The night belongs to the demons...

The second book in the Nightfall Saga is set in the Demon Cycle World. The Hidden Queen carries on from where book one, The Desert Prince, left off.
Olive Paper and Darin Bales have a lot to live up to and are put to the test when they are separated for a while as they both set off on quests that could end the war of the Demon King and his new hatchling queen.
The story is told in a dual POV from Olive and Darin.
There's plenty of action (just remember to breathe) and political intrigue.
I've been a fan of Peter V Brett since I read The Painted Man (UK title), and I have loved all the books set in this world. So I knew that this book wouldn't let me down.
Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for the ARC.

Initial thought:
I always appreciate it when an author takes the effort to provide a recap of the previous book(s) in a series. This can be done in a few ways. Brett takes the approach of recapping events within the story itself—across the first two chapters. It's not as comprehensive as a dedicated recap but it's natural, progresses events, and is far superior to no recap at all—something I find very frustrating. These two chapters help you quickly get back into the swing of things.

Thoughts at 60%:
Events begin moving forward properly at around 10%, which is where we also get our first demon attack, and I had the sense that things were going to get moving quickly. They do. From 10% - 60%, you can expect the introduction of some interesting side characters (I hope we see more of some), prophecy development, character and history development ,plenty of political intrigue and manoeuvring, and the forming of loose alliances.

Thoughts at 100%:
Around the two-thirds mark Darin and Olive go on separate journeys and reach their initial destinations at the three-quarter mark. I enjoy a good journey and the opportunites they present authors. While each encounter a skirmish, I felt there was a missed opportunity to develop relationships—they do develop, but this isn't fully demonstrated to the reader. It's apparent as the book continues, but I'd have liked a few paragraphs of conversation in each journey. Be it on the road, around the camp fire, or in the tent.

At this point, the pace picks up and goes full steam ahead towards an excellent finish. Both journeys require an infiltration, which, as you'd expect, are excellently written. I did think that as Olive progressed, a couple of opportunities for more action were skipped. There was a great scene where demons attacked and there were toxic spores and other things in the environment. But, what immediately followed was a few of paragraphs describing the next couple of areas, instead of immersing me in them.

I mention above that the finish is excellent and it truly is. Over the last 20% we experience further character growth, heartbreak, joy, redemption, sacrifice, and power. We are also left with plenty of questions. And, while a couple of things at the end were predictable, as is always the case, other aspects took me by surprise. Right at the end I was questioning if there would be another book as this could have wrapped up. Then, a curve ball left me thirsty for what happens next. I hope we don't have to wait too long for the next installment!

I am very impressed with Brett’s world building. He juggles numerous different cultures-including that of the demons- to produce a believable world.
We pick up the story at the end of the Desert Prince, as the young protagonists head for home, knowing that the war against the demons is far from over.
They have to find their missing parents and friends, defeat the mind demon, the Alaga’kai, whilst negotiating political intrigue and power plays. The story keeps up a good pace, gaining momentum towards the end, and it is easy to become invested in Olive and Darin, the lead protagonists.
My only bugbear is that there are a lot of characters, and invented terminology to keep track of. There are glossaries at the back of the book, but these are awkward to access in the digital format of the book.
Oh, and the image on the current version of the cover looks too much like Frodo Baggins