I'm ecstatic that The Way of Shadows, or the Night Angel Trilogy finally got added to the list, though ranking at only 38. It has a very unique magic system, has betrayal, and it flips all your ideas around on their asses. Makes thieves into kings, and princes into beggars. It is one of my favorite books of all time, and the only thing I don't like about it is that it's so short. I couldn't get enough of it after reading the trilogy. And the author's - Brent Weeks - new series, the Lightbringer, is even better and has such a unique magic system and plot that I'm surprised anyone could have come up with it. Brent Weeks is at the top with Brandon Sanderson when it comes to coming up with magic systems, in my opinion. In fact, Brandon Sanderson's stand alone novel, Warbreaker, has a very similar magic system as the Lightbringer Series. I would also recommend ANY of Brandon Sanderson's works.

Way of the shadows had perfect pace and balance of intrigues, was just a delicious slice of fantasy fast food. Shadow's edge and Beyond the Shadows were much less enjoyable for me. It just becomes extremely silly. Kylar becomes a cross between chuck norris and jesus. By the end everybody is so incredibly super powered that no tension can be created, it's dumb, as are the plot devlopments which start to become more and more WTF. Deus machina, parts too brief or skipped entirely, snowballing of superheros and supermonsters etc. It was just better when the story was focused within it's own boundaries and not sprawling away in the later books like a bland monstrosity.

Brent weeks seems addicted to endless corny dialogue about romance, he just clobbers you over the head with it. It's that mawkish teenage variety and becomes a rediculous contrast to the sexual abuse, murder and death of thousand etc etc. Elene started as a moral angel and grew into a grating mary sue, her goodness just bland, the virginal passion with kylar sicking on the 5th page of it let alone the 200th of psychobabble romance. This heavy handed romance thing is done is like 8 times on different subplots, by the end i'm hoping they all contract AIDS.

It really isn't a bad story though, it's comfort food, very easy to read, the book equivalent of pop music, or the equivalent of a superhero movie.

I advise you to pick it up for a friend who the only other books he has read are harry potter. I'd also advise you to buy it if you are looking for an enjoyable, undemanding if a bit silly read. It often very explicit sexually, particularly the abuse of woman and children so you might want to keep that in mind.

Brent Weeks made a whole world resembling that of an RPG game. Aside that, the main strength of this story in my opinion, is how accurately he can express different expressions and human emotions. Character development is deeply interesting, and combat and assassination scenarios are very realistic down to every detail. 5 star!

Outstanding and highly recommended. I have read many of the books on these lists, although not all. This is one of the most enjoyable. What other more erudite commenters might decry as being 'simple' and 'young adult' is laughable. These are not simple. Granted, they do lack the overly intricate and tedious descriptions found in many books which require the reader to slog through and only serve to delay any plot or character development. If a book with interesting characters and complex moral choices being continuously enjoyable makes it simple, I will take simple all day long. This ranks with A Song of Ice and Fire and the Malazan series for me. Very glad I ignored the sophisticates and let myself enjoy a good book.

While a good portion of the books are action-based, they kind of remind me of Fritz Leiber's works. I agree that this will appeal to younger readers, but some of us old guys like the escape of a fast-paced tale without massive amounts of complexity. Modern works seem to become overdeveloped at times. Great for imagery, but too much makes portions of certain works a slog and increases the urge to skip pages to get the story to move on. Weeks' books keep a fast pace and, despite the activities of the characters, are fun to read - which is something I have not seen in Fantasy in a while.

I have read this series twice now and i loved it both times. The character development is superb, the characters really mature during to course of the trilogy. If you like your fantasy fun and not dreary and lagging, this is for you

I should first say that I have not actually read too much fantasy, and I actually didn't read this book, I listened to the Graphic Audio version right after I had surgery and was confined to bed for a week. I loved it! I thought it was very entertaining, not too hard to follow in audio book form, and moved along at a very fast pace. I would definitely say that I have read books I liked more, but it was fully enjoyable, I definitely plan to pick up the next two.

Y'all are a bit more critical of the books than the author deserves. While the first book is somewhat derivitive - though better than most, Weeks hits his stride in books two and three (though the third book ends on in a way that is too contrived, and reminds you that what you are reading is indeed fantasy). His true contribution lies in the development of the secondary characters, and the realism behind every choice that shows that one decision is not necessarily better than another, and people are not just "good" or "bad".
Weeks' writing is excellent; the action is unabated; plot development is tight and controlled - I have a hard time finding the fault in the series. I would certainly put it in my top 25.

Is this series really in the top 25 best fantasy novels? Come on now. Whoever does this list should start reading some Hugo/Nebula award winning fantasy books. These books were kind of fun but they got awfully silly at times.

I agree with the other comments. Reading these books was a better way to pass time than watching TV, but they weren't very original or complex. I felt that the first book in the series was especially weak, while the second and third had stronger plot and development (also less cliche). There is a lot of action, though, and the books themselves were not badly written.

I think the book is ok, it's entertaining. I enjoy the action and the story. Reading it, I feel there's some influence from Robert Jordan WoT here, although the story is pact with action & much faster from WoT. I do recommend this series, both for adults or young adults (i'm an adult by the way)

For a book written for teenagers, its good. There is lots of actions which you may enjoy..
If you are an adult, and want to read some meaningful fantasy, then look elsewhere :S