The Way of Shadows

"The Way of Shadows"
Brent Weeks
High Fantacy
The Night Angel Trilogy

Summary
Azoth was nothing. He was born in to nothing and nothing is all his destiny held, until he met the great assassin Durzo Blint. Born on the street as a guild rat Azoth lived in constant fear of death and abuse. With only two friends to his name he knew that one day he would have to betray them or they would betray him, which was the way of the street.

Seeking a better life Azoth approached the greatest assassin alive, Durzo Blint. Durzo says he will take him on but only if he first shows that he can kill when ordered to. Azoths most overcome his kind nature and kill the most feared boy in his rat’s guild.

But even if he can do it Azoth does not know how different his life will be, or the challenges that face all assassins for being an assassin is a lonely life, for the best killers have no friend’s only targets.

Review
This is a great book. The writer has a power mind for details and colorful descriptions. He can get a little wordy at times and the build up in the book takes a little too long. By the time we really get in to the book 200 pages have passed of build up.

Even with all of that the book pulled me through page to page. I had trouble putting this book down it is so well written. The main character is familiar and reminded me of myself in many ways. Inside of us all is light and dark and the struggle within Azoth mirrors in a more pronounced way, the fight we all have to deal with inside ourselves.

One thing to keep in mind is that this book is written for an older audience. The book handles and covers a large range of adult ideas and concepts that would not be good for someone under 16 years of age.

Over all I feel that his book is a 8.2 out of 10.

Dragonsbane

"Dragonsbane"
Barbara Hambly
Winterlands #1
High Fantasy

Summary
Tales are told of the mighty knight from the Winterlands who single handedly slow the she dragon that had attacked his people. He called the dragon out of its cave and with sword in hand, killed the monster in honorable combat.

When a new dragon invades the kingdom a young man named Gareth travels to the Winterland to find this legend as he is the only dragonsbane alive. When he gets there he finds a normal man just trying to live his life and get by in a land that is hard and cruel. He finds a man not a hero.

With the kingdom on the line the hero and his witch have no choice but to go and fight the dragon or die trying.

Review
This is a great book. I loved the whole thing. From the beginning to the end the book has full characters, a strong plot, and powerful writing. The writer has created strong characters both male and female. and in the end the book has a strong positive message.

For some time I have not been reading a lot. There were not a lot of books that could hold my interest. But I picked this one up at the DI for less than a dollar, and within a few pages I was hooked and my love of reading returned. This book was so good that it inspired me to read several more books.

I would give it 8.7 out of 10.

The School for Good and Evil

"The School for Good and Evil"
Soman Chainani
Fairy Tale Fantacy

Summary
Two best friends form the village of the Woods Beyond wait for the most feared day off all. The day the head master of the school for fairy tales comes to take two children away. One of the children taken is always the best, sweatiest, nicest and all around good. The other is always the worst, most evil, meanest and an all around bad person.

This year two friends where taken together. The first one was born to be a princess. With her blond hair, blue eyes and open smile she new she would be taken to the school for good. The other girl has dark hair, bad skin and no friends other then the one. Everyone in the village new she would be taken to the school for evil.

That night as everyone Predicted the two friends where taken. They went to the land of fairy tales and joined the school for good and evil. Sadly there is only one problem... they where both put in to the wrong schools.

Now they most work together to get home and escape the mistake the school master made.

Review
This book is very well written and powerfully creative with its original concept around a classic idea. I loved this book when i first started reading it and I could not put it down. I had gone a long time without reading. I got tired of reading the same thing just by different writers and I could not find a good book to get me started again. When I found this one I got really excited and read it in just a few hours. Sadly in the end it failed.

At the end of the book the writer adds an political statement, and i felt that it was inappropriate for a children's book. Literally in the last paragraph off the book she just adds this in and it ruined the whole story for me. The problem is that even if you agree with the political statement it still felt awkward and out of place. It felt thrown together and personally I wish I had stopped reading a paragraph before the end.

If I had stopped, this book would have been one of my favorites ever. It also would have greatly improved the book. This small change would have changed this book from being one in a crowed of so many book. In to a book that would be remembered and talked about for years.

If the writer had stopped one paragraph before this book would have get 9 out of 10 from me. As it is right now the book gets 3 out of 10, and i would not recommend this book to anyone.