Changes

{{infobox infobox1

|summary= Enjoyable fantasy, which won't tax your brain but provides exciting plot with good cliffhngerscliffhangers, well -developed characters facing genuinely tragic moral dilemmas, convincing uber-evil, inspired monsters and ingenious magic; occasionally marred by too much psychological interpretation from the author and characters themselves, and silly love and (lack of) sex scenes.

|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>184149741X</amazonuk> |amazonusaznuk=184149741X|aznus=<amazonus>0316033650</amazonus>

But sadly not all is epic fun and games in ''Shadow's Edge''. Particularly in the first sections, when Kylar Stern attempts sincerely to give up killing and violence, and exchange them for the ''daily intimacies of Elene's love'', quite a lot of space is given to their interactions and to the sexual tensions between them (as the intimacies of love fail to materialise). And those parts really do slip: the psychology is awfully over-explained and the language stilted and anachronistic at the same time. I am probably showing my age here, but I have never even heard anybody utter the expression ''trying to be cute'', though I have seen it - strictly in US teen novels and US teen-frequented websites - and something in me really, really protests when it's used as part of an internal monologue of a magical assassin in a feudal fantasy world. It could be, of course, post-modern, but it grates. Add to it the sex (or rather preoccupation with it combined with the lack of the actual event) and occasionally I found myself embarrassingly close to the territory often covered by the modern mediocre teen and 'young adult' novel. Luckily, the destiny intervenes and the cringe-inducing interactions of Kylar and Elene need to bother us no more.

There is still a tendency to over-explain that which is obvious. Weeks would do better to trust his writing skills and let the readers infer a little bit more of his characters' feelings; after all , they are, even with all their torn loyalties and conflicted strivings, mostly straightforward and don't require extensive authorial interpretations or stuck-on explanatory internal monologues. Those interpretations tend to slip into the language and conceptual framework of modern psychobabble. Barely dressed-up ideas of the cycle of abuse, sexual hurt, empowerment, self-esteem and self-hatred, domestic violence, early childhood experiences leaving lasting scars and similar, turn up their ugly heads in what seems like an artificial attempt at the dreaded 'relevance'. I am not objecting to the themes, by any means, but to the fantasy magi in a feudal world thinking and talking like a 21st century American therapists.

''Shadow's Edge'' would be a much better novel (although perhaps a tad more challenging to the youngest readers in its potential audience) if the majority of this navel-gazing and emotional explanation was curtailed. We can all see why Natassa's taunting of Ghorky the guard is admirable. We can see why the prostitutes turned warriors risk their life lives for the king, and what kind of epiphany Elene undergoes when defending the child from a Kahlidorian guard. It's all there, already, in the events, and dialogue, we don't have to be told.

I will happily read ''Beyond the Shadows'' (in fact, I might save it as a precious distraction for the time of genuine need, i.e. my next bad cold), but I am in a quandary as to how to rate ''Shadow's Edge''. For the over-explanation, anachronisms and psychobabble concepts, two stars, for the epic storytelling, decent characters, compelling magic and great evil players, four stars, and taking into account the likely (older teen) readership of the cycle, three and a half Bookbag stars and a recommendation if my above -sketched reservations don't put you off.

We also have a review of [[Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy) by Brent Weeks]]. Those looking for another easy to read doorstopper of a fantasy saga, with similar "young adult" leanings, but with less of a bloodshed and torture, will enjoy Karen Miller's [[The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller|Innocent Mage]].

{{amazontext|amazon=184149741X}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=62511190316033650}}

|comment= I just finished the book myself and went out on the net to find if someone else shared my ambivalence over this series and I cant can't agree more with your evaluation.

The books has good characterization and the story holds, despite many plotholes, but the "psychobabble" was so totaly totally out of style for characters in the medieval fantasy world.

I also found it very strange that the author lingered on Kylars and Elenes "virginity", it felt as if a borneborn-again christian Christian evangelist had hijacked the story to be used in a crusade against teen sexuality.

On the other hand, the "grittiness" of the worls world spells of someone who actually has done his homework on the mediveal medieval world and most of the time I realy really enjoyed reading the books.