The Daylight War (The Demon Cycle #3)
by
Peter V. Brett
Brett continues his slow-burning saga of the Demon Cycle and has massive highs and a few slows in this third installment of his 5-part series.
The focus on this series continues, as it did in The Desert Spear, spread between the principle characters of Arlen Bales, Ahmann Jardir and Leesha Paper – but there is more focus and times spent on the solid supporting cast of the bard Roger, the Cutters who follow Leesha and Inevera who is the power behind Jardirs’ throne. The titular Daylight War that precedes the prophecied “Sharak-Ka” (a.k.a., the final war with the Demons from the Core) is now squarely upon all the humanity of the surface world – the Greenlanders are still disparate in their power centers and the Krasians are marching northward on their Holy mission to conquer their non-desert neighbours and unite humanity, by sheer brutality if need be, against the demons from the Core.
There is a palpable tension in a lot of what happens through this volume, after the events of the second book where both Arlen and Jardir found themselves facing a whole new kind of Coreling, the Mind Demon, one that they both barely survived; but it also showed them that not only is the threat of demons not as simple as everyone in the world thought, but that time is also now running out for humanity if they are not prepared for the war of prophecy.
This volume also delves even deeper into the Krasian culture via flashback lens of Inevera’s life this time around – it is both interesting, despite some minor problems. There is a tension as already mentioned, but a few instances aside, it is a bit of a slower burn that the previous two novels, but one that builds to a thrumming and highly entertaining finale and a hell of a cliffhanger that I don’t think anyone could see coming without reading spoilers beforehand!
I will admit that there are aspects like his female characters too often “hissing” at people instead of many other possible reactions and like it there are a few moments that are a wee bit awkward but I would say 90% of what is between these covers is otherwise solid.
At his core, Brett is a solid writer and I can definitely feel his writing skills improve and feel more polished from book to book. He’s also getting more confident in the world he’s built and things like slang and such is more tangible and natural, though occassionally I want to slap the fool out of the author for perhaps going to certain wells too often for a single book!
But jokes aside, overall this is not just a solid entry in the series but a strong step forward because such stories are often left feeling bloated when you reach a third part and there are many big ups and downs and resultantly some understandeable apprehensions about 4th and 5th installments – but I remain entertained and am very much looking forward to starting the next book soon.
OTHERS BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Book 5: The Core (COMING SOON!)
One Happy Monk 
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