Durzo Blint tells him that he is a sole individual and doesn’t do partners, apprentices, relationships or anything else – his single focus is his job and that’s why he is the best. Azoth realises that this was Durzo Blint – world renowned assassin, also known as a Wetboy.Īfter all he has witnessed and the lacklustre future he knows he will have unless he does something – Azoth asks Durzo Blint to take him on as his apprentice. Whilst hiding a man above him is attacked and subsequently massacres his attackers with very little effort (even though Azoth thinks he appears drunk) and calmly walks from the bar. Although those within the inn are unaware of Azoth’s presence – Azoth can see above through cracks in the floor. He finds his chance whilst wading through the disgusting and dangerous gap underneath an inn’s floorboards to retrieve the few coins that may have fallen through the cracks. Azoth is willing to do anything in order to get out. It paints a terrifying picture and as you can imagine.

They demand payment, beat them, steal their food and even force themselves upon the weaker ones. The older children in the guild literally make the younger children’s lives hell. These guilds are full of young children who basically work together in order to steal food, mug wealthier folk and dabble in minor profit making crime. Azoth has survived by finding his way into a low-leveled guild. Our main character is Azoth, an orphan who has been born into a world completely corrupt and controlled by an organised crime band known as the Sa’kagé. There is rape, murder, pure evil and treachery – in fact it is a very, very dark series. It is a bold book that to some extent glorifies the work of assassins, justifies the work of prostitutes and paints thieves in at very least a grey fashion. The first book in the series The Way of the Shadows came out in 2008. It was in Brent Weeks’ own words, “A huge gamble by the publisher, but it was one that paid off.” People read the books within 30 days and wanted to have the next one in their hands instantly. This one month wait between each book was almost unheard of and although it was a bold move, it paid off. When Brent Weeks wrote the Night Angel Trilogy his publishers weren’t prepared to make us wait a year for each book. This allows time for readers to finish a book, have a bit of a change and then re-visit a world about a year later. Typically, a fantasy trilogy will take between three and four years from the first book until the last book is released.

It takes a special kind of author to write three books and have them sold consecutively on a monthly basis.

The night angel trilogy books