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The Way of Shadows

The Way of Shadows

The perfect killer has no friends, only targets.
Epic FantasyFantasy
Pages
645
Published
2008
Language
English

Synopsis

The Way of Shadows is Brent Weeks' New York Times bestselling fantasy novel and the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. In the city of Cenaria, assassination is a respected art, and Durzo Blint is its undisputed master. Young Azoth, a survivor of the Warrens, takes a desperate chance apprenticing himself to Durzo, shedding his old life to become Kylar Stern and master the deadly arts of the wetboy amid the politics and magic of Midcyru.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkTenseGrittyAdventurous
Mentor FigureSecret IdentityComing of AgeSurvival

Genres

Epic Fantasy Fantasy High Fantasy

About the author

B
Brent Weeks

Brent Weeks is an American fantasy writer, born on March 7, 1977 in Whitefish, Montana. He graduated from Hillsdale College in 2000 with a degree in English, then worked as a teacher and a bartender before writing full time. His debut, The Way of Shadows, opened the Night Angel trilogy in 2008 and reached the New York Times bestseller list in 2009. He followed it with the five-book Lightbringer series, beginning with The Black Prism in 2010, and returned to the Night Angel world with Night Angel...

Characters

Kylar SternProtagonist

A street orphan born Azoth; he leaves his old life and his name behind to apprentice himself to the city's most feared assassin, training for years in the deadly arts of the wetboy.

Rat (Night Angel)Antagonist

The Black Dragon Guild's brutal enforcer, who beats and terrorizes the Warrens' guild children over unpaid dues.

Durzo BlintSupporting

Cenaria's most accomplished wetboy, a legendary assassin with supernatural abilities who reluctantly takes on Azoth as his apprentice.

Logan GyreSupporting

Heir of House Gyre, one of Cenaria's most powerful noble families, and Kylar's closest friend from a world far above the slums.

Elene CromwyllSupporting

A devout girl adopted out of the Warrens who grew up alongside Azoth and Jarl, and who loves Kylar from behind the anonymity he keeps between them.

All characters in The Way of Shadows

Frequently asked questions

  • Has The Way of Shadows won any awards?

    The Way of Shadows was a finalist for the 2009 David Gemmell Legend Award, which was won that year by Andrzej Sapkowski's Blood of Elves.

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