Jordan D. (jddennis) - reviewed on 4/16/2009 + 12 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 6

The story is something that I think most fantasy readers will be somewhat familiar with. Azoth is a young boy surviving on the streets of Cenaria City. An orphan and pickpocket, Azoth works with a cell of children that have been organized by Cenaria's large, nfluential crime syndicate. Seemingly by chance, Azoth meets Durzo Blint. Blint is a wetboy, a ruthless killer-for-hire who has magical gifts known as Talent. Azoth convinces Durzo Blint to take him on as an apprentice. He spends years working on learning the trade, but is frustrated because he cannot tap into his Talent--without which he cannot be a wetboy.

Meanwhile, Cenaria has troubles of it's own. In addition to a major Organized Crime problem, the king is weak and neighboring Khalidor has plans of conquest. As invaders swarm in, Azoth, now called Kyler Stern, has to find his Talent, no matter what the cost, to save his country and those he holds dear.

Like I said, this plot sounds pretty familiar. So much so that it starts to feel like a road well travelled. But that's okay. THE WAY OF SHADOWS is comfort reading at it's best, and it was exactly what I was looking for. The plot moves quickly, the characters are pretty fun, and the writing is decent.

In a year from now, I'll probably remember is the relationships in the book. The tag on the cover is "The perfect killer has no friends -- only targets." Kylar struggles all throughout the book with this. How can he be an effective wetboy, yet still retain his bonds with those close to him? In the end, it hurts him because Durzo uses those bonds to secretly use Kylar for his own purposes.

One thing I should mention, though, is that THE WAY OF SHADOWS is really, really gritty. Although the story has a lot of familiar plot elements, Weeks puts his characters through ugly situations. As an example, young Azoth has to kill another child in order to convince Durzo Blint to accept him on as a pupil. There's also a lot of harsh language, but I think that it's necessary for the story that Weeks is trying to tell. The nobles of the story are for the most part very civil, but they're a minority of the characters. Weeks is telling the story of criminals, killers, and prostitutes, and he doesn't try to sanitize them.

So, if you're squeamish about those types of things, I'd definitely steer clear. But if you don't mind that, and you're looking for a solidly plotted adventure trilogy, THE WAY OF SHADOWS would be a great place to start.

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