The Desert Spear by Peter Brett

Reading is one of my passions and I have to admit that I mostly read fantasy novels. I am an amateur author myself (I swear I will bother to get something published one day!) so I often try to find first works to read.

I can't recall how many first works I have read to this date but there have been a lot! There have been good ones and some pretty awful ones. Books that weren't great but entertaining and books that made me wonder why someone bothered to print them. Of these first works, Peter Brett's "The Warded Man" was by far the best. In fact, it was better than most experienced authors' works. But this isn't a post about that book. This is a post about the much more recent sequel "The Desert Spear."

To this day I cannot decide which of the two I like better. I loved The Warded Man and I love The Desert Spear. Someone flip a coin for me and tell me which is better. The Desert Spear tells the story of some of the first book's minor characters and Brett does a great job of making us care about these characters almost as much as Arlen and Leesha from the first book. Don't worry! All the old faces are there too.

Overall, the story telling is extremely well done. You (or at least I) couldn't wait to turn the page. The pace is good, if not as intense as the first book. Though the last 100 pages move at a furious and much more intense pace.

What really made this book for me is how Brett brings to life the emotional exchanges between characters -- particularly Arlen. The action in this book is extremely well written; but action is easy. Bringing to life the emotions and encounters between characters is hard and Brett does it masterfully.

This book is without doubt worth the price of admission. It will find itself in a place of honor on my shelf, second only to George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (my all time favorite).

I hope those who read this will find it helpful and give these books a shot. I look forward to Brett's next book.