Brent Weeks

Kylar has rejected the assassin's life in the wake of the Godking's violent coup, but when he learns that Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria's throne, might be alive, trapped and in hiding, Kylar faces an impossible choice.

When Gavin Guile--high priest and emperor, the most powerful man in the world known to all as the Prism--discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

Gavin Guile thought he had five years left--now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies. Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin...

Determined to escape the Warrens, Azoth seeks out Durzo Blint, the city's most ruthless assassin, to persuade him to take him on as an apprentice and to teach him the deadly Way of Shadows.

"The Seven Satrapies have collapsed into four-and those are falling before the White King's armies. Gavin Guile, ex-emperor, ex-Prism, ex-galley slave, formerly the one man who might have averted war, is now lost, broken, and trapped in a prison crafted by his own hands to hold a great magical genius. But Gavin has no magic at all. Worse, in this prison, Gavin may not be alone. Kip Guile will make a last, desperate attempt to stop the White King's...

In three novels, Azoth learns the Way of Shadows from Durzo, the city's best assassin, leaves the profession after his master and best friend are killed in a raid, and faces a tough decision involving an assignment that can save his friends.