Customer Reviews

The Desert Spear

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

To start with, like many of the other reviewers, I loved the first book. I *bought* the first book, and, as a college student who moves frequently (so money and space are both at a premium), that's saying quite a bit.

That being said, I found this book a rather disappointing sequel. While the first book focused on three characters, building them up slowly, developing them a little and then moving to another, this one spends the entire first half on a single character, Jadir, who we have no reason to like, and not a lot of reason to care about.

I will grant you, the backstory for him is kind of cool, but I can't even give it the praise of being well-written, because the transitions in time (from present day to backstory and back again), were frequently poorly handled, leaving me confused as to why something was happening because I was in the wrong time period.

Even coming in knowing that the first half was about him, I found myself wishing early on that we could just get back to the characters I liked, and their much more promising development. That, however, disappointed as well.

Arlen: Arlen was, and remains, my favorite character in this series. Most of the parts about Arlen involved him beating it into our heads that he isn't human any more, and is such an abomination that he ought to just give up and die. However, his travels alone, and interactions with the people from his past were very well written and fascinating, and his reunion with his adopted parents was poignant.

The Jongular (who's name I forget): That probably says most of what needs to be said about him. He felt like an adjunct character in the first book, and he doesn't seem to be much more here. His sole points of note are his abilities to charm demons with music, his pining for Leesha, and oh, by the way, his ability to charm demons with music.

Leesha: Why, hello there, Leesha, do you mind if I call you Mary Sue, instead? That is, rather sadly, what she's become in this book. Not only can she ward better than anyone, even those who have practiced their whole lives, and who's survival depends (more) upon it *cough*Arlen*cough*, but she is the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet, claims to be able to heal an illness which has stymied all other gathers (a man's inability to have children), and, by the way, can pick up an entire new language in a week or so, in her 20s. Her sole complaint is that her mother remains spiteful and controlling, despite Leesha's ability to control everyone else, and her mother seems to be stuck there solely to annoy the reader.

In fact, I rather hated the way he handled all of the women in this book. They're all beautiful, and are, without fail, either domineering, controlling women, or helpless victims to be abused. This was true in the first book, too, but here it seemed much worse. I won't say more on that issue, because others have said it better than I could, but it would be worth a rant all on its own.

That all being said, it was still a good book. The humor and ingenuity that made me fall in love with the first one was still there, and the plot kept going strong. I loved the inclusion of the demon princes and the way they interacted with and influenced the world around them, making them perhaps my favorite characters this time around.

I probably won't buy this book. I almost definitely won't buy the sequel, especially if he doesn't start wrapping up more loose ends than he creates. I feel a little like I've been down this road with the Wheel of Time books, and I have no desire to keep reading this one until it reaches the point of plotlessness as well.

Let me begin by saying the first book in this series The Warded Man is easily one of my favorite books of all time. Brett did a brilliant job setting up a world (possibly in our future) where the total human population had been reduced from billions at its peak to a few hundred thousand struggling to survive. In this world, indestructible demons ruled the night and people huddled behind fences that were tested every time the sun went down and where the slighted mistake in setting them up meant that everyone inside would die a violent death. At the end of the first book, the discovery of the combat wards allowed the humans to start to fight back and removed "indestructible" from the demon description. They were still at least the equivalent of a horde of hungry grizzly bears though -- a Krasian in his prime who had trained his entire life should be able to defeat it 3 times out of 4, but they were hardly a push over.

By the end of the second book though, Brett had reduced the demons a little more than a nuisance. The point in the book where he completely lost my support was when Arlen went to the village and told the elders that if they did not take up a spear and go demon hunting he would leave them. So this 80 yr old granny who walks with a cane grabs a spear and goes out and kills a wood demon. Really? Do you think a untrained senior citizen could kill a bear with nothing but a sharp spear and a Taser?

Other reviewers have complained about all the time spent on the Jardir/Krasian back story. Personally I was fine with Brett giving more depth to the culture. After all, this is a civilization who's entire way of life was based around fighting demons and making sure the best fighters had lots of children. They should get top billing in the human's fight against the demons. The training, dedication and sacrifice the Krasians had to go through to be able to fight them was perfectly balanced with the destructive power of those demons. Where the story fell apart was where ordinary farmers, mothers and grannies were just as effective as the Krasians after a few weeks of training. That completely destroyed the mood of fear and danger Brett had cultivated during the first book.

I'm still hopeful Brett will be able to pull it out in the next book. If he had not reduced the demons to a pack of rabid poodles and kept the palpable sense of fear that permeated the first book, this would have been another 5 star review. As it is, this is still a great series and if this book was standing by itself, I'm sure it would have rated higher. It only pales in comparison to the first book.

***1/2

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 some dull and repetitive coreling-fighting sequences, after they discover weapons and hitherto hidden combat skills that make the formerly scary demons ridiculously easy to kill. 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." Never mind that one abhors violence, and the other commands the troops sacking her country -- some soap opera-style mooning quickly overcomes these little differences. 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. And characters sometimes say and do things that seem a little anachronistic for their world, such as suddenly developing a fixation on the scientific method.

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, though, hopefully, the editor will be a little more empowered on that one. If you're a fan of the modern fantasy genre, this series is a solid entry, though it falls a bit short of better works, like George R.R. Martin's.

I'm quite disappointed in the follow up. I rated it two stars since I stilled finished it and stayed up late reading it hoping something better will come along.

For those of you who have trouble following viewpoint changes, there's a lot of it going on in here. It should be easy to follow though since it always goes back a couple of minutes in the story but from the viewpoint of another person on the scene. For people like me who has no problem following viewpoint changes, it's a little annoying doing all that backtracking.

The first quarter of the book was mostly devoted to Jadir (which includes his relationship with Abban). This is an attempt to make us understand him and sympathize with him. I must say that I still dont like him. Makes me think he's a fool who's being led around by his wife and worst of all is how he uses religion to justify his actions. Do I think him an evil evil man? No but I do think he should die for his actions if only his rise to power didn't make him such an important figure.

Now that I think about it, not much happened in this book. The war between the humans got started and the mind demons got introduced. Arlen gains some new powers. Different prospective love interests were introduced.

Warning: spoilers

So the possible hook up between Arlen & Leesha didn't go through. They separated early on in the book to go their own paths. In this book, instead of protraying women as sluts, they're manipulative sluts. Not that there's a lot of manipulation going on but it certainly did talk about women manipulating men especially with the power of sex. Jadir fell in love at first sight. Man, he has 14 wives! Is it because he didn't get to pick a single one of them? Anyway, here he is rutting after Leesha. BTW why are all the men so hot for her? It's like she has a magic spell or something. Anyway, Leesha goes off with Jadir to try and prevent war from reaching the Hollow and because she's attracted to him. So she says she wants to form her own opinion on him even though she's been told he's a bad man. Doesn't actions speak louder than words? He invaded their land and allows his warriors to rape all the females of child-bearing age. I know some people said Leesha didn't fall in love with Jadir and that she left but you know what? The only reason she did that was because he had 14 wives. There are parts of the book which shows that she thought he was chivalous and all that like when he gifted her with his bible. She's constantly feeling flattered. She slept with him and the morning after she assured him that she did it of her own free will and that she enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, Arlen went on a journey down memory lane. He went back to Miln where he found out how mean he has been to his loved ones by abandoning them and never going back. He didn't even send them a word after how they cared for him. Afterwards, he went back to Tibbet's Brook where he learned what happened to Renna because he never went back. All he did in this book was feel regret.

Poor Renna. I find the chapter where she first reappears quite distasteful. So we all know what an incestous pedophile her dad is and Brett rubs our faces in it. It's finally Renna's turn to be raped nightly by her father. This is a man in his fifties and she's in her prime and she works out. People age faster so her dad should be tottering by now. Even if he weren't, she could still have knifed or poisoned him and toss him out for the corelings. There goes any evidence she's committed patricide. Nope, we're treated to her nightly defilement, her weakness, her stupidity in exposing her escape plan, and the messy conclusion. Was this necessary? Maybe. It gave her a reason to be reckless later on in the story. I can't believe she came up with the idea for exploding acorns since thinking didn't seem to be her strong suit.

Over 1/3 of the book's tone is nothing like the warded man. Who fears demons in the Desert Spear? Kraisians who dominate the book, recklessly die for honor and rape (each-other and women) to show male dominance. All of these things are approved in the culture. The women are treated as sex slaves, and the only power that they could possibly have is through schemeing.

The story centers on Jaidar who cares about nothing but status and power for himself. The demon fighting is nothing more than a means to get it. Magically, Jaidar appears to completely reject his culture to please Leasha. She must have discovered love and intelligence wards or potions to be so coveted and special. Especially since the man has 14 wives!

Jaidar's perspective as a child should have been interspersed in the Warded Man and it could have been toned downed to still have the required affect. Who wants to read 200 pages about someone they hate?

The Warded Man ended with a cliff hanger of three loved character's fighting a just cause. I loved reading the Warded Man. The supposed sequel, didn't pick up with those characters or the cause until after two hundred pages (section 2 - I had to read the book out of order) and then we lost out on a year of there lives in which all were transformed into super beings.

The desert spear had another good cliff hanger, involving Arlen - will he even exist in the 3rd novel????? I will have to skim through the 3rd book before deciding to read it.

After reading "The Warded Man," I too was excited to read the sequel. The story concept itself is great, but what worked well enough in the first novel faded after 500-odd pages of the second. Here is some of the questions I have with Brett's book:

1. Why is it so damn long? He could have cut out 200 pages and not lost much.

2. What's with all the sex? Everyone is the book is either doing it or wanting to do it, causing it to read like some 14 year old boy's fantasy of how grown adults are supposed to act.

3. Why is every strong woman in the story portrayed like a scheming succubus?

4. Why does everyone in the hamlets sound like they're from Oklahoma?

5. How is it that the characters suddenly turn from yokel-farmers to Demon-Killing Jujitzu masters after only two weeks and a few lessons? The demons, so terrible and fear-inspiring in "The Warded Man," become little more than cannon fodder in this sequel.

6. Why is Peter Brett so averse to the word "said"? The author shows his lack of proficiency in the use of dialogue tags, which become clunky and distracting after a reading, over and over again, that someone "hissed" when he/she reacts in anger to a certain comment. Nobody actually talks in this book, but they "hiss," "snarl," "snort," and "spit" more than a bunch of farm cats in breeding season.

Basically what killed it for me was the characterization in this book, which ranged from mediocre to downright awful--so bad in places that it caused me to put the book down and shake my head, thining "There is no way a real human being ever would have (done/said/thought) that just now..." I found myself skimming through the last 100 pages just to get it over with.

It's too bad, really. What started out as an excellent story concept has derailed into a clumsy caricature of a good fantasy epic, which--in more capable hands--might have been a really good read.

File me in the loved-debut-disliked-the-sequel camp. I was really looking forward to Peter V. Brett's sequel to THE WARDED MAN, which felt so compelling in terms of characterization, world-building and plot. I was underwhelmed by everything in this book: the prose, the characterizations and most especially the plot. I can't say anything much happens. The biggest gripe I have of fantasy series is pages on end of nothing much happening. In the opening chapter of THE DESERT SPEAR, Jardir's army invades the northern city of Fort Rizon. After that, it's pretty much a lot of soapish, childish storylines. The prose contained more dialogue than anything else-- a quick read for sure, but a sure sign of below average to average prose.

Although I enjoyed Brett's thorough characterizations of Arlen and Leesha in the PAINTED MAN, I'm not sure what Jardir's backstory really added to the overall plot. Arlen's meeting with Ahmann Jardir from THE WARDED MAN is fleshed out pretty good here, and I'm not sure it's for the better. I already knew Jardir wasn't a bad guy, just a misguided one. Here, we learn that Jardir's "Jiwah Ka" or First Wife Inerva is pulling Jardir's strings. We learn that Inerva seduces Jardir to betray Arlen, Inerva convinces Jardir to challenge and kill the prior Andrah (or leader) of his people. So basically, an strong, ambitious woman is behind Jardir's ascension to power.

As we return to the present, I was most put off by the relationship which develops between Jardir and Leesha. Essentially, Jardir visits Deliverer's Hollow, sees Leesha and he's smitten instantly. Despite having 14 wives, many of them unequaled in beauty and sexual proficiency, Jardir must have Leesha. What he wouldn't allow or tolerate with Arlen, he goes above and beyond tolerating with Leesha. When Arlen attempts to heal a man's life, Jardir kills the man, whereas when Leesha attempts to do the same, he obliges. Leesha returns his attraction because she's been bottled up for a long time and she needs release. After jumping in the sack with each other, this interminable soap opera takes a turn as the mind demon makes a move to eliminate Jardir. I was actually rooting for everyone dying. Unfortunately, Jardir, Leesha and Innerva all survive with some minor scratches. Nothing that can't be healed. I also didn't care for Arlen and Renna's fight with the mind demon. Nothing happens. The Krasians (Jardir's people) have only conquered Fort Rizon still and they haven't advanced since the opening chapter. The coreling princes weren't able to eliminate either of the potential Deliverers.

The best part of the book (and the reason this books receives 2 stars instead of 1), is for the plot which has Arlen rescuing Renna from the people in his home town, Tibbet's Brook. That's about all there is. This isn't enough to make this a satisfying read. An underwhelming reading experience to say the least

I loved the Warded Man and was looking forward to the Desert Spear. Way too much of the book is on Jardir-- we fell in love with the characters in the first book and was hoping to continue there. In the Warded Man, Jardir was the bad guy, in this book he tries to make him into a compassionate and understanding guy. Really? Is this the same man who lets his warriors rape women as they please? SPOILER: Is this the same man who conquers a city, kills many of the men, lets his warriors rape anyone they want. Forces people to change their religion? He makes Jardir into a victim of his childhood, so that's why he's make the choices he makes. It's crap!

The second half of the book is worth reading, but some of that was hard to read too. It didn't make sense. SPOILER: Leesha sees thousands of refuges from the city/hamlets that Jardir conquers. People are starving, lost everything to war, raped. But Leesha wants to give Jardir a fair chance. What crap was that?

I skimmed the first few hundred pages to get to the good parts on the people from the first book. Also, skim a good chunk of the middle/end of the book when Jardirs evil wife takes center stage.

Really, this entire book had pacing problems, and the demons became less and less of a strange elemental threat and more a weird sci-fi thing. But honestly, Leesha's sudden switch as to her sexual mores and concerns was just bizarre. I mean, I went back and forth through the pages trying to see if somehow she missed the whole thing where Jardir has women raped so as to create strong warriors.

I find rape to be way too easily used in fantasy novels, but Leesha being raped in the first novel was such a powerful and painful event for all of us. Sadly, it made sense in the context of the novel. I found it heart breaking but understandable that she wanted Arlen to have sex with her so she could pretend he was the father if she got pregnant.

Then, out of nowhere, she falls for the guy who is telling his men to go out and rape women. After being drugged. 'Nuff said.

The Warded Man was easily one of the best stories I've read in a long time. Sympathetic characters. An amazing, fantastic story, with a large scope, yet focusing in on 3 specific characters. I had hoped that the sequel to it would likewise be the same, building where the first left off, and advancing the story and characters. Unfortunately this was not the case. Where the first story had characters that were sympathetic and interesting, the second one focuses on Jardir, who as another reviewer pointed out, conquers towns, and allows his men to freely rape and murder their inhabitants. The author endeavors to make us sympathize with him, by suggesting its all a product of his upbringing. But I can't help but dismiss this as simply nonsense. People are more then products of their upbringing. At some point we each make a choice as to what path in life we'll follow. Jardir's path of power and glory, over the bodies of everyone else, is completely not sympathic. And to think that Leesha, who witnesses his brutality, actually likes this monster is completely beyond reason. Whats worse, is that if you simply rip out all the pages with Jardir on them, the book actually becomes interesting again.

Overall a sad follow up to a masterpiece. Because the first one was so great, I'll look at the next one when it arrives in the bookstore. If Jardir is still alive at the end, and his men haven't been either killed or gelded, I don't think I'll bother to buy it.