7:32 you explained that perfectly, actually. And I think it was intentional. That's what Kylar felt. That was the point. It was the diary of a terminally depressed person. 13,000 reasons why he just wants it to end. But he can't do that, and that's even more depressing. It's actually really great. A first person accounting that makes you feel what the narrator felt. "God, please just end this, I can't stand these miserable thoughts and dumb decisions anymore." Kinda genius. Really risky. Impressive. And there was character growth from Kylar. He now knows he's not That Guy. Sometimes he can't pull off the impossible. Because life just kicked the shit out of him, after it kneed him in the balls. It be like that sometimes. He's been grieving the loss of a wife and unborn child, sleep deprived, and when he does sleep it's not exactly restful. Then isolated, lied to and betrayed by people he thought well past that. Of course he's slipping, running in circles. But he re-learned that life's a bitch, and he learned that he can be a monster. Hopefully he'll later learn that he needs to take better care of himself, if he did he might have avoided being manipulated into these lessons. It may be a bit of a slog sometimes, and maybe frustrating, but looking back on it I think all of it was completely intentional. I mean he just forgot Phaena for half the book. A key character right in the thick of the action doesn't just get forgotten unless they're meant to be, like to show us that the world's second best wet boy is a little scrambled and not thinking straight. He flat out tells us that several times. But just like reality, someone telling us they are not okay just gets ignored. Somehow Kylar is just ruined. For no apparent reason. It's not like he just lost everything good in his life for the 19th time in as many years. God forbid he be human.
Everything you said is correct my friend. Yet could he make different decisions, yes every time. I want to love him but the process of his decisions is so broken it’s impossible!! He is set up to win me back in the next installment. I hope he does! Thankyou for watching and commenting friend!
I would have to re read to have a second check but overall it’s my least favorite of this world. I still believe he can bring it back to the kind of thing I loved from the first series! I haven’t given up hope
I actually felt like the shepherd who gave Kyler new clothes and miraculously disappeared was Durso. He might have found the compass and thereby knew where Kyler was.
I heard a theory that it was the one god or even Orholam from LB since he appears as a mirror (king to a king healer to a healer and to Kyle a grieving father to a grieving father)
I really enjoyed your video, I agreed with a lot of what you said. My own personal thoughts are I think after this Trilogy we will see Kylar step back into a Durzo type role where he’s a mentor to the twins and the powerful teacher they rely on. I think Ezra is going to be involved, potentially even the big bad as Durzo mentioned previously about keeping artifacts away from him and after the events of the last book he has Curoch, Iures and some kakari (potentially another one after the death of Khali?) I also think Dorian is potentially pulling the strings. He could have in a moment of lucidity told Durzo about the Ezra threat and what needs to be done for the greater good. While I love the setting I was desperately hoping we would learn more about the countries under Logan’s rule, especially Khalidor since they’ve now lost the Vir, the only surviving member of their bloodline is Dorian’s kid.
Yeah there was so much we didnt look at and so much that I loved previously that was completely ignored. I hope the next installment scratches the itch I had when I found out this book was coming out.
@@conorreads definitely, it felt like a good section of the boat could have been replaced with some world building such as the status of Khalidor, Cuera, Seth etc
I agree with all of your points. I had all of the same feelings about the book. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. I was so fortunate to start the first trilogy after it was all released so there was no wait time. This wait is going to kill me.
Although I think Rafiem might be the original owner of the blue kakari and was imprisoned in the maelstrom. The magic that they used at the end of the third book had a few consequences as the book eludes to. I think that one of those consequences allowed him to escape. Well that’s my theory anyway.
@@Ronin1071 that’s a really interesting idea, I hadn’t considered that Durzo may have thrown the ka’Kari still attached to its owner in the water or volcano…. But surely they would have control over those elements and be able to free themselves if that had been the case? Food for thought. Yeah man I am still vastly disappointed by the book, but the first series I rate as some defining book of my childhood. Whenever i am feeling especially lazy I imagine what Durzo Blint would say about my laziness 😂 Thanks for watching and commenting
Good review. I agree with most of what you said. 2 biggest things for me: 1. no progression, nothing achieved ever throughout the whole book, just failures after failures after random twists etc. 2. I hate Kylar, I think the character is ruined for me. He was a great character in the trilogy. No he has no agency, he sucks at his job, and he's scum (killing his son/not killing his son). So I won't be reading the rest. Which is sad because I loved the original trilogy.
Glad I’m not the only one, if it leaves his perspective behind I am open to reading the next one. But if we are kylar heavy again I think that would be where it ends for me. Which will be very sad like you said, first trilogy I’ve read so many times! Thanks for taking the time to comment
This book was much more enjoyable for me on a second read through. I don’t know if you’ve read Lightbringer (I recommend it 1000%) but i had long been thinking that maybe these two worlds were connected in the same universe which was confirmed in this book when the “Thousand Worlds” was mentioned twice. So there are some cool nuggets and massive implications not just for this series, but potentially for a larger overarching story. I think Rephaim is one of the fallen (in Lightbringer) and I also think that the One God from Night Angel made a physical appearance to Kylar in this book, near the end (also appeared physically in Lightbringer). On a purely story level, I agree with you and it is quite hard to read, especially when I expected Kylar to be… not what he was in this book. But I trust Brent Weeks is going to make up for the lack in this book with a slam dunk of a sequel. But we’ll see. Nice review mate!
I haven’t read anything other than this series from Weeks yet. Cool to know it seems to be a much bigger universe, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@conorreads I grew up on night Angel, must have read it over 50 times, but Lightbringer showcases Brent weeks skill improvement quite impressively, I’d love to see a review from you at some point if you ever pick it up.
@@JasperLWalker I also read night angel over and over, love so many of the characters and the interwoven storylines! I’ll add them to my list, I feel wary after reading Nemesis genuinely quite disappointed but he deserves the benefit of the doubt for night angel’s awesomeness.
@@conorreads I’ll warn you before you read it, it can be hard to start because of all the unfamiliar terms and concepts, but if you can make it through wheel of time you’ll have no problem getting into this. The story is truly epic and the characters are some of my favourites in fantasy.
Loved the book despite the baggy middle. I think the original trilogy, to oversimplify, benefited from taking epic fantasy structure and applying thriller pacing. This book takes thriller structure and applies epic fantasy pacing, which works... less well, I think. But overall I think it’s a great book, and unique. I can’t think of anything else in fantasy that engages with a meta narrative conceit so directly as to hinge a massive plot twist on it, and I love that Weeks had the ambition to try. I also just enjoyed the moral dilemmas each character faced and how confronting those has developed them.
Glad you found so many positives! I wanted to enjoy it so much! Well, I did enjoy it, but there is so much more we could’ve gotten and I wanted to hang out with some of my other favorite characters. Like I said in the review, it’s in a great place to kick on and hit new heights. Thanks for commenting!
Great video, but I think you gotta read Lightbringer ASAP and do an all encompassing video. The 2 are clearly connected, confirmed by the detail mentioned in another comment. Adds alot of details. I dont want to give any spoilers but I want to see a FU video where you talk everything.
@@conorreads I hear that's long, enjoy it though. Lightbringer is the opposite of NA. NA is dark and a great story with little worldbuilding, while conversely Lightbringer is bright, colorful, and extremely flushed out. Best system of magic and world I've ever read. Both have amazing characters. Look forward to seeing your video down the line. All the nemesis discussions I've seen don't mention it so you could be ahead if the game my dude, I'm hoping you are. And the one argument I had was with your Kylar and Vi theory, that ship has sailed, Kylars future wifey is in Lightbringer. No doubt about it.
@@TomJG23 what a great promotion of the lightbringer series! Mr weeks should get you on the marketing team! It’s on my list, look forward to being able to theorize with you about the future of these characters
ive seen a few reviews where people arent totally happy with this book. and i just reread the trilogy in prep for nemesis, and i goda say, i still love it, but reading as an adult, i was much less impressed by the writing. a lot of crucial plot points were totally forced, the writing style feels clunky cause of the vocab and weirldy placed redundancy. but i wonder if the nostalgia gives us high expectation, when the whole time, brent weeks is only an ok author to begin with. i guess ill find out, im starting nemesis today. btw, i only watched this review cause i wanted to know if kylar and vi banged or not, so thanks for telling me lol.
I loved the trilogy, not read it in many years for fear of not enjoying it as much as an adult. Nemesis is much worse writing than them in my opinion. Were you hoping for the inevitable vi kylar hookup?
@@conorreads i can say that i didnt like it as much now that im an adult, but its still very good, despite my earlier complains, the world is still really interesting. and ya, i was hoping kylar and vi would become a thing, but i heard that kylar spends a lot of time doing his self reighous moping in nemesis, i just hope that doesnt last the whole book
Just read it and am i that cynical now? It felt like a slap in the face, Kylar acts like a stupid and clueless 10 year old apprentice and not one of if not the most deadly and powerful beings walking the planet.
I just finished the book, and had the same thought. Kylar is incredibly mopey and just making stupid mistakes all the time. Also felt the book was too long in some places. There is a lot that could be cut, about 100 pages or so. Also some of the plot makes little sense to me, maybe I am just too smooth brain to understand it. One of my biggest issues is did Vi poison Kylar to steal the kids or not? Was she just lying to make Uly go away? That whole throw away conversation makes no sense to me. And finally, if Kylar does not kill Vi, as tragic as that would be, it would be the greatest travesty of the books as what she did is irredeemable.
@@lalimuraja Oh thank God thought I was going crazy! Still a massive fan and will read the next one I just felt like I missed a book inbetween or something...
7:32 you explained that perfectly, actually. And I think it was intentional. That's what Kylar felt. That was the point. It was the diary of a terminally depressed person. 13,000 reasons why he just wants it to end. But he can't do that, and that's even more depressing. It's actually really great. A first person accounting that makes you feel what the narrator felt. "God, please just end this, I can't stand these miserable thoughts and dumb decisions anymore." Kinda genius. Really risky. Impressive. And there was character growth from Kylar. He now knows he's not That Guy. Sometimes he can't pull off the impossible. Because life just kicked the shit out of him, after it kneed him in the balls. It be like that sometimes. He's been grieving the loss of a wife and unborn child, sleep deprived, and when he does sleep it's not exactly restful. Then isolated, lied to and betrayed by people he thought well past that. Of course he's slipping, running in circles. But he re-learned that life's a bitch, and he learned that he can be a monster. Hopefully he'll later learn that he needs to take better care of himself, if he did he might have avoided being manipulated into these lessons. It may be a bit of a slog sometimes, and maybe frustrating, but looking back on it I think all of it was completely intentional. I mean he just forgot Phaena for half the book. A key character right in the thick of the action doesn't just get forgotten unless they're meant to be, like to show us that the world's second best wet boy is a little scrambled and not thinking straight. He flat out tells us that several times. But just like reality, someone telling us they are not okay just gets ignored. Somehow Kylar is just ruined. For no apparent reason. It's not like he just lost everything good in his life for the 19th time in as many years. God forbid he be human.
Everything you said is correct my friend. Yet could he make different decisions, yes every time. I want to love him but the process of his decisions is so broken it’s impossible!!
He is set up to win me back in the next installment. I hope he does!
Thankyou for watching and commenting friend!
I was about to comment about the line from the first book then you brought it up
That not even born yet seemed to be a plot hole
Or dieing and coming back was a kind of rebirth
I would have to re read to have a second check but overall it’s my least favorite of this world.
I still believe he can bring it back to the kind of thing I loved from the first series! I haven’t given up hope
So stimulating that it was boring - brilliant take my friend! Thanks for this, really hit a lot of the things that I felt about this book
Thanks brother!
I actually felt like the shepherd who gave Kyler new clothes and miraculously disappeared was Durso. He might have found the compass and thereby knew where Kyler was.
That’s a good idea I didn’t consider that, maybe he was both
I heard a theory that it was the one god or even Orholam from LB since he appears as a mirror (king to a king healer to a healer and to Kyle a grieving father to a grieving father)
I really enjoyed your video, I agreed with a lot of what you said. My own personal thoughts are
I think after this Trilogy we will see Kylar step back into a Durzo type role where he’s a mentor to the twins and the powerful teacher they rely on.
I think Ezra is going to be involved, potentially even the big bad as Durzo mentioned previously about keeping artifacts away from him and after the events of the last book he has Curoch, Iures and some kakari (potentially another one after the death of Khali?)
I also think Dorian is potentially pulling the strings. He could have in a moment of lucidity told Durzo about the Ezra threat and what needs to be done for the greater good.
While I love the setting I was desperately hoping we would learn more about the countries under Logan’s rule, especially Khalidor since they’ve now lost the Vir, the only surviving member of their bloodline is Dorian’s kid.
Yeah there was so much we didnt look at and so much that I loved previously that was completely ignored. I hope the next installment scratches the itch I had when I found out this book was coming out.
@@conorreads definitely, it felt like a good section of the boat could have been replaced with some world building such as the status of Khalidor, Cuera, Seth etc
@@jackstimpson9449the whole boat section pretty much sucked I’ll be honest. Was so hyper action focused that I was bored
Great Review
Thansk bryan
I agree with all of your points. I had all of the same feelings about the book. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. I was so fortunate to start the first trilogy after it was all released so there was no wait time. This wait is going to kill me.
Although I think Rafiem might be the original owner of the blue kakari and was imprisoned in the maelstrom. The magic that they used at the end of the third book had a few consequences as the book eludes to. I think that one of those consequences allowed him to escape. Well that’s my theory anyway.
@@Ronin1071 that’s a really interesting idea, I hadn’t considered that Durzo may have thrown the ka’Kari still attached to its owner in the water or volcano…. But surely they would have control over those elements and be able to free themselves if that had been the case? Food for thought.
Yeah man I am still vastly disappointed by the book, but the first series I rate as some defining book of my childhood. Whenever i am feeling especially lazy I imagine what Durzo Blint would say about my laziness 😂
Thanks for watching and commenting
Good review. I agree with most of what you said. 2 biggest things for me: 1. no progression, nothing achieved ever throughout the whole book, just failures after failures after random twists etc. 2. I hate Kylar, I think the character is ruined for me. He was a great character in the trilogy. No he has no agency, he sucks at his job, and he's scum (killing his son/not killing his son). So I won't be reading the rest. Which is sad because I loved the original trilogy.
Glad I’m not the only one, if it leaves his perspective behind I am open to reading the next one. But if we are kylar heavy again I think that would be where it ends for me.
Which will be very sad like you said, first trilogy I’ve read so many times!
Thanks for taking the time to comment
This book was much more enjoyable for me on a second read through. I don’t know if you’ve read Lightbringer (I recommend it 1000%) but i had long been thinking that maybe these two worlds were connected in the same universe which was confirmed in this book when the “Thousand Worlds” was mentioned twice. So there are some cool nuggets and massive implications not just for this series, but potentially for a larger overarching story. I think Rephaim is one of the fallen (in Lightbringer) and I also think that the One God from Night Angel made a physical appearance to Kylar in this book, near the end (also appeared physically in Lightbringer). On a purely story level, I agree with you and it is quite hard to read, especially when I expected Kylar to be… not what he was in this book. But I trust Brent Weeks is going to make up for the lack in this book with a slam dunk of a sequel. But we’ll see. Nice review mate!
I haven’t read anything other than this series from Weeks yet.
Cool to know it seems to be a much bigger universe, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@conorreads I grew up on night Angel, must have read it over 50 times, but Lightbringer showcases Brent weeks skill improvement quite impressively, I’d love to see a review from you at some point if you ever pick it up.
@@JasperLWalker I also read night angel over and over, love so many of the characters and the interwoven storylines!
I’ll add them to my list, I feel wary after reading Nemesis genuinely quite disappointed but he deserves the benefit of the doubt for night angel’s awesomeness.
@@conorreads I’ll warn you before you read it, it can be hard to start because of all the unfamiliar terms and concepts, but if you can make it through wheel of time you’ll have no problem getting into this. The story is truly epic and the characters are some of my favourites in fantasy.
Loved the book despite the baggy middle. I think the original trilogy, to oversimplify, benefited from taking epic fantasy structure and applying thriller pacing. This book takes thriller structure and applies epic fantasy pacing, which works... less well, I think.
But overall I think it’s a great book, and unique. I can’t think of anything else in fantasy that engages with a meta narrative conceit so directly as to hinge a massive plot twist on it, and I love that Weeks had the ambition to try. I also just enjoyed the moral dilemmas each character faced and how confronting those has developed them.
Glad you found so many positives! I wanted to enjoy it so much!
Well, I did enjoy it, but there is so much more we could’ve gotten and I wanted to hang out with some of my other favorite characters.
Like I said in the review, it’s in a great place to kick on and hit new heights.
Thanks for commenting!
Great video, but I think you gotta read Lightbringer ASAP and do an all encompassing video. The 2 are clearly connected, confirmed by the detail mentioned in another comment. Adds alot of details. I dont want to give any spoilers but I want to see a FU video where you talk everything.
Yeah that’s what I’ve been told, I will definitely get round to it!
Finishing wheel of time at the minute
@@conorreads I hear that's long, enjoy it though. Lightbringer is the opposite of NA. NA is dark and a great story with little worldbuilding, while conversely Lightbringer is bright, colorful, and extremely flushed out. Best system of magic and world I've ever read. Both have amazing characters.
Look forward to seeing your video down the line. All the nemesis discussions I've seen don't mention it so you could be ahead if the game my dude, I'm hoping you are.
And the one argument I had was with your Kylar and Vi theory, that ship has sailed, Kylars future wifey is in Lightbringer. No doubt about it.
@@TomJG23 what a great promotion of the lightbringer series! Mr weeks should get you on the marketing team!
It’s on my list, look forward to being able to theorize with you about the future of these characters
ive seen a few reviews where people arent totally happy with this book. and i just reread the trilogy in prep for nemesis, and i goda say, i still love it, but reading as an adult, i was much less impressed by the writing. a lot of crucial plot points were totally forced, the writing style feels clunky cause of the vocab and weirldy placed redundancy. but i wonder if the nostalgia gives us high expectation, when the whole time, brent weeks is only an ok author to begin with. i guess ill find out, im starting nemesis today. btw, i only watched this review cause i wanted to know if kylar and vi banged or not, so thanks for telling me lol.
I loved the trilogy, not read it in many years for fear of not enjoying it as much as an adult. Nemesis is much worse writing than them in my opinion.
Were you hoping for the inevitable vi kylar hookup?
@@conorreads i can say that i didnt like it as much now that im an adult, but its still very good, despite my earlier complains, the world is still really interesting. and ya, i was hoping kylar and vi would become a thing, but i heard that kylar spends a lot of time doing his self reighous moping in nemesis, i just hope that doesnt last the whole book
@@spaceman6029no comment from me!
Just read it and am i that cynical now?
It felt like a slap in the face, Kylar acts like a stupid and clueless 10 year old apprentice and not one of if not the most deadly and powerful beings walking the planet.
I just finished the book, and had the same thought. Kylar is incredibly mopey and just making stupid mistakes all the time. Also felt the book was too long in some places. There is a lot that could be cut, about 100 pages or so. Also some of the plot makes little sense to me, maybe I am just too smooth brain to understand it. One of my biggest issues is did Vi poison Kylar to steal the kids or not? Was she just lying to make Uly go away? That whole throw away conversation makes no sense to me. And finally, if Kylar does not kill Vi, as tragic as that would be, it would be the greatest travesty of the books as what she did is irredeemable.
@@lalimuraja
Oh thank God thought I was going crazy!
Still a massive fan and will read the next one I just felt like I missed a book inbetween or something...