Customer Reviews

The Warded Man: Book One of The Demon Cycle

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Warded Man spoke to me in a way few fantasy novels do now. The setting is a unique dark world plagued by coreling, demons that rise at night to feast on the flesh of man and return to the center of the earth with the morning. For the most part the world is cohesive and interesting. The authors concepts of how such a world would function are balanced and for the most part realistic.
Aspects of it ring somewhat incomplete, for example they protect farm animals from the demons which suggests that the demons would attack wild animals, but the world still has animals in abundance outside of warded town. None the less the world is solid enough to suspend you disbelief and let you experience the authors world.

The characters are what spoke to me while reading. These are not the glorious obvious heroes of much fantasy fiction, they are created by the lives they live and you can understand following their path how and why they made the decisions they did. These characters suffer real tragedies, their lives are not always fair and the justice that is so common in most fantasy is denied these heroes, in that sense they are more real than most. There were points while reading where I found my passions following the characters, my outrage matching their own, my desire for justice burning beside theirs.

I truly enjoyed this novel and I enjoying "The Desert Spear" right now as I read it. I look forward to the film that will be made from this series, it has the potential to be an amazing cinematic experience.

I purchased this book just out of the blue and am really glad that I did. The Warded Man was a great read. The storyline was interesting and the action was fast paced. I am really looking forward to reading the next book the Desert Spear hopefully it is as good!!!

There are occasions when the story is slow and therefore hard to get through but I can't think of a book when this isn't true. Plot wise there's nothing challenging about it to really make you think hard. That being said, I love this book. Halfway through I became a loyal follower of Mr. Brett. What The Warded Man offers is strong characters, well written interactions between said characters, fast-paced action, a world with just the right amount of description and a desire for more. For me the best part of this book, and The Desert Spear, second of The Demon Cycle series, are the characters. The way Mr. Brett writes makes it so easy to care for each one. A wonderful balance of confidence, competence, innocence and believable actions among the characters make the book a fun read. That's what The Warded Man is: fun. When you pick up The Warded Man you're not dealing with a mammoth-sized read, frustrating characters you fantasize about strangling everytime you put the book down or dull drawn-out character development. If you're looking for a light but entertaining read then I highly recommend this book.

This is a story of a dark and dangerous champion battling the overwhelming evil that seeps from the very ground of a dark and dangerous world. The world-building here is detailed and evocative and the central character moves from innocence thru betrayal to a strength hard won by a path that is twisted and original. The complexity of some of the supporting cast, particularly the female characters could be deeper but that may well unfold in later books. Absolutely a cut above most of the fantasy fiction on the market.

"The Warded Man" doesn't break any new ground. The world isn't terribly original, the plot isn't very complex, and the dialogue isn't going to have you whispering it back to yourself in awe. However, one thing "The Warded Man" does have in spades is polish. The world feels real and complete. The plot makes sense and follows three protagonists with ease. The dialogue is quick and witty. And, most importantly, the characters feel fully realized and entirely likeable. In three words, "The Warded Man" is solid escapist fantasy.

The land the novel takes place in is beset by demons -- known as "corelings" -- that rise up from hell, or the core, at night. Every human being in this land cowers behind magical defensive "wards" which keep the demons at bay so long as they're written with a steady hand and do not become obfuscated. At night time, families don't venture outside their door, as they hear the demons batter at the wards and scream as they feast on any unfortunate citizen that was somehow left stranded outside after the sun set. This is the setting for "The Warded Man." it doesn't really get much more complicated than that. Mr. Brett draws liberally from Christian myth, including a religion devoted to a prophecy concerning the "Deliverer," who once walked the land during earlier centuries and fought the corelings with magical offensive wards, since lost to the world, and who will one day return again.

Mr. Brett does a good job of slowly introducing the reader to the various corelings that terrorize the world. There are massive rock corelings, slow but having bark-like armour wood corelings. There are tiny flame corelings, and . . . well, you get the idea. All of these have their own specific types of personalities and hunting patterns, and Mr. Brett does a good job of realizing these in his world. They are not very scary (the blurb on the back of the book about this being a blend of fantasy and horror is a bit of a reach), but they are perfectly hateful.

The narrative of the book follows three protagonists. It jumps back and forth, with a neat little pictogram at the top of each chapter signifying who that chapter is about. Mr. Brett handles this skilfully, however, and none of it is overwhelming or confusing. The characters are all likeable, fully fleshed out (especially Arlen), and you can't help but care for them. Everything about these characters is polished. I really can't say that enough, especially after coming off of the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, where every book is an exercise in up-and-down, uneven storytelling. Peter V. Brett writes like a seasoned pro in comparison.

Some may not enjoy the fact that about half or more of this book is told from the perspective of children. Personally, I don't mind it, as Peter V. Brett handles them well and doesn't write them as mere childish simpletons. These kids are growing up in a dark world full of danger and death, and they all experience tragedy until, about half way through the novel, they reach adulthood, and a truly shocking event happens as all three come together.

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend "The Warded Man." It isn't going to knock your socks off, but it is solid, polished, well written escapist fantasy about heroism, and the human need to fight and not cower in fear. I feel good things are to come in the second installation of the series, "Desert Spear," as the dark world Mr. Brett has created has much promise for the future.

Happy reading!

I cannot believe that this a first book - starts slow but builds and the 3 threads come together - an exciting fresh plot in a genre that has become very formulaic.

Highly recommended!

Upon picking up this book, I expected it to be slow, after reading the first few chapters, and in some ways it was. There is a lot of character building in the first 3/4 of the novel. You meet the main characters, and a plethora of secondary characters who all have very distinct personalities, and all of them affect the growth of the main characters in distinct ways. Brett does an excellent job of proving how it takes an entire village to raise a child, in the case of Arlen, the main "voice" of the series.

There is a good flow between chapters, even when the story jumps from one main character's story to the next, it did not feel abrupt, and it was easy to follow three different side plots throughout the novel. I found every bit of this book engaging and entertaining. For a fantasy novel, it is presented in a very down-to-earth manner, and I found realism in the way the relationship between the humans and the corelings was presented.

The only things I can offer as criticism is that this book was very much designed to be a stepping stone to the next one. Very few mysteries are answered, such as the origin of the corelings, the magics, the old civilizations that are referenced, and so forth. I can hope that this will be addressed a little more in The Desert Spear, and eagerly wait for my next package to arrive so I can find out.

Also, I found the relationship between the three main characters to be a little terse and superficial, but given that there is another novel to follow this one, Brett has more than enough opportunity to rectify this.

A novel I am very glad to add to my collection.

I heard about this book from an interview Pat Rothfuss did on his blog with Peter. I picked it up this weekend and am thinking about reading it again already. It follows the three main characters growing up in a demon infested land where humanity is losing the battle. Due to various incidents they all learn that the corelings can be fought and join together by the end of the book. I'm looking forward to what book 2 will bring.

This is a great start to a refreshing new series. I first heard of this book through an announcement of a movie based on the book, scheduled to be released 2012, and immediately was intrigued by the setting: The story is set in the future, but seems like the past since most technological advancements have been lost in the demon wars. The world is dominated by demons that arise at night, and humanity has settled with living in fear and hiding behind protective wards.

The story shifts between the point of view of three very different characters, all three keeping you on the edge of your seat. The only disappointment for me was that I felt the story got a little less exciting once the three story lines finally connected. I'm still eager to read the next book though!

It's a bit of a page turner. But it's really not all that good. More than half the book is spent setting up characters and getting you used to the world. But in this time it jumps around a LOT time-wise, but you don't really learn anything about the characters. And once all the setup is done, there's not really a plot. There's no surprises, or any kind of payoff to the countless setups. There is some tension between one of the protagonists and someone you're only told that he knows. There's no sense of connection there.

And the demon names are completely retarded. LIGHT SPOILERS, BUT THINGS YOU'LL FIND IN THE FIRST CHAPTER: they're named after elements. Fire demon, rock demon, wood demon, etc. I almost laughed the first time I read it because I thought it was a joke. It sounded like something I would have written in maybe Grade 6.

So yeah. Uninteresting characters, plot that's simple to the point of mind numbing, and reads like it was written by a kid. Didn't do it for me.