The Daylight War: Book Three of the Demon Cycle (The Demon Cycle, #3)

by Peter V. Brett

Continuing the impressive debut fantasy series from author Peter V. Brett, The DAYLIGHT WAR is book three of the Demon Cycle, pulling the reader into a world of demons, darkness and heroes.

On the night of a new moon all shadows deepen.

Humanity has thirty days to prepare for the next demon attack, but one month is scarcely enough time to train a village to defend themselves, let alone an entire continent caught in the throes of civil war.

Arlen Bales understands the coreling threat better than anyone. Born ordinary, the demon plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has been given the unwanted title of saviour, and attracted the attention of deadly enemies both above and below ground.

Unlike Arlen, Ahmann Jardir embraces the title of Deliverer. His strength resides not only in the legendary relics he carries, but also in the magic wielded by his first wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose allegiance even Jardir cannot be certain of.

Once Arlen and Jardir were like brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity's enemies prepare, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all: those that lurk in the human heart.

• ISBN10: 0345503821
• ISBN13: 9780345503824
• Publish Date: 12 February 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 639
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rinn]

Thank you to Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. Also posted on my book blog, Rinn Reads.

I devoured the first two books in this series, so when I saw the ARC of The Daylight War on Edelweiss I immediately requested it. And reading this ARC has shown me just how badly I get on with the Kindle.

This is a book I'd been anticipating since I finished The Desert Spear. One that I couldn't wait to start - but even then I didn't pick it up until June, despite getting a copy of the ARC at the beginning of the year. And I didn't finish it until a couple of days ago, in early September.

But I'm not actually sure if it was just the fault of the Kindle.

Whilst I can't fault Peter V. Brett's wonderful writing style and vivid imagination, there was just something about this book that just didn't match up to the other two. We spent a vast majority of it in the past, with Inevera - which whilst explaining her behaviour and perhaps justifying (some of) her actions, really made me feel like there was far too much background. In fact the book barely advanced time wise, because so much of it was spent in the past.

I also got irritated by Arlen and Renna, eventually. Their relationship was sweet at first, and it was nice to see the real Arlen Bales that I knew from the first book, rather than the Warded Man, but their way of talking to each other started to bug me. This volume of the series certainly tends to focus a lot more on relationships, with even Rojer getting some action. He lost my respect though - although he may have been embracing Krasian culture, it felt kind of... creepy.

However, Leesha was her usual headstrong self, and has some problems she will have to face in the next book. As well as this, we will see the conclusion of the cliffhanger - and I can't decide if that frustrates me or gets me excited for the next book!

Sorry this review is so short. I didn't take very comprehensive notes because of the time it took me to read it, plus I read a large majority on a long train ride home so didn't manage to make any notes during that time. I just want to express that The Daylight War keeps up the wonderful world-building of the first two books, whilst lacking most of the excitement. There was just far too much of the past, and not enough of the present, where the demon threat is. Although some of the developments (Rojer's talent in particular) were exciting, it fell flat compared to the action of the first book in particular.

However, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a four star rating. Keep writing, Mr. Brett.