A Book Review: The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett (The Demon Cycle #4)

The fantasy trope features one archetypal hero, a savior, whose destiny was foretold in a prophecy. 

The Demon Cycle series, however, turned this fantasy trope up side down, giving us two heroes instead of one, in a backdrop where the prophecy foretold the coming of one savior. Not to mention, the two heroes are after each other's blood because of the prophecy. Indeed, the premise of "two saviors" is a twist to the fantasy trope, but it also makes the story more mysterious. It keeps the reader guessing at the truth behind the prophecy. Was the prophecy wrong? Or, perhaps there is something more sinister behind the prophecy's origin?

Multiple would-be saviors each claiming to be the one true messiah, sent by the same god? Is it just me or does it remind anyone else about religions in our own world? Just saying, you konw?

Anyway, The Daylight War ended with a cliff hanger, but the supsense continues to mount in its sequel, The Skull Throne. This is the 4^th installment in The Demon Cycle series. On Goodreads, some readers remarked that The Skull Throne sufferred from the "middle book syndrome". I think it is true, that the pace in this book was not as brisk as in The Daylight War, but it is still a very good book. Furthermore, I think Peter V. Brett has matured as a writer, for The Skull Throne is more compact than its predecessors.

Synopsis:

The Sharak Sun, The Daylight War, is nigh!

The Krasians and the Northerners waged this war because of two men; Arlen Bale and Ahamn Jadir, each hailed by his countrymen to be The Deliverer, a savior, foretold by an ancient prophecy, to unite and lead mankind to vistory against the demon invasions. Here is the problem - the prophecy foretold the coming of one Deliverer, not two. Indeed, for the Sharak Sun is rooted in religious disagreements, and men have killed each other for less.

In the midst of war, Arlen challenged Jadir to a duel, and it ended with both Delieverers falling over the edge of a cliff. With Arlen and Jadir suddenly gone from the world, mankind's chance for wining the demon war also dwindled.

In Krasia, Jadir's depature left behind a power vacuum. His sons and warlords are fighting against each other for The Skull Throne. The infightings sent Krasia into a turmoil.

In the North, Leesha and Rojer, representatives of Cutter's Hollow, set out on a mission to forge alliances with powerful dukes and duchesses of the The Free Cities. The North must unite, to repel both Krasia as well as the demon invasions.

One thing remains unchanged - without Arlen and Jadir, humanity is not strong enough to beat back the monsters. Only Renna Bale, the wife of Arlen, knew the fate of these two missing men.

Curiously, Renna has also disappeared...

My thoughts on this book:

The Skull Throne raised the stakes of the story to a new height. This book split the plot into multiple threads. It introduced more characters, while hinting at a forbiding truth behind the Delieverer and the prophecy. Among the host of newly introduced characters, my favorite one is Ashia, who is the daughter-in-law to Jadir. The Krasian society is patriachal, a culture that favors the strong over the weak. Under this culture, being a warrior is the most prestigious vocation for a man, where women and those men who aren't strong enough to be warriors are treated as second class citizens. In Ashia's story, she was born a princess, forced into an arranged marraige, but secretly she received warrior training since her childhood and her martial skills exceeds most of her male peers. Despite her superior combat skills, Ashia needed to overcome the social expectations, to be a warrior, not for her own glory, but to protect her infant son. I like Ashia's character, and I want to read more about her in the next book.

In the meantime, The Skull Throne had Arlen, Jadir, and Renna starting their own branch of storyline. I don't want to spoil it too much because the plot they are following is the core to the whole saga. Let me just say that I enjoyed reading about the tension between Arlen and Jadir's relationships. For the first time in the saga, these two former friends are brought back together, and it is very interesting to read about their perspectives of the demon war, each according to his belief.

Another storyline invovled Abban, Innerva, and the polotical struggle for the Skull Throne. In this story thread, Innvera was an intriguing and well-written character as usual, but I felt Abban's character was a wasted opportunity, because his potential was not fully explored. Having said this, the political scheming and the fight scenes for the throne was nail-biting stuff!

The third storyline invovles Leesha and Rojer, and their mission to forge alliances with The Free Cities. I still don't like Leesha's character, because I continue to find her "holier than thou" attitude annoying. However, I really liked Rojer's part of the story, it was intriguing and it delivered unexpected moments. Let me just say, the last 100 pages of the book was a bit of a Red Wedding, and it sets the scene for the much anticipated finale, the fifth installment titled, The Core.

The Skull Throne is a strong entry to the series. The book may have sufferred from pacing issues, but its excellent storytelling and memorable characters continue to grip me. The series, as a whole, is one of the best fantasy series out there, and I highly reocmmend it to my fellow readers.