Perfect Shadow (Night Angel, #0.5)

by Brent Weeks

Discover the origins of Durzo Blint in this original novella set in the world of Brent Weeks' New York Times bestselling Night Angel trilogy.

"I got a bit of prophecy," the old assassin said. "Not enough to be useful, you know. Just glimpses. My wife dead, things like that to keep me up late at night. I had this vision that I was going to be killed by forty men, all at once. But now that you're here, I see they're all you. Durzo Blint."

Durzo Blint? Gaelan had never even heard the name.

***
Gaelan Starfire is a farmer, happy to be a husband and a father; a careful, quiet, simple man. He's also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he's worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fit for obscurity, and all too often he's become a hero, his very names passing into legend: Acaelus Thorne, Yric the Black, Hrothan Steelbender, Tal Drakkan, Rebus Nimble.

But when Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world's finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan-and-crimelord Gwinvere Kirena, what he finds may destroy everything he's ever believed in.

Word count: ~17,000

• ISBN10: 0316477400
• ISBN13: 9780316477406
• Publish Date: 7 November 2017 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 144
• Language: English

Reviews

[abookishblether]

A quick read to begin 2019 and to conclude my experience of rereading the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. I adored book one of the trilogy and fund the rest of the series to be massive disappointments.

This novella was no different. The author tried out a jerkier writing style that skipped between scenes more often and I really found that in this case it reduced my enjoyment of the writing. I have to acknowledge that Weeks' technical writing style usually works very well for me and it's often the content of his books that spoil the experience for me. In this novella, I found too much plot was packed into small nuggets of story without being fully immersive.

I wish it had been a full standalone novel.

[ross91]

Durzo was never my favorite, but I really missed this world and it was cool to know the details of his origin story!