"The Daylight War" by Peter V. Brett (ARC)

Title: The Desert Spear

Author: Peter V. Brett

 

Series: Demon Cycle #3

 

Publisher: Del Rey - Random House Publishing Group

 

Publication date: February 12, 2013 

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read from February 10-12, from a galley received via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.)

 

 

Summary:

 

With The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett surged to the front rank of contemporary fantasy, standing alongside giants in the field such as George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan, and Terry Brooks. The Daylight War, the eagerly anticipated third volume in Brett’s internationally bestselling Demon Cycle, continues the epic tale of humanity’s last stand against an army of demons that rise each night to prey on mankind.

On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.

Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more — the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.

The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.

Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons — a spear and a crown — that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.

But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.

Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all — those lurking in the human heart.

  

My Thoughts on the book:

 

Wow, The Daylight War was so epic & amazing & the long wait really worthed it :) And that ending, OMG. Still under impressions, so I'm starting this review backwards it seems ;) so lets start at the beginning.

 

The story continues after the great ending in The Desert Spear. We get to know what Arlen found out from the mind demon, and we see the developing of Arlen & Renna's relationship, and one of the things I was most looking forward to - Inevera's backstory. I can honestly say that Inevera is now one of my fav characters in the series. I love her as a character & I loved reading her backstory, as well as seeing the one part of Krasia's world we still hadn't seen. 

 

I have to admit that for a while I thought it won't be as great as the previous books, but thankfully in the end I was wrong. I just wasn't really a fan of Rojer & Leesha's PoVs, can't quite point out why, but it happened, so that diminished my enjoyment, but after a while or should I say after Rojer showed his new power, I started enjoying his parts once again, and that scene was absolutely amazingly written. As for Leesha, from the beginning of the book I started to dislike her, and as the story progressed, I disliked her more & more. But, in the end, I didn't dislike her anymore. I loved how the author finally made me care for every one of these characters, including the secondary characters. I'm guessing that it's not easy to write a book from so many PoVs, as well as to decide  which one to use & when, but Peter V. Brett had done it perfectly. One character that I was really surprised by was Amanvah - I really really liked her, and I didn't expect that, having already met her in The Desert Spear, but I did.  

 

As for the story, I have to admit that it didn't go as I expected before I started reading it, except of Inevera's backstory. Yeah, it was filled with lots of action, but mostly between corelings & people, but also with lots of twists & turns. It also made me laugh out loud, so it was fun, but also made me sit on the edge of the sit in suspense, especially when there was fighting. I already mentioned Rojer's new "power", so that one was a pleasant surprise, and really awesome piece of magic. Also, one of the biggest surprises for me was the celebration scene. I won't say what they celebrated, the event that they celebrated wasn't a surprise, but the way it was written was lovely, I felt like I was there, and I had a smile plastered on my face in those chapters, and that was totally unexpected. I guess this is when I started to love this book again, and the new moon scenes in Cutter's Hollow cemented my love for this book. Those scenes are probably one of the best action scenes I've read. Peat showed that he's a master in writing scenes like that, they were wonderfully crafted. 

 

I can list lots of other things I loved about this book, but there will be spoilers if I do that, so you'll just have to read it for yourself ;) As for the ending, it was quite a surprise & really epic & probably one of the best cliffhangers ever! I'm dying to see what will happen next & the waiting for the next book will be painful, but I know it will be worth it, even if we have to wait as long as we did for The Daylight War (although I hope we won't).

 

If you're a fan of epic fantasy, then the Demon Cycle is a must-read for you & I can't recommend it enough! With every new book, Peter V. Brett delivers a tale filled with demons, magic, heroes, intrigue, horror, suspense, humor & lots & lots of action, that will stay with you long after you've finished it!

 

Challenges:

 

Review Copy Cleanup 2013

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge