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The main characters I can understand, it makes sense, but most of the secondary characters were as well! This book does a great job of setting up the trilogy that is to come, introducing some fantastic characters and an intriguing conflict. It is, however, definitely a YA series—full of characters gushing over each other and obsessing about who kissed who. That’s not to say it doesn’t also have some great battle sequences, internal cultural conflicts, and political intrigue but the angst and romance was a little too much for me. It's unfortunate that the narrator's pronunciation of Zayn sounded exactly like Zayid, unintentionally revealing the prince's identity a shade sooner than intended (not that it was a remotely difficult plot point to guess, but still). Unfortunately there were quite a few negatives for me, most prominently being this story is young adult through and through. This was hard for me as I loved the Demon Cycle, so seeing things be handed over to the children was challenging. Still after finishing the book, it's hard to imagine the heroes of the prior series even needing the help of the children to succeed. While the characters learning who they are is a good thing, it's also a significant aspect of young adult stories.
The Desert Prince takes place fifteen years after the end of The Core, and it revolves around two new main characters: Olive Paper and Darlin Bales. Both Olive and Darlin are descendants of the heroes of The Demon Cycle, and both of them are teenagers with their own struggles. Olive is an intersex who has her entire life planned out by her mother. Even though it was done to protect her life, Olive wants freedom and the life of a normal teenager. Darlin, on the other hand, faces a different kind of challenge. The weight of legacy is heavy around his shoulder because everyone expects greatness from him, but he’s only great at hiding. One night, when both Olive and Darlin step across the wards, it turns out that not all the demons are gone. Now, I’m going to start with the parts that I liked about the book. 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 😊 Desert Prince follows two points of view - Olive, whose mother was Leesha, and Darin, who Darin Bales. I liked how the author gave each of them plenty of time in the story and didn't switch between them too often. I was invested in both stories, and I LOVED how they merged. The magic system in place is fairly intricate and without the knowledge of the previous books, I wouldn’t have understood how it works in context of the story. It takes shortcuts with other parts of the story and characters that fans of the series wouldn’t notice, but would seem odd to those starting out on The Desert Prince. That said, consider this as my recommendation to read ALL of them if you haven’t already. Everyone wants a “piece of an action”, knowing Brett’s constantly moving fiction world, but before having an idea of any movie rights under discussion, his books live their own lives.Speaking of themes, a major theme of the book is that of gender. We have a wonderful portrayal of an intersex character struggling with their gender identity and ultimately accepting that they don't fit into the neat boxes of "male" or "female" and are just their natural authentic self. This is a fantastic thing to see in mainstream fantasy and I feel this aspect of the story was delivered in a mature, respectful and thoughtful way. Beyond telling a new adventure, and setting up the return of a world-altering danger, the novel is very much a coming-of-age story for these kids. Having been burdened with their family’s heritage, they must come to terms with who THEY are as individuals and their place in this world. They most definitely aren’t their parents, but they have their own set of abilities in a world intent on making them fit into a specific mold.
A message he delivers with his works is that people and stories are never as simple as they may seem. Well, the usual caveats. I got this book for free, in the form of an Advance Reading Copy. Peter V Brett has been a friend of mine for years. But I don't think either of those things will affect my review of this book. I'll admit that I'm not even finishing this one. I got about halfway through the book before I stopped, and in that time not a single moment even vaguely resembled the Aladdin story. It was so boring, and a retelling of Aladdin should never be that. Cast your wards. Embrace the darkness. And enter the world of @PVBrett's Demon Cycle once more https://smarturl.it/SignedDesertPrince...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 Everything is connected. This was frustrating to me. Time has passed, the world has changed (or so we are told) but nothing really felt different to me and there are so so so so many references to the previous series, it doesn't stop - hence why I really don't see this as a good jumping in spot. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. I kind of envy new readers, who can now go enjoy the original saga, and not just await the continuing adventures of our new heroes. Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
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