Night Angel Nemesis

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Last question! You seem to enjoy putting Kylar through the ringer, so let’s end by fielding one Kylar’s way. If you had to send any three fictional assassins or characters from other stories after him, who would you send? reality can really disappoint with a new release you are most excited about. This was not the case here.

One of the reasons that the worlds hang together or that you feel like there’s this foreshadowing…is the first novel I wrote was set in this world but 20 years later. I had this one really amazing character show up — I actually had three or four characters cross over, and I love these characters but the novel was broken. I’d done some things wrong structurally. And so when I threw it away I was like you know what…I like some of the worldbuilding I did, and I know where things are going. I know where history is headed. And in that [book] there was this one character who showed up and I was like that guys’ a badass. He’s scary and yet he’s got this code. And so…who is he? Night Angel Nemesis begins mere months after the final events of Beyond the Shadows. They are separate narratives, but many of the characters from the first trilogy are still key players in this novel. However, given that there is well over a decade between their publications, I think Night Angel Nemesis could only be enjoyed by having read (or carried out a recent reread) of the earlier novels. While not essential, it would vastly increase your understanding of the world and the characters. There are some characters in Night Angel Nemesis that only play a relatively small part in this novel but were much more critical in the original trilogy. In terms of the main characters, Kylar and Vi, what they went through before the events of Night Angel Nemesis is very relevant to why they are the way they are now. Weeks does summarise their histories very well as part of the narrative. Still, to get the complete picture, I think Night Angel Nemesis should be seen as a continuation of The Night Angel Trilogy rather than a completely independent novel. Whether you enjoy that or not will largely depend on personal preference. I expect that Night Angel Nemesis will be divisive among longtime fans on account of the different style. On the whole though, I enjoyed this stylistic choice quite a lot. It’s refreshing to see an author be bold enough to try such a big stylistic shift in the same overarching series. Weeks pulls it off quite well, even if it feels slightly self-indulgent at times. Night Angel Nemesis isn’t your typical fantasy novel

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Night Angel Nemesisis the beginning of a new trilogy set in the world of Midcyru: The Kylar Chronicles. It signals a huge expansion of the Night Angeluniverse, and now that it’s out, Weeks is finally teasing the grand plan he has ahead for characters like assassin Kylar Stern. But Kylar’s best–and maybe only–friend, the High King Logan Gyre, needs him. To protect a fragile peace, Logan’s new kingdom, and the king’s twin sons, he needs Kylar to secure a powerful magical artifact that was unearthed during the war. In fact, I’d go so far as to say new readers might even have an advantage here. One of the most notable aspects of Night Angel Nemesisis that, stylistically, it is an enormous departure from the original Night Angeltrilogy. Those books were dark, brooding medieval fantasies that recalled George R.R. Martin or Joe Abercrombie, told in limited third person with a variety of viewpoint characters. Nemesis, on the other hand, is split between only two characters, with the vast majority of the book being told as a recorded first person account by assassin Kylar Stern about a fateful heist that goes wildly out of control.

Again, this was a tough read for me. I was forced to confront my naive hope for a happy ending and accept that these characters have been through a lot and that healing doesn’t come so fast, or so easy. I will never see them the same again, but that doesn’t change my hope for their futures. Life is hard, especially for magical assassins, but there is always hope. But Kylar's best - and maybe only - friend, the High King Logan Gyre, needs him. To protect a fragile peace, Logan's new kingdom, and the king's twin sons, he needs Kylar to secure a powerful magical artifact that was unearthed during the war. That’s sort of how we got here, and that’s how I know a lot about how the world fits together, because…well, I cheated, I wrote that other book first! Which didn’t feel like cheating at the time. Throwing away five years of work was really hard. [Laughs] So then this gives us a chance to reflect on Kylar’s character growth and who Kylar is. The Night Angel Trilogy: 10th Anniversary Edition Night Angel: The Complete Trilogy (omnibus) Perfect Shadow: A Night Angel Novella If he does the job right, he won’t need to kill at all. This isn’t an assassination — it’s a heist.

Unforgettable characters, a plot that kept me guessing, non-stop action and the kind of in-depth storytelling that makes me admire a writer’s work‘ Terry Brooks Night Angel Nemesis by Brent Weeks. Image courtesy of Orbit Books. Can you read Night Angel Nemesis without having read the original trilogy?

Brent Weeks excels in creating deep internal conflict. He takes characters and puts them in situations that force them to take actions that they would never otherwize do. They act against their nature and then have to grapple with the consequences of what they’ve done and of who they really are. This is a painful process, but it is so effective as a writing device. And it is for this reason that I was afraid to read Nemesis. I knew that the first book in a new series wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses. But I also knew that I love Brent’s writing and I love his characters and I needed to see what happened to them next. After the war that cost him so much, Kylar Stern is broken and alone. He's determined not to kill again, but an impending amnesty will pardon the one murderer he can't let walk free. He promises himself this is the last time. One last hit to tie up the loose ends of his old, lost life. Nemesis was a hard book for me to read for many reasons. I read the original Night Angel trilogy when I was in High School shortly after they came out. The books were instrumental in my transitioning from teen fantasy to adult fantasy and they informed my preferences for years to come. They were important books to me and I have longed for more for a very long time. All of this said, I now find myself conflicted because some small part of me hoped for the future of these characters who I had fallen in love with. I wanted to see them heal and to be happy, but anyone who has read the original trilogy knows that things could never be quite that simple.

Nemesis is a very well written book. It twists and turns and makes you uncertain of where it is going, but in the best way possible. Brent weaves several complex plots through the story and frequently changes between first and third person. The majority of the book is in first person from Kylar’s perspective and this gives us a window into his mind like we’ve never had before. While I initially found it jarring coming from the original series and Lightbringer, Brent executes it very well. It’s your bookworm friend’s/parent’s/coworker’s/cousin’s/ roommate’s/sibling’s/spouse’s/neighbor’s/partner’s birthday