The Way of Shadows (2008) (edit title/settings)

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Baronet Kylar Stern: Apprentice to the infamous Durzo Blint. Has good moral but has lost his way when it comes to protecting friends.
• Durzo Blint: The city's most accomplished assassin/wetboy, who agrees to take on Azoth as an apprentice.
• Azoth: Street rat in a gang called the Black Dragons, which is basically run by Rat, a merciless terrible 16 year old boy who beats the children on a regular basis, demands gold from each, and tortures them with his rat boys.
• Logan Gyre: Kylar's best friend and next in line for the throne of Cenaria after the royal family.
• King Davin: King of Cenaria when the story begins
• Elene Cromwyll: The servant girl with the mysterious benefactor.
• Lady Trudana Jadwin: Mistress of King Aleine Gunder IX
• Count Rimbold Drake: Wife Mistress Bronwyn, daughters Serah, Mags. Kyler goes to live with them as part of his training to be a Baronet. He is a God fearing man.
• Gwinvere Kirena: She goes by the name Momma K and runs several brothels.
• Jenine Gunder: Goes by the name Jeni and she is the sister of Prince Aleine.
• Serah Drake: Eldest daughter of Count Rimbold Drake. It has always been assumed that she and Logan Gyre would marry.
• King Aleine Gunder IX: He is the current king of Cenaria. He is known as the Niner and is a poor king whom no one likes and only obeys because of his title.
• Duke Regnus Gyre: His family is of a royal line. Logan Gyre is his son.
• Terah Graesin: She is eighth in line for the throne after the prince, the Gunder daughters, Logan and her father Duke Graesin
• Godking Garoth Ursuul: Godking of Khalidor. Evil and cold hearted to the core.
• Dorian Ursuul: Sa'seuran and Hoth'salar and once a Vurdmeister of the twelfth shu'ra, now a prophet.
• Ilena Drake: Count Drakes youngest daughter.
• Vonda Kirena: Durzo's dead lover.
• Jarl: Azoth's best friend. Apprentice under Momma K. Raped by Rat.
• Ulyssandra: Uly, she gets kidnapped by Roth
• Master Solon Tofusin: The prophet Dorian sent him to be an advisor to Logan Gyre. He is of the House Tofusin, Windseekers of Royal House Bra’aden of the Island Empire of Seth. He is a magi.
• Captain Vin Arturian: Reports to Lord General Brant Agon. Part of the military reporting to King Aleine Gunder IX.
• Feir Cousat: He is Vy'sana and a Blademaster of the Second Echelon who accompanies Dorian to Cenaria. In the future, he will become a renowned sword-smith in all Midcyru.
• Doll Girl: Childhood friend of Azoth, whom he protects fiercely.
• Prince Aleine Gunder: Prince of Cenaria and friend of Logan Gyre.
• Lord General Brant Agon: The General of the King Aleine Gunder IX army, and a friend to Durzo. Once he gives he vow to serve, he does even if it goes against all the he believes.
• Corbin Fishill: He is one of the nine who currently head the Sa'kage. He has a bad lisp. The Sa'kage sanction Blint to kill him.
• Hu Gibbet: The city's second-best wetboy.
• Viridiana: Hu Gibbet's apprentice.
• Prince Roth Ursuul: He is the son of the Godking Garoth Ursuul of Khalidor.
• Nose: One of the guards of the prison where Logan is held. He assists Logan in getting free and tells him to go to Jarl, who is a friend of Kylers. He dies while freeing Logan.
• Thaddeus Blat: He is a soldier who Regnus Gyre goes to to find out who order his imprisonment.
• Fergund Sa’fasti: A counselor to King Aleine Gunder IX. He is a mage.
• Kaldrosa Wyn: She is a Sethi pirate who brings some of Godking Garoth Ursuul's army via what she calls a 'sea cow'.
• Khali: A god that the Khalidorans follow. She controls the "vir" the meisters and Vurdmeisters use to do magic.
• Pon Dradin: The public Shinga for the Sa'kage. Roth has him killed to take his place.
• Vurdmeister Neph Dada: He came to the Warrens with Rat to make sure that he remained safe. He is a master of Khali mages.
• King Abinazae: King over four hundred years ago when Ceraria was a major power.
• Mags Drake: Second daughter of Count Drake
• Anders Gurka: One of the wetboys
• Arikus Daadrul: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari which gives him impervious to blades.
• Ezra the Mad: Next to Emperor Jorsin Alkestes he is the best mage of the time four hundred years ago. He made the war hammers of Oren Razin, fire and lightning traps, Curoch, th esword of power, Iures, the staff of law and six artifacts, ka'kari.
• Corvaer Blackwell: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari which makes him master over fire. He is known as Corvaer the Red.
• Trace Arvaguania: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari which turns her from the ugliest woman to the most beautiful woman of the era.
• Oren Razin: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari receives earth, weighs a thousand pounds and turns his skin to stone.
• Irenaea Blochwei: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari gets the power of everything green and growing.
• Shrad Marden: He is a champion of Emperor Jorsin Alkestes and receives a ka'kari gets water and can suck the very liquid from a man's blood.
• Aristarchos: Add a description of this character.
• Badger: One of the street rats that watched over Doll Girl when Azoth wasn't around.
• Sergeant Bamran Gamble: Over some of the guards at the castle.
• Bernerd: His twin is Lefty. They both work for the Sa'kage and are very large men. Each had a lightning bolt tattooed down him forehead. During the coup it is discovered that they work for Godking Garoth Ursuul.
• Lefty: His twin is Bernerd. They both work for the Sa'kage and are very large men. Each had a lightning bolt tattooed down him forehead. During the coup it is discovered that they work for Godking Garoth Ursuul.
• Bim, Weese, Pod: Rat abused boys and made them male prostitutes.
• Bran: One of the soldiers that worked for Duke Regnus Gyre.
• Catrinna Gyre: Duke Regnus Gyre's wife, Logan's mother.
• Brand Wesseros: Family of high standing in the kingdom.
• Gordin Graesin: Family in high standing within the kingdom.
• Darvin Makell: Family of high standing with the kingdom
• Burning Man: One of the guild leaders who took over territory that was once Rat's.
• Red Hand: One of the guild leaders who took over territory that was once Rat's.
• Rusty Knife: One of the guild leaders who took over territory that was once Rat's.
• Dabin Vosha: One of the nine of the Sa'kage. He is in charge of the Sa'kage's smuggling.
• Devon Corgi: The first official kill for Kyler under Blints tutelage.
• Dorg Gamet: The stable master at the castle.
• Sister Drissa Nile: She is a maja and a great healer. She told Kyler that he is missing the conduit to work his Talent. She said he was broken.
• Ferl Khalius: He was one of the first highlanders to enter into Cenaria when the coup began and he found the Conroch when he was cleaning up the bodies on the east bridge.
• Gare Cromwyll: Elene lived with this family and they taught her how to read and write. Has a mysterious benefactor.
• Colonel Hurin Gher: Was placed in the royal guard for King Aleine Gunder IX although he was a Khalidoran. He was the person who trapped the royal guard so that Roth could kill them one at a time.
• Goodman Aalye: He owned a Herbiary and supplied Blint with the ratest of herbs needed for poisoning.
• Harelip: One of the bigs who Rat kept close when he was dealing with the street rats.
• Gavrin Wesseros: Queen Nalia's brother.
• King Hurlak: Honeycombed the extension to the castle when he ruled because of his paranoia.
• Ja'laliel: Was over the guild Black Dragon in the Warrens. He was very ill and Rat was his fist to make sure all stayed in line.
• Jonus Severing: One of the wetboys
• Emperor Jorsin Alkestes: He was a great leader about four hundred years ago who brought talented people together, with different personalities and was able to make them work together. He was an amazing fighter and a very strong magus to date. The Curoch sword was his.
• King Logan Verdroekan: One of the first Kings of Cenaria. Logan Gyre was named after him.
• Queen Nalia Wesseros: She is King Aleine Gunder IX wife. She was betrothed to Regnus Gyre for fifteen years before her father broke the betrothal.
• Phineas Seratsin: The Sa'kage's Master of Coin.
• Master Procl: Best locksmith in town.
• Scarred Wrable: One of the wetboys
• Tallan: One of the guards for the Gyre house.
• The Wolf: Lives in the place be heaven and hell.
• Wendel North: Logan Gyre's steward.
• Count Yosar Glin: A client who betrayed Blint. Blint came to his house and threatened to kill him, but let him loose.
• Daydra: Works in one of the brothels owned by Momma K.

Quotes edit see section history

• “The perfect killer has no friends-- only targets.”

• “Hope is the lies we tell ourselves about the future.”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “Dying well is easy,” Kylar said, “it only takes a moment of courage. It’s living well that I couldn’t do. What’s death compared to that?”

  Highlighted by 47 Kindle customers

• I am proof of the absurdity of men’s most treasured abstractions. A just universe wouldn’t tolerate my existence.”

  Highlighted by 43 Kindle customers

• “Your Majesty,” Durzo said gravely. “A man of your stature’s cursing vocabulary ought to extend beyond a tedious reiteration of the excreta that fills the void between his ears.”

  Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers

• “A solicitor is a man who does worse things within the law than most crooks do outside it.

  Highlighted by 36 Kindle customers

• “Assassination is an art, milord, and I am the city’s most accomplished artist.”

  Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers

• God was gracious to me. He didn’t make me pay all that I owed, but maybe I had to be willing to pay the full price. That’s how repentance is different from regret.

  Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers

• “Life is empty. Life is meaningless. When we take a life, we aren’t taking anything of value. Wetboys are killers. That’s all we do. That’s all we are. There are no poets in the bitter business.”

  Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers

• “Most people aren’t strong enough for our creed, Kylar, so they believe comforting illusions, like the gods, or Justice, or the basic goodness of man. Those illusions fail in war. It breaks men.

  Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers

• The deeper I sank into the darkness, the more I loved her, and the more my shame grew. How can one love the light and live in darkness?”

  Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers

• “Every man worth a damn is a hypocrite.”

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Khalidor: Nation to the north of Cenaria, ruled by the Godking Garoth Ursuul.
• Sethi: A nation comprised of multiple islands that lies to the southwest of Cenaria.
• Cenaria: Nation where the majority of the story's action takes place.
• Midcyru: The continent on which the nations of Cenaria, Khalidor, Seth and others are located.

Organizations edit see section history

• Wetboy: The group of killers for hire who use magic to enhance their killing abilities
• Sa'kagé: The Sa'kagé is the term used for the criminal underworld of Midcyru.
• The Nine: The council to the Cenarian Shinga consisted of nine of the most important Sa'kagé members.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Wetboy: The term for an assassin.
• bags: term members of the Sa'kage give to merchants
• Shinga: The Shinga is the head of the Sa'kagé.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Shadow's Edge.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Brent Weeks (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Calvin Chu (Cover Artist) - Cover illustration (ISBN: 9780316033671)
2. Peter Cotton (Designer) - Cover design: (ISBN: 9780316033671)
3. Paul Boehmer (Narrator)
4. Hans Link (Translator) - German
5. R. Prencipe (Translator) - Italian
6. C. Di Mario (Translator) - Italian
7. Gabriel Dols Gallardo (Translator) - Spanish

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3623.E4223 .W39 2008
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Epic
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Night Angel Trilogy Glossary: Contains a glossary with explanations and pronunciations of things in the trilogy, written in the style of a Glossary written in the NAT world for the King. Reading it straight through may spoil some of the story, but looking up individual terms should be all-right (according to Weeks)