The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett


Published 2013 by Harper Colins Publisher


The Daylight War is the third book in the Demon Cycle series.  Like the first two installments we start off by learning the background story of another important character in the series.  This time it is Inevera, the wife of Jardir.  We follow her life growing up and the trials she faced in becoming the Damaji'ting, the most powerful woman in all of Krasia.

Her powerful hora dice have foreseen a very interesting future which she only half tells to her husband.  The secret she carries with her can shape the entire future of the world they live in.

The rivalry between Jardir (the self proclaimed deliverer) and Arlen (the people's deliverer) really heats up when Jardir finds out that his old friend that he betrayed actually lives on!  Peter V. Brett does not disappoint and gives us all the action we are accustomed to in the first books while tying up loose ends leading up to the confrontation between Jardir and Arlen.

The Daylight War was the first book with a very strong cliff hanger at the end and has readers counting down the days for the release of the next two books in the series.

Just like the the first two books I would highly recommend this series and The Daylight War, the best book of the series so far.

Rated 5/5

The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett


Published 2010 by Harper Colins Publisher


The Desert Spear is the second book of the Demon Cycle Series.  The sequel continues on with the stories of the main characters from The Warded Man, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer.  Just like the first book told the stories of these characters growing up, The Desert Spear goes back to cover the life of Jardir who unlike Arlen, has proclaimed himself as the Shar'Dama Ka (The Deliverer).  It follows the trials and tribulations he went through to become the Shar'Dama Ka and helps us understand how he became the man he is today.

The characters still face the same battle against the demon corelings trying to destroy the world.  The second installment of this book has the same action packed pace that will keep you wanting to read more and reunites us with characters we thought were long forgotten.  

Highly recommended to anyone who read the first book and would recommend the entire series to any Science Fiction reader.

Rated 4/5

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

Published 2009 by Harper Colins Publisher


The Warded Man is the first book of the Demon Cycle series (three books released so far).  It follows the story of three POV characters and how different events intertwine their paths.

We follow the lives of Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer from childhood to adulthood in a world filled with night demons called corelings.  The people believe they are being punished for previous sins by the creator and each night a variety of different demons rise from the ground to wreak havoc on the people.

Magical wards are used for protection against the demons,  usually everyones homes are well protected and people stay inside once nightfall comes.  The demons roam the towns looking for weaknesses in the wards and occasionally find weakened wards that can lead to the destruction of entires towns.  The demons disappear back into the ground at sunrise and most villagers spend entire days fixing damage from the nights.

The people believe the prophecy that the deliverer will come to save them from corelings and bring peace back to their lives.  It is their only hope and motivation to help them last the night.

Rated 4.5/5

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Published 2010 by Pan Macmillan

This 985 page beast was the first historical novel I have read.  Right from the start I loved how clearly Follett's writing is and easy the story is to follow, even though it takes place in dozens of different locations and has a handful of main characters scattered throughout the plot.  It was a nice change from other books where you have to be fully concentrated to read or you might finish a page and not know what's going on.  

One of my favorite things about the book was the way that Follett was able to intertwine character's into the stories and have them cross paths in unique and interesting way's, very smoothly and without any confusion.  Off the top of my head about four to five chapters in, he has eight main characters involved in the stories plot in their own separate way.  Each individually separated by countries, towns, and relationships.  

Another great writing technique that the author used was the way he was able to integrate his fictional character's with real life individuals like Winston Churchill, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Woodrow Wilson and many others.  He even managed to keep real life event's in tact and include his fictional character's into the situations without skipping a beat or having to make up events.

A great example of this is from Ken Follett himself in an interview he did:

Fall of Giants includes many real historical figures such as Winston Churchill, Sir Edward Grey, Woodrow Wilson, and Lenin. How blurred are the lines between fact and fiction when it comes to portraying these well-known individuals?

I do not violate history. Where real people appear in my story, the things they do and say are usually things they really did do or say, or something very similar. For example, the fictional Fitz meets the real-life Lloyd George, and they argue about whether Zinoviev and Kamenev should be deported from Great Britain. In that scene Lloyd George uses words that are taken almost verbatim from a memo he wrote on the subject at the time.

The full interview can be found here.

Recommended to anyone who loves historical fiction, and also a great book if you are new to the genre.

Rated 4/5