A Book Review: The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett (The Demon Cycle #3)

The picture on the left is a woman dressed all blue, her face veiled. The image is thrumming with mystery and dynamic energy, as if action and suspense are waiting for you in the book. This is the cover for The Daylight War, and it is the third installment in The Demon Cycle. In this book, the tensions between Krasia and its northern neighbor have reached a high point, with an all out war looming over the horizon. I am happy to report that The Daylight War is an excellent book, its quality is on par with its two famous predecessors, The Painted Man and The Desert Spear. This series keeps getting better and better.  

Synopsis:

Arlen Bale and Ahamn Jadir, once up a time, these two men were as close as brothers, until an ancient prophecy divided them. Now, Arlen and Jadir are enemies, and neither of them will rest until another is dead; for each man is hailed by his fellow country people as the Deliverer, a messianic figure whom the prophecy foretold would lead humanity to victory against the demons. But here is the problem – the prophecy foretold the coming of only one Deliverer, not two. Is the prophecy wrong? 

Meanwhile, the night of the new moon is fast approaching. In the dark of the night, the demons are rising, and they are mustering their forces to attack the cities and the towns. Their goal is to kill both Arlen and Jadir before either of them can reach their full potentials and become humanity's leader.

The stakes are high, for humanity has only one chance at beating the demons. With Arlen and Jadir at each other's throats, however, their followers are also after each other's blood. These conflicts are setting the stage for The Daylight War. Will this war send the world plummeting into darkness? Or is the heart of men big enough for two saviors?

My thoughts on this book:

By now, I have read 2000 pages of The Demon Cycle series. The more I read it, the more I become aware, and fascinated, by the philosophical explorations in these books. Previously, in my review for The Desert Spear, I mentioned the demons in this story reminded me of the xenomorphs (from the movie Alien). In Arlen and Jadir's world, the monsters, like the xenomorphs, are representing the calamities from the natural environment, and so they are not "evil", but merely predatory animals hunting humans for food. 

However, the monster problem in Arlen and Jadir's world became the driving force, for the evolution of two cultures, Krasia and The North, and they differ vastly from each other. This also means, The Demon Cycle is a story that highlights, and explores, the cultural clash between these two groups of people, a clash where the theological difference, about the nature of the monster attack, plays a central role.  

The Northern religion teaches that the monster attacks are the Creator's punishments for mankind's sin. In the Northern theology, humanity is hopeless, and people can do nothing than waiting for a messiah to save them. On the other hand, the Krasian religion teaches that the monsters are sent by Nie, who is synonymous to chaos but opposite to their god Everham; in the Krasian belief, when one fights against the monsters, he is fighting for the glory of Everham and overcoming chaos, and thereby proving his worth to to enter Ala (the Krasian heaven).

In other words, the clash between the Krasians and the Northerners is due to their theological difference over an age old question – why is there suffering in the world?

Careful thinkers can see that each belief faces its own conundrum. If the monsters are the Creator's punishment for mankind's sin, as the Northern religion proclaims, then it does not explain why, the motivator to sin, rooted in evil, exist, or where it comes from. In other words, if the Creator is the ground of all things (including evil, which led to sin), then the Creator must be evil, otherwise the Creator cannot be the ground of all things. One may argue that evil is just the absence of an all-good Creator like darkness is the absence of light. But if that is true, then evil is a non-being and so evil does not exist at all, this explanation doesn't sit well with religious canons and holy texts. Furthermore, if evil is the just the absence of an all-good Creator, then it still won't explain "why" (the purpose) there is evil. 

On the other hand, if the monsters are sent by Nie (chaos) to test mankind's worth for entering Ala (the heaven), then this would implicate that chaos/evil is equally as powerful as the Creator. This would render the Creator and evil as equals wrestling over the control of mankind, like a chess game, and so the Creator is not the most powerful entity in the universe. If this is true, then doesn't this mean the Creator may not be the Creator after all? Furthermore, under the Krasian belief, the purpose of life is about passing a series of tests in this world so one can gain enough credits to live forever in heaven after the physical death. Not only is this belief selfish, like some kind of spiritual capitalism, but it also renders life meaningless.

In the story of The Demon Cycle, the Krasians and the Northerners evolved into polar opposite cultures due to their differing theology about the problem of suffering, a suffering caused by the monster attacks. The Krasians evolved into a warrior culture, and their society is founded on the belief that taking up a spear and killing monsters can get one to heaven. As a result, the Krasian culture values the strong over the weak. On the other hand, the Northern culture evolved into a passive one, because they believed the monsters are the Creator's punishment for mankind's sins, so they shouldn't be fighting the monsters, instead the Northerners believe they should wait for a messianic figure, foretold by the prophecy, to save them.

But what about Arlen? He is the main hero in the story, and what does he believe in? This is where The Demon Cycle becomes very interesting!

Instead of giving us one messianic figure like in the classical myths and fantasy stories, The Demon Cycle give us two messianic figures. One is Jadir, who embodied the Krasian faith; he is strong, and he sincerely believed in the prophecy about the Deliverer. Furthermore, Jadir believes himself to be the Deliverer, and so he sincerely believes that salvation lies with him conquering and uniting the mankind to fight against the monsters. 

In contrast, Arlen, as far as I can tell, is an atheist. There aren't many atheist heroes in fantasy books and I love The Daylight War all the more for it. In the story, not only does Arlen reject the Krasian prophecy about the Deliverer, but he also rejects the Northern belief that monsters are the Creator's punishment for mankind's sin. This is because Arlen saw the truth, that the monsters, much like lions and wolves, are just animals hunting for food, they are just calamities from the natural world that happen to people. I mean, could the world be another way, where there is no earthquake and storm, where lions are herbivores, and wasps don't' sting? For Arlen, the fight is not for the glory of god and the messiah against "evil, but a matter of survival, so every man and woman should be fighting against the monsters for themselves, for all are Deliverers.

The Daylight War, and the series as a whole, has everything I love about fantasy books. The worldbuilding is masterful, and its characters, vividly portrayed, have substance. On the premise of this wonderful tale Peter V. Brett explored the philosophy behind culture and religion, and how these human constructs can deeply affect the people and the world they live in. This is fantasy literature at its best. I highly recommend this series. 

Until the next time, happy reading!