The Desert Spear - Peter V. Brett

THE DESERT SPEAR

Book 2 of 'The Demon Cycle'

Read about Book 1 HERE

ISBN - 978-0-00-727617-2
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2011
PAGES - 782
BINDING - Paperback
GENRE - Fantasy

AUTHOR - Peter V. Brett

BEST-SELLERS - The Painted Man

SYNOPSIS - Out of the southern desert rides Ahmann Jardir, a warrior king who has claimed the title Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer reborn. A vast army marches in his wake, intent on holy war against the demon plague and determined to recruit others to their cause, willing or not. But the Northerners have named their own Deliverer: the Painted Man, a dark, forbidding figure, whom the Shar'Dama Ka once called brother.

Betrayal has turned the two friends into fierce adversaries, and only time will tell who is strong enough to withstand the might of the demons as they strive to obliterate humanity's defenses once and for all.

EXCERPT - 'Might as well come out!' he called loudly into the night. 'I know you're there! That changing demon ent smart enough for this!'

There was a rustle off to the side, and a demon appeared. It was small and slender, with an oversized head and a high, knobbed cranium. Its eyes were huge black pools, and it bared only a single row of sharp teeth at him. The talons at the end of its delicate fingers were like an Angierian lady's painted nails.

'Been wondering when I'd run into one of you bastards,' the Painted Man said. He tapped the large ward tattooed in the center of his forehead. 'Painted myself up special for it.'

FL Speak - Peter V. Brett continues the tale of Arlen from his epic debut into another wonderful tale. When 'The Painted Man' was published, it created quite a storm and almost everyone had it in their wishlist.

So naturally, I had to pick it up as soon as possible. However, even though 'The Desert Spear' is equally exciting and fast paced, it didn't hit the sweet spot for me. Mainly because, the story delves into the past rather than the present. Its more of a tale of Jardir, the Shar'Dama Ka of the Krasians than Arlen and hey, am an Arlen fan.

The Painted Man takes us way back into the past where Jardir was a kid and it is the tale of his growth to the leader of the Krasians. Jardir and Abban, who once were the best of friends and it is their tale of bravery and sacrifices along the way. Even though I do not like this Jardir dude much, I can't help but feel for his plight and cheer at his success, even though eventually he ends up betraying Arlen. Much of Jardir's rise to fame has been written by the Gods. {well that's what his First wive says. Yes, First wive. He has loads of those wives. Lucky chap indeed.} However, Jardir later realizes that his life was never his own. He has been manipulated slowly to be in the position he is now, and that included betraying his once friend, Arlen. Nevertheless, Jardir has come to terms with that for the future good.

Since the Krasian invasion of Fort Rizon, the Painted Man aka Arlen has been moving from city to city in the hopes of building an alliance against the coming Krasian horde. Also, Arlen is slowly losing his humanity as he is turning into one of those wretched corelings by the day. He has trouble walking in the sun and the earth's core is slowly pulling him downwards every morning.

Leesha, whose proposal Arlen rejected is now being wooed by Jardir after he saw her fighting the corelings. And Leesha, like the naive bimbo she is, ends up cavorting with the enemy. {Err, not exactly THE ENEMY, but hell, I can call him an enemy since he betrayed Arlen right?}

Arlen ends up riding to his home town where his own father fails to recognize him and rescues a girl in the process who ends up following him as he hunts corelings at night. Now comes the fun part. A new type of completely kickass coreling appears and Arlen barely manages to save himself. But he does enough to see that a whole new, immense horde of corelings are gathering for the final war. After the fight is over and he is pulled back to Mother Earth, Arlen proposes to the chick. {I mean, what on earth is happening!!!}

The final battle is coming and the Deliverer needs to be ready. Will it be Arlen or Jardin and what will happen when they meet again, that remains to be seen.

I finished the book in 4-5 hours as I simply couldn't put it down! Scintillating stuff! Looking eager for the final part.

My Rating - 4.5 stars

PRICE - INR 276/- [Flipkart Price]

The Painted Man - Peter V. Brett

THE PAINTED MAN [also called THE WARDED MAN in the U.S]

Book 1 of 'The Demon Cycle'

ISBN - 978-0-00-727614-1
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2008
PAGES - 544
BINDING - Paperback
GENRE - Fantasy

AUTHOR - Peter V. Brett

BEST-SELLERS - The Painted Man

SYNOPSIS - Arlen lives with his parents on their small farmstead, half a day's ride from the isolated hamlet of Tibbet's Brook. As dusk falls every evening, a mist rises from the grounf promising death to any foolish enough to brave the coming darkness. For hungry demons materialize from the vapours to feed, and as the shadows lengthen , humanity is forced to take shelter behind magical wards and pray that their protection holds until the dawn.

But when Arlen's world is shattered by the demon plague, he realizes that it is fear, rather than the monsters, which truly cripples humanity. Only by conquering their own terror can they ever hope to defeat the demons. Now Arlen must risk leaving the safety of his wards to discover a different path, and offer humanity, a last, fleeting chance of survival.

EXCERPT - Rojer was up in an instant, grabbing her up and thrusting her behind him. He brandished the stick before him like a spear, his face twisted in a snarl.

The man ignored them both, moving over to inspect Rojer's circle. 'You have holes in your net there, there and there,' he said, pointing, 'and this,' he kicked the ground by one of the crude symbols, 'this isn't even a ward.'

'Can you fix it?' Leesha asked hopefully, pulling free from Rojer's grasp and moving towards the man.

'Leesha, no,' Rojer whispered urgently, but she ignored him.

The man didn't even glance her way. 'There's no time,' he replied, pointing to the corelings already beginning to rise at the edge of the clearing.

'Oh, no,' Leesha whimpered, her face draining of colour.

The first to solidify was a wind demon.

FL Speak - The cover says, "enter a world where darkness belongs to demons". Now we ALL know that! I was expecting just amother typical Robert Jordan-types plot when Peter V. Brett blew me away.

This is the tale of Arlen. Every night demons rise from the ground as the sun sets and the people rush indoors hoping that the wards will not fail them. Every night people die. After seeing his mother murdered by the corelings one night and realizing that his father is a coward, Arlen runs away to the Free Cities in hopes of learning better wards.

After years of training to be a Messenger, someone who travels the world, facing every night alone with only their wards and wits to keep them alive, Arlen realizes that the wards of the old times may not be lost as everyone believed. He goes hunting for those wards which might help humankind to fight back the corelings!

This is also the tale of Leesha, a young girl who becomes a Herb gatherer (local medic) for the people and how her paths cross with Arlen later into the story. Rojer, who wants to be a Jongluer (a juggler/entertainer) relives his painful memories of the night his parents were killed by the corelings and plays a fiddle that manages to hold the corelings at bay.

As Arlen leaves his training and runs away to the Krasian desert where men has always fought the corelings, he realizes that for the first time, men can win. But treachery and betrayal at the hands of his friends changes the man inside him. Arlen survives, but he's now changed into someone else.

The Painted Man rides alone killing demons every night until he meets Roger and Leesha and together for the first time, they make the people of a small hamlet come out of their fear and fight for their lives.

The great thing about this book is that it takes a simple story to an extraordinary tale. The characters are immensely loveable. You end up wishing you were Arlen, fighting demons, running away from love.
 

Not an original storyline, but a total original story! Peter V. Brett takes you on a ride that makes you impossible to pause reading. Not much background details and that may shear off some points for being a fantasy novel, but the fast paced tale of guts and glory makes you wish the story never ended.

My Rating - 4 stars

PRICE - INR 275/- [Flipkart Price]