Daylight War by Peter Brett

Originally posted at Goodreads

There , I read it. Left my cases unread, responsibilities unattended to, made sleep simply an abstract. Some people savor great books, occasionally pausing and taking breaks, digesting, intimating, throwing that far-off graze that echoes of realization that some books are simply meant to be read in one's lifetime. This is one of those books, which I was indubitably compelled not to read, but to devour, the voracity of which easily compares to the manner a number of classics and modern favorites have been read.

Brett's writing doesn't talk down to his readers, something one has to admire and appreciate considering the intertwined time development and shifting POV in the story. For all its complexity given the format with which it is written, it is heart-rending and incomparably moving. Even moments of serenity in the book carry great weight toward the development of both character and story, infused with depth and direction. Brett certainly has raised the bar on this third book, I only hope he can maintain this momentum throughout the series. The lacking dosages of what I wanted in book two was substantially supplied by this book. It had plot development, a fix of the favorite faces, and a hefty serving of blood and ichor, and finally some demonic information. Truly outdoing yourself Brett. So yeah, I could even dismiss every nuance I have written on the second book, forget plot holes and simply fall in the moment that is the Painted Man series. The only dilemma now is when the fourth book would be coming out as this ended not only with a cliffhanger but a cliff fall. XD

At times like this, where patience is truly a virtue and waiting the name of the game, I console myself knowing that masterpieces are not hurried, but are waited upon.

So the question begs to be asked, what's stopping me from giving that last star that apparently it outweighs in importance for even world-building and plot development nuances can be let go? It's conspicuous actually, something that I did not want to relegate to the whole series. After the third book, it is clear that this waterloo is infused in Brett's writing as much as any of his strengths are.

Arlen Bales or the Painted Man can be loved easily. Brett's has this knack, or in technical labeling considerations, gift, in deciphering the complexity (or simplicity) of the male mind and ego and translating it in written medium so that male readers could not simply relate but fundamentally identify with their triumphs, struggles and shortcomings. I know because I too, just as most male readers out there, fell in this pattern. It was elating almost surreal (This is one of Brett's strength). After all, it is only in dreams and books (and only in books can we consciously relive it) that we can be superhuman, or in this case, Arlen Bales, the Deliverer turned superman almost Creator. What is even greater of a feat is that I can visualize myself as one of those Cutters, or common folk under Arlen, and see the charisma in this persona, that I will follow this man to death, where ever that may be.

The female personas however are riddled with writing that is better left in an archaic thinking debase of modern developments of reason and rationale, and on this point Brett is even guilty of extended portrayal of such predicament. What I mean when i say this is that female characters, Leesha, Renna, Inevera to some extent, and even Wonda, are motivated not by self-realizations or internal psychologies, the characters are moved and developed based on how they are objectified by the Man or Men they are more commonly infatuated on and less genuinely in love with. The blatant unrelenting use of the female sexuality (even considering the milieu of the book) emphasizes this further. Without these, this series would have easily fallen in my top shelves.