Clare L. Deming

The Daylight War is the third of five books in The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get through this series because I am enjoying it. I had to re-read the first book, The Warded Man, so that I could remember the details before plunging ahead into the later volumes.

Here is the blurb:

On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.

Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more—the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.

The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.

Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons–a spear and a crown–that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.

But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.

Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all–those lurking in the human heart.

So this isn’t the book to start with and you should go back to read The Warded Man if you want to get into this series. While book 2, The Desert Spear, goes off on a tangent to explore other characters, their stories all converge in this third book.

After reading The Desert Spear, I understand Jardir and Inevera better, but I’m still rooting for Arlen in this tale. I do like that the other characters from The Warded Man, Leesha and Rojer, have both evolved to have their own goals and story amid everything going on.

This book does end in a literal cliffhanger, so be warned that you’ll need to pick up the fourth volume, The Skull Throne, soon if you’re reading this one.

Have you read any of this series? Let me know in the comments above.

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