginality. But somehow, it works. I don't really mind that he borrows some Japanese words.

Definitely will read the next installment.

So far i light this series better than the Lightbringer series, but "the blood mirror" could bring it back for me.

I liked the book (and I will enjoy finishing out the trilogy) but I really felt this book wasn't finished. It appears that the publisher split a huge book into a trilogy instead of editing it into a nice tight volume.

The following are nit-picks, I know, but they are the things that stayed in my mind as I finished the book.

There are characters that are integral to the plot but are un-fleshed: Dorian, Feir, and Solon in particular. These were a fascinating trio, but you know so little about them, that, when they act in the final action, these characters become Week's Deus ex Mechina.

The same with the princess Jeni and her effect on Logan - Her only purpose is to become a "noble death". Her marriage to Logan had all of the potential to become an integral part of Logan's story. Instead, she is gone in a couple of chapters. Further, Roth has the ultimate *legitimate* heir to the throne he just conquered and he throws her away in a snit?!? He is not smart enough to be as powerful as he is - someone would have taken him out long before he grew up to throw temper tantrums in conquered throne rooms.

Terah Graesin is another character whose story is incomplete and puzzling: in this kingdom we are given no strong competent women but Momma K - yet, in the final chapters we are presented with a woman capable of rallying the last of the nobles under her banner. We also get the first glimpse of a woman who can challenge Kylar in Hu's apprentice, Vi. Where where these women in the previous 50 chapters?

I also dislike the "hidden pregnancy" that seems to appear in fiction so often. It is not an easy thing to hide a pregnancy and it is a very difficult secret to keep in reality. Having both sisters (K and Vonda) go away for a while and Vonda claiming to have had the child *may* have worked - but this means the Sa'kage was left without its Shinga for *months*. I can not see Momma K holding power during her confinement. Someone in the organization would have spied out her secret or her own people would have sold it...

I think this would have been a stronger narrative if it had been Durzo's and Momma K's story. That story is self-contained in this one volume and would have allowed the book to stand alone. The rise of Kylar as the Night Angel would have created the great transition to the second volume.

These are just my opinions of course and I am still very happy I finally read this book. I will be adding the author's other books to my "to read" list because I enjoyed this one so much(despite its flaws).

I agree Lucinda...I had trouble beleiving the hidden pregnancy story arc too. If Durzo has lived this long, it's hard to imagine he was that dense about the whole thing...it didnt add up.

But for me, it wasnt enough to derail me from wanting the rest of the story

You are right on some things, i do think the book was ment to be longer and was spilt up luckly i started reading them after all three were out. I think that a lot of your questions will be answered if you continue the series try and remember that it is a trilogy and not a stand alone so everything is not going to be wraped up in book 1.

As far as Momma K and Durzo there is a prequel called "perfect shadow" it doesn't go into everything but it shows Starfire becoming Durzo and him moving into the city and meeting the Night Angel proper charcters

I really enjoyed the book, found it a rollicking good read and I would have been happy to end where it ended and wait years for a sequel.

I think people in this thread do have some valid criticisms:

1. Dorian, Fier, and Solon are really cool, potentially interesting characters who do seem, sometimes, like a cheap way to get out of problems. Their personalities and abilities need to be further explored in the series to make them believable characters.

2. Strong female characters are lacking. Vi and Terah, as mentioned, have the potential to be strong, interesting females, but they get only a couple of scenes each in this book and are never really explored. Jeni also has the potential to be a strong woman. She showed a lot more personality than most of the women when she was paired up with Logan. And she was kept alive by Neph Dada. Momma K is the strongest female developed in this book, and while she has some intelligence and occasional suggestions of cleverness, she is never really shown exercising power, but rather moping over the man she loves and wishing she were dead and being a weak, caring woman. Why is a woman's greatest show of strength having a child in secret or betraying the man she loves? Can't she do anything on her own?

3. This book does obviously need to be compared to Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy. I think this and The Assassin's Apprentice have similarly open endings for the rest of the trilogy and I do not think that a criticism. I felt this was somewhat darker and much more thought-provoking that the Farseer books. I think the Farseer books did better justify the love interest and better develop the relationship between Fitz and Molly than Kyler and Elene. But I accepted Elene as she was and was not as annoyed with her as other readers.

All in all, it was a fun read with interesting thoughts about darkness, slavery, assassins, and Justice.

I liked this book. After the last few books I've read being, The Well of Ascension and a re-re-read of first 2 Wheel of Time, this gave me a nice change of pace. I will say I can find myself agreeing with most people's criticism of this though. It did seem that it could be a piece of a larger novel rather the first in the series. I was also lost for the first few chapters in trying to get a understanding of the world and characters.
That being said I'm hoping these characters get built upon in the next book. I like the world, after getting an understanding of it, as well as the magic system. I also see Elene as an odd character but I also see her as Azoth/Kyler's conscience. I kept thinking back to the scene early in the book when he splits the bread and tries taking the larger piece but Doll Girl gives him a look and he gives it to Jarl.
Looking forward to the second book and happy I finally gave Weeks a read. Will definitely continue with his other series' in the future.

My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The book feels very raw in many way. Like a first novel. But the action and the intrigue worked for me.

it was his first published novel

Dorian, Fier, and Solon do get more attention and spotlight in books 2&3.

As for stronger female characters....you'll have to read for your self and see what happens in that front:)

I didn't get much of an Assassin's Apprentice vibe, so I'll have to think about that. I feel like this book had a lot more action, and I thought the battle scenes were pretty intense. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to book 2!

Suzanne wrote: "I didn't get much of an Assassin's Apprentice vibe, so I'll have to think about that. I feel like this book had a lot more action, and I thought the battle scenes were pretty intense. I enjoyed i..."

Totally different vibe to Assassins Apprentice. Kyler is ninja - Fitz not so much though he gets better in book 2. Fitz role is secret. Kyler is part of an underworld where everybody knows everybody...almost.
As bad as Fitz has it growing up, Azoth's was a lot worse, growing up in a climate of physical, emotional and sexual abuse - where the perpetrators were themselves children and the whole lot of them are pretty much damaged goods. Where the highest one might aspire to be is a murdering wetboy.

I agree-I didn't even think about Assassins apprentice!

Is Assassins apprentice a good read?

Kenneth wrote: "Is Assassins apprentice a good read?"
I would definitely recommend it. It has more political intrigue than any real assassinations, though. Main character Fitz is more of a spy compared to Kyler.

I have to say that I really, REALLY enjoyed Way of Shadows! It's been a while since I've been able to read anything since I've read the Malazan series. Although I found myself comparing Weeks to Erikson, (which is what I've been doing ever since I read Erikson's series, which is why I haven't been able to read anything!), for example Azoth's dying and Kyler coming into being would have been written so much more convincingly by Erikson. I eventfully stopped myself from comparing them because at the end of the day it's not fair to Weeks that I was doing so.

That being said, the things I found intriguing about the story was all the twists and turns the story took, and most of those twists made since (except Momma K’s baby story line) and I could so relate to Azoth and his need to feel safe! When he befriends Logan, you start to see the man he’s going to become.

I also loved Durzo’s character! I thought his teaching Kyler to become a Wetboy was quite demanding, yet I wish he had revealed more of himself to Kyler!

Finally, the ending was WOW crazy!! I actually called in sick to finish the book, haven’t done THAT in a LONG time! Since I’ve already started Edge, I’m not disappointed as it sounds like some people are with character development or plot arcs, so my advice would be to KEEP READING!!!!  I will say my only complaint would be that I wish Weeks had broken his books up into sections verses the endless chapters.