Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Orbit (2008), Edition: 1st, 689 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. HTML: Logan Gyre is king of Cenaria, a country under siege, with a threadbare army and little hope. He has one chance---a desperate gamble, but one that could destroy his kingdom. In the north, the new Godking has a plan. If it comes to fruition, no one will have the power to stop him. Kylar Stern has no choice. To save his friends---and perhaps his enemies---he must accomplish the impossible: assassinate a goddess..
User reviews
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
The conclusion of the Night Angel Trilogy and this is an interesting story and I did like it, I just didn't love it. I found myself a bit confused with the changing of the viewpoints and while it did often round out the story, sometimes it wasn't clear enough for me to make the leap to who it was
I would like to read more by this author, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it.
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the viewpoint was from. The conclusion was good and Weeks did make the characters make some difficult decisions, many of them between a rock and a hard place. I would like to read more by this author, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it.
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LibraryThing member Isamoor
Oct09:
Well, the last book wraps it up for sure. It's also a lot more romantic than it's writing style would encourage. I'll try not to spoil more than that. Although, I think the final fighting scene came straight from "God of War" the console game. But that's not a bad thing :)
The following
Characters: Fully realized. Durzo is the bomb. The lead manages not to be annoying for a "boy grows up" and the females are strong.
Plot: Superbly written. There is reason and there is motive. It moves at a brisk pace and doesn't drag me down.
Style: And the best for last. This book just oozes style. The fighting is cool. The characters are cool. You get to escape into a super awesome action flick for the thinking man.
Well, the last book wraps it up for sure. It's also a lot more romantic than it's writing style would encourage. I'll try not to spoil more than that. Although, I think the final fighting scene came straight from "God of War" the console game. But that's not a bad thing :)
The following
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applies to the whole trilogy:Characters: Fully realized. Durzo is the bomb. The lead manages not to be annoying for a "boy grows up" and the females are strong.
Plot: Superbly written. There is reason and there is motive. It moves at a brisk pace and doesn't drag me down.
Style: And the best for last. This book just oozes style. The fighting is cool. The characters are cool. You get to escape into a super awesome action flick for the thinking man.
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LibraryThing member lewispike
This book doesn't forego the earlier wonderful touches - the characters are still deep, rounded and have to face up to the consequences of their actions, and more of those are revealed.
At the same time, the various bits of plot come to dominate at least somewhat more because the characters are
The plots, again, are not really new - there's a big bad that's trying to end life on earth and it has to be stopped - but the way the characters interact to help sort the problem out is fun, and the final resolution neatly ties up a load of loose ends in a very satisfying parcel.
Unlike book 2 this doesn't miss the rhythm at all, although it's another fairly long book it keeps romping along, even at the times when there's a reason for it to be slow it hits the right cadence so you get the feeling of it being appropriately slow.
There's meant to be another series coming set in this world - I can't wait!
At the same time, the various bits of plot come to dominate at least somewhat more because the characters are
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rounded and established and we don't really meet many new important ones in this book.The plots, again, are not really new - there's a big bad that's trying to end life on earth and it has to be stopped - but the way the characters interact to help sort the problem out is fun, and the final resolution neatly ties up a load of loose ends in a very satisfying parcel.
Unlike book 2 this doesn't miss the rhythm at all, although it's another fairly long book it keeps romping along, even at the times when there's a reason for it to be slow it hits the right cadence so you get the feeling of it being appropriately slow.
There's meant to be another series coming set in this world - I can't wait!
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LibraryThing member DWWilkin
It doesn't end with a whimper, but the other way. In the previous two outings of this series we had several more of the unexpected plot twists that had elevated this series beyond the stereotype of the genre.
So my opening is stereotypical as a review for an ending to a trilogy, as is the story.
In the first two books Weeks succeeded because we thought we were on familiar ground and he stood everything on an ear. We knew our hero was indestructible, though at first in the series we were unsure who exactly it was. But as the series finished up we see that the survival of our hero had its price. We find that as everything is tied neatly, not all was made happy, but was made satisfactory.
The third book of a trilogy has to give us a conclusion and Weeks did that. Just as you know that the Motion Picture Academy has to acknowledge Peter Jackson by the third movie for the entire Trilogy, so too do you have to give kudos to Weeks for bringing the series to its end. It is worth reading again, and as a whole, though in hindsight, this book needs a little more to make it rival the previous two.
So my opening is stereotypical as a review for an ending to a trilogy, as is the story.
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Weeks however delivers action, depth, plot and fun along the way. It makes us look for more than we get, as if Weeks almost rushed to tie up a few loose ends, but adds in some new dimensions so that we have something to look forward to in a promised sequel that casts the story further into the future.In the first two books Weeks succeeded because we thought we were on familiar ground and he stood everything on an ear. We knew our hero was indestructible, though at first in the series we were unsure who exactly it was. But as the series finished up we see that the survival of our hero had its price. We find that as everything is tied neatly, not all was made happy, but was made satisfactory.
The third book of a trilogy has to give us a conclusion and Weeks did that. Just as you know that the Motion Picture Academy has to acknowledge Peter Jackson by the third movie for the entire Trilogy, so too do you have to give kudos to Weeks for bringing the series to its end. It is worth reading again, and as a whole, though in hindsight, this book needs a little more to make it rival the previous two.
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LibraryThing member amf0001
This is the culmination of the series, and everything feels like it's rushing to the climax. Initially I read it and put it down, reading the other two back to back, meant that I needed a little break. But once I started I couldn't put it down. It's a rollicking ride with lots of revelations and a
All in all a very satisfactory ending to an excellent series. I look forward to buying more of Brent Weeks' works!
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few tears. I liked the cost of immortality, I really did. I liked how Kylar and Vi and Elene worked out. I liked Logan. Jeni was a bit too perfect (especially for a 16 yo!) but I loved Dorian and how his character was slowly revealed. All in all a very satisfactory ending to an excellent series. I look forward to buying more of Brent Weeks' works!
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LibraryThing member lithicbee
Beyond the Shadows was hit-and-miss with me for a while, until I caught on that all these plot threads that to me seemed random were actually building towards a unified ending. That ending rocked, both on an action level and an emotional level. Maybe on a second read-through, I will be less
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confused by all the story lines. And the entire series is definitely worth a re-read. Show Less
LibraryThing member windlover26
This book was a fitting ending to the trilogy. 'Great' doesn't cover it.
LibraryThing member gollybabe
I rarely fall so hard and so fast. For an author I hadn't read before, Brent Weeks suddenly became a must have on my bookshelf. I picked up book one cos I was bored, and for the rest of the weekend I couldn't stand to be interrupted for 5 minutes. It was absolutely riveting. ALL THREE BOOKS were.
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As I finished the last part of the trilogy, I got very very sad, cos it seemed like a fantastic adventure was coming to an end. I missed all the characters- Logan , Kylar, Durzo all of them. can't wait to read his next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member awoods187
Great book, great series. I thought he packed too much plot into the trilogy, it easily could have, and probably should have been more books. I didn't particularly like the fact that one character reemerged again and again to save a main character, seemed like sloppy writing. However, the
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characters, the story, and the general writing were all excellent. Show Less
LibraryThing member harpua
I read the first two in the series back last year. I had started this book then, but I was just burned out from the series and I sat it aside, not really caring if I came back to it or not. I promptly forgot about the series, until a few days back I’m cleaning out some of my bookshelves trying to
This was a decent finish to a series that while intriguing enough to keep me reading, won’t be considered one of the greats. I enjoyed the story well enough, but never really cared for the characters. I never felt any empathy for any of them or their struggles. Seems there were still a lot of unanswered questions at the end of this. I felt like there were many things built up as important in books 1 and 2 only to be left behind at the end of the series. A bit disappointing for that.
This may not sound like a positive review, but in fact I think this was a decent ending to the series. While it had problems, it was an enjoyable enough series and I’m glad I finished it. It won’t be memorable though and I don’t see a reason to revisit this one.
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make space and came across the series again and decided to give this one another try to finish off the series. This was a decent finish to a series that while intriguing enough to keep me reading, won’t be considered one of the greats. I enjoyed the story well enough, but never really cared for the characters. I never felt any empathy for any of them or their struggles. Seems there were still a lot of unanswered questions at the end of this. I felt like there were many things built up as important in books 1 and 2 only to be left behind at the end of the series. A bit disappointing for that.
This may not sound like a positive review, but in fact I think this was a decent ending to the series. While it had problems, it was an enjoyable enough series and I’m glad I finished it. It won’t be memorable though and I don’t see a reason to revisit this one.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the third and final book in the Night Angel trilogy. It wraps up the series nicely and the multitude of plots are mostly wrapped up neatly. It ended happier than I thought it would given what all of our characters are put through. I listened to this on audio book and it was very well done
The God King has been defeated but now there are other dangers to Cenaria's kingdom. Kylar wants Logan to accept the Kingship of Cenaria, but Logan wants to uphold his vow to the current Queen. Vi is off to the Chantry to begin her mage training with the Sisters. Elene is on her way to the Chantry to visit Vi and Uly. Basically all of the various kingdoms are perched to attack each other and all of our favorite characters have positions of power throughout the various kingdoms. If I tried to list where everyone was and what they were doing here...this review would turn into a novella.
As in previous novels Weeks does an excellent job keeping the reader engaged with the characters. The characters are life-like and really pull you into the story; they make mistakes, they try their best, sometimes they do good, sometimes they (especially Kylar) make a mess of it all.
The plot was twisted and convoluted and came from a billion different perspectives. It was kind of fun to watch the characters making decisions about their kingdoms without knowing what was happening in other kingdoms. All the secrets come out in the end, but throughout the story so many major decisions are made without characters knowing what is really going on in other parts of the kingdom that it is very ironic. At times this can be a bit annoying because it seems like the characters go off on tangents they don't really need to go down to make the story progress. As with the other books the story is engaging but progresses slowly because of all the different perspectives.
The threesome of Solon, Dorian, and Feir gets a lot more page space in this book. It was good to read about them more. We didn't get to read about Uly much at all; she was talked about in the background but not really present in the story. I missed her.
Weeks has a great writing style to read; very readable with some humor throughout. As with previous books, this is a book for adults. There is a lot of talking about sex, swearing, and many gruesome scenes.
My only big problem with the plot is that the evil that the characters are fighting against is less apparent than it was when they were fighting the God King in the last book. The evil in this book is more sprawling and less concentrated. In fact most of the characters are just trying to hold their kingdoms together and don't even realize that they are dealing with the Goddess Kali until the end of the book. It just makes the end battle a bit less profound.
The book wrapped everything up nicely; although there are some things that point at future stories being set in this world.
Overall this was an excellent conclusion to this series. Weeks weaves a complicated and intriguing story with realistic characters that are very engaging. My only complaints are that the multitude of perspectives the story is told from slows down the progress of the story, the battle the characters were fighting was less about destroying a great evil and more about protecting their individual kingdoms. I did enjoy the way everything was wrapped up. I enjoyed this series enough that I will probably pick up The Black Prism by Brent Weeks at some point. I recommend also reading The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson or The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher if you enjoyed this series.
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(please forgive any name/place mis-spellings).The God King has been defeated but now there are other dangers to Cenaria's kingdom. Kylar wants Logan to accept the Kingship of Cenaria, but Logan wants to uphold his vow to the current Queen. Vi is off to the Chantry to begin her mage training with the Sisters. Elene is on her way to the Chantry to visit Vi and Uly. Basically all of the various kingdoms are perched to attack each other and all of our favorite characters have positions of power throughout the various kingdoms. If I tried to list where everyone was and what they were doing here...this review would turn into a novella.
As in previous novels Weeks does an excellent job keeping the reader engaged with the characters. The characters are life-like and really pull you into the story; they make mistakes, they try their best, sometimes they do good, sometimes they (especially Kylar) make a mess of it all.
The plot was twisted and convoluted and came from a billion different perspectives. It was kind of fun to watch the characters making decisions about their kingdoms without knowing what was happening in other kingdoms. All the secrets come out in the end, but throughout the story so many major decisions are made without characters knowing what is really going on in other parts of the kingdom that it is very ironic. At times this can be a bit annoying because it seems like the characters go off on tangents they don't really need to go down to make the story progress. As with the other books the story is engaging but progresses slowly because of all the different perspectives.
The threesome of Solon, Dorian, and Feir gets a lot more page space in this book. It was good to read about them more. We didn't get to read about Uly much at all; she was talked about in the background but not really present in the story. I missed her.
Weeks has a great writing style to read; very readable with some humor throughout. As with previous books, this is a book for adults. There is a lot of talking about sex, swearing, and many gruesome scenes.
My only big problem with the plot is that the evil that the characters are fighting against is less apparent than it was when they were fighting the God King in the last book. The evil in this book is more sprawling and less concentrated. In fact most of the characters are just trying to hold their kingdoms together and don't even realize that they are dealing with the Goddess Kali until the end of the book. It just makes the end battle a bit less profound.
The book wrapped everything up nicely; although there are some things that point at future stories being set in this world.
Overall this was an excellent conclusion to this series. Weeks weaves a complicated and intriguing story with realistic characters that are very engaging. My only complaints are that the multitude of perspectives the story is told from slows down the progress of the story, the battle the characters were fighting was less about destroying a great evil and more about protecting their individual kingdoms. I did enjoy the way everything was wrapped up. I enjoyed this series enough that I will probably pick up The Black Prism by Brent Weeks at some point. I recommend also reading The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson or The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher if you enjoyed this series.
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LibraryThing member edspicer
The author creates a whole new world and he shows it amazingly, the characters are well thought out and not just archetypes, the action is told in a good way. Q4P3 AHS/Connor M.
LibraryThing member t_alder
.... pardon me, I think I threw up there just a little bit...The best way I can describe this twaddle is to have you imagine Lemony Snicket discovering his first four letter word while going through puberty. As the series progresses, his fixation with both increase exponentially. Could have been so
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much bette Show Less
LibraryThing member stefant
I liked this book better than the previous one. Elene is still too perfect to be interesting, but there are other characters to focus on. E.g. we get to know Vi better in this book. It actually gets a bit complicated with all the characters involved. Khalidor and the new Godking's rise to power is
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very interesting. I also liked the description of the Chantry. I got a bit tired of magic in the end, although it is well described. The author likes to throw in very unusual words which impaired my reading experience a little. Show Less
LibraryThing member corglacier7
Weeks ties up the trilogy of dark hero, "wetboy", and kakarifer Kylar here with a lot of kicking ass, a lot of action, a lot of poignancy, and a lot of heartbreak. Deftly tying together and showing significance small details from the previous two volumes, the plotlines all come together neatly to
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make a ripping good read. I ended the book with mixed feelings, simply because Weeks had made me care about these guys and some of what they endure is a real gut punch, but a realistic and non-gratuitous one...sure sign of a good book by a good author. I'm looking forward to his next work. Show Less
LibraryThing member stefferoo
Wasn't the grand finale that I was hoping for, but I liked it. Very often, I find myself smitten with the first book of a series only to find that the rest of the books that follow don't live up to it. It's especially true with trilogies, and this one was no exception.
Still, it did a good job of
Also, there's something I noticed about Brent Week's writing that constantly jolts me out of my reading groove and seriously interrupts any flow the book has going. I mentioned in my review of the last book in this series that he seems to have this tendency to make his characters say or crack jokes at the most random and inappropriate times. Perhaps this might have a lot to do with it, but I also noticed that sometimes the language he uses feels "off". I notice it's usually Weeks' use of modern or juvenile vernacular that does it. Just off the top of my head, nothing kills immersion faster for me than seeing multiple characters use the word "butt" repeatedly, like "staring at her butt", "it was a nice butt", etc. Just a personal pet peeve of mine, when I'm reading fantasy.
I still enjoyed reading this though, and I would recommend the trilogy as a whole to fans of darker fantasy, especially if you like stories about assassins and magic.
Still, it did a good job of
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tying up all the loose ends and bringing everything together, even though there were a few story lines I felt went nowhere and on the bigger scheme of things served as nothing more than filler.Also, there's something I noticed about Brent Week's writing that constantly jolts me out of my reading groove and seriously interrupts any flow the book has going. I mentioned in my review of the last book in this series that he seems to have this tendency to make his characters say or crack jokes at the most random and inappropriate times. Perhaps this might have a lot to do with it, but I also noticed that sometimes the language he uses feels "off". I notice it's usually Weeks' use of modern or juvenile vernacular that does it. Just off the top of my head, nothing kills immersion faster for me than seeing multiple characters use the word "butt" repeatedly, like "staring at her butt", "it was a nice butt", etc. Just a personal pet peeve of mine, when I'm reading fantasy.
I still enjoyed reading this though, and I would recommend the trilogy as a whole to fans of darker fantasy, especially if you like stories about assassins and magic.
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LibraryThing member ZetaSyanthis
First off, I like the book, especially the ending, which had a fantastic premise and extremely well written visuals. Curoch, Iures, and the magical system are unique among anything I've read and quite ingenious. However, there are still some problems, mainly with setup of the world and
Having finished this trilogy, I have to modify my previous reviews' comments about 'why are these characters in this book.' Unfortunately, I can't quite reverse them, however, as you don't find out what the characters roles are until the very end. I suspect I may know the reason. Though the actual world is rich and diverse, with all sorts of different cultures and ways of thinking, the backgrounds of characters are glossed over until well after they've started making major decisions for unknown reasons. In large part, background imagery and explanation comes after tacked on as afterthoughts to kind of patch up why a character acted a certain way, or to establish at the last minute where an important item came from.
The big word that's missing from this series is 'foreshadowing,' and given the title of these books, there's a fair bit of irony in that. I do understand the difference between what an author knows versus what the reader is supposed to know at a particular time, but simply throwing characters and places in without us actually knowing who or what we should care about (aside from GRAR EVIL Vuurdmeisters! Fight them!) makes it really hard to connect.
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characters.Having finished this trilogy, I have to modify my previous reviews' comments about 'why are these characters in this book.' Unfortunately, I can't quite reverse them, however, as you don't find out what the characters roles are until the very end. I suspect I may know the reason. Though the actual world is rich and diverse, with all sorts of different cultures and ways of thinking, the backgrounds of characters are glossed over until well after they've started making major decisions for unknown reasons. In large part, background imagery and explanation comes after tacked on as afterthoughts to kind of patch up why a character acted a certain way, or to establish at the last minute where an important item came from.
The big word that's missing from this series is 'foreshadowing,' and given the title of these books, there's a fair bit of irony in that. I do understand the difference between what an author knows versus what the reader is supposed to know at a particular time, but simply throwing characters and places in without us actually knowing who or what we should care about (aside from GRAR EVIL Vuurdmeisters! Fight them!) makes it really hard to connect.
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LibraryThing member dolphari
The end of an amazing saga of friendship, heartbreak, and self-sacrifice. Dark and sad, but with an ending of redemption in the midst of loss.
LibraryThing member kinwolf
The first half of the book was shooting storylines in all directions, and most lead.. nowhere? The second half was focused once more and the finale was nice(even though it was somewhat cliché to someone who's read so many fantasy book and played so many rpg)
There has been some very strong moments
Reading the 3 books back to back(10th anniversary edition) did show some plot error that I'd thought should have been fixed since it's a 10 anniversary edition, but nothing major. A very nice find/read
There has been some very strong moments
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throughout the 3 books, yes, I cried in a few places. I liked the character development of Logan, Vi, Durzo and Dorian. I had some problem with Kular who seemed to regress at the start of the 3rd book. Reading the 3 books back to back(10th anniversary edition) did show some plot error that I'd thought should have been fixed since it's a 10 anniversary edition, but nothing major. A very nice find/read
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LibraryThing member malexmave
After a very good first book, and a nice sequel, this book caught me. I had the "luck" to be sick for a few days, so I had the chance to read most of it in one go, and it is fascinating how Brent Weeks managed to tie almost every little thing he ever mentioned in one of the three books into a big
All in all, I really enjoyed the books, and the ending didn't leave a pale taste to me, like it sometimes does when I finish a series.
I can recommend the series to anyone who likes good fantasy, especially with asassins (although Kylar would probably beat me up for calling him one).
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plot, where little facts dropped somewhere in a sentence suddenly influence the fate of kingdoms.All in all, I really enjoyed the books, and the ending didn't leave a pale taste to me, like it sometimes does when I finish a series.
I can recommend the series to anyone who likes good fantasy, especially with asassins (although Kylar would probably beat me up for calling him one).
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LibraryThing member dkgarner95
That. Was. EPIC.
LibraryThing member TysonAdams
You know that feeling you get when you've just finished reading a really good book? The joy, the sorrow, the need for the bathroom because you couldn't stop reading the for final 100 pages. Well this book wasn't one of those, it was three of them: the Night Angel series by Brent Weeks.
I read this
So, if you haven't read the adventures of Kylar Stern - the Night Angel - I suggest you start with the first book, The Way of Shadows.
I read this
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series back to back, buying the second two on my Kindle immediately after finishing the first (a curse on the publishers who decided to charge a ridiculous price for them). It was a good thing too, since each book was able double the size of the thrillers and crime novels that make up the majority of my reading. There are many advantages to long books and to series. Long books can be more entertaining, a series can give you more value for reading. But the disadvantage is that authors who write long books often try to pack a lot of filler into the books. The thing that I liked about each book in this series, and the series as a whole, was the lack of filler.So, if you haven't read the adventures of Kylar Stern - the Night Angel - I suggest you start with the first book, The Way of Shadows.
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LibraryThing member e2d2
Meh. there were parts to this trilogy that were interesting, but they just got lost under poorly crafted purpose of the whole story. Characters motivations were either overly defined or ill-described. There was too much "and then this other catastrophe happens" but it's okay because purity,
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chastity and good old fashioned magic will save the day." Show Less
LibraryThing member finalcut
Sadly I thought this series got worse as it went on. Thankfully, this was the final book in the series. There were no real plot twists or surprises to the tale and even when he tried hard to surprise the reader it just came off flat.
LibraryThing member sinceyouasked
Not without its problems, but still an engaging read. Inconsistencies and some dead-obvious fantasy cliches interfere with the fun a bit.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008-12
Physical description
689 p.; 6.75 inches
ISBN
0316033669 / 9780316033664