Title: The Desert Spear (Demon Cycle #2)
Author: Peter V. Brett
Author: Peter V. Brett
Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis:
The sun is setting on
humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that prey upon a
dwindling population forced to cower behind half-forgotten symbols of
power.
Legends tell of a Deliverer: a general who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. But is the return of the Deliverer just another myth? Perhaps not.
Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the desert tribes into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons--a spear and a crown--that give credence to his claim.
But the Northerners claim their own Deliverer: the Warded Man, a dark, forbidding figure.
Once, the Shar'Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends. Now they are fierce adversaries. Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent—and deadly—than any that have come before.
Legends tell of a Deliverer: a general who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. But is the return of the Deliverer just another myth? Perhaps not.
Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the desert tribes into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons--a spear and a crown--that give credence to his claim.
But the Northerners claim their own Deliverer: the Warded Man, a dark, forbidding figure.
Once, the Shar'Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends. Now they are fierce adversaries. Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent—and deadly—than any that have come before.
My Thoughts:
This was a fun ride again, however a bit bumpier than I expected.
Demon Cycle is a high fantasy series in which humanity fights against demons for survival. I adored the first book, The Painted Man, for its interesting characters, the deliciously detailed fantasy world it presented to me and how it could spook me out occasionally despite not being a horror novel.
The Desert Spear delievered everything its predecessor did, so in a sense there is nothing to complain about. Having said that I have to add right away that it was still lacking somehow: lacking in progress.
The only area where I felt the evolution was the character-writing of Mr. Brett. There was a lot of character developement indeed. Leesha – herb gatherer and village leader – became more badass (if that's possible), Rojer did everything to get over his unrequited feelings for a certain person, and Arlen (the main character of the first book) reached another level of self-knowledge by the end of the story. I have to say I appreciated the signs of inside growth my beloved trio showed.
The plot was not so strong. The first third of the book was practically a retelling of the same events that took place in Krasia (the Desert Land) in the previous book, only now from Jardir's point of view. And even later, when I was past that part I didn't feel we were moving anywhere plot-wise.
At the end of the book we still had the same unresolved situation: two man standing against each other, both rumored to be the Deliverer, both hating the other. The only difference was that Jardir left the Desert Town with an army (which we knew he would, it wasn't a big surprise).
Since I've heard that the third book starts yet again with telling the same events from another character's POV, the question rises: what does the second book add to the grand scheme of things? Does it add anything at all? I'm sure it does and I'll see it in retrospect...
Altogether let me say again that I don't mind at all that I continued with the series. The writing is still superb, I basically fly through the book and, since I care about the characters, I like reading the more character-driven parts. Hopefully I'll see more action in book three, and then I can give The Daylight War a higher rating.
Read my review of the first book in the series, The Painted Man, by clicking on the image below!
Next in the series:
The Daylight War
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