THE SKULL THRONE

The Book

The Skull Throne by Peter Brett
Book 4 in The Demon Cycle series
Read by Colin Mace
Genre: epic fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Skull Throne:

The first three novels in New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett’s groundbreaking Demon Cycle series -- The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, and The Daylight War -- set a new standard for heroic fantasy. The powerful saga of humans winnowed to the brink of extinction by night-stalking demons, and the survivors who fight back, has kept readers breathless as they eagerly turned the pages. Now the thrilling fourth volume, The Skull Throne, raises the stakes as it carries the action in shocking new directions.

The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty.

Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honor and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all. But Arlen Bales, the Warded Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honor refuse. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a savior, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart.

In the south, Inevera, Jardir’s first wife, must find a way to keep their sons from killing each other and plunging their people into civil war as they strive for glory enough to make a claim on the throne.

In the north, Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to forge an alliance between the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians before it is too late.

Caught in the crossfire is the duchy of Lakton -- rich and unprotected, ripe for conquest.

All the while, the corelings have been growing stronger, and without Arlen and Jardir there may be none strong enough to stop them. Only Renna Bales may know more about the fate of the missing men, but she, too, has disappeared...

Source: Info in the About The Skull Throne was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13630171-the-skull-throne on 20/03/2016.

Review

My Thoughts:

The world building is nice, but that is not it's most prominent feature. It is woven in such a way that it hooks into your brain sneaky-like and you find yourself craving to read more of the world in odd moments. It encroaches into your real life. It is addictive. So if you are masochistic like that, just plod through Book 2 and Book 3 and you'll get here.

The writing style still has multiple threads but now the author writes them in bigger chunks and therefore is a whole lot less annoying. And I like that very much!

The Skull Throne still ends with a cliffhanger, but then, we already knew that going in. What makes it insidious is that, it seemingly ends in mid-chapter and The Core starts straight where it ends. Starts mid-chapter. Same sentence. Real stealthy! So my advise is, don't start reading The Skull Throne until you have The Core in your hands too.

I actually bought The Skull Throne when it first came out, like a year before The Core, and stopped reading about three quarters into the book because I knew it was going to end in a cliffie. Another incentive for me to stop reading there was that a favourite character died and it took me a good year to grieve him before I could continue on reading in this world again. It was that much of a shock.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

The Author
	Raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels, comic books, and Dungeons & Dragons, Peter V. Brett (“Peat” to his friends) has been writing fantasy stories for as long as he can remember. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Art History from the University at Buffalo in 1995, and then spent over a decade in pharmaceutical publishing before returning to his bliss. He lives in Brooklyn.
www.petervbrett.com | facebook | facebook author page | twitter | goodreads | pinterest | instagram | google+

Books in The Demon Cycle series:

FTC Disclosure:
The copies of these books were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Review: THE DAYLIGHT WAR

The Daylight War by Peter Brett
Book 3 in The Demon Cycle series
Read by Colin Mace
Genre: epic fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Daylight War:

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.

Source: Info in the About The Daylight War was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8176879-the-desert-spear on 03/01/2016.

My Thoughts:

I went into this book with a lot of prejudice. That didn't help any. So yes, this is a slow read, audiobook or not. And just like Book 2, it's just another chapter of a bigger book. Which makes this series, obviously, not a trilogy. This series seems to be becoming an ongoing thing so much like Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series. Hopefully, unlike the Wheel Of Time, the author won't die before the final book is published! **fingers crossed** ...And also unlike the Wheel Of Time, there would be less padding... hopefully...

Also like the previous books, The Daylight War also has the same story telling style. The story has multiple threads and jumps from thread to thread every couple of chapters or so. Like for example I was reading about Arlen for the last couple of chapters. Then the next chapter jumps to Leesha. I have to go back to the last chapter where Leesha left off because I had forgotten what had happened to her last while being immersed in Arlen's story. The continuity of the story is broken. This story telling style feels jarring to the reading flow. And this is the very reason why I stopped reading Ian Irvine... And another reason why this book is a slow read. And then it ended in a whoopping, big-ass cliffhanger....

However, even after all that moaning, it still has a masterful world building! So much so that no matter how I dislike the story telling style, I could not, in all honesty give this book a less than 2. Well, 2, is not exactly the sum of its parts when broken down in the Empirical Evaluation, but that is what I give this book anyway. Cliffhanger endings is sooo not to my liking.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 1.5
Ending = 1
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 1.5
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries

About Peter Brett
	Raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels, comic books, and Dungeons & Dragons, Peter V. Brett (“Peat” to his friends) has been writing fantasy stories for as long as he can remember. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Art History from the University at Buffalo in 1995, and then spent over a decade in pharmaceutical publishing before returning to his bliss. He lives in Brooklyn.
www.petervbrett.com | facebook | facebook author page | twitter | goodreads | pinterest | instagram | google+

Books in The Demon Cycle series:

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook copies of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Review: THE DESERT SPEAR

The Desert Spear by Peter Brett
Book 2 in The Demon Cycle series
Read by Colin Mace
Genre: epic fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Desert Spear:

The sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that arise as the sun sets, preying upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind ancient and half-forgotten symbols of power. These wards alone can keep the demons at bay, but legends tell of a Deliverer: a general — some would say prophet — who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. Those times, if they ever existed, are long past. The demons are back, and the return of the Deliverer is just another myth . . . or is it?

Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons — a spear and a crown — that give credence to his claim. Sworn to follow the path of the first Deliverer, he has come north to bring the scattered city-states of the green lands together in a war against demonkind — whether they like it or not.

But the northerners claim their own Deliverer. His name was Arlen, but all know him now as the Warded Man: a dark, forbidding figure whose skin is tattooed with wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. The Warded Man denies that he is the Deliverer, but his actions speak louder than words, for he teaches men and women to face their fears and stand fast against the creatures that have tormented them for centuries.

Once the Shar’Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends, brothers in arms. Now they are fierce adversaries. Caught between them are Renna, a young woman pushed to the edge of human endurance; Leesha, a proud and beautiful healer whose skill in warding surpasses that of the Warded Man himself; and Rojer, a traveling fiddler whose uncanny music can soothe the demons — or stir them into such frenzy that they attack one another.

Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are blissfully unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent — and deadly — than any that have come before.

Source: Info in the About The Desert Spear was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8176879-the-desert-spear on 03/01/2016.

My Thoughts:

In this book we are introduced to a more sinister kind of nemesis. This time around the demons are not just mindless but strong, fast, with sharp claws frightening beings. We get to know a higher kind of demon with vicious cunning. Can fly and command vast armies. Mankind has no chance! Aha! And then we read on....

Like The Painted Man, this book is also a slow start despite the convenience of the audiobook. I think the other reason for this book being particularly slow start is because it openned with the story of Jardir whom we met in Book 1. I didn't like him. And that dislike colored my views about reading his side of the story. Thus it took a great deal of perseverance on my part to plod through his story. Consequently, it dragged the pace of this book down considerably. Usual fantastic world building. Masterful story telling quality. And the dreaded "jumping-through-multiple-threads" style of telling the story. **sigh**

The story has multiple threads and jumps from thread to thread every couple of chapters or so. Like for example I was reading about Arlen for the last couple of chapters. Then the next chapter jumps to Leesha. I have to go back to the last chapter where Leesha left off because I had forgotten what had happened to her last while being immersed in Arlen's story. The continuity of the story is broken. This story telling style feels jarring to the reading flow. And this is the very reason why I stopped reading Ian Irvine...

No, it's not graphic sex that tacked the "Parental Advisory" sticker on this book/series. It's the rape, incest and other issues. This also contributed to this book's slow pace. Although the author kind of glossed over it.

The narration - by now I am already used to Colin Mace's reading. I still don't agree with all of his interpretations of the book, but, it is easier for me to just let it go now.

But here is the real kicker, the book ended in a big whooping cliffhanger! This book is just a chapter of a bigger book. The story didn't start nor ended in this book. At all. Just a chapter.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 1
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 2
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

About Peter Brett
	Raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels, comic books, and Dungeons & Dragons, Peter V. Brett (“Peat” to his friends) has been writing fantasy stories for as long as he can remember. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Art History from the University at Buffalo in 1995, and then spent over a decade in pharmaceutical publishing before returning to his bliss. He lives in Brooklyn.
www.petervbrett.com | facebook | facebook author page | twitter | goodreads | pinterest | instagram | google+

Books in The Demon Cycle series:

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook copies of this book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.