The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett – Book Review

Daylight War by Peter V. Brett – Book Cover

Demons Never Give You a Moment of Peace

It’s as if Peter V. Brett keeps getting better as a writer with each successive book in the Demon Cycle series. You definitely get that feeling with The Daylight War. And it’s not just because the stakes dramatically increase in this installment, which is true, but rather because Brett uses his characters much more effectively.

At first, the demons that seep to the surface from the depths of the earth during the night seem quite elusive and faceless. However, as the series progresses, you get to know these hellish creatures better and better.

What starts as a seemingly conventional world in The Warded Man, becomes increasingly complex here. And the demons lurking below ground realize that their dinner is becoming tougher and tougher.

In the Demon Cycle, everything and everyone comes in pairs: day and night, humans and demons, the northern duchies of Thesa and Krasia located in the south, the Creator and Everam, Ahmann Jardir and Arlen Bales. This duality is even more pronounced in Krasia, where men and women are separated just as distinctly as the full-fledged Sharum and the lower, despised Khaffit caste.

However, The Daylight War is about unification. Humanity must unite under the banner of the Deliverer if they are to defeat their common enemy. The problem is that there are two Deliverers. And each one is convinced that he is the true one. And with good reason…

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Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski – Book Review

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski – Book Cover

Monster Slaying in a Not-So-Original World

The best thing about the second installment of Sapkowski’s Witcher series is that you can decide whether you want to continue reading right after the first two short stories. This is because the very first story in Sword of Destiny is, to put it bluntly, the weakest one, almost like an unintentional parody of itself. The second story, on the other hand, is the best, tying for first place with the last one.

Andrzej Sapkowski’s method remains the same as in the first book (see The Last Wish). The Witcher roams a rather unoriginal fantasy world, encounters various monsters and mythical creatures, while a cheering crowd behind him urges him to chop them up as quickly as possible. And the Witcher? Well, sometimes he chops them up, and sometimes he doesn’t.

Wait, Is This a Children’s Story?!

Unfortunately, the fairy-tale stereotypes once again drag Sapkowski’s book down. In the stories of Sword of Destiny, dragons hoard treasures in their caves. Okay, that was fine in The Lord of the Rings, but a few decades have passed since then. Even if we accept the premise that a dragon, this mindless beast, would first rob a few wealthy citizens before devouring them, then pack the stolen jewels into a purse with its paws—excuse me, claws—and haul them back to its cave, then sort them by carat value with a magnifying glass perched on its snout… it’s still a bit much to swallow that this monster can speak. And eloquently as fuck, at that…

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The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – Book Review

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – Book Cover

The Monster Hunter Steps Out of Fairy Tales

Geralt of Rivia, the professional monster hunter (or Witcher) created by the now world-famous Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, made his debut in a collection of short stories in 1993. The Last Wish is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of early medieval Eastern Europe, populated with dwarves, elves, and dragons, and enriched with creatures from Slavic and Germanic folklore—from strigas and succubi to a twisted version of Snow White.

It quickly becomes apparent that the strength and weakness of Sapkowski’s book are one and the same. While it may be somewhat different from a typical Anglo-Saxon fantasy, you might find yourself questioning the seriousness of it all when a monster conjures a feast from thin air or a girl transforms into a giant bat only to turn back into a clothed girl. And then there’s the genie and the three wishes, of course.

After all, fairy tales lose their credibility past a certain age.

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