Demon
Dien Hostain was never meant to lead. She wasn't meant to survive.
Kind of heart and quick in temper, Dien expects to lead a simple life, learning her father's trade. But unbeknown to her, he was not always a carpenter. He's an exile, a traitor once known as the Peace Breaker.
When nightmarish demons attack the village of Berrywhistle, her father is murdered. Dien and the survivors are taken as thralls to live out the rest of their days in squaller and back-breaking labour. But Dien's blood boils with the need to escape and take her revenge.
They try to break her body. They try to break her spirit.
Will Dien take up her father's hammer and unite her people?
On wings of vengeance, a Saint shall rise.
-Goodreads
Title: Demon
Series: Archive of the God Eater #1
Author: Rob J. Hayes
Page Count: 200
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Date Read: March 1st, 2025
Opening
Demon by Rob J. Hayes is the last book one of the three trilogies released all at once last year. As I've mentioned in my recent review of Deathless, I plan to circle back around to Herald when the time comes for the second books in each series to be released. I feel I'll have a very different perspective and understanding of the world and it's characters now that I've completed all three book ones.
If you haven't seen my other reviews yet, it was explained to me that all three series are in the same world but in different timelines. Demon goes back the further in time before both Deathless and Herald and gives us even more background and understanding of this world.
Pacing
For another shorter book similar to Deathless, the pacing is still very solid. This one also sits around the 200 pages mark. I only had a day or two before kicking off a readathon so I picked up a copy of the audio just to get through it a little quicker as I knew I wouldn't have as much time to sit down and visual read through this one in that short of time.
This means I've done the audio for both Herald and Demon which were enjoyable and visual read Deathless which was equally enjoyable for me. The two audiobooks were narrated by different individuals. I'm hoping the same individuals continue to narrate their perspective series in the future. I just like that continuity in most cases. Though there are plenty of cases where a change of narrator did fit better for the given book. In this case Demon is narrated by Annalee Scott who I felt did an excellent job brining this dark and almost hopeless tale to life.
World Building
The world building is really good in Demon when looking at it on it's own. But when you take the step back and look at it in combination of Herald and Deathless, this world is simply phenomenal. As mentioned this is a very dark storyline as we go even further back in the timeline and learn yet more information about the Hostain family. I mean with a title like Demon, you'd have to assume at least a bit of darkness. But who are the demons? Where did they come from? You'll just have to dive into this world and series to find out.
Character Development
The character development is probably the strongest aspect of Demon when looking at it on it's own. Sure the pacing and world building are both really good especially with the connection to the other two books in the saga. But Dien's character and her family in general just has such an amazing story arc to experience. She is honestly learning about her family's past right along with us the reader.
One take away I have at this point is we rarely know who are really the good guys and the bad guys in history. It's very true that history is written by the victors. Rob has taken on that fight to peel back the layers of history one generation at a time with this epic saga.
Closing
I've mentioned in several reviews in past that I love a story with a great history and background to it and each of these reads has just added more and more depth to this story and I'm here for it!
On thing I found myself more than once saying out loud while listening to this story was "Weak meat, slow meat!" And mmm meat soup! This story definitely had some demented twists but it has it's place in this dark tale.
I've finish reiterating that I was hesitant on this format of release the author chose for this saga, but damn if it don't seem to be working perfectly for me. I'll concur with the reading order of Herald, Deathless then Demon as it was top notch in my experience.
Scoring
Pacing 4.0 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.5 / 5.0
Character Development 4.0 / 5.0
