Worth My Credit

If you are like me, you're going to be a little disoriented when you start this book. It does not continue where The Warded Man left off. Instead Brett takes us back in time to learn of Jardir and the Krasia, but don't worry because he will get back to Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer. So, is this detour into the past worth it? Absolutely, Brett expands his setting quite a bit in this novel, adding new corelings, explaining the Krasia culture, and introducing new ways in which the corelings fueled magic of the setting can be used.

In short, like The Warded Man, there are all the aspects that build an interesting fantasy novel. There is not only the battle with the corelings and Jardir's desire to unite/conquer humanity, but discoveries about the world, and the relationships between the characters to keep the reader hooked.

Pete Bradbury continues to be an excellent narrator for this series.

My only disappointment was when I heard, "The End. You've been listening to. . ."

48 people found this helpful

Repeat, Peter and Pete

This is book two of the series, but if this is on sale and The Warded Man is not, go ahead and get it. Even though this is the second book, you will not be lost if you start here and then go back to The Warded Man as a prequel. If both are on sale or you are going to spend a credit, then get The Warded Man, just because it is a little better.

This starts out with a coming of age story of Jardir, who becomes a mighty warrior. Jardir was a minor character in book one. These warriors make the fremen of Dune seem like wussies. This story takes up about a third of the book. Then we go back to The Warded Man's life and his friends. Here is where it gets a little slow. For a while we have a Peyton Place atmosphere and then a Clint Eastwood western. If Peter would have cut this Peyton Place part a lot shorter this might have been as good as the first book.

In this book we get introduced to Bank Demons and the really cool Mind Demons. The Mind Demons will probably play a big part in the next book. Maybe we will get a coming of age story on the leader of the Mind Demons.

Toward the end there is a really cool cat fight between two stunningly beautiful and tough women that is worth the price of the credit.

At the end of this book you are left wondering who is the bad guy and who is the good guy. I love books with grey areas.

Pete was a great narrator. Peter and Pete make a good team.

27 people found this helpful

Not Impressed

As much as I really liked The Warded Man I just couldn't make myself like this book. I tried putting it down and coming back to it, and that did help for a while, but I finally came to the point where I just couldn't listen anymore. Not for the life of me could I make myself care about Jardir and his story and only continued reading because other reviewers promised that that bit would end and it does, eventually, but not soon enough. Then just as the story starts to get good, we return to Jardir and Brett starts off onto on odd journey with most of the characters together where those involved start to make decisions that make no sense and don't fit in with their previous actions and thoughts. It all becomes rather bizarre and unbelievable leaving me with no desire to finish the book at all. Additionally there were some rather disturbing scenes that went on for much longer than necessary. I did finish listening to these all the while thinking that the result better be worth having put myself though them, but even the end results of that story line are rather flat and unsatisfying and did not justify the length of the lead in. The appearance of The Warded Man and the return of the previous story lines were the only positives in the book. Unfortunately, Brett didn't stick to them and the result was fairly unsatisfactory. This is only my opinion and others may well like the book, but I personally don't believe I will ever finish it, nor will I purchase any further instalments. Bit of a shame really.

20 people found this helpful

solid continuation

I found the second book in Brett's series to be almost as entertaining as the first, though the flaws in his writing seemed more evident this time around. As before, the story is pretty character-driven, and this book fills in the backstory of the Krasian warrior Jardir, revealing him to be a more sympathetic figure than he seemed in the first book. The reader learns a lot about the desert culture of Krasia, which resembles a mix of the Middle East and ancient Sparta. While this digression away from the events and characters of The Warded Man takes up about a third of the book, I much enjoyed the detailed exploration of a world quite different from the "western"-style lands of the north.

Eventually, the novel gets back to Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer. At this point, the story flounders a bit as the characters get sucked into endless personal drama and repetitive demon-fighting. While Brett is by no means lacking insight into human behavior, some of his plot choices feel cheesy and contrived. "How can I make this story more interesting?", the author seems to be thinking, "I know -- I'll make Leesha and Jardir fall for each other." Also, my second Peter Brett reading experience made me painfully conscious of his tendency to use the same verbs and phrases over and over. Not a page goes by without someone shrugging or scowling, and "he embraced the pain and let it pass through him" becomes a familiar mantra.

All in all, though, I was in mood for escapist fantasy, and this book was a satisfying if not altogether stunning continuation of its predecessor. The invasion of the north by Krasia and the differences between the two "Deliverers", not to mention Arlen's steady shift towards the dark side, should offer the forthcoming third book plenty of plot fodder. Not quite up to the standards of George RR Martin, IMO, but solid.

19 people found this helpful

Worth the time & money

Boy am I glad I decided to use my credit for The Desert Spear in spite of the bad reviews!
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I loved The Warded Man, and was not disappointed by TDS. Not as good as TWM? Maybe, but certainly better than any audio book I've listened to in a month (and I go through them fast).
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I find that I'm more critical of audio books than regular books, because of the added element of the narration. A poor narrator can ruin a good book, and that stinks. But TDS has the same narrator as TWM, and his voice and intonation is perfect for the story.
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Really, I don't understand the poor reviews. If you liked TWM, you'll like TDS. I just hope Peter Brett writes more; I love his style, and I love the world he's created. To the core with the poor reviews! :)

19 people found this helpful

Meh...

Although the first book took some time to get there, I thought the final destination was pretty good. Like the first, this second installment took time to arrive, but it just didn't deliver in the way the first one did.

The system of magic is fleshed out a bit more, and that was good to see since the first book was a bit one-dimensional in that area. I thought the writing was good, and the narrator was good, but sadly the plot was lacking.

I found myself frustrated at a few of the characters actions which were so vastly inconsistent with their stated principles/morals/philosophies/what-have-you. For example Leesha fawning over a tyrant who's come to kill and dominate when she's *so* clearly anti-violence. How does that work? That's like the president of PETA falling for an animal torturing psycho.

Yeah, there was a fair amount of sex in the book - more than I'm used to reading. Sex I don't mind, but the rape related stuff was too much for me.

19 people found this helpful

Horrible sequel

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you like focus on inconsequential character for pages on end, if you like ridiculous sexual descriptions and a focus on rape/incest, and if you like it when the coolest aspect of the story (and what made the first book in the series so great) is given a back seat, well then you may like this book. I couldn't even finish it. Such a disappointment.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I don't know. This book burned me out for a while. I think I'll listen to music for a while.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Total disappointment.

Any additional comments?

If you liked the Warded Man you should skip this sequel. It isn't worth the time.

14 people found this helpful

First book, great then... Ain't diggin it no more

The first book was great then Peter Brett suddenly decide that he needed his main character to speak hillbilly and fade to nothing while become weak and introducing even more characters. I definitely skimmed this book. Not buying the next one and it makes me sad I read the first one. cliffhanger (and not a very clever one at that) just kind of stopped the book dead if it wasn't there already. it's like the author forgot to submit half the book to the publisher. Needlessly long back story, useless filler then a dead stop. extremely disappointed. moving on. - Shaun

10 people found this helpful

Well...J.R.R. Tolkien he is not...

Peter V. Brett deserves all the praises he's received from his first novel: the Warded Man.
His work is unique and well thought out. I purchased both books and enjoyed them equally well. But...as an author, it was very evident to me that the story was written by a man for men. Sorry.
No true offense meant to the author or fans, but read the books again before you lambaste me and my review.
Recently I've purchased many books penned by men and have noticed one similarity: the menfolk cannot write romance.
Or sex scenes.
Sorry.
Really, I like the books and the characters, but the romantic elements are lacking. I'm left cold, feeling like I'd just had a one night stand with a typical jock jackass who was more interested in making notches on his belt than connecting with me on an emotional level. Hmm, but then Arlen was ready to commit at the end of the second book, wasn't he?
My suggestion? If you're planning to write strong romantic elements into the series then I suggest you consult with a member of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) to make sure you get it right.

10 people found this helpful

whiplash! unexpected change from the warded man

Any additional comments?

after listening the warded man, i was psyched to listen to the desert spear. i wanted arlen's, leesha's, and rojer's stories to continue, but i was shocked that the whole first part was about jardir! i was soo pissed at jardir for betraying arlen that i had a hard time getting into jardir's story. eventually, i settled down and got into it.

the world of the krasians kind of reminded me a lot of the fremen of dune. male children are taken from their families at an early age and trained in fighting techniques. those male children that don't pass as warriors either die in training or become kafeet (spelling?) the lowest rung in society.

whereas most of the world fears the corelings and hide behind wards at night, the krasians test their manhood and skills by fighting corelings in their maze.

the krasians are composed of different tribes/families and there's a lot of infighting b/ween them. i thought this was well done. the political jockeying was interesting w/o losing you in who's who and who's doing what and why. make sense?

women for the most part are abused and used. however, there is a fierce fighting force of women magicians who are feared. they add an interesting twist to a male-dominated society. they remind me of the bene gesserit in dune.

the whole first part outlines jardir's story- how he became the krasian leader. it tells jardir's side of the story as to why he betrayed arlen. jardir's story ends with the krasians blazing out of the desert to conquer the rest of the world. the krasians are harsh to those they conquer. they kill the men, rape the women, and force the children to conform to krasian customs. it's like a krasian jihad- submit and convert or die.

when we finally get back to arlen, leesha, and rojer, we find them teaching and preparing their community to fight corelings and the krasians.

arlen travels between kingdoms, trying to disguise himself, while trying to pass on his knowledge of the fighting wards. his reunions are touching, and i'm glad peter brett didn't put them off.

while traveling through the towns, arlen runs into his first love interest, renna, who becomes his apprentice. arlen is darker in the desert spear, fearing he's becoming more coreling than man, but he makes some surprising discoveries.

when arlen is away, the krasians witness leesha, rojer, and her town fighting corelngs at night. jardir and his men help kill the corelings and a tense peace is found. jardir invites leesha and rojer to come spend time with him. there is an interesting culture clash to listen to.

ok...i've rambled on too much, giving away some of the story. overall, a great follow-up. i was pissed at first listening to jardir's story, but i definitely got into it. by the end, i was longing for the 3rd book, the daylight war. i can't wait for it!

9 people found this helpful