The Painted Man

The Desert Spear

The Daylight War

The Skull Throne

Eleven-year-old Arlen lives with his parents on their small farmstead, half a day's ride from the isolated hamlet of Tibbet's Brook. As dusk falls upon Arlen's world, a strange mist rises from the ground; a mist that promises a violent death to any foolish enough to brave the coming darkness, for hungry corelings - demons that cannot be harmed by mortal weapons - materialize from the vapours to feed on the living. As the sun sets, people have no choice but to take shelter behind magical wards and pray that their protection holds until the creatures dissolve with the first signs of dawn.

Arlen Bales, formerly of the small hamlet of Tibbet’s Brook, learnt harsh lessons about life as he grew up in a world where hungry demons stalk the night and humanity is trapped by its own fear. He chose a different path; chose to fight inherited apathy and the corelings, and eventually he became the Painted Man, a reluctant saviour.

Arlen Bales understands the threat better than anyone. Resisting the coreling plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has attracted enemies both above and below ground.But as Arlen prepares his people for battle, a daylight war approaches from the south. Out of the desert rides an army led by a man who believes his destiny is to unite humanity against the demons, willingly or not.

In the grand tradition of George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan, Sunday Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett continues his critically acclaimed Demon Cycle with the next dramatic instalment: THE SKULL THRONE.Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, the Skull Throne of Krasia is a seat of honour and powerful magic that keeps the demon corelings at bay.