The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Azoth is an orphan who wants to grow up to be a feared and dangerous man like Durzo Blint. Durzo is the city's most famous and deadly assassin. After a chance encounter, Azoth begs to be apprenticed by Durzo. After Azoth completes a task Durzo sets him to, he accepts Azoth under one condition...that he turns his back on his old life completely. He becomes Kylar Stern the apprentice to Durzo Blint.
The Way of Shadows is a complicated book. In many ways it reads like a horny teenager's wet dream. The book also features sloppy execution by introducing things out of nowhere for convenience sake. The first three quarters of the book were quite slow and just interesting enough for me to continue. The last quarter of the book was quite good in fact.
The magic system was unlike anything I've ever previously encountered. The author's creativity abounds in the magic and it's undoubtedly one of the strongest parts of the book. It's no coincidence that the last quarter of the book that was really good, finally showed off the magic system in full force.
The dialogue in this book made me crazy. I don't understand why anyone would write the majority of the characters in the way they did. The naming also was weak at times since the main characters were, I kid you not, called Wetboys instead of assassins. It was sophomoric at best and cringe worthy at it's worst.
The Way of Shadows was quite the mixed bag indeed.
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