The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett

Book 2 of the Demon Cycle

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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 a myth? Perhaps not. Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the desert tribes into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himsef Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons - a spear and a crown - that gives 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.
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Another masterpiece.

The Demon Cycle is so far, hands down, the best series I have read in a long time. Brett is an amazing author and the books are extremely well written.

The Desert Spear picks up some time not too long after The Warded Man ended, and it starts out with a detailed insight in Jardir, the leader of the Desert people (Krasnians). My first thought was "Nooo, I want to read about Arlen and Leesha and Rojer!!!", but then I actually read the text and I was utterly caught up in it. The culture and the society of the Krasnians is absolutely brutal and it is so well done. It seems like everything has been thought through down to the smallest detail and you can really tell as you read this entire book - it's brilliant. Later on we return to the Northern characters and watch as their stories intertwine.

I don't have enough words of praise for this story, the characters are so alive and you feel with them every step of the way. Brett juggles a numerous amount of point of views and each and every single one is a joy to read. The demons and the wards to fight them off, the people, the world; it's all just a cornucopia of fantastic writing and imagination.

I do not have a single complaint about this book, other than that I didn't want it to end. I love how everything turned out, I love how the characters grow and I love how well it all works.

The next book in the series (of which there are supposedly going to be five in total) is The Daylight War and it's expected possibly sometime in 2011 (the internet is exceedingly vague on this, and Brett's own website is an incredible mess, I'm afraid**). Whenever it comes out though, I'll be there. This is a must-read series! He's also written The Great Bazaar and Other Stories and Brayan's Gold which both include stories about Arlen and other familiar faces that were left out of The Warded Man.

658 pages / published in 2010
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2011

** EDIT:

noiashui Iben

@PVBrett I just read the Desert Spear and I want to thank you for writing these amazing books! Are there any news on when the third is out?

PVBrett Peter V. Brett

@noiashui Thanks so much! Still working on #3, so a year at least before it hits shelves.