Synopsis:
Kylar Stern, who suffered greatly during the war, is now in a broken and solitary state. He has made a decision to never kill again, but he faces a predicament where he cannot allow a particular murderer to go unpunished due to an impending amnesty. Kylar believes this will be his last mission, one final task to bring closure to his past life.
However, Kylar’s only true friend, the High King Logan Gyre, requires his assistance. Logan needs Kylar to protect his twin sons, his newly formed kingdom, and secure a powerful magical object that surfaced after the war. There are rumors that a ka’kari may be found, which attracts both old and new foes seeking its power. Kylar understands that ancient magic should only be entrusted to those who can be relied upon.
Kylar hopes to accomplish the task without resorting to murder. This is not an assassination, but a daring theft. Nonetheless, some missions are too challenging for a clear conscience, and some adversaries are too formidable, leaving no choice but to operate in secrecy.
Thoughts:
I never even for a second thought Brent Weeks would go back to The Night Angel series for some reason. Although there were some loose ends in Beyond the Shadows, I felt that the trilogy had a satisfying conclusion. Nevertheless, as an ardent follower of The Night Angel series, especially Kylar Stern and Vi (be still my beating heart!), I am elated that Weeks has chosen to expand on the series.
In the book acknowledgements Weeks mentions when he finished writing Beyond The Shadows he wasn’t sure whether he was skillful enough to add more to The Night Angel world and thought of revisiting it once he gained more writing experience. I don’t believe Weeks ever was a bad or a weak writer. His plots were always solid, the storylines sublime and world building simply out of this world. But were there problems with The Night Angel series in the first three installments? Yes. Like most high or epic fantasy writers his target audience was male and almost all his female characters were oversexualized. There were some deeply cringey moments which actually carried in to The Lightbringer series and that was the reason I gave up on that series after reading the first book only. HOWEVER, I am extremely happy to say that Weeks indeed has improved so much when it comes to addressing the aforementioned issues with the first three books. I never had a single moment of ‘oh not this again!’ while reading The Night Angel Nemesis. Weeks was thoughtful and navigated the female characters narratives with apt care and respect. So as a female high/epic fantasy reader I really appreciated this effort on his part.
Trust me when I say there are some pleasant surprises for The Night Angel fans in this installment. At first you are going to be a bit confused and then you are going to go ‘That’s just genius!’. Oh and there’s going to be a perspective change as well. Which, I have to say, was brilliantly executed. As is typical of Brent Weeks’ writing, the plot progression is complex and multi-layered, while his characters possess nuanced moral identities that exist in shades of grey which made it truly a joy to read this book.
I particularly enjoyed Skylar’s evolved thought process in The Night Angel Nemesis. He was vulnerable, relatable and was struggling to find and separate himself from The Night Angel persona. There were so many heart breaking moments where Weeks delved into Skylar’s inner monologues which made you love his character more. In this book Vi is given a front seat, which she deserves, and her character is developed brilliantly, I fell in love with her all over again. Ah, I can’t say anything more without giving away spoilers, so let me just say there is a new MVP and you are going to absolutely love them. They are sarcastic, funny, distant, chaotic but surprisingly at times very empathetic as well.
All in all, I truly enjoyed reading The Night Angel Nemesis and getting to dive back into The Night Angel world with some of my beloved characters and Mr. Weeks you deserve all five stars I am giving you, especially since I rated you extremely poor in The Light Bringer series. You did well! Extremely excited about the installments to come! My sincere thanks to Brent Weeks and Orbit books for providing me this advanced reader copy.
Rating:
The Book Cover
