History Literature / TheNightAngelTrilogy

* TheCorruption: In a general sense, Khali's influence. In a more specific sense, the vir. Worship of Khali has turned Khalador into the worst country in the world and hardwired its rulers into serial torturers. Use of the vir damages the user in body and mind. There is a direct link between [[spoiler: Dorian]] using his vir and his FaceHellTurn into God-King Wanhope. Furthermore, the vir damages the Talent of those who use it. This initially opens new possibilities for the vir user, broadening their power. But over time, their Talent because worn and tattered, leaving unable to work anything but the most basic magic without the vir.

* NoOntologicalInertia: Disastrously subverted. Kylar assumed that killing [[spoiler; Khali]] would also return the [[spoiler: army of Krull she just raised]] to its inanimate state. Cut to Sister Ariel shaking him awake, begging for his help because it definitely did not.

* ThePowerOfLove: Used at the end of the third book by [[spoiler:Elene]] as part of a HeroicSacrifice.

%%* MoralityPet: Ulyssandra has an 'effect' on psychotic Vi.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Durzo. After being killed by Kylar, he is granted one final life 'for old time's sake' by the Wolf.]]

* HandicappedBadass: [[TheStrategist Brant]] [[RetiredBadass Agon]] has to walk with two canes by the end of the series, which leads well to his BadassBoast:

* HeWhoFightsMonster: Most of Dorian's arc in ''Beyond the Shadows'' deals with this. In his attempt to [[spoiler: reform Khalador]], he finds it bending him as much as he bends it.

%%* BigBad: Godking Garoth Ursuul in the first two books; Khali (previously the BiggerBad) in the third.

%%* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: Serah and Mags.]]

In some ways the story reads like a strange adult-themed hybrid of ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy''[[note]] To the point that Creator/BrandonSanderson once commented that Brent Weeks writing was similar enough to his that, in the event of AuthorExistenceFailure, Brent is one of the writers he might recommend for finishing ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', as Sanderson finished Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''[[/note]] and ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'', with a bit of ''[[Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings The Farseer Trilogy ]]'' thrown in for good measure. From there things build to a study of faith, love, the cost of doing the right (and wrong) thing, what to do in an [[CrapsackWorld unfair universe]], and a look at what immortality can do to a person. Add in a high amount of action, politics, and a multitude of [[ThePlan plans]] conducted by [[GambitPileup multitudes of people]] of [[GambitRoulette increasingly complexity]] and you have an idea of what the series is like.

%%** The Order of the Garter.

** Also, Godking Garoth sure counts.

* AndroclesLion: Logan's kindness to the people in the Pit pays off in the end.

* BigBad: Godking Garoth Ursuul in the first two books; Khali (previously the BiggerBad) in the third.

* DeathIsCheap: Averted.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Roth.
* DontYouDarePityMe

* EarnYourHappyEnding: An explicit point of the series. WordOfGod says that the world is so dark because that makes it meaningful when characters choose the light.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: If Logan or Kylar, ''ever'' find [[spoiler: Trudana Jadwin]]. They are going to things that would make Hu Gibbet squeamish.

* FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother: Ulyssandra in the second book. D'awwwww.
* FieryRedhead: Viridiana.
* ForTheEvulz / ItAmusedMe: The only explanation The God King gives for why he commits his atrocities.
** Actually, at one point he implies that tendencies towards particular kinds of depravity are one of the effects of [[spoiler: hosting a Stranger in one's body]], which is the price for being able to raise certain particularly horrific kinds of monster. This is also as close as we see him to expressing regret, but he soon gets over it.

* HeroicSacrifice: Done by [[spoiler:Elene]] at the end.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Momma K, [[spoiler:Shinga (meaning she controls the entire criminal underworld)]] and Mistress of Pleasures (meaning she controls all the prostitution in the country), along with her bevy of whores, are actually shown as good-hearted people, and are even lauded as heroes by Logan for [[spoiler:stirring up rebellion and taking out hundreds of Khalidorian soldiers, who were abusing and killing women daily, in the Nocta Hemata.]]

** The Order of the Garter.

* ImAHumanitarian: [[spoiler:"You did say pheasant...right...?"]]
* ImmortalAssassin

* InvisibilityFlicker: A voluntary example; this is Kylar's modus operandi for scaring people as Judgment.

* JuliusBeethovenDaVinci: [[spoiler: Durzo]]. It helps that he's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Terah and Hu Gibbet]].
* KingBobTheNth: King Aleine IX of House Gunder.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Garoth Ursuul to Roth.
* ManipulativeBastard: [[AGodAmI Godking Ursuul]].
* MasterPoisoner: Durzo Blint
* MasterSwordsman: Lantano Garuwashi, who has '''Eighty two'' kills. At least half of those are in single duels.

* MercyKill: And boy, was it mercy.
* MindRape: Pretty much [[spoiler:Khali]]'s job.
* MoralityPet: Ulyssandra has an 'effect' on psychotic Vi.

* OffWithHisHead: Noted in Cenaria to only be a valid execution method for nobles.
* OlderIsBetter

* ReligionOfEvil / PathOfInspiration: Khali gains her power from suffering. The extent to which this is understood and/or cared about is difficult to judge, given that her worshipers have little freedom to do anything else.
* RetiredBadass: Agon.
* RichBitch: Terah Graesin.

* ScarsAreForever: Durzo is described as having divots in his face from some sort of poison. [[spoiler: Elene's face is covered with scars from the beating given to her as Doll Girl by Rat. Speaking of Rat/Roth, Azoth cut off his ear and left him to drown. He was saved by a Vurdmeister, who partly ''melted'' his remaining ear as punishment for nearly dying.]]

* ShowSomeLeg: One of Vi's methods.
* SmugSnake: Terah Graesin. Speaker Istariel has some of this too.

* TheStrategist: Brant Agon becomes one for Logan.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: Serah and Mags.]]

* YouCantFightFate: Possibly. When Kylar learns that [[spoiler:Elene]] is going to die (see under Immortality), he tries to say ScrewDestiny, but it doesn't work. This might be fate, but some people might argue SelfFulfillingProphecy, too.

''The Night Angel Trilogy'' is a fantasy novel series Brent Weeks; who is currently writing Literature/TheLightbringerSeries. It's about a boy from the slums who becomes an apprentice to a famed wetboy, assassins with magical talents, and who inherits a [[spoiler:magical artifact which gives him a manner of supernatural powers.]] Lots of politics, war, and evil megalomaniacs. Major subjects include Kylar's feelings about his job, his love triangle, and the fact that bad things happen to good people.

* AbusiveParents: Technically, Hu Gibbet is Vi's master, not her father, but it has the same effect. She was also [[spoiler: raped by at least one of her mother's lovers, and her mother didn't give a shit. Her test to become Hu's apprentice was to kill them.]]

* TheAtoner: Count Drake spent his life abolishing slavery in Cenaria, [[spoiler: because he used to be the biggest slave trader in the country.]]

* BadassCreed: "Life is Empty. Life is Meaningless. When we take a life, we take nothing of value."

--> "I am Sa'kagé, a lord of shadows. I claim the shadows that the Shadow may not. I am the strong arm of deliverance. I am Shadowstrider. I am the Scales of Justice. I am He-Who-Guards-Unseen. I am Shadowslayer. I am Nameless. The ''coranti'' shall not go unpunished. My way is hard, but I serve unbroken. In ignobility, nobility. In shame, honor. In darkness, light. I will do justice and love mercy. Until the king returns, I shall not lay my burden down."

* BerserkButton: At times, Vi can get extremely sensitive about people touching her hair. At one point she [[spoiler: turned two thugs into barely recognizable piles of meaty pulp with her ''hands'', in a blind rage, just because they threatened her hair. She was suitably horrified that she was able to do such a thing afterward.]] This is in stark contrast to her numbness and apathy to much more intimate forms of contact.

* BettyAndVeronica: Kylar's love triangle with Elene and Vi has elements of this - Elene is good and pure, but doesn't accept Kylar's rather violent world, while Vi is hostile, troubled, and initially an antagonist, but comes from the same world as Kylar and therefore understands him. Kylar loves Elene, but finds himself thinking about Vi as well. The situation is resolved at the end of the third book, when Elene [[spoiler: has a HeroicSacrifice after saying that she [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Wants Her Beloved To Be Happy]] with [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse Vi after she's gone]].]] It's implied that this is how things do indeed end up.

-->Niner, "You're...you're shit! You shitting, shitting shit!"
-->Durzo, [[DeadpanSnarker "Your Majesty, a man of your stature's cursing vocabulary ought to extend beyond a tedious repetition of the excreta that fills the void between his ears]]."

* HandicappedBadass: [[TheStrategist Brant]] [[RetiredBadass Agon]] has to walk with two canes by the end of the series, which leads well to his BadassBoast
-->Agon: "You draw that sword and I'm going to feed it to you"
-->[[{{Samurai}} Inspector]]: "But you're an old cripple!"
--> Agon: "Which will make it all the more embarrassing when I do"

-->'''The Wolf:''' [[spoiler: [[TearJerker “This time it’s Elene.”]]]]

* PuritySue: Elene. Despite growing up beautiful in the underworld of a city where rape is the norm and being beaten so hard she is permanently scarred, she remains a kind, gentle, chaste virgin who couldn't possibly have sex without being married.

''The Night Angel Trilogy'' is a fantasy novel series Brent Weeks; who is currently writing Literature/TheLightbringerSeries. It's about a boy from the slums who becomes apprentice to a famed wetboy, assassins with magical talents, and who inherits a [[spoiler:magical artifact which gives him a manner of supernatural powers.]] Lots of politics, war, and evil megalomaniacs. Major subjects include Kylar's feelings about his job, his love triangle, and the fact that bad things happen to good people.

In some ways the story reads like a strange adult-themed hybrid of ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' [[note]] To the point that Creator/BrandonSanderson once commented that Brent Weeks writing was similar enough to his that, in the event of AuthorExistenceFailure, Brent is one of the writers he might recommend for finishing ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', as Sanderson finished Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''[[/note]] and ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'', with a bit of ''[[Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings The Farseer Trilogy ]]'' thrown in for good measure. From there things build to a study of faith, love, the cost of doing the right (and wrong) thing, what to do in an [[CrapsackWorld unfair universe]], and a look at what immortality can do to a person. Add in a high amount of action, politics, and a multitude of [[ThePlan plans]] conducted by [[GambitPileup multitudes of people]] of [[GambitRoulette increasingly complexity]] and you have an idea of what the series is like. And add gore. Gore and rape and prostitution and torture and more gore and rape. This is a series that starts with sexually abused children and gets darker from there.

The first book in the series is ''The Way of Shadows'', second ''Shadow's Edge'', third ''Beyond the Shadows''. Yeah this series has a thing for shadows. Brent Weeks also released a novella in 2011 in audio or e-book format only called ''Perfect Shadow'', who else is surprised that the title has the word shadow in it?

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* WretchedHive: Taken to it's logical conclusion. [[spoiler:What happens when the hive becomes so wretched that the local criminal organization, the Sa'Kage, grows so powerful that it's corruption and influence extend everywhere in the city and government? The city and government become very vulnerable to infiltration and invasion by hostile foreign nations]].

* BlackAndGreyMorality