It still has flaws though. Arlen is the best character by far. But the reader is cheated out of his story. He goes from being a teenage bookworm who loves the library and the librarian's daughter, to a bad-ass Messenger in a city far far away in the middle of the desert. Somewhere along the way, the dude picked up the fighting skills to hold off several professional demon fighters at once. The reader doesn't get to follow that journey though. Instead we're reading about the virgin medicine woman and the tragic fiddler.
I think I would've been a lot happier if the book was about Arlen only. He doesn't meet up with the other two characters until the end, and they are pathetic and weak compared to him. Leesha is the equivalent of a doctor but spends most of the book thinking about her virginity. Rojer is over 10 years younger and does some neat things with a fiddle.
Sorry but when it comes to reading about a fiddler vs a kick-ass demon fighter who tattoos his entire body in order to be humanity's last chance.....it's not even a contest.
I know this is one of my longer reviews, but I really did enjoy the book and I have a lot to say about it. Even if most of the things I say are critical. Any book that gets the reader thinking and fired up is a good book.
The other major flaw I found was in the society. I'm presuming the author started with the idea, what if demons popped out of the ground every night and tried to kill everyone? What would that be like? What kind of culture, society, and characters would result from that?
I think the author got a lot of it right. There would be a religion about hope and a Deliver to save them all. The victims would be blamed so the survivors wouldn't feel guilty about surviving. Trade would be limited to towns within a day's walk. Mothers would be given respect. Fourteen year old girls would be married off to have babies immediately.
Though there was something he got terribly wrong. The author had humans hiding in terror at night, too afraid to fight back. Humans want to fight. The need to fight is heavier than our fear. I can see how some people would hide behind wards at night, but society as a whole wouldn't. When the worth of the town's medicine woman is weighed by the number of births vs the number of deaths, you know the human race is struggling. And people will fight to save their species. They will fight to save their homes, their families, so that others may live on.
Especially when it's clear the human race is losing. The book begins with a village of 800 people losing 21 overnight. Even a child could see the math. The only option is to fight.
I know this, you know this. Every zombie movie, every alien invasion movie, every single end of the world story ever made is about the human race fighting back.
It's true when the population is decimated, a lot of knowledge is lost over the years. Still I think the need for better weapons would drive innovation. Humans have fought demons for 300 years. You'd think they would've come up with a better weapon than a spear. It is hard to believe Arlen is the first person to think about warding their body.
Or hell, better defenses for the village. Right now they ward every house and building, and the larger towns ward the walls. Not nearly enough. My house would have metal spikes so when the demons threw themselves at my wards, they could impale themselves. I'd also have a moat. And pits. I'd booby trap the shit out of everything.
It surprised me that a lot of the book was dull, mundane stuff. Who is sleeping with who, who had a baby out of wedlock, who got ripped off by the store owner....I'm sorry but if the human race is losing, society changes. Contraceptives would be illegal. Women would have multiple husbands. Women who had more than 3 kids would be held in great esteem. (because 2 is just replacing the population. 3 is increasing it.) Whores would be called Breeders. And children would be so precious, they would be protected at all costs.
There wouldn't be many trades other than weapon-making, soldiering, and farming....let alone time for gossip. If transportation was limited to within a day's travel, you'd think someone would've invented a faster method. Manned waystations to change horses, royal stockpiles along a road, or hell UNDERGROUND TUNNELS!
If I were a character in this book, I'd be a genius. I'd live in a hobbit hole underground.
Even the demons were dumb. For 300 years, they threw themselves at wards over and over again, like a bee trapped inside your window. You'd think one of them would pick up a rock and throw it. Or get a stick and scratch off the wards.
I actually have a lot more to say about it, and lots more ideas for the society. I know it doesn't sound like it, but I loved the book and I'm definitely on board for book 2.
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