The perfect killer has no identity, but many faces. Night Angel Trilogy #2
Mass Market Paperback, 636 pages
English language
Published Nov. 7, 2008 by Orbit.
Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. In the wake of the Godking's violent coup, both his master and his closest friend are dead. His friend was Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria's throne, but few of the ruling class survive to mourn his loss. So Kylar is starting over: new city, new companions, and new profession. But when he learns that Logan might be alive, trapped and in hiding, Kylar faces an impossible choice. He could give up the way of shadows forever, and find peace with his young family. Or Kylar could succumb to his flair for destruction, the years of training, to save his friend and his country - and lose all he holds precious.
Second book slump. And the introduction of too many characters, so it maintained little flow. The book consistently hops around making reading a little jarring. It did keep me willing to finish the series though, so I guess there's that.
4/5 for me.
Middle books are often plodding along. They don't have the excitement of introducing the major players and plot foundations of series openers, and don't have the impact of resolution of major storylines. They merely help keeping the reader going. This was one of the better middle books.
Kylar Stern, our 'hero', has moved on from conquered Cenaria and is trying to be a better person, husband and father in Caernarvon, as herbalist. Meanwhile, things in Cenaria are dire, as the Godking Gareth Ursuul continues his conquest and solidifies his hold on Cenaria. It is inevitable that Kylar gets drawn back into this conflict.
The scope widens in this book. It's not a tale of assassins in Cenaria City, but starts involving multiple factions. Neighboring countries, demi-goddesses, mages and sisters of the Chantry. The finale of the book was as exciting as the previous one, and especially the …
4/5 for me.
Middle books are often plodding along. They don't have the excitement of introducing the major players and plot foundations of series openers, and don't have the impact of resolution of major storylines. They merely help keeping the reader going. This was one of the better middle books.
Kylar Stern, our 'hero', has moved on from conquered Cenaria and is trying to be a better person, husband and father in Caernarvon, as herbalist. Meanwhile, things in Cenaria are dire, as the Godking Gareth Ursuul continues his conquest and solidifies his hold on Cenaria. It is inevitable that Kylar gets drawn back into this conflict.
The scope widens in this book. It's not a tale of assassins in Cenaria City, but starts involving multiple factions. Neighboring countries, demi-goddesses, mages and sisters of the Chantry. The finale of the book was as exciting as the previous one, and especially the cliffhanger keeps me wanting more.
Then why just the four stars, when I am piling on praise? The one thing that bothered me more than anything else was the abundant use of sexual violence against women. Whores get abused, women get raped and tortured. We get it, the Khalidorans are sick fucks, and men in this particular fantasy world revel in patriarchy. The main female character of this book, Vi, is clearly capable and dangerous, but it's made very obvious that she's a puppet on male strings, and has been used and abused over and over. It was a bit much, enough to sour my enjoyment plenty of times.
