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I read a lot of fantasy and I mean A LOT of fantasy and with so much out there, I try and make a point of only reading the best of the best. I always figured that life is too short and there are too many books out there to waste your time on crap. It has always seemed a sound philosophy upon which to base a lifetime's reading list, so I keep my ear to the ground as much as possible and based on a couple of different recommendations, I was inspired to pick up Brent Weeks' The Night Angel Trilogy and quite frankly, it is nothing short of amazing. It instantly ranks among my favorite fantasy trilogies of all time. It is one of the finest examples of dark fantasy you will ever read. If authors like Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb and Brandon Sanderson hold a place in your heart and on your bookshelves, you need to read The Night Angel Trilogy immediately and then just sit back and enjoy an unforgettable ride.

The story will probably seem like a familiar one, if you are familiar with the authors I mentioned above. It seems that in writing The Night Angel Trilogy, Brent Weeks has borrowed and compiled ideas from various sources (like all good authors do), but don't let that dissuade you from reading the books, that fact doesn't make The Night Angel Trilogy any less original, potent, or enjoyable. The Night Angel Trilogy is a multi-layered sprawling tale that will keep even the most fickle of readers thoroughly engaged throughout. The primary storyline tells the story of Azoth/Kylar. He is a young orphaned street-criminal that has grown up in the seedy part of town known as the Warrens. In order to survive, Azoth becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld known as the Sa'kage. In order to escape the Warrens, he apprentices with legendary "wetboy" Durzo Blint. In case you wondered, a "wetboy" is an assassin who uses magic to aid his natural abilities. In one meaningful passage, Weeks refers to the fact that assassins have "targets" because they sometimes miss, wetboys have "deaders," because they never miss. After completing his apprenticeship and throughout the course of the nearly 1500 pages that make up The Night Angel Trilogy, Kylar's destiny as the "Night Angel" comes to fruition and he becomes the key piece in a complicated chess game that has the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance.

There isn't a whole lot wrong with The Night Angel Trilogy. It's not the perfect novel, but its flaws are so few they aren't really even worth mentioning. Weeks has taken roll call and all the elements of great fantasy writing are present and accounted for. The ancillary characters and their relationships with one another are all complicated, memorable and appear to come off as three-dimensional to the reader, make no mistake you will care about the fate of these characters. The world building is well thought out, as are the intricacies and nuances of the society. However, The most important part of any novel is how it reads and Weeks has created a real page turner. The plot and pacing of the three novels is perfect. The story is completely captivating, suspenseful and contains enough twists and turns to keep any reader completely engaged. The Night Angel Trilogy is a masterpiece of writing and masterpiece is not a phrase I like to throw around lightly to describe novels, however "when the shoe fits, wear it" and this shoe is custom fit for any fan of dark fantasy.

When asked to write a third-person tag line for his reviews, Dominic Cilli farmed the work out to an actual 3rd person, his friend Neal, who in turn turned it over to a second person who then asked his third cousin to help out and this person whom Dom doesn't even know then wrote in 8th person Omniscient mode "Dom's breadth of knowledge in literature runs the gamut and is certainly not bounded by the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. One thing I can say with certainty is that of all the people I don't know who've ever recommended books to read, Dom's recommendations are the best."