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  • The Desert Spear

  • The Demon Cycle, Book 2
  • By: Peter V. Brett
  • Narrated by: Colin Mace
  • Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,129 ratings)
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The Desert Spear cover art

The Desert Spear

By: Peter V. Brett
Narrated by: Colin Mace
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Summary

Continuing the impressive debut fantasy series from author Peter V. Brett, The Desert Spear is book two of the "Demon Cycle", pulling the reader into a world of demons, darkness and heroes.

The Deliverer has returned, but who is he?Arlen Bales, formerly of the small hamlet of Tibbet's Brook, learnt harsh lessons about life as he grew up in a world where hungry demons stalk the night and humanity is trapped by its own fear. He chose a different path; chose to fight inherited apathy and the corelings, and eventually he became the Painted Man, a reluctant saviour.

But the figure emerging from the desert, calling himself the Deliverer, is not Arlen. He is a friend and betrayer, and though he carries the spear from the Deliverer's tomb, he also heads a vast army intent on a holy war against the demon plague - and anyone else who stands in his way.

©2010 Peter V. Brett (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

Praise for The Painted Man:

"I enjoyed The Painted Man immensely. Action and suspense all the way." (Terry Brooks)
"An absolute masterpiece… literally unputdownable, and deserves to be the next Big Thing in dark fantasy." (www.ozhorrorscope.com)
"A very accomplished debut fantasy. Recommended." (www.sfrevu.com)

What listeners say about The Desert Spear

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Trying to persevere past chapter 4

I cannot believe this is the follow up to the Painted Man. Firstly and probably most annoyingly, the first few chapters are filled with so many Arabic sounding names phrases and actions that at one point I thought I was listening to a translation. The story is lost. What happened to Arlen our gifted hero. Secondly, the introduction of these new young warriors is drawn out and frankly boring. I cannot register in my mind what character belongs to what name because there are so many . This is a mess, I'll carry on for 1 or 2 more chapters then if no improvement I'll delete this. Follow up comment to come...
A follow up comment:
The re introduction of Arlen Bales and Co. was a bit of a relief although this sequel was definitely not in par with the first. Not sure if I'll bother with the third.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A Downward Spiral

Where does The Desert Spear rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Fair - Listen, the first two books are ok, I really liked the first one, second less so, but it all goes wrong after that.

Which character – as performed by Colin Mace – was your favourite?

Colin Mace does a great job. Although by the third book, it does feel a bit stereotyped 'Arabs v Bumpkins' but that's kind of how the book is written

Any additional comments?

With great disappointment, I've just returned the third book because I couldn't finish it. I thought I'd hit a seam of fantasy gold and looked forward to a 4 book binge but it's all gone a bit wrong.

What started out as an interesting take on humans in crisis, with a potentially interesting mythos to discover, just descended into boring hackneyed fanfic-level romance-sex-romp. The gender politics was iffy to start with, but I was prepared to over-look it, deciding it sort of fit with how the world was set.I was so looking forward to finding out more about the demons and the world's past (lost cities, demon culture, magical weapons!!,) I was enjoying how the story intertwined the PoV, and hoped the characters would develop into well-rounded people, but the only thing well-rounded (and they are mentioned frequently) are the boobs. ALL the women have big boobs.

Even the two main male protagonists have become soap characters. These people are supposed to be fighting a desperate battle against the oncoming demon hordes and all they think about is who they are going to shag next, and the petty jealousies/confusions surrounding their relationships.

I like some romance in a story, and a good sex scene, but this is garbage. I feel the publishers, seeing the success of 'Fifty Shades' and it's ilk, asked Brett to flesh out (pardon the pun) the series with some of the same.

I hope they do get eaten by demons, but I'm not going to find out because I can't read anymore of it.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Subject matter should come with a warning (Rape)

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really, no! I was really enjoying this series but found a few things hard to cope with. But the subject matter of a father forcing himself on his child disgusted me. Being a parent I feel that there should be warnings re content like this as it made me feel sick to my stomach. If the book were to be re-released without that content I may read/listen to it again. I will not be continuing listening to this series.

Would you ever listen to anything by Peter V. Brett again?

Probably not. If it has stuff like that in it, I certainly would not read anything by him again.

Could you see The Desert Spear being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Hopefully not. (At least not with that in it)

Any additional comments?

I seriously think that there should be some warnings re content on your books. IE
Violence
Torture
Rape
Incest
I would at least know which books to stay away from then.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing 2nd instalment

I agree with some of the other reviewer in that the frequency of Arabic sounding names at the start of the book can, initially get in the way off getting to grips with the natural flow of the story. I admit I had the restart this book a couple of time to get past the first 3 - 4 chapters to understand and absorb what was going on in the story. The key is to listen when you can really focus. Do that and you will find its a more than worthwhile investment in the new characters, which is essentially a backstory of two sand warriors from the first book. This is another great paced story that encompasses a huge amount of ground. We soon meet up with our old friends Leesha, Rogier and Arlan. Enjoyed this book hugely and so pleased I persevered past the first few chapters as I was totally engrossed and carried away with the story once again. What more can you ask from a book. Isn't one of the pleasures of reading to be carried away to another time, place or world? For me it is and this book gave me a first class ticket to another world simply by popping in my headphones. No passport needed and no packing required.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Push through the beginning!

The beginning of this book is a flashback and it may get boring as flashbacks often do but keep going, it doesn't last for long and the rest of the story is just exquisite. As for the narrator, Mr Mace should stop torturing us.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Series, keep with it.

This book has a slow start. No one denies that. And be prepared, book 3 is much the same. Following Jadir's wife's back story but it all helps build the characters and world and worth the wait. I know you want to just get back to Cutters Hollow, Arlen, Leesha and Rojer but keep with it. This is one of the best series I have read (and now listened to).

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Even more gripping than the first book

If you loved the Painted Man, then you won't be disappointed with the Desert Spear. The book adds depth to the story, and ties everything that has happened cleverly together for a full picture, yet keeping up the suspenseful pace all the way through. We get the full life of Jadir in the first half of this book , just as we followed Arlen in the first book. That background is invaluable for the story to progress and all the loose threads are tied together very cleverly. I had so many questions from the first book, and all were answered in this one. All the familiar characters are developed further too. Well done to the author for coming up with such an engaging and brilliantly executed story. I have just downloaded number 3, merely minutes after finishing number 2. I am squeezing in hours of listening every day (to the detriment of sleep and work) as I am mesmerised by the story. I am sure this is a series of books I will want to listen to again in the future, such is their brilliance.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic sequel. Cannot wait for the next one.

only issue with the reader is that I can hear him swallowing every now and then

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good

Slow to begin and re visits allot of the first book from another characters point of view. Then becomes rapidly better as it rejoins where the first book left off and the story flows.
The performance is not quite as good as the first book as the microphone picks up the narrator swallowing every so often. This makes him sound like he is drinking water between sentences at times. It's little price to pay for a good story however.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enthralling listen

A well read instalment in this series the further development of the characters was well written highly recomended

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2 people found this helpful