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The Desert Prince: New epic fantasy series from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Demon Cycle

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But when Olive and Darin step across the wards one night, they learn the demons are not all gone, and those that remain hunger for revenge. Events are set in motion that only prophecy can foresee as Olive and Darin seek to find their own places in the world in time to save it again. The writing itself goes at a steady pace and is split up into the point of view of two characters - Olive Paper and Darin Bales. I enjoyed both characters but have a special place in my heart for little Darin. The secondary characters are equally enjoyable and varied. They are all brave and clever and strong in their own ways, there will be someone for everyone to relate to. With the characters of this book being a little younger (teenagers) than those in The Demon Cycle series, this book feels a little more in the Young Adult genre with themes of "coming of age" and "finding oneself". The story is told mainly from two perspective characters. Olive is the daughter of Leesha Paper, now the Duchess of Hollow, and Darin Bales is the son of the hero known as the Deliverer. Both of them have grown up in this peaceful world, the feats of their parents having become the stuff of legends. However, Olive wants more. As a princess and the heir of the Hollow, she has her whole life planned out by her mother, who wants to keep her only child sheltered and safe. But Leesha has also kept a big secret from her daughter. Olive has always known she is different, being intersex, but the fact has never bothered her, until her mother reveals how she had been assigned the gender of female at birth because the alagai hora—prophetic dice made of demon bone—willed it so. Olive can’t help but wonder what her life would have been like, had the fates decided differently. A brand-new epic fantasy adventure set in the beloved world of the Demon Cycle, following a new generation of heroes, from New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett everyone says my da saved the world … Sometimes I catch them staring, like they’re expecting me to do something amazing. And when I don’t, I can smell their disappointment.

Heart-wrenching, smart, and modern . . . The Desert Prince has set a new standard for fantasy.”—Wesley Chu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The War Arts Saga Fifteen years have passed since the end of the war with demons, creatures of darkness who have hunted the night and plagued humanity since time out of mind. The heroes of mankind’s hour of need have become legend, and those who remain struggle to escape their shadows. The magic system in place is fairly intricate and without the knowledge of the previous books, I wouldn’t have understood how it works in context of the story. It takes shortcuts with other parts of the story and characters that fans of the series wouldn’t notice, but would seem odd to those starting out on The Desert Prince. That said, consider this as my recommendation to read ALL of them if you haven’t already. Ok I have to start by saying that I have not read the preceding trilogy the Demon Cycle but now I really want to ! This book is set fifteen years after the parents of Olive and her friend Darin succeeded in taking down the Demons that had plagued the world. Yes a few stragglers escaped but the legends of what these people achieved elevates them in everyone's eyes and indeed hearts. So you can imagine how difficult it is for their children to live within their shadows.What I found with this is that I enjoyed the nostalgia of the world so much but that it reminded me of the Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb in that it’s a YA focus on the new characters. After following characters that were adults in the last series in this world I think it’s a bit of a shift in focus and you have to get used to that, but if you enjoy YA or you want to start a fresh series this could be a lot of fun.

The Desert Prince is an epic tale centred around two teenagers. Darin Bales is the son of the legendary Arlen Bales, a great war hero, and the world expects similar greatness from him—though he isn’t confident he can live up to it. Olive Paper is a princess and heir of the Hollow, brought up to be a lady despite being intersex. Both Darin and Olive journey to discover who they are and who they want to be, despite expectations from those around them. While facing these internal struggles they also discover a danger lurking at the edge of their homes: the demons that once plagued their lands, thought to be defeated, are not all gone… I really enjoyed both Olive and Darin’s POVs. They both have their own challenges to overcome and Brett manages to write both very well. Olive is a hermaphrodite in the true sense of the Greek myth. She has been raised a girl by her mother but he is seen as a man by his Krasian relatives so a large part of Olive’s story is coming to terms with identity, especially when Olive is neither male nor female, but both. It’s a more literal interpretation of a teenager coming to terms with who they are and I liked the way Brett wrote it. Darin’s story is one of having to overcome the legacy of his father, especially when he feels that he cannot live up to Arlen and what he did. That is until they reappear, and it looks as though they are hunting a few people specifically; Olive Paper - the child of Leesha Paper and Ahmann Jardir, and Darin Bales - the son of Arlen and Renna Bales. The current release date for the direct store set of The Nightfall Saga 1: The Desert Prince (1 of 3) is set for Wednesday, Feb. 16 th! The Desert Prince takes place fifteen years after the end of The Core, and it revolves around two new main characters: Olive Paper and Darlin Bales. Both Olive and Darlin are descendants of the heroes of The Demon Cycle, and both of them are teenagers with their own struggles. Olive is an intersex who has her entire life planned out by her mother. Even though it was done to protect her life, Olive wants freedom and the life of a normal teenager. Darlin, on the other hand, faces a different kind of challenge. The weight of legacy is heavy around his shoulder because everyone expects greatness from him, but he’s only great at hiding. One night, when both Olive and Darlin step across the wards, it turns out that not all the demons are gone. Now, I’m going to start with the parts that I liked about the book.It wasn't lost on me that this may be a comment aimed towards people, such as myself, that expected the style and tone of this book to better reflect the previous series. But I respect it - wanting to do something different, going in a different direction, I just wish it had gone further , gone to new places with more new people and new conflicts. But I digress.) Darin’s situation is equally fascinating, bearing the burden of two revered parents, one nearly worshiped as a god and conveniently not around anymore so as to be brought down to earth by day to day living. His storyline is so equally compelling that I thought it a misfortune how imbalanced the two narratives were, which led to two issues for me: one was that Olive’s felt repetitive at times and overlong, while Darin’s section felt like his character was given short shrift. Again, The Desert Prince will release on the 3rd of August, and another thank you to Harper Collins and Voyager for the early proof copy. The world: The world building is beautifully done, everything makes sense, and I loved the creativity behind the two different cities. It really felt like a world where Aladdin could take place, without being an exact copy of every other Aladdin story.

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