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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Extreme violence throughout; assassinations, torture, murder are the novel's content; a child is killed
Language
A lot
Strong language throughout
Sexual Content
Some
Some adult sexual content
Substance Use
Some
Substance use in the criminal underworld setting
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological cost of becoming a killer; the darkness of the assassin's world taken seriously rather than romanticized
What this book is about
Azoth lives in the worst slums in the city of Cenaria, dreaming of apprenticing to Durzo Blint—the city's legendary wetboy (an assassin who can channel magical Talent). What he must sacrifice to earn that apprenticeship is only the beginning. Weeks's debut fantasy is dark, violent, and morally unsparing—a portrait of the assassin trade that refuses the romanticism of the genre. The first in a trilogy.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extreme violence throughout
A child's death
The darkness of professional killing depicted without romanticization
Reader Verification
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