IRA: Beyond the Shadows

This is the second time I'm switching blogs, and I'm sorry for all the confusion this may cause. Don't worry, though, I'm sure I'll come up with more rants in future (ha). The book I'm switching to is Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks. It is the third book in the Night Angel Trilogy. I will try to summarize what I've read so far and then comment on it. I'll try to start off on a good, non-ranting note.

Summary (Chapters 1-13):

The first chapter starts off with Logan Gyre, a noble, sitting on the battlefield after the Cenarian's have just defeated the Khalidoran's. (The Khalidoran's invaded and occupied Cenaria at the end of the first book and had a reign of bloody terror until the Cenarian's rallied together and defeated them). Terah Graesin, the woman who inrends to be queen, comes to Logan and reminds him that he swore his troth that he would follow her and wouldn't claim the kingship. Logan agrees and says he will do so, because he is honorable and won't go back on his word.

Kylar, a former wetboy who has the ka'kari, has to into a Ceuran camp and steal a sword called Ceur'caelestos. He fails at first and must flee. He then goes to this Lae'knaught camp and basically convinces them that he's some magical apparition (using the ka'kari), and that the "Khalidorans" are behind it. In reality, the Ceurans disguised themselves as such in order to lure the Cenarian army. They end up going into the Hunter's Wood, where a magical creature exists that kills anyone who enters, and are killed. He then fights Lantano Garuwashi, the Ceuran who holds Ceur'caelestos, and they reach a tie. A pit wyrm attacks them, and Garuwashi kills it using the sword. In the confusion, Kylar manages to procure the sword and throws it into the Hunter's Wood. The Wolf then gives him a new right arm, per their deal. He then leaves and goes back to his horse, where he and Logan end up meeting up. He tells Logan that he took care of the Lae'knaught, as well as that the "Khalidroans" are really Ceuran's and that their army intends to attack Cenaria. They then leave.

Meanwhile, Dorian Ursuul (son of the Khalidorans Godking, but who has renounced it) sneaks into the Khalidoran capital and pretends to be half-Feyuri eunuch slave in order to find his future wife. He has the gift of prophecy and had visions of her. He manages to get into the tower where she's kept, and they talk. He tells her that he will help her escape and has a plan. It will be ready in five days.

Analysis:

I may have missed a few things, but I believe I have most of them. One of the things of note in this book is the gritty realism of it. Even the heroes tend to be very dark. Kylar Stern is a former wetboy (basically an assassin but more deadly. They are all Talented, a kind of magic) who grew up in the slums as an orphan. Logan Gyre had to hide in the Hole, the worst part of the prison in Cenaria, to escape death. He was forced to become a cannibal to survive, as all the other prisoners in the Hole did. So, as you can see, it is definitely a very dark series. This is probably one of the best things about the book, in my opinion.