The Daylight War - Book Summary, Info & Review

The Daylight War
Peter V. Brett
The Demon Cycle #3

The Daylight War Summary

We go through Inevera’s backstory spread out in chunks throughout this one. Inevera was born to a warrior, Kasaad, and her mother is a basket weaver, Manvah. Her whole childhood she idolizes her elder brother Soli, who just became a full dal’sharum warrior when Inevera was about 9. Soli is push-ting, meaning he likes other men, and faces scorn from certain people for this. He father is a miserable drunk who does not really care for his family.

One day Inevera is brought to be tested before being made a full woman, and is selected by the dice to become a dama’ting, female priestess. She is taken from her family and brought to the dama’ting palace where she learns that much of what she has been raised to believe is a lie. The dama’ting live in luxury, and she learns the nightly battle against the alagai demons is mostly for show, since the city is kept safe by wards.

Inevera is judged harshly since most girls in training were born into the order of dama’ting by virtue of their mothers, it is very rare for someone from outside to be brought in. Kenevah is the current damaji’ting (leader), and her granddaughter Melan is selected to teach Inevera the basics. Melan hates Inevera and beats her often in the name of teaching her. Inevera pushes past this and continues to succeed and be better than all the others. At one point in her training her brother Soli is brought in, gravely injured. Inevera promises to heal him but her father Kasaad arrives and kills Soli before he can risk living as a cripple. As punishment Inevera cuts off Kasaad’s leg and leaves him to live as Khaffit, and tells him if he does not serve her mother in every way he will die and not be granted heaven.

Inevera continues her training, learning a more advanced version of the hand to hand combat called Sharusahk, taught by a eunuch named Enkido. She also learns how to use Alagai Hora, demon bones. The final test to graduate and become a dama’ting is to carve a set of demon bone dice used to predict the future. Melan carves hers before Inevera, but they are not accurate so she is punished and set back years. Inevera finishes her dice and becomes a full dama’ting.

We then see certain events from the past two books from her eyes, when she finds Jardir alone in the maze and starts guiding his path to become the deliverer. We see when she discovers via the dice that Arlen also could be the deliverer and manipulates Jardir into killing him. She is pretty unlikeable and is almost controlled by the future her dice show her. At the end of the last book when fighting a mind demon prince her dice were destroyed, so in the present she feels directionless.

Back in the modern time (333 AR), Renna and Arlen are promised to each other and happy. Renna pries Arlen’s secrets out of him and then starts consuming demon meat behind his back to gain power. They continue back to Deliverer’s Hollow to find out what happened to Leesha, and Arlen gains even more powers after seeing into the mind demons head. When they get back to the Hollow Arlen starts going by his name again and wearing normal clothes, he feels much more human thanks to Renna. They discover Count Thamos has taken command and in general is doing a decent job of ruling, and that Tender Hayes has taken over since Jona got sent back to be questioned about Arlen being the deliverer. Arlen begins preparations to prepare people for the coming new moon, when mind demons will be able to return to the surface and do battle.

In Rizon / Everam’s Bounty, Inevera uses an enchanted earring to listen to Jardir’s conversations, as well as him sleeping with Leesha. Inevera still hates Leesha and is mad at Jardir also, plotting how to regain her power. Rojer is engaged to Jardir’s daughter Amanvah as well her handmaid, Sikvah. They plan to leave and return to the Hollow, but are delayed unnecessarily. When they have a conference with Jardir, Rojer plays the Song of Waning with Amanvah and Sikvah and is so moved by their music together he agrees to marry them. They set of back to the Hollow with an escort of about 50 Krasians to protect Leesha and Rojer’s brides.

Abban, the fat khaffit merchant, asks Jardir for 100 warriors to protect himself and his family, as well a drill master to train them, which Jardir grants. Abban recruits their old drill master, Qeran, who recently lost a leg. Abban shows Qeran his compound, which is being fortified and the new warded weapons and armor he is developing. Abban is quietly building his wealth and power to rival anyone.

On the trip to the Hollow, Leesha discovers she is pregnant, which confuses her and gives her a lot of questions.Rojer and his wives, especially Amanvah, argue alot but slowly learn to love and get along with each other. Combined with their singing his fiddle wizardry reaches new heights and he can inflict real damage to the corelings. Rojer translates the song of waning into Thesan and plays it to warn the local hamlets that Jardir will eventually invade their lands. Leesha poisons the Krasian warriors to stop them returning to Jardir, hoping to give the Hollow more time to fortify its defenses against him.

Back in the Hollow, Thamos and Leesha argue a bit over how to rule the many people coming in, and Gared gets named a general and baron of the central Hollow. Rojer, Leesha, Arlen, and Renna meet that night, where Arlen shows his new powers to turn to mist and back and use magic by drawing wards in the air. Leesha and Renna get into a fight mostly over Arlen, causing Renna to run out and Arlen chase after her. Arlen and Renna have a heart to heart and Renna gives him an ultimatum to marry her so he agrees and they go to Tender Hayes to ask to be wed. He agrees and everyone throws them a huge party that helps the Krasians begin to get along with the Hollowers. Leesha brings Thamos home and sleeps with him and they kind of start a relationship.

The new moon arrives and they have prepared as many defenses as possible. The corelings, under direction from a high level mind demon prince, begin making their own great ward, stealing magic from the Hollow. Arlen goes to fight the prince and gets caught, but after they sift through his mind he escapes and kills the main prince and mimic. He comes back and uses a ton of magic to kill corelings but then passes out and falls and is badly hurt. They loses a bunch of humans during the night and the defenses are sorely tested. They battle again the next couple nights and only hold when Arlen finally wakes up, although Renna has begun casting magic as well. After the new moon, Arlen has realized the mind demons are only here because of him and Jardir, so he challenges Jardir to a Domin Sharum, basically a 1v1 duel.

In Everam’s Bounty, Jardir plans to attack Fort Lakton on the first day of winter, when all their crops will be gathered and ready to take, but first he also must survive the first moon. Abban discovers Electrum, the metal used to coat the spear and crown of Kaji that Jardir wields. Inevera takes it and uses it to coat the skull throne and some other demon bone stuff like her dice. She then introduces the Sharum’ting, female warriors, causing a rift in the men. Jardir agrees to allow it since they prove they are capable. During the new moon the corelings do the same strategy of burning out a great ward of their own, destroying many of the crops they need to survive, so Jardir is forced to hunt down a mind demon prince and kill it. He later receives Arlen’s challenge and accepts.

Arlen and Jardir meet to do battle, and their friends learn much of the truth of how everyone got to this point, with Arlen finding the spear and Jardir taking it. They fight and Jardir has the slight upper hand until night falls, giving Arlen access to all his powers. He throws the spear off a cliff, then tackles Jardir off the cliff as well. They fall but right before they hit the ground Arlen phases into mist and Jardir crashes down alone. THE END.