Pros: Character growth becomes more evident, action and intrigue throughout, and a far more vulnerable Kylar.
Cons: Still one moment where a character who should know better seems preoccupied with sex.
The Bottom Line: With the revelations and character growths that are reaching a climax here you'll see the entire series in an entirely different light.
carl_lazarevic's Full Review: Brent Weeks - Beyond the Shadows
Disclaimer: Beyond The Shadows Is the final (and best) book in Brent Weeks Night Angel Trilogy. Before reading it you should check out the first 2 parts The Way Of Shadows and Shadows Edge.
Kylar Stern has given up everything for the city of Ceneria. He's left behind a life of peace with the woman he loves to return to the life of a Wetboy in order to save Cenria's rightful king, his best friend Logan Gyre. You see Kylar is more than just a mere Wetboy; ever since he killed his mentor Durzo Blint he has taken over the mantle of The Night Angel. An Immortal Hero of mythology with abilities beyond any normal man, and an uncanny knack for coming back from the dead.
Unfortunately saving Ceneria didn't go according to plan. In order to avoid a civil war breaking out just when the people needed unity Logan swore allegiance to an ambitious noblewoman named Terah Graesin, and has every intention of honoring that vow even after the cities victory.
Things are far from over for the city though. With the Godking Ursuul's death his lost son Dorian has arrived and taken the throne, so the Khalidorans could attack again at any moment. Another of the Godking's sons has joined a rebellious Verdmeister (magician) in trying to raise the Goddess Khali in a bid for power. Other neighboring nations are also readying their forces for surprise attacks on the city. If Ceneria is to survive they need Logan's leadership, but to gain it Tera Graesin must die.
Kylar is more than capable of fulfilling this task, but if he does Logan's first act will be to execute him as a traitor, and this will be a death Kylar can not just return from. He'd have to give up his entire life in Ceneria, leave behind everyone he loves, and start again with a new name and face somewhere else.
Meanwhile Durzo has been given one last life, and wants to live it with the woman he loves. Except Kylar still has so much to learn that Durzo needs to help teach him some new tricks that will enable him to assassinate a Goddess. That is assuming Kylar will still be able to perform this task once he learns the horrific cost of his own immortality.
I must say this was more like it. Beyond The Shadows offers far more of the action, adventure, and intrigue that the series was promising from the begriming. It starts off on slightly shakey ground by introducing Dorian's story. Dorian was in the other books, but he was merely an old prophet stalking around behind the scenes. In this book though he starts off disguised as a eunuch in his father's court looking for the woman he believes he will marry. You guessed it, par for the course of male characters in this series his main concern is how to discreetly tell the girl "Oh by the way, I do actually have genitals" once he finally finds her.
However once he discovers that his father is dead this line of reasoning goes and Dorian goes through one of the more interesting character arcs in the series. You see in the other books Dorian was a character who prided himself on his goodness, but it was a pride in how others viewed his goodness. When he crowns himself Godking though he realizes that before he can do good for the world, he must prove himself strong. Which means one name change later to protect 'Dorian's' reputation and he's happily raping and murdering any who stand in his way.
I liked this twist to Dorian's character, but he was by no means the only character to be given more depth in this book. Pretty much every major character for the series got to show how much they've grown since the beginning. Logan proves himself to be the man who should be king by honoring his promises to a pretender queen, but then faces up to his responsibilities admirably even when it comes to executing his best friend for putting him on the throne. Vi faces up to the consequences of her forcing a marriage bond onto Kylar at the end of the last book by accepting love for the first time, and then causing herself untold misery to give Kylar a few moments happiness.
Elene; Kylar's first love, goes through some major changes as she realizes why Kylar sometimes sees death as necessary and decides to accept even those parts of the man she loves. Meanwhile she learns to forgive Vi for forcing a marriage onto Kylar, and finds herself able to become a good friend to her while searching desperately for her own place in God's arrangement.
Obviously though the main thrust of the book is back onto the Night Angel Kylar stern himself, and Weeks does an admirable job of showing the burden of Kylar's position. Even in the early stages of the book, when Kylar is deciding to give up his life as Kylar Stern for the greater good, you really feel the weight of this decision upon his shoulders. However once the truth about his immortality is revealed, and you find out what was written on Durzo's note in the first books conclusion, then he becomes a far more vulnerable character than you thought possible. Facing sacrifices far greater than a person who could just sacrifice his life ever could.
Thankfully Weeks has pulled out all the stops in making this conclusion an epic action adventure in it's own right. There's a lot of political intrigue going on to keep the interest flowing from the start of the book, but then it kicks into gear with some superb magical battles that are pretty much unrelenting for the final arc of the story. I said in my review of the first book that it featured videogame level writing that would appeal only to Elder Scrolls nerds. I take that back now big time. As one big story the Night Angel trilogy is an admirable fantasy in it's own right. With the revelations and character growths that are reaching a climax here you'll see the entire series in an entirely different light.
I'm giving this book 4 stars because once it gets going it kept me gripped throughout. As a series I'd say the overall books deserve 3.5 stars, which is definitely worth checking out if you see them on sale.
In the spellbinding conclusion to the Night Angel trilogy, Kylar is hired forone last job--to assassinate a goddess. Original.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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