The Way of Shadows (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]

Night Angel [Dramatized Adaptation] #1, part 1

by Brent Weeks, Dylan Lynch (Narrator), David Coyne (Narrator)

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city's most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics and cultivate a flair for death. (Part 1 of 2)

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Young Adult

8 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

In a small-town Montana school at age 12, Brent Weeks met the two great loves of his life. Edgar Allan Poe introduced him to the power of literature to transcend time and death and loneliness. Fate introduced him to The Girl, Kristi Barnes. He began his pursuit of each immediately.

The novel was a failure. The Girl shot him down.

Since then–skipping the boring parts–Brent has written eight best-selling novels with the Night Angel Trilogy and the Lightbringer Series, won several industry awards, and sold a few million books.

Brent and his wife Kristi live in Oregon with their two daughters. (Yeah, he married The Girl.)

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, if the first 3/4 of this was as good as the last, the rating would have doubled. Alas, I cannot reward dragged out, meaningless, lackadaisical plots. 4 of 10 stars

[Jo_Reads_MM · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend of mine recommended this series as his favorite fantasy series ever. I was very excited to see that there were graphic audiobooks available. Since this is an epic fantasy with political intrigue, assassins, romance, and plenty of action and violence, graphic audio really made the story come to life. The only difficult thing is that sometimes all the background noise of the action made the narration hard to hear. I loved the story. The plot moves fast and I never knew what was coming next. There were some fantastic surprise twists as well. I’m looking forward to listening to the next one! Some of the content is dark, so check before reading, if necessary. Also, the first book is broken up into two parts for the graphic audiobook version. I found them on my Hoopla app.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

GraphicAudio carries the weight on this book. The recording is great quality with excellent actors as usual but some of the background music and sound choices were annoying. The Way of Shadows is a medieval fantasy with an unusual culture and magic system which I really can't explain because the characters didn't explain it well themselves. As for the actual story, the idea is interesting but I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, what they were doing, and their motivations the whole time. Some of that can be attributed to audiobook format (geography is a toughie with no map) and some is the writing style.

[Tuti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the narrator's voice, but the music and the sound often drown it out. I don't particularly like the voice of the young people. They sound weird when they're kids and they sound even weirder after they become young adult.

I can't really figure out who is voicing who - maybe it was mentioned at the end of the recording, but I really don't remember. There is also this little attention problem I have with audio book, so I might've missed it. All I know is that the narrator is Dylan Lynch, and I will listen to his voice anywhere, anytime - well, as long as it's a decent book and he's not in the process of reading the death of my favorite character. I wish I knew who Michael Glenn was playing. I love him as Curran in Kate Daniels series.

The story is brutal. Too much violence and depravity - murder/assassination, prostitution, rape, blackmail, backstabbing, etc. It's disturbing that for much of this recording (part 1), a lot of the main characters were very, very young.

The young people were not particularly likeable, except Jarl. Azoth was actually quite irritating. He kept doing stupid things and was easily swayed to do things that he probably shouldn't have done. Elene was also not that likeable, despite (or maybe because of) Kylar's obsession with her. She seemed a bit too self righteous.

The author seems quite liberal about killing off likable characters. Well, he kills off some that I don't like also, but I don't care about those people. Anyway, I am guessing that my favorite character is going to die in the second part of this book, so I am not going to listen to it. I prefer a happy ending for my favorite people.

[Pia Jensen Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this whole "graphic audiobook" concept with noises, music, several narrators for different people, etc. Sometimes the background noises (especially with fighting scenes) are a tad bit too loud compared to the narrator, though, and I have had some trouble actually understanding what was going on. That aside, this format really brings you into the setting in a way that a normal audiobook cannot.

With regards to the story, I have grown to like it. I think the first third or so of this was a little too hurried with introducing everything and everyone, and at times I had to stop, go back, and listen for a while again - simply because I felt like I should have known more or maybe I missed something. After I had gotten used to the different characters and felt a little more at home in the world that was set up, the story picked up a little more, and I was less confused. Hopefully this is not a problem in the following books - because I sure am looking forward to reading the rest!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Graphic Audio version of this book you can find here
The Night Angel Trilogy

These books are awesome! They were awesome when i was just reading them but listening to them in Graphic Audio is friggin' unbelievable! the voice acting is fantastic! It brings the Brent Weeks' story to a whole new level. Just check out some of the samples in the link above and you can make up you own mind.

[Sivani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very gripping book about friendship, honour and finding your way in life mixed with assasins, intrigue and kick-ass action.

The only thing that hindered me from giving it 5 stars was that I didn't "click" with the characters. I liked and disliked, but didn't love or loathe, didn't fret or hope. I did laugh and enjoy it and there were times when I couldn't put it down.

Worth reading if you like Marten, Hobb etc.

[Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have written a review for this before. Long story short it's a go to book for me & one of my favorites. Truly enjoy Brent's work. As a quirky side note: the guy on the cover looks a lot like Hugh Grant...which is really far from how i view the main character in my mind. :)

[Hanifa Tahsin · Rating 4 out of 5]

best book yet!! Kylar Stern is the all go unexpected hero!! dark , mysterious, crime, horror, love, family, laughter

[Rogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reread of my favourite book. The plot is a bit tricky in some places, but the complexity is lovely and the characters are fab.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The voice acting is pretty good.
I will listen to part two before I comment too much on the story itself.