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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.) 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… Gizmodo - Get an Exclusive Peek at Peter V. Brett's Return to the Demon Cycle World With The Desert Prince by Cheryl Eddy March 8, 2021 1:30PM
Peter V. Brett said he has "been laying the groundwork for this series for years and am so excited to finally bring it to life. It keeps all the things I love about the Demon Cycle, while taking things in a fresh direction that provides an exciting entry point for new and younger readers. Olive Paper will be a hero unlike any other." [5] Peter Brett takes the reader with him and his characters on an electric and unrelenting charge through the demon-haunted depths of the Warded universe, full of love and death.” —Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education This is the starting point of a new series set in this universe. One could use this as a starting point but I strongly recommend reading The Warded Man (it is the best book set in this universe) first to understand this world. In this one, we follow the exploits of the children of our heroes in the first series.Leesha, Renna, Ahmann, Gared... Key cast of the first series - Brett did a pretty good job of phasing them out as the book went on, relying on them less and less, but there really wasn't enough new BIG characters introduced to replace them. Again, this may be because the cast is going to be deliberately smaller with fewer POV's in this series, but it felt like something was missing - maybe that's the point, we shall see. From a fan perspective, this gave me time to get adjusted to the new main characters and come to care about them on a level beyond simply being connected to my favorite characters. Rather than feeling like an all new beginning, The Desert Prince managed to feel like a continuation of the story I already loved. The result of this combination, the novel was instantly engaging and ridiculously hard to put down. Seriously, I managed to breeze through this novel in just a week. I didn’t even read the original novels that fast!
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. Oo this was so good with a pace that just kept building. The author gives us a story of adversity and courage but also one of manipulation and pain. I loved Olive and the progression of this characters sexuality felt relevant. Perhaps not precisely hermaphrodite but certainly Olive is finding a way to not only live in the circumstances forced their way but to thrive. Darin faces challenges of a different kind. Though free to choose his own path, the weight of legacy hangs heavy around his shoulders. It isn’t easy being the son of the man people say saved the world. Everyone expects greatness from Darin, but the only thing he’s ever been great at is hiding. This spin-off of the Demon Cycle should come with a fairly strong warning: Read the original Cycle first. My opinion, of course.
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That being said, I honestly loved everything about this book. I was a little worried about how an intersex MC might play in these books, considering some of the relatively atrocious crap that had happened to whole armies in the original Cycle, but not only was it handled deftly, with care and empathy. This needs a little explaining: Olive is rightfully worried, is brought up both as a Princess, and then, later, as a Prince. There is no handwavium here. All the expected problems exist, including the ones that anyone might expect for Main Characters who are only fifteen years old. There is no coddling, either. There is no sympathy for being different or praise. There is only survival and respect for what he/she accomplishes. It was a tightrope in the story and I think Peter V. Brett pulled it off wonderfully. The Desert Prince is a welcome return to a world I thought I had left many a year ago. While this is not technically part of The Demon Cycle series, I would absolutely recommend reading that series first. Not only is this book set in the same world but events and characters from The Demon Cycle series are integral parts of the plot. Even though I had read the previous series it was many years ago and I found myself getting confused as I couldn't quite remember what happened and who each character was.
I also found it a little odd how the author padded things out for so long by withholding the prince's identity until halfway through the book-- and acted like it was a big surprise. It was almost an insult to the audience. We're here for an Aladdin retelling and we know there's going to be a member of royalty in disguise/running around with the urchins. And how the narrative kept saying he was magnetic, had this natural leadership skill, and there was just "some undefinable quality" that made him stand out. It made it super obvious that he was really the prince, and I just had to wait for Cassandra to catch up. The war is long over, and the world has begun moving on, but the weight of their parents’ legacy are weighing on the kids. Olive, who’s mother is the famed “Duchess of Hollow” Leesha Paper and father is the Krasnian leader, feels trapped in her life as a princess. With little to no freedom, having her movements watched at every step, seeks some level of normalcy. In retrospect, Brett's latest work shares a lot of similarities with his debut, The Warded Man. As such, it is an introduction to what appears to be a much bigger and multilayered story arc. Time will tell if this new trilogy will manage to live up to the potential generated by the Demon Cycle. This is not readily apparent based on this first installment, but little did people know that the author's first series would reach such heights. He is eager to attend, at least once a year, an international science fiction and fantasy convention.Heart-wrenching, smart, and modern…The Desert Prince has set a new standard for fantasy.” – Bestselling author Wesley Chu. I was a bit disappointed in her attitude towards Celeste after all the hero worshiping she originally had for her and how she seemed to downgrade her old home just because she married Zaid, calling her desert kingdom "the right side". They should have been equal to her, but alas, that's how she feels. At least everyone is still friends 😊 It’s not that Darin isn’t special in his own way; he has several powers, including being unnaturally fast and being able to shift the form/density of his body structure. But still, he finds his father’s legacy an onerous burden. Here we see the next generation of our favourite heroes from The Demon Cycle series. The sons and daughters of Arlen Bales, Ahmann Jardir and even Rojer Halfgrip. All these young characters are struggling being in the shadow of their famous and heroic parents. There are high expectations for them and they have big shoes to fill, whether they want to fill them or not. Wow. I am blown away. Firstly thank you NetGalley and Random House for sending me a copy of this gem. Now on to reasons why you should read this book as soon as you can get your hands on it!
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