The Core: Book Five of The Demon Cycle

While this book is better than the last several books, it's miles away from living up to the series' original start and promise. Brett has again put in a bunch of unneeded material to clog up the chapters of his book. You can skip chapters from three characters' view points and miss absolutely nothing of the plot:
Abban
Ashia
Briar
Which is a shame. Briar's view point was actually a bit refreshing. But it doesn't wash out the bitter taste in my mouth of a lack of resolution. MOST of the characters' plots seem to focus on mundane minutiae instead of events we would actually be interested in for almost the entirety of the book.

After having read the entirety of The Demon Cycle and being incredibly disappointed, I can safely say that I wish The Warded Man had been left as a marvelous standalone book; instead of a bloated and boring series.

I wish it wasn’t over!! ? these were all so good. He tied up most of the loose ends but I wish it had been a little longer and more detailed as to what happened to the characters. But I guess that would be drawing out the inevitable. So good!

This is a solid ending to a fantastic series, it maybe was a bit short but the actual ending to the book has satisfied me more than alot of other book endings recently. There perhaps should almost have been a sixth book? Would love to see a spin off series about the children etc.

The Core (4.5 stars)

One word review: Wow. What a great book and a worthy conclusion to the Demon Cycle, a series of books that began long ago with the classic The Warded Man. After the disappointment that was The Skull Throne, Brett has rebounded nicely, producing an ending worthy of praise and for that I’m thankful. Honestly, I was sorely disappointed by the Skull Throne, a book that while good was such a disappointment that I’d pretty much given up on the series. As a result, I came in The Core with low expectations, putting this normally must read series on the back burner for some time. That being said, I couldn’t be happier that Brett exceeded my expectations, making me once again fall in love with the world and characters he’s meticulously created.

For the uninitiated The Core is book five of the Demon cycle series, concluding a series begun years ago with the novel The Warded Man. The crux of the series is that after a millennia of attacks by monsters, called demons, emanating the core of the Planet, humanity is on its last legs. Once an advanced civilization, humanity has been basically thrown back into the dark ages , hiding behind magical wards at night that can protect them from the onslaught of the creatures who hunt them. In the first book Arlen Bales discovers the ancient combat wards allowing humanity for the first time in millennia to actually fight back against their demonic oppressors giving them hope. Fast forward four books later, humanity’s prowess in taking back the night so to speak has not gone unnoticed and the demon overlords are preparing one final push to essentially enslave humanity, feeding the remaining humans to their newborn queens. Humanity though stronger cannot withstand the coming swarm and their survival lies in two former rivals Ahmann Jardir the leader of the Krasian people and Arlen Bales, essentially joining forces, invading the Core and wiping out the demon queens before they can enslave what’s left of humanity.

Whereas The Skull Throne felt bogged down with simply to many side characters, uninteresting palace intrigue and politics, the Core is a return to what the Demon cycle series one of my favorite of all time, Bret namely returned the series to its demons. Admittedly, with the discovery of the combat wards in The Warded Man, the primary antagonists of the series were neutered, relieving the series of the fear and tension that pervaded that much of the first book. Even though every book afterwards, with the exception of The Core featured an extended flashback to the time before the discovery of said wards, the damage was done. The reader knew that eventually the combat wards would be discovered, allowing humanity to not only fight back but win, robbing the series of much needed conflict. This all culminated in The Skull Throne, arguably the nadir in the series, focusing to much on personal, dare I say it soap opera-ish internecine conflict, political machinations and power struggles between all of the principals in Brett’s fictional world, all in an effort to insert some tension and much needed conflict to the series. It failed miserably in my opinion.
Admittedly an element of this remains in The Core, but this book is a return to basics for the series focusing once again on the raw, primal fear pervading the original novel The Warded Man. In short the Demons have returned. Admittedly they never left, in spurts the series would show glimpses of their power and fierceness but never did you fear the night like you did while reading the Warded Man. That all changes in The Core. The Demons are back and they are scarier than ever. They are ruthless, calculating and manipulative, exploiting the many divisions of humanity to achieve their own ends. The demons showcase an ability to plan and strategize upping their threat level adding another level of menace to an already powerful foe. As a result, you actually feel the fear in the characters, the desperation as they fight against a wilier more coordinated and ferocious enemy. Brett in his plot wisely refocused the threat from the so called Daylight War, (the Krasians vs. everyone else) and focused it back on the Demons to great effect. As a result of this, when the characters fight in the Sharak Ka, the great war against Demonkind, the battles are filled with a tension and dread sorely lacking from before. This was a huge difference and made the book actually seem like there was a lot to lose. Personally, I never cared who sat on the Skull throne, who ruled Thesa, whose baby was who’s or any of that other nonsense and foolishness. No I read the Demon Cycle series for the demons and they not only are they back but they prove once again to be more than worthy foes.

The characterization in the novel is solid as well, the demons providing a great foil to the great choice facing humanity, either they overcome their racial, political and military differences or they will be wiped out, simple. It’s an open question throughout the novel and an open theme explored by Brett in every relationship, the idea of reconciliation, can the characters with so much on the line be willing to forgive, maybe not forget, past transgressions, joining up to fight the common foe the alagai, or Demons. Each character in the novel, both minor and major are forced to decide on this matter to great affect. It’s theme underlying many of the institutions in the world as well, most notably the Krasians. Are you willing to cling to old ideas and institutions or are you willing to embrace something new in order to achieve victory?

Of all the characters in the novel struggling with this decision, none come to symbolize this more than Briar, the son of a Greenland mother and Krasian father. Briar is literally stuck between two worlds, too brown for the Greenlanders and to Greenland for the Krasians. Briar has seen horrible discrimination and injustice, labeled mudboy for the color of his skin, taunted for his smell and has a tragic backstory that makes it hard for him to trust and relate to others. Like many in this fictional world, he is also layered and thoughtful, eventually forced to come to grips with the horror of his own past and what he’s lost to the demons, memories brought to him when he reconnects with a Krasian who’s suffered almost as much as he has. Eventually it’s the shared humanity between Briar and a Krasian woman that reconnects him with his past, giving him an identity that allows him to atone for the pain, the guilt and shame that had been eating at him his whole life. I enjoyed Briar’s arc in the novel, probably more than I should have. Well done.

As always, Brett’s actions scenes are second to none. I’d argue that no one choreographs a fantasy fight scene as well as Peter Brett and that is on display here. Each scene is meticulously thought out and planned, imaginative when the situation calls for it and appropriately brutal. A common problem with a lot of authors is that often times they’ll throw in an action scene to pick up the pace of a novel, with nothing really at stake plot wise for the characters involved. That isn’t the case in this novel, every action scene has a point, either to showcase the new lethality of the demon horde, schisms within humanity itself or simply a life or death struggle. Well done, Mr. Brett.

Now to the minuses. This book although good, is by no means perfect. The book is almost 800 pages long, but rarely have I read a book that felt as rushed as The Core. Yes the action scenes in the novel are exciting and well done, but to get to that point, Brett had to close out a myriad of relatively boring, political soap operas that carried on from the previous novels. As a result, the book starts off painfully slow, dare I say it lethargic as our characters find their footing. I even contemplated putting it down, it was that bad, the book repeating many of the same mistakes and problems I had with The Skull throne, focusing to much on boring political machinations, soap operas, pointless internecine squabbles, who’s sleeping with who, whose baby is whose etc. It was mind numbing to say the least.

As a result of this, not enough time was spent focusing on the main event, the demons and Sharak Ka. Even plots that related to Sharak Ka, plots not headlined by Arlen and Jardin felt rushed and sometimes anticlimactic. A great example of this is Abban’s arc in the novel. Abban’s role in the series is well documented, the forever grey, selfish, and self-seeking trader who only looks out for himself. He is a khaffit, the lowest station in the Krasian Hierarchy, yet even as an outcast Abban has a climactic scene in this book that makes his greatest strength an asset in the war, a strength cast aside by a society that deems his kind worthless. I would have loved to have more fallout or meaning from that scene but Brett moves on too quickly. There is also a notable death in the novel, that’s glossed over very quickly giving the novel a rushed feeling and robbing one of the better characters in the novel a great send off. I would have much preferred more fallout from this death rather than some of the scenes we got between Elona, Leesha, Gared and his betrothed.

In spite of its length, the ending although cool, is really abrupt. I would have preferred a more drawn out final conflict rather than what we got. I was in the last ten percent of the novel (sorry read it on an e-reader) and it appeared that some of the characters were still getting in position for the final attack. When the final battle does occur, it is action packed, vivid, creative and all around amazing, but it felt rushed. I hope I’m not spoiling much by saying that our two deliverers Ahmann and Arlen are at their best, the two of them symbolizing what humanity can achieve against long odds if they put together past gripes and animosity for the greater good. Yet the deus ex machina ending of the final battle was disappointing, yet in hindsight, predictable. Some interesting world building and character development occurs in the last few pages of the novel, but like the ending, it all felt rushed and I would have preferred more follow-through. Adding to the ending woes, I’d argue the book could have also used a longer epilogue as when the book ends it just ends. As mentioned before, every loose end is tied up but the author also manages to leave the door open just enough to continue the series going forward. This is ok, but I would have loved to see a longer send off for our characters.

I’d also be remiss if I forgot to mention that the book has some seriously gratuitous sex scenes and some really dark violence that I felt were just over the top. For the character involved it made sense, and I got it that he’s a sadistic pig, but I could have lived without the line about said character biting off another’s penis. I’m sorry, I didn’t need that and things like this threatened to take me out of the world Brett was crafting.
A small but noticeable point that I have to make is that in order to fully enjoy this book, you need to be pretty conversant with almost every character, side story and plot that’s shown its face in the previous works. Kudos to Brett that he has created a sandbox of characters and while I applaud his efforts to close out said character arcs, yet the results are mixed at best . The good thing is that about every conflict in the series is resolved, yet in doing so Brett arguably takes the focus from the more important storylines in the book making the plot feel rushed as a result. Likewise, it’s hard to get much satisfaction if you can’t remember why this minor character from the first book in the series is beefing with a major character. That being said, if you have the time, reread the previous novels as with a reread I can easily see this becoming a mild annoyance rather than a minus.

It also would’ve helped if the publisher had placed a glossary at the end of the book. I’m sorry, Sharak Kai, dal’tin, Kai’sharum are not everyday words and yes, I’ve read every book in the series, but that was over a year ago. I had to seek out said glossary on the internet so that I could catch the full meaning of what every character was talking about, which though doable was slightly annoying.

I know my review sounds more negative than positive, but even as I was silently ticking these minuses off in my head, I found myself absolutely engrossed by the novel. After it got started I could not put it down, staying up way too late to finish. Despite its faults, The Core, is a well written triumph. I wanted to see how these characters I’ve spent the better part of the last five years getting to know would end up. I wanted to see humanity come together and triumph over their foe. I wanted a storybook ending for Arlen, Jardir,Leesha and many of the other characters I’ve grown to love throughout the years. Despite its faults, the end of the book marks this work as more of a new beginning than a permanent end, Brett’s way of saying that he has more stories to tell in this vibrant world he’s created. Even though it’s not perfect, I will say that Brett sticks the landing, producing a wonderful ending to a great series. Authors take note, this is how you end a series.

Like other reviewers, I thoroughly enjoyed this final book but as I was nearing the end & saw how little I had left in the book, I kept thinking surely it's not just going to abruptly end, but that's pretty much what happened. The story was just fantastic but having slogged through the middle books, I expected a much more complete finale. I actually read 3 other books before I started The Core as the fourth book left me not really giving a s##t about what happened in the finale. I'm very glad I read it though as it kept me on the edge of my proverbial seat waiting to see what happened. As I mentioned earlier, I was disappointed in the way it just ended & I'd really like more closure, especially about The Consort who escaped & to see what happens with the children of the main characters, I suppose I'll just have to wait & see. I do recommend reading this final book though if you've slogged through the rest, I really did enjoy it.

I had to think about this one before I rated, but at the end of the day, I gave this 5 stars as I found it a very satisfying conclusion to very engaging series. Was the series a bit overlong at times ? For sure. I could have used roughly 85% less Miln and Angiers pages, as I could care less about any of that, but the good parts were SO good, and the series overall was such a deft weaving of different environments and beliefs. When I finish a book, my only real criteria as to whether it was worth my time is whether I spent time thinking about the books days or weeks later, and I definitely did with Mr. Brett's series. And this being a series ender, it's even more rare that I finish the book satisfied - and I definitely did in this case. Overall, a great series and a very nice ending to it. Bravo, Peter Brett - great job on the series and I look forward to your next endeavor.

It's a good close to a great series. I felt that it worked to hard to tie up all the loose ends and didn't do the main end with Arlen enough justice. The ending was cliche with many similarities to the end of the Mistborn series

Everyting i wanted in the last book of the series. It is fast paced from start to finish, and covers a lot of ground. Despite being action-packed and having many pov's the book never felt rushed. Series ending often makes me sad, saying goodbye to all the characters ive gotten to know, but great endings also leaves a feeling of completion and warmth. I was afraid the book would not live up to the rest of the series, that it would not stick the landing, but it certanly did. And what a landing. Thank you Peter Brett, for this marvelous journey!

This series started great - interesting world, great plot, believable multi-dimensional characters. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the author decided to become a Prophet of Diversity, sacrificing everything to make his books as politically correct as possible. Everything went down the drain to make sure that women are exactly as good as men at everything, every possible sexual orientation is acknowledged and shown in positive light (he even figured out a way to have a trans character though fell short of finding any use for it), every positive male character an obedient supplicating beta and so on and so forth. With this mighty effort the characters became one dimensional, the plot predictable and the story was destroyed. Here and there you occasionally get a glimpse of the original author - he is quite talented - but it all sinks under the weight of ideological dreck.
Great authors describe the world and human nature as it is - if they have an ideology you will find it invisibly woven into the narrative and not affecting it. Lousy authors write lousy political manifestos that are a bore to read. This book is the latter.

...well sort of. Like most I didn't enjoy the additional characters. Plus some of the arcs were left hanging. Spent the entire book reading about the importance of the khaffit, yet his story was sort of left there and contributing little to the struggle. I enjoy reading the khaffit though.

And yes, the ending was somewhat of a deux. It'd have been nice to learn the fate of the prisoner in an epilogue. Enjoyed his pov, suppose we can infer what became of him.

When you have been reading a series from the beginning one of the hardest things is waiting for the next book to come out. This was the final book in the series and as it has been awhile since the last book I had almost forgotten how I enjoyed them. I have been reading a few series while I waited. It took a few chapters for me to get back into the story but it came together nicely. Start at the first book and read the lot and you will not be disappointed. Very clever idea and a great series to follow.

One of the best series conclusions I have ever read! So often, the end of a series can seem rushed, hurried and leave you with an *enh* feeling. Not this one! It left me wanting more. I envy those readers who have not yet begun these books, there are few series​ like it.

It's good to see that a fantasy writer can actually finalize a story. To many of them don't seem to understand that a story needs an ending. It's not to say fantasy writers are not good at writing, because they are. They just have great difficulty or lack of discipline in comming to a conclusion. At some point, enough is enough. Peter Brett is a very good writer. He has the discipline it takes to write an excellent series and know when to end it. Thank you Mr. Brett.

Except that the ending was a bit rushed, and resolved every battles, (very Gollum falls in lava at Mt. Doom with the damn Ring!) resolving every battle no matter how close to defeat the “white hats” were at with the various Demon Forcedddlg

I didn't want his series to end. The earlier books in the series are among the very best I have ever read. Unfortunately this book kind of fell short. Everything seemed so rushed at the end as if Mr. Brett had too many loose ends to tie up.

Great Book, Exciting all the way to the end. And another PLUS is it actually had a really great closeout for the 5 Book Series. Now It did leave you wanting more but that is how a really good book and series should end. If you want some good reading and a Great series to enjoy I absolutely recommend "The Warded Man Series"

This book is pretty good. Bit of a deus ex machina at the end, and maybe a bit too much time spent on the stories of minor characters like Abban and Elissa. The dialog/accents of the "peasant" characters started to grate on my nerves halfway through.

But, if you read the other books (Warded Man, Desert Spear, etc), then this book does finish out the story in a dramatic and satisfying manner. I did enjoy the demon prince's POV and reading about the ecology of the demon race. A lot of good detail there.

Hands down, one of the best fantasy series ever written. If you want something different, something unlike all the troupe fantasy out there then this is the one for you. Can't wait to see what Mr. Brettt dreams up after this. My only regret is that this is the last book in the series. So long Arlen...I will miss you.

This series offers good, sometimes really good, but not great, fantasy fiction for both young adults and older types. I have been reading fantasy fiction for over 30 years, and would say this might barely make my top 30 series, probably top 40. I have not read anything else by Brett, but have heard it is his best so far. The first book sets the stage, and it is very good. The Warded man is both a bad ass and somewhat complex main character. There are really three main characters in the first book and they all are solid. By the second book, the reader realizes the author has a grander plan in store, and we have a few more main characters in another part of the world that needs to be covered. The Krasians were in the first book (I think?) for several chapters, but not Brett spends more than half the second book to get into their characters and culture. He does this because it is necessary for the third and fourth books to make sense and pay off. As a reader I was weary about my effort needed to wade through all these Krasian chapters since book one just wets your appetite for the Warded man and people of Cutter's hollow. Also, Brett's take on the very Arab like Krasians felt at first like Orientalism. If you don't know what that is, it is worthwhile to Google it. I don't know if there are any literary scholars out there analyzing Brett's novels like some do for Tolkien, George RR Martin, and others, but I would like to hear what they might say on the matter. To his credit Brett does put a lot of effort and words into creating the Krasian culture, especially its language and myths (hence so much of the second book devoted to it). By the third book the two sides of are thrown together. In general I would give the series a B+ for world building. It is one of the series strengths, but demons begin to feel underdeveloped and used mostly as a plot device to develop the main characters. Believe me that you know way more backstory, motivation, etc. about Freddy Krueger in one Nightmare on Elm Street movie than we get about the demons in the first three books. So finally in the 4th book we start to get some answers. Some answers. I am 90 percent done with the book and there is no way a lot about where the demons came from, etc. is going to be answered in what the store says is the last book of this series (The Core). For characters I give the series a B or B-. They are somewhat interesting, but only change in predictable ways. I have gone through these books quickly, and recommend them as a solid read, but not amazing.

I couldn’t ask for more demon slaying and ass kickery. I loved that about some of the main characters, particularly Arlen - he was just a powerful beast that the bad guys could barely touch, and he proved himself time and again in this book.

Where I felt books 3 and 4 departed from the domain battle a bit too much, this was right back on par with books 1 and 2. Great stuff, thanks for writing.

Action packed to the end. A lot of characters to keep up with throughout the book. I would recommend a review of all the books before starting this one.
Perhaps someone could put together a 'cast of characters' to help keep track of all the different factions.

Well worth the wait, Brett does not disappoint. Everything comes to a head in this final volume. Looking forward to reading anything from Brett after this. Now to begin re-read ing the entire series. I don't give 5 stars often, but this one is well deserved.

The characters are very well developed though way more than I could keep up with. The character names are complicated, therefore hard to remember, for me. The storyline is excellent, and the magic is interesting. No typo's to puzzle through. I will keep an eye out for more novels by Peter Brett. .. :-)

10 years and 5 books later, one of my all-time favourite books series has come to an epic conclusion... And it made me cry - lots.

I will miss the characters that the author brought to life, and especially those that did not survive the final handful of pages. The ending made perfect sense - it could not have been more beautiful, nor could it have happened any other way. It was expected, but not. And the loose ends came together exquisitely.

I've read each book multiple times while waiting for the next to come out. Now, I can't wait to read it all again from start to finish. And again, and again.

The filler in this book...well...there’s no delicate way to put it: There’s a lot of it...and its weird as [bleep]. Blood soaked teen orgies? Check. Hermaphrodite babies? Check. Mass castrations? Check. Torture porn? Check. Existential arguments in the middle of battle? Check. “Your honor is boundless” (and other filler words)? Check. A Cougar on the prowl? Check.

The worst part of it is, that all of that was true filler. They had nothing to do with advancing the plot. It was pure filler...or set up for a future series about the surviving children of the characters, or maybe their grandchildren.

As for the actual plot and story itself...it was anticlimactic. Dull even. Major characters died, casually, and no one batted an eye. Some even died “off screen” and just recieve a brief mention in passing between characters. “Oh, *ommited for spoliers* died?” “‘Ent tha’ sad...look cookies!”

Ok, maybe cookies weren’t actually mentioned...

The ending itself was something *omitted to avoid spoliers* could have done in book three or four at anytime. It wasn’t a real ending either. More of a dues ex machia, that leaves you with the sense that *omitted to avoid spoliers* is standing on their porch shaking their fist and saying “You may have beaten me this time...”

I just did not enjoy the direction Brett went with this series.
I enjoyed book one because of the 3 main characters (or so I thought they were).
I only made it through books 3 and 4 thanks to Graphic Audio Productions being so good with acting,
but by this point they whole story was drowned in events and characters I had no interest in.
On top of that, one of the characters I actually still liked is dead, another turned into someone I don't like, and Arlen went from being a smart and driven young man to a dumb indecisive and hick-ish adult ever since he got caught up with Renna. Even taking the demon-eating into account, he wasn't even the same character I liked at the beginning of the series, and he has actually done ANYTHING for 2 books.
After listening to the audible version of book 5 for 7-ish hours I quit.
Too much time spent on characters I don't like and men castrating one another.
So long.

Is there a more annoying character than Renna? She’s worse than ever in this book. This series started off great with books 1&2, only gone down hill from there. I didn’t enjoy this book at all.

SPOILERS

The entire series went downhill from the first book which is a shame because the series had so much potential. I never got used to Arlen's change in lingo and I disliked Renna from the moment she started travelling with Arlen and I had hoped Peter would kill her off as soon as possible. Honestly, Arlen's hick accent and Renna as a character is probably the most enraging thing I have ever read in a novel.

I usually don't read books with multiple POVs but after reading the first book I thought the main pov would be Arlen with Leesha supporting but Peter introduced way too many pointless povs that I just did not care about, I ended up skimming the books after the first one. There is so much useless filler that contributes nothing to plot, it means literally nothing at the end, you could skim 3/4 of the not just the book but the entire series and not miss anything important. The entire series could be condensed into a trilogy.

Arlen was the painted man, he was betrayed and abandoned by jardir and forced to eat demons and tattoo wards on his body to survive but the author introduced so many characters just as powerful as him it just diminished his character. I could accept that Arlen worked together with jardir for the greater good but why did they suddenly become so chummy with parchin this and parchin that when jardir tried to kill him and then left him for dead.

Anything about krasian culture and their pov was absolutely useless, boring and added nothing to the plot.

Jardir offers to marry Renna when Arlen hasn't even been dead for an hour and she considers it and turns him down because she did not want to be a part of a harem, what the *&^%. The entire series fed me the sickening "I love you Arlen Bales" every second sentence and when Arlen dies she barely seems to care and considers marrying the man that betrayed him. This series turned into a steaming pile of faeces the ending was extremely unsatisfying and no one really seemed to care that Arlen was dead.

In my eyes books 2-5 don't exist. This series reminds me of the blood raven trilogy where the first book was amazing and the series had so much potential but the sequels just ruined it all, extremely disappointing. I would not recommend this series, just read the first book as a standalone.

I loved this series, but this book is checked full of chapter upon chapter of genital mutilation, *complete* castration, torture, slicing off the noses of young girls and old women - much of it considered some kind of demented "reward" literally page after page of this, a thousand times over.
I've read and enjoyed dark fantasy which incorporated torture for realism, even several chapters full of it, and still enjoyed the book. But chapter upon chapter filled with utter obsession with complete castration is were I draw the line...

Just really not all that good, which is a disappointment given how great the Warded Man was. I have so many problems with this series as a whole, but to be fair the author has his own style and it most certainly isn't mine so there may be some personal bias here. And while I am about to thoroughly eviscerate this series I want to make sure people do not mistake my issues with the books as issues with the author. So here goes.

The Warded Man is an incredible book, I want to get this out of the way first. It is decently paced, intriguing, and has enough action to satisfy you. It very accurately details Arlen Bales transition from farm boy to fearsome and powerful warrior in a poignant and believable way. It introduces other characters of importance, but makes sure that the action mostly revolves around Arlen until they finally all meet face to face. Once together the book mostly ends with our three hero's and each of their unique skills which, we assume, are going to be crucial to defeating the demons, as a team.

Then we have the Desert Spear, this is where things start to go off the rails a bit. The other characters are still here, a bit, but the story revolves around ANOTHER character that was only briefly in the previous book. This book is almost entirely a story about Jardir's life, literally from childhood on. Which is... entertaining I guess? It's fine, it just does nothing to advance the plot or effect the overall story very much. Oh and if you care about that kind of thing it is HUGELY racist in it's depiction of Krasian culture, using stereotypical western assumptions of what Arab culture is like (it isn't) for their entire cultural identity. Not a fan.

Moving on to the Daylight War. This was the book that did the series in for me, I literally could not force myself to continue to read the books, only skimming the last two if I am being honest. So when this book starts we have officially been introduced to the entire life stories of Arlen, Leesha, Rojer and Jardir. You would think that 4 main characters would be enough. Well strap in, because we have even more ENTIRE LIFE STORIES to go through before we get this train rolling. Jardir's wife? Yeah, we learn here entire life story to this point and where her power comes from. Renna, that little girl from the first chapter of the first book that knew Arlen for less than a day? Yup, we learn her entire life story as well and *Spoiler Alert* She and Arlen get married... for some reason that I cannot explain because the books answer is surprisingly unsatisfactory. These might be well told stories, but they are totally unnecessary to the tale being told, which you will find out when you read the rest of the series.

The Skull Throne is another book in the series... probably.... I mean I wouldn't actually know because it follows the lives of yet MORE characters, totally unnecessary to the story, so it might be set in a parallel universe. Who knows. What I know is that after 3 entire books of exposition I was looking for some plot advancement and didn't get it. Somebody did a thing and some stuff happened. Again. I think that the story would have made a great trilogy, up there with LOTR in it's ability to delight and entrance. But instead we got 5 books there very little actually happens but people sure do remember a lot about their respective lives.

The Core is... boring, sorry there are just TOO many characters to get in investment from me. And they don't even act like their original incarnation. In the Warded Man you had Arlen who was a natural at warding and became rather well known for his ability. He is also very courageous and traumatized by the death of his mother. Then you have Leesha, an herb gatherer(healer) learning how to forge her path as a strong women in this world of men and oppression. Then you have Rojer, the talented musician who can play such sweet music that he can use it to fight off demons. Three great characters with their own skills, expertise, and experience. These were exciting dynamics that could have been explored. Instead we now have Leesha who is just absolutely to best at everything forever. She can ward better than Arlen, and tend better than her mentor, and have sex better than any other woman alive despite being a virgin for the majority of her life. She can make potions, and harness demon magic. She is practically the superman of the demon series.

Arlen has pretty much been reduced to the Hulk. A rage driven, overconfident buffoon who, for reasons that are never addressed, suddenly starts talking like an inbred, Appalachian pig farmer and keeps getting his ass kicked despite fighting demons being his whole purpose in life, and one he was very good at until book 3 or so. And Rojer doesn't do much anymore. Just completely enjoyable, from start to finish. I take it back, it was mildly enjoyable when certain characters died horribly. Still, the rest of it was just garbage.

I feel like taking the Warded Man and starting another series, one that won't be quiet so rapey, or cluttered, or slow, or boring. Oh well, I hope this helps.

It has been a long and incredible journey as Peter V. Brett has unfolded The Demon Cycle. With each book in this series, he has shown his ability to engage a reader in an epic tale with increasing skill, solidifying himself as one of the preeminent voices in modern fantasy. Now, with THE CORE, the grand finale, Brett takes us on a thrilling adventure that is, without question, his greatest achievement yet.

Reviewing the concluding volume of such a worthwhile series is a challenge. One must tread carefully. Major events and spoilers need to be avoided if it can be helped.

The world of men rests on a precipice as the demons take victory after victory in their brutal war. All is darkness and despair. The Waning and the Swarm seem to all but sound the death knell for humankind.

In general, THE CORE can be described as the darkest, grimmest tale of the five that comprise the series. Brett drops readers into battle after battle, each coming with such rapidity that you have to force yourself to stop reading just to pause long enough to allow the devastating events to sink in.

And the events are devastating. The human forces are no match for an ever-learning and conniving demon force. In battle after battle mankind is assaulted, and yet hope always gleams just beyond the grim, and sacrifices are made as heroes wage war to save all.

Leesha, Inevera, Elissa and Ragen have the unenviable task of uniting the peoples of the Free Cities in the hopes that unified forces can repel the onslaught from the demons. At the same time, Arlen and Jardir must put aside their differences and undertake a harrowing journey straight down into the heart of the evil itself --- the Core.

Arlen and Jardir both really shine, which is not surprising, but Brett pulls some surprises out of his pack, allowing others to step forward for a moment in the diminishing light. As location after location falls, old slights are cast aside and those of questionable character show their true value.

Brett switches things up. Gone are the flashbacks. Here, every event is of the Now. He also starts off the book with a disturbing chapter, told from the viewpoint of a demon, Alagai Ka.

THE CORE propels forward at a breakneck pace and is thoroughly addicting. If there is but one quibble to mete out, it would be that the ending seems to play out too quickly. Nevertheless, this is a truly satisfying conclusion to one of the better fantasy epics of the new millennium, and it will be interesting to see where Brett goes from here. He has certainly earned his following, and will have a strong base of readers to explore whatever new worlds he plans to share.

Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

I had high hopes for this book, maybe too high. I thought with the time it took to write it it would be better than the last book but it's a complete mess. The series has been getting out of hand since the daylight war if I'm being honest with all the character plots that take away from the story instead of adding anything of relevance. Not to mention the political and social undertones that this book was basically forcing down my throat.If I wanted a political and social book I would go and buy one. I personally this this author doesn't really understand what genre her writing for anymore. Final judgment: the last book I will be buying from this author.

Lots strong female characters. Lots of men who agree that they need their women to knock sense into them when they're being foolish. One of the strongest men likes to be chained up and denied sex (goes running for the chains). Lots of male castration. The Women's Court is official and to the point. The male leader of Miln is fat and corrupt. Hermaphrodite babies that could potentially be the most powerful person, and the next deliverer, identified as a girl. A super elite assassin/spy woman goes on a high-risk mission to infiltrate a well-guarded monastery and takes her still breast-feeding baby with her.. Men literally bray like donkeys. All women have to do is show some cleavage or sway their hips and men turn into drooling idiots who do utterly stupid tactical things. Everyone of the brand new female warriors can beat every single male warrior easily even though they are outweighed by the men who have decades more experience fighting. Lots of men crying, and some even crawl on their stomachs to the women. The biggest man anyone has seen, who has killed five times as many demons as anyone else, is easily defeated by a woman. He is also a crying simpleton who must learn "what women are for". Male leaders whine and make petty threats while being argued with in their own court. Female leaders snap men into silence with a raised hand. Those men just just swallow hard and nod at being corrected. The 90 lbs 18 year old girls, who can beat all men who have spent a lifetime fighting, are also appointed to leadership positions in large unit combat. As if personal fighting ability also translates to tactical ability in large scale warfare. Try replacing one of today's Generals with an 18 year old who is a really good martial artist and you'll see what I mean. Of course all of those men just follow her orders to the death. Lots of men getting slapped without consequence. When men are beaten they are humiliated and made to understand that a woman beat them. I can't remember a man winning a fight over a woman where he didn't immediately stop before actually winning and put his head to the floor, or the man barely won as part of training while acknowledging his surprise and respect for the woman. Women must go on missions where they have been told by the future-telling dice that if any males go the mission fails.. Women use sex and drugs to manipulate men (try doing that the other way around.). The entire series seems to be based around a fantasy feminist curriculum.

The fight scenes are long and drawn out and it got the point that I was skipping them. The characters are so powerful that it is pointless unless there are literally thousands of demons attacking them.

The author has only one way to make strong female characters, and that is to make men weak. This will be the last of his books I read.

This review pertains to both the book AND the series. I'll give a brief opinion on books 1-4 to setup book 5. Skip to book 5 for purely that review. This review won't be high quality prose, nor will it be an in-depth analysis. Much like the books in this series, this review skims the surface and never gets to a point...

I read Book 1 and instantly fell in love with the characters, lore, and world building. There was humor, there was action, a hint of a love story. It was a GREAT book. I told friend and family about it. they read it on my glowing reviews. We all waited in anticipation for Book 2.

Book 2 was...a good book. A bit of a diversion from the main story, but it looked as though we were being set up for the conflict between two great warriors, 2 drastically different cultures, and ultimately a war between two species. However, the cracks were showing. Characters were LESS dimensional, plot lines LESS fulfilling, and the "power creep" of magic starting to smell Dues Ex Machina. The only thing this book had more of was horny-teenager-level descriptions of sex.

Book 3... "Well I finished it..." That was whatme and my friends all said after picking it up. By this point none of the characters were engaging. In fact, what little I saw of Arlen made me dislike him. Renna was a twit and their dialog was atrocious. The "cracks" in book 2 had become fissures. On top of that, every (and I do mean EVERY) conversation between two characters was arguing, showboating, dripping with "drama", that I felt I was reading a high fantasy equivalent of a Mexican Tele-novella. "... but surely we're going to find out what happens to Arlen and Jardin? Surely we're taking the war to the demons?"

Book 4... The response from book 4: "No we're not...and stop calling me Shirley". Inevera and Leesha, Leesha and Inevera. NO ONE CARES... WHY WHY WHY? More frickin' Krasian shenanigans and side-story that I frankly wasn't interested in Book 2 but mildly-enjoyed because I though it would build to something. By the end of Book 4, my thoughts: "....but surely we're going to find out what happens to Arlen and Jardin? Surely we're taking the war to the demons?"

Book 5... So full disclosure, I have only gotten halfway through book 5. By this point, the book was gifted to me by a friend who I had recommended the series to way back in book 1. He hadn't read past book 3 but thought I was still "into it" (I had finished 4 but had no intention of buying 5). "Well, it's here, I'll read it. " WHAT A SNOOZE-FEST. I read books fast. It took me 1 1/2 months to get half through this book, because it's not engaging. I finally gave it to another friend who wanted to read the last book (but didn't want to pay full price for a questionable-quality story, by this point). He's had it for over a month and is only 70 pages in. That alone speaks volumes to how dull this series has gotten.

My recommendation: Read book 1. Enjoy it for what it is, a great story. Resist the temptation to read on. This series is VERY similar in that respect to "The Sword of Truth" series. If you're looking for a continuously engaging series that has great, great characters pick up Joe Abercrombies "The Blade Itself", you wont regret it (so far....).

The rest is SPOILERS(-ish) and is intended for those who just want to hear what others thought of the book/series. People like me who are trying to wrap their mind around how a GREAT book ("The Warded Man") could devolve soo much.
-- "We're going to the core to kill the queen but we have to be very secretive" (Jardir, Alrlen, Renna) ... then they individually zip across the world and tell everyone their plan. "But we can't give you details because if a mind-demon gets a hold of you we don't want to compromise the plan" ... then they proceed to tell everyone their plans. RIDICULOUS.
-- Leesha's hermaphrodite baby.... Just... Why??? Too weird for me. I've grown up around the LGBQT community and am not squeamish with this topic at all. But this just felt out-of-place. Maybe it becomes clear later at the end of the book. Based on Books 2-4... it's probably a loose thread that'll never get tied up.
-- Abban & Hasik & the nuetered Krasians. The ONLY enjoyable part of this book was Abban and Hasik's daily interactions with the bone-breaking and the promises of wealth. This was interesting character interaction. BUT the whole side-arc of this story was not interesting.
-- Briar and Kally (I think those were their names...) -- The half-krasian boy who lives in the woods meets a Wildling, erm I mean, well whatever. Their whole triste in the woods was forced, needless and BORING.
-- Damaj'ting, Kai'sarum'ting'dama'bing'bang'bong: Krasians and their lingo. By book 5 I didn't know what caste was who based on their designation. Every title in that society was so similar and intertwined that it became meaningless. Sure it's supposed to demonstrate the societal pecking order, but I couldn't follow it without a glossary.
-- "Demons are powerful" ... until they're not! By Book 4, anyone who doodled a dick-butt on their forehead could absorb magic, super-heal, super-strength, see auras, and level a forest with their farts (and axes, if you're a Cutter!).
-- "Kaji/the Deliverer" battle, argument, plot device was COMPLETELY wasted in this series. This is what most people (that I know) wanted to read about. half-way through book 5 nothing interesting has happened with it.... Instead we just get more dialog with stupid Leesha...

I know it sounds like I am hating on the series, and I kind of am. I LOVED book 1. I enjoyed book 2. Then it went off the rails. My brain's figured that out, but my heart hasn't quite gotten there yet. I want to love this series. I want it to have not been a waste of time. But my brain says "I don't" and "it largely was".

It's a shame.

The final war between humankind and demonkind is upon us. It has been inevitable since ‘The Desert Spear’ (Book 2), and while ‘The Daylight War’ (Book 3) and ‘The Skull Throne’ (Book 4) sometimes seemed to be taking a particularly circuitous route to inevitability, ‘The Core’ (Book 5) provides a near perfect finale.

I first read ‘The Painted Man’ (aka ‘The Warded Man’) (Book 1) in 2008 and have read each of the other novels as they’ve been published. Originally, I was expecting a trilogy but was happy to learn that there would be more.

But what is it about the Demon Cycle series that appeals? In this world, demons have ruled the night for centuries. Those humans that remain, scattered across the world, depend on fragments of magic to protect them. Those fragments – magic symbols tattooed onto the body of Arlen Bales (known as the Warded Man), and on the weapons of Ahmann Jardir (known as the Deliverer) provide the men with the means to fight back. But they need to work together. And, as the middle three books in this series show, there’s betrayal and distrust to be overcome. Can they win Sharak Ka (the final war against demonkind)?

‘The Core’s about to rise up again, and you need to be ready to fight, not just for Hollow County, but for the entire human race.’

In the Core, the Queen is breeding. A swarm is about to happen. Arlen and Jardir have a plan. A desperate plan which involves them travelling into the Core to try to stop the Swarm. Much of the action takes place outside the Core. Leesha, Inevera, Ragen and Elissa need to rally the people of the Free Cities, as the demons become stronger and the attacks become more frequent.

‘Sing as if the world depends on it, for tonight it surely does!’

Tension builds as the action shifts between different key characters: can the Swarm be prevented, who will survive? There are no loose ends left at the end of this novel and while I could wish for (some) different outcomes, that might have been unrealistic of me. Especially important in a fantasy novel ?.

It is important to read the books of this series in order. While it might be possible to follow the story, the character development across the series is important, as is understanding the world Mr Brett has created. There’s plenty of tension in this final instalment, and lots of action with some epic and bloodthirsty battles.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, considering some of the initial lower reviews. However, I feel like this is the best book since the first one in the series. All of the characters the author has been shaping and laboring over the last few volumes finally come to have a decidedly more important role than previous books. All of the side characters finally feel like they have a place and a role to play here. I didn't find the introduction of a "trans" or more properly hermaphrodite character to be problematic in the least, so I don't understand that criticism at all. It is well explained and really not something that a lot of time is devoted to so as to be distracting or off putting.

There are parts of the book that do drag and this would have been a criticism I had for the last few volumes of work as well. This series would honestly have been much more solid as a 3 part series instead of the bloated 5 volume series it became. The prior three books could have been condensed into a second volume - and this finishing it off. The first half of the book is dialogue and exposition heavy as the pieces slowly shuffle into place for the climax to come. However the last third of the book ratchets up the action and makes one not want to put it down. Many of the characters have a chance to shine here and the action comes at a page turning pace. The ending was satisfying if a bit abrupt. Overall I quite enjoyed the book and I'm glad the author was able to finish off the series on a strong note.

A solid series. [Spoiler alert] My biggest complaint is the killing off of Rojer. The use of music was just as interesting as the wards, and I thought Arlen and Rojer were going to somehow harmonize them together to defeat the corelings. Rojer was also a much more interesting character than Renna, Leesha, Ragen, Elissa, and even Arlen (the Krasians turned out to be the most interesting, mainly because they were something different from most typical white culture derived fantasy...although I have no doubt the SJWs took offense at the cultural appropriation of Arabic culture). Wrong character to kill off. Not sure what the author was thinking.

Another complaint is the hermaphrodite stuff with Leesha's child. Why was this put in? Is this modern gender-bender nonsense creeping into fantasy fiction (eye-roll)? It's dumb and weird and does absolutely nothing to further the story since it wound up playing no part (how does an editor not point that out? Upside-down leftist mentality contaminating everything? That is why, is what I surmise). I also don't like both the white male leads getting killed off (white men happily sacrificing themselves for the greater good, another sign of the times). Why not Jardir? Or Leesha or Inevera? God forbid either main white male character survive and live happily ever after. Reeks of white guilt crapola.

Nonetheless, it is still a fun and interesting series, and worth the time.

While I agree with most reviews that this was a "fast paced" and "thoroughly enjoyable" read, I also struggled with many of the characters and situations. I often would ponder "is this something a real person would do/act/say?" More often than not, I would sigh and resign myself to the fact that all this is just nonesense and then enthusiastically turn the next page wanting to know what happens.

It's strange how Mr. Brett barely develops some civilisations (other than Krasia) and completely ignores other lands that scream complexity and creativity, however, the actual delivery of these new lands are almost an afterthought in the bloodfest. Nations built entirely on a great Lake or carved in stone only seem as filler for the endless battles that rage on throughout.

I don't want to be too hard on these books, because, hey, I bought all of them and enjoyed them.

If you are looking for an indepth, complex, and literally stirring masterpiece... you might want to look somewhere else. If you are wanting a mindless gruesome demon-fest with magic... then boy is your book!

This book was a slog. When I finished, my first thought was, "Oh, thank god that's over." Once again, our heroes level up as they ready to face the boss. Grinding through demon battle after demon battle, I got the sense that this is a pitch for a video game or heavy-CGI TV series. There are lots of demon battles. Characters "sob" as they are overcome with melodrama. There are lots of demon battles. We get introduced to subplots that serve no purpose. Did I mention the demon battles? There are lots of them.

But, hey, this book we get a bunch of sections from the point-of-view of an enemy demon prince. That should be pretty good, right? I mean, what drives them since they're not all mindless beasts? Maybe they think the world is theirs by right. Maybe it's about territory or resources or food or survival. Here's our chance to find out. Spoiler: They're driven by EVIL! Do they need to eat people? Nah, they just like it. "Delicious anguish!"

Based on this book and the unnecessary and cliched rape scene earlier in the series, I wish I could go back in time and skip this series.

I have really enjoyed this series, up until this book. It was the most unsatisfying ending to a series I think I have ever read. It's like the author couldn't decide until the last chapter how he was going to end it and then he just quickly put some words on paper to finish it off. I am only giving it 3 stars because of how much I enjoyed the other books but this one is just very unsatisfying for me. I've used that adjective twice but it fits my feelings perfectly. All that I can really say is it is a little odd early on in the book with very rushed feeling to the ending. At least to me. I will continue to read Peter Brett's work because I think he is a talented writer. I had high hopes and was very excited about this last book. I just finished it today and immediately came to the store to see if anyone else feels like I do and I see that I am not alone.

Wow. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you conclude one of the pivotal fantasy epics of the 21st century. The Core is not just a fitting conclusion to The Demon Cycle, it is (by far) the greatest book of an already impressive saga. Peter V. Brett has saved the best for last in a story that is big, bold, and brilliant.

You know you're in for something special when the book opens with a chapter told from a demon's point of view. That's right, the first voice we hear is not that of Arlen or Jardir, not that of Leesha, Renna, or Inevera, but that of the Alagai Ka. It's creepy and unsettling, it sets the perfect tone for a story that is rife with darkness, slipping ever deeper into the Abyss . . . and, yet, we are never without hope.

That, right there, is what distinguishes Brett from the grimdark crowd. His story is about as dark as it gets, with one crushing defeat after another, but the world never feels completely lost. Even as it becomes increasingly hard to see how humanity can possibly survive the Waning and the Swarm to follow, we latch onto any one of a dozen battles, trusting in one of those heroes to show us the way. Even as the demons become smarter, finding some very human ways to undermine what once seemed impenetrable warded defenses, we look to the most unlikely characters to cast off their pasts and sacrifice themselves for redemption.

For the first time in the series, we have a story without flashbacks. The entire book is told in the now, giving it a sense of immediacy, and adding to the already palatable tension. There is nary a slow chapter to the book, with every scene advancing the story forward. Time and time again we get epic confrontations that threaten to destroy major set pieces, any one of which would serve as a fitting finale to another book. We hardly have time to catch our breath between battles, but when we do, Brett brings back a surprising cast of characters, many of whom get their moment. Evils are forgiven, cruelties redeemed, and hatreds put aside in the face of Sharak Ka.

As for the epic descent into The Core itself, Arlen and Jardir both get their respective moments to shine. There's is a journey worth of the saga itself, full of one sacrifice after another, and several discoveries that rock the foundation of the story's mythology. Without spoiling anything, we do finally learn who the true Deliverer is, and what that legacy means . . . and it is an ending so perfect, I honestly cannot find a single flaw in how it all played out.

This series is one of those that isn't my favourite but it's ok and it depended on this last book to see if it could be recommended or not. It's a good book and a good book series. This last book did manage to make me cry several times and that's a sign of a good book because it's made you care for the characters and that's a big deal. However, I had heard so many positive reviews that I was expecting more. The ending in just the last 8 pages or so felt a little bit anti-climatic to me. It felt rushed and not enough. A little bit disappointing. And I must admit that the sex bits others are complaining about make this series of books inappropriate for teens (I think it was unnecessary).

What I Liked Most:
- This book does a great job of bringing almost all of the side stories together. Many people complained that there was too much "fluff" but I think they were just too impatient. The stories that followed the lesser characters were a great addition and added to the feeling that the swarm was truly happening across Thesa.

I've been following Pete's work for a while and love how he makes you come to love or hate his characters based on their personalities. They are all unique and their struggles seem to bleed through the pages to the reader.

What I Like Least:

- I still have questions about some things that I didn't think were closed up. I'm sure these will be addressed in Baren but if they aren't I'm afraid I'm going to have to pester him on Twitter and ask.

While I agree with most reviews that this was a "fast paced" and "thoroughly enjoyable" read, I also struggled with many of the characters and situations. I often would ponder "is this something a real person would do/act/say?" More often than not, I would sigh and resign myself to the fact that all this is just nonesense and then enthusiastically turn the next page wanting to know what happens.

It's strange how Mr. Brett barely develops some civilisations (other than Krasia) and completely ignores other lands that scream complexity and creativity, however, the actual delivery of these new lands are almost an afterthought in the bloodfest. Nations built entirely on a great Lake or carved in stone only seem as filler for the endless battles that rage on throughout.

I don't want to be too hard on these books, because, hey, I bought all of them and enjoyed them.

If you are looking for an indepth, complex, and literally stirring masterpiece... you might want to look somewhere else. If you are wanting a mindless gruesome demon-fest with magic... then boy is your book!

This book was a slog. When I finished, my first thought was, "Oh, thank god that's over." Once again, our heroes level up as they ready to face the boss. Grinding through demon battle after demon battle, I got the sense that this is a pitch for a video game or heavy-CGI TV series. There are lots of demon battles. Characters "sob" as they are overcome with melodrama. There are lots of demon battles. We get introduced to subplots that serve no purpose. Did I mention the demon battles? There are lots of them.

But, hey, this book we get a bunch of sections from the point-of-view of an enemy demon prince. That should be pretty good, right? I mean, what drives them since they're not all mindless beasts? Maybe they think the world is theirs by right. Maybe it's about territory or resources or food or survival. Here's our chance to find out. Spoiler: They're driven by EVIL! Do they need to eat people? Nah, they just like it. "Delicious anguish!"

Based on this book and the unnecessary and cliched rape scene earlier in the series, I wish I could go back in time and skip this series.

This fun, quirky, and sometimes quite silly adventure rather flew by, for me.
Victorian London, fantasy, a touch of steampunk and a huge dollop of humor and silliness anchor the tale as our bumbling, pseudo-Holmesian, titular detective and his much less bumbling assistant Wilfred are charged by none other than Anubis, Egyptian god of the dead, with solving the case of the missing scarab.
A slew of ancient deities are only some of the hurdles with which our intrepid duo have to contend and the mystery of the scarab's disappearance turns out to be rather suspenseful.
It must be said that one is best served approaching this read in full knowledge of the humoristic nature of the mystery. That served this reader quite well and allowed for full enjoyment of this book as it was intended. And the story actually gets better in the latter chapters.
A fast, fun read.

I have really enjoyed this series, up until this book. It was the most unsatisfying ending to a series I think I have ever read. It's like the author couldn't decide until the last chapter how he was going to end it and then he just quickly put some words on paper to finish it off. I am only giving it 3 stars because of how much I enjoyed the other books but this one is just very unsatisfying for me. I've used that adjective twice but it fits my feelings perfectly. All that I can really say is it is a little odd early on in the book with very rushed feeling to the ending. At least to me. I will continue to read Peter Brett's work because I think he is a talented writer. I had high hopes and was very excited about this last book. I just finished it today and immediately came to the store to see if anyone else feels like I do and I see that I am not alone.

Wow. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you conclude one of the pivotal fantasy epics of the 21st century. The Core is not just a fitting conclusion to The Demon Cycle, it is (by far) the greatest book of an already impressive saga. Peter V. Brett has saved the best for last in a story that is big, bold, and brilliant.

You know you're in for something special when the book opens with a chapter told from a demon's point of view. That's right, the first voice we hear is not that of Arlen or Jardir, not that of Leesha, Renna, or Inevera, but that of the Alagai Ka. It's creepy and unsettling, it sets the perfect tone for a story that is rife with darkness, slipping ever deeper into the Abyss . . . and, yet, we are never without hope.

That, right there, is what distinguishes Brett from the grimdark crowd. His story is about as dark as it gets, with one crushing defeat after another, but the world never feels completely lost. Even as it becomes increasingly hard to see how humanity can possibly survive the Waning and the Swarm to follow, we latch onto any one of a dozen battles, trusting in one of those heroes to show us the way. Even as the demons become smarter, finding some very human ways to undermine what once seemed impenetrable warded defenses, we look to the most unlikely characters to cast off their pasts and sacrifice themselves for redemption.

For the first time in the series, we have a story without flashbacks. The entire book is told in the now, giving it a sense of immediacy, and adding to the already palatable tension. There is nary a slow chapter to the book, with every scene advancing the story forward. Time and time again we get epic confrontations that threaten to destroy major set pieces, any one of which would serve as a fitting finale to another book. We hardly have time to catch our breath between battles, but when we do, Brett brings back a surprising cast of characters, many of whom get their moment. Evils are forgiven, cruelties redeemed, and hatreds put aside in the face of Sharak Ka.

As for the epic descent into The Core itself, Arlen and Jardir both get their respective moments to shine. There's is a journey worth of the saga itself, full of one sacrifice after another, and several discoveries that rock the foundation of the story's mythology. Without spoiling anything, we do finally learn who the true Deliverer is, and what that legacy means . . . and it is an ending so perfect, I honestly cannot find a single flaw in how it all played out.

When I walked in many years ago and saw the first book of Mr Brett, the Painted Man, I thought to myself that is a book I need to read. Five books later and I have gone on a journey from childhood to saviour.

It is hard to talk about a fifth book in the series without spoiling earlier books, but I will try. The premise of this series is every night demons come into the world killing anyone who is not behind magical symbols called wards.

This book was brilliant, a bit long but there was so much information packed into the Core it was terrific. Seeing the conclusion to this epic tale was great.

Thank you, Mr Brett, for your incredible story, and I look forward to anything else you write.

This series is one of those that isn't my favourite but it's ok and it depended on this last book to see if it could be recommended or not. It's a good book and a good book series. This last book did manage to make me cry several times and that's a sign of a good book because it's made you care for the characters and that's a big deal. However, I had heard so many positive reviews that I was expecting more. The ending in just the last 8 pages or so felt a little bit anti-climatic to me. It felt rushed and not enough. A little bit disappointing. And I must admit that the sex bits others are complaining about make this series of books inappropriate for teens (I think it was unnecessary).

What I Liked Most:
- This book does a great job of bringing almost all of the side stories together. Many people complained that there was too much "fluff" but I think they were just too impatient. The stories that followed the lesser characters were a great addition and added to the feeling that the swarm was truly happening across Thesa.

I've been following Pete's work for a while and love how he makes you come to love or hate his characters based on their personalities. They are all unique and their struggles seem to bleed through the pages to the reader.

What I Like Least:

- I still have questions about some things that I didn't think were closed up. I'm sure these will be addressed in Baren but if they aren't I'm afraid I'm going to have to pester him on Twitter and ask.

The sex and torture in the series has gone completely out of control. In the first four books, it (mostly) added meaningfully to the story. Now it has degenerated to graphic sex for sex's sake, and horrible gut-wrenching torture for torture's stake. I am neither prudish nor squeamish. However, the level of violence and sexual detail is just completely unnecessary. It makes Game of Thrones seem a child's book. Either the writer is mad, or completely shameless in his pursuit of attention. I could not think of a worse way for the writer of this initially great series to end it. Don't waste your money on this book unless you are an antisocial personality who enjoys torture and meaningless disgusting sex. This book is truly despicable and represents absolute worst of humanity. Save yourself the time and cost. I wish I could un- listen to it but I can't. Simply and inexcusably terrible

The Core is a pretty awesome book and a fitting sequel to the series. There were a few things I would have liked drawn together more in the series, and the ending isn't 'perfect' but it is a tough series to end and I think the author did as good a job as he could without making it a 5th book. He is a great writer, almost no other author is able to capture the various and intersecting motivations of his characters the way Brett can. I also want to give him credit for actually finishing the series (Martin and Rothfuss I am talking to you). If you enjoyed the first 3 you are certain to appreciate this one.

While the first in the series was a talented work I think the author lost his way with the rest of the series. Aside from drastic pacing problems from trying to follow too many characters and tie up too many loose ends from earlier in the story he also felt the need to redeem every character from the earlier books and turn them into a nice fluffy hero.
And on to the largest flaw:
Spoiler alert:
At the very end when all hope is lost a main character essentially becomes a god for a few minutes and fixes everyone’s problem. It reeks of lazy writing.

Peter Brett penned a wonderful series filled with plenty of action, surprising plot twists, well developed characters, and different societies blending together. I had trouble,at first,keeping up with all the different characters but came to place them properly through the strong storyline. The glossaries helped review terms and characters. There are a number of strong characters. Brett maintains a serious story line while injecting humorous tales and events. I enjoyed the reading about the various demons and their varying levels of power. Some surprises there as well. I was anxiously waiting the release of each book, I kept thinking I would be disappointed but found each book improved in quality. This is enjoyable reading.

Very disappointed in the way the author closed the series. It felt rushed, and hurried. The parts I expected him to focus on (the hive, and the core itself) were barely covered topics throughout the novel. He focuses more on the politics of various city courts than the main adventure itself. Books 1-4 are a solid read. This one, I will never read again.

A great ending to a solid series.

I've read the whole cycle and it had its ups and downs. I almost quit with book 3 after yet another round of flashbacks. Since then I'm glad I continued because the series has regained lost ground since then.

I thought this was a fantastic way to end that kept with the established themes. It was clever and logically sound without being obviously telegraphed. The ending really resonated with me.
Some people have complained about it not wrapping this up too neatly, and it doesn't. Considering the core struggle of fate versus free will can't ever really be resolved I thought it was a great way to leave it. Not everything is in a neat little bow (although things are pretty sunny overall)

Lastly it leaves the possibility of new books in the setting without sacrificing a strong and complete arc in this.

Sad that this ends the series! I’ve enjoyed it so much and so many times over the last 5 years or so. I hope some other books are written around the series path!

I’d definitely recommend this book and the series without reservation!

I loved the first two books and hated the second two as I felt they were filler. This one was ok and provided a satisfying ending to the series. That said SPOILER ALERT - what was the point of the hermaphrodite kid????

Peter V. Brett is one of my favorite new authors. His story is amazing and I love how he gives the story from so many perspectives. This is such an amazing finale for the series. My only real critique would have to be with the final battle, I think more could have been done with the final conflict but I don't feel cheated. Recommend 100%

I've been waiting for this last book to finish this series and it's awesome. As any great book it gets you from the beginning and I couldnt put it down from there. I really hope he kicks another series off that involves the three kids as they grow up like Arlen did and their extraordinary abilities. I'm hooked and would buy

Ever since picking up a copy of Brett’s “The Warded Man” back in 2010, I have loved this series. “The Core” does not disappoint. I would be lying if I did not say there have been ups and downs with this series. Some of the books are better than others. Brett brought a dose of fresh air to fantasy with “The Warded Man.” In my opinion, the original book is the best in the series. Not because it is written better, because it set-up an intriguing post-apocalyptic story the likes of which I had never read. The characters are well thought out. The magical system Brett introduces his readers is unique to anything I have read.

It is the last stand for humanity as Sharak Ka begins. Unfortunately for humanity, Arlen and Jardir’s actions have set in motion a demon Swarm. These bitter rivals must place their trust in Leesha, Inevera, Ragen and Elissa’s abilities to rally humanity against the demons while they take the battle to the Core. Humanity does not stand a chance against these demonic forces unless Arlen and Jardir can manage to work together to slay the Mother of Demons. A most desperate quest with pitiful odds of survival.

“The Core” does not disappoint! It is a satisfying conclusion to this epic tale of conflict. Beloved characters will die. Intrigue and betrayal abound. Brett does a superb job in concluding the “Demon Cycle.” While the battle is won, he leaves room for the war to continue with the following generation.

This was a worthy sequel, and was definitely a book I found hard to put down.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

So I loved this series, looked forward to the new releases as they came. Just a wonderful read. I absolutely hate the ending of the series. Honestly it seems like he ran out of idea and just said "I give up, can't think of a decent ending" and just threw something together. It left me somewhat angry that such a great 5 book series has such a horrifically awful ending.

Been waiting for this book to release since I finished the last one. Now I'm hoping that he will continue the saga, with the children. Excellent story arc although there are a few things left unsaid or unfinished that I'm curious about. Excellent read, going to start the whole serious over now that it's finished...for now, hopefully.

This fun, quirky, and sometimes quite silly adventure rather flew by, for me.
Victorian London, fantasy, a touch of steampunk and a huge dollop of humor and silliness anchor the tale as our bumbling, pseudo-Holmesian, titular detective and his much less bumbling assistant Wilfred are charged by none other than Anubis, Egyptian god of the dead, with solving the case of the missing scarab.
A slew of ancient deities are only some of the hurdles with which our intrepid duo have to contend and the mystery of the scarab's disappearance turns out to be rather suspenseful.
It must be said that one is best served approaching this read in full knowledge of the humoristic nature of the mystery. That served this reader quite well and allowed for full enjoyment of this book as it was intended. And the story actually gets better in the latter chapters.
A fast, fun read.

When I walked in many years ago and saw the first book of Mr Brett, the Painted Man, I thought to myself that is a book I need to read. Five books later and I have gone on a journey from childhood to saviour.

It is hard to talk about a fifth book in the series without spoiling earlier books, but I will try. The premise of this series is every night demons come into the world killing anyone who is not behind magical symbols called wards.

This book was brilliant, a bit long but there was so much information packed into the Core it was terrific. Seeing the conclusion to this epic tale was great.

Thank you, Mr Brett, for your incredible story, and I look forward to anything else you write.