Reviewing the Night Angel Trilogy

            A book review! What’s with that, right? Not just a review of one book, but of three. Of course, that’s partially because you can’t just read one of these books. If you read one, you have no choice but to read the rest (this is, of course, going based on the assumption that you start with the first book. If you read books out of order, someone needs to serve you a healthy dose of OCD).

            The Night Angel Trilogy is a series written by Brent Weeks that contains the books The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge, and Beyond the Shadows. It is the story of a worthless boy from a street guild who gives up everything to become a wetboy (an assassin who augments his skills with magic), then becomes goes on to become one of the most important people in the world.

            The first thing I should say about these books is that it is the darkest and grittiest fantasy I have ever read – in fact, too much so for my tastes. Yet, this is the second time I have read them. Based on the content, I would have put the first book down by chapter three. By that time, however, the story was already so compelling that I couldn't bring myself to stop reading until the end of the entire trilogy. I even knew that, in spite of the content I was uncomfortable reading, I would have to read it a second time to catch all the brilliant foreshadowing I missed the first time through.

            For this series, Brent Weeks has created a world that is real. I don’t mean one that feels real – loads of authors accomplish that – but a world that pulls no punches, where the worst imaginable things can and do happen. After a while, you can believe you’re actually living in this world, in spite of the magic that is fairly common. Setting this scene is helped by the books starting off with a child living in the seedy underbelly of a society that is rotten to the core.

            Every character introduced is unique and believable, largely because they aren't “ideal” people. Most of them have more flaws and unlikeable points than not, yet they are so intriguing that I found myself wanting more about the history and adventures of even the most insignificant side characters.

            As I said earlier, the story itself just grabs you and drags you through. You quickly grow attached to the characters, then the worst imaginable things happen to them with no possible way out, yet there’s just enough good happening to keep your hopes up. By the end, you let out a well satisfied sigh – it doesn't all turn out the way you hope or expect, but you’re left feeling like it’s the best possible resolution and you couldn't ask for more.

            My only objection to anything in the series is some of the language used. In a world so well created, I felt that it took away from it when wording was used that felt too modern. The one sticks out the most in my mind (from both times I read it) was when one character “fell on his butt”, which I felt could have been worded far more eloquently. On the other hand, I might just be picky.

            So, if you can endure the dark and gritty (containing nightmarish monsters the worst things you can imagine happening to people), this is a series I would highly recommend reading. If you can’t endure it, don’t even start the first one to find out, because you’ll have no choice but read all of them. Twice, if you’re like me.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Monsters from my Closet

            Today I shall tell you of the monster in my closet. Well, monsters, really. And they aren't there any more. At least, I hope not. They were dreadful.

            They’re funny things, though, monsters in closets and under beds. Where do they come from? My own observational skills tell me that they come from the half-shapes we see in the dark – things that are often made of the shadows and silhouettes of multiple items, making us wonder what we could possibly gave hanging from the back of the door that could look like that. On the other hand, common lore (backed up by a quick internet search) suggests that the monsters came as stories used to scare children into obedience. I suspect both are true.

            It’s an odd tradition, though, telling children there are monsters in their closets or under their beds and will eat them (or drag them off) if they don’t behave. Yes, fear is the easiest way to get anyone to do what you want (although far from the best and encourages bullying), but this particular story lacks a certain logic. I mean, really... if you want your child to go to sleep, do you really want them thinking there’s something lurking under their bed?

            That said, I'm quite confident my parents never told me there were monsters anywhere in my room. My brother might have, but I have no memory of it. So it’s strange that I actually had such monsters lurking about. It’s possible that my monsters were inspired by their common presence in books, movies and the minds of my friends.

            Regardless of how they got there, two monsters took up residence in my childhood closet. At first, there was only one. He would come out of my closet, searching for children who were still awake so he could eat them. Luckily, I was very good at pretending to be asleep.

            Unfortunately for me, I had a keen mind. I knew that everything in the world had an opposite, balancing factor. So, it was only a matter of time before my monster brought his brother along. His brother was a monster who only ate children who were asleep.

            Still, my luck hadn't run out (as can be told by the fact that I'm here today to tell you this tale). Neither of the monsters were very smart. They would go to opposite sides of my bed, so I was able to close one eye and keep the other open. This fooled one into thinking he was seeing an awake child (when he ate sleeping ones) and the other into thinking he was seeing a sleeping child (when he ate awake ones). They would inform each other of their findings, then switch places. All I had to do was switch which eye was open and which was closed.

            They would go back and forth for some time, getting frustrated and hungrier. Eventually they would give up and wander off, back into my closet, and I was finally permitted to go to sleep. After running this ploy for long enough, my monsters finally gave up and stopped coming.

            I have to wonder if they might still be out there somewhere, hunting unsuspecting children. Perhaps they merely fed off my imagination and, since they were unique to me, they faded from existence after I had defeated them. If you do happen to come across them, though, tell them “hi” from me and give them a wink.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.