The Way of Shadows

Executive Summary: I seem to read nothing but grimdark fantasy these days, but compared to say Malazan or Song of Ice and Fire this isn't nearly as bleak. I enjoyed this one start to finish.Audio book: This is the first book I've listen to narrated by Paul Boehmer. He's a pretty good narrator. He speaks clearly. I never had trouble understanding him. He does a few accents for the various nations, but not really distinct voices. Sometimes I had a little trouble knowing who was talking, but not often. He didn't really add or detract from the book. He looks to read the rest of the trilogy, and I welcome that.Full ReviewI thought this book was going to be a 5 star one, but it lost a little steam at the end. It might have been the epilogue which was over 30 minutes by itself.That said, I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was good, I enjoyed the characters and the story. It probably has one of the best villains I've read in a long time. I was literally yelling at my audio book a few times in outrage at their actions. It's really hard for me to believe this is Mr. Week's debut novel.There are few silly things, like the term Wetboys. There are assassins and then their are wetboys. Wetboys are in a class well above just an assassin. That said, it's a really stupid name. Especially for a grown adult. Night Angel: cool name. Wetboy? Sorry, no. Couldn't he have come up with something better?The book itself is loosely based on the coming of age fantasy trope, with a much darker flavor. Instead of the young farmboy being whisked away on an adventure to save the world, we have a young street urchin named Azoth, who aspires to become the apprentice to the best Wetboy in the city Durzo Blint.The book has some pretty good action, and an interesting magic system that I don't really understand at this point. If you're looking for clear rules a'la [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201547425p2/38550.jpg] you'll have to look somewhere else.Overall I really enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to the next book, which I plan to start immediately.