O Homem Pintado

One of my favorite fantasy stories in a long time. Brought something new and epic to the genre. Never lost sight of the characters. Couldn't put it down.

I loved this book, the premise had me hooked the moment I read it. The world that Brett has created is incredible to read about, richly detailed and full of wonderful landscapes, and its an absolute pleasure to read about it. The humans in The Painted Man are forced to live out their lives in the daylight hours and fear the coming of night. Magical wards protect the people within their houses at night. The return of the demons, after an absence of seven thousand years during which Science reigned, has brought Magic back into the forefront of the world, but much of it has been lost, in particular, the legendary fighting wards.The story is told from the points of view of three characters: Arlen, Leesha and Rojer, whose stories are told in alternating four-chapter blocks. Instead of following them continuously the book is split up into sections that span a certain number of years, so we see the characters at various stages of life. Each character beings something unique to the story: Arlen his strength, Leesha her compassion, and Rojer his naivety. The different points of view precipitate the development of the story, and the three view points only merge at the end of the book. The transitions between them are easily followed and progress well.There is a lot to love about Peter V. Brett’s debut novel, and he has definitely hooked me for the next two books in his trilogy. The Painted Man has all the makings of a great fantasy and will be enjoyed by masters of the genre and new comers alike. I have the second book, The Desert Spear, in hand and plan to read it soon.You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

The Painted Man is set on a world filled with demons that rise every night to hunt and terrorise humans. The only protections humans have against the demons are the sunlight and the defensive wards of old. The offensive wards, the ones that allowed humans to fight back, are long lost, and everyone hides behind warded walls after dark, hoping they will hold through the night.But there are some that refuse to cower to the monsters of the night and will fight back, and among those are Arlen, Leesha and Rojer.Fast paced, and full of action, like a lot of the fantasy written nowadays, it feels a bit like a role playing game, and anyone who has been around them will identify Brett's demons as elementals. The concept of painted wards is nice, and although not done very much in fantasy, is not new either. Being a novel filled with action means that the characters are not developed to their full extent, which is a bit sad, because there is potential for a lot more.Even so, the characters are likeable enough, both the major ones as some of the supporting cast. Much of the focus is given to Arlen, the Painted Man, which makes sense (the book is named after him, after all), but I felt that Leesha and Rojer were only there because they were meant to meet him, and that most of their actions will always be a result of Arlen's actions or expectations. I would love to see these two characters better explored. There is also the potential love triangle forming, one that I'm not sure which side I rooting for (How can I choose between a tattooed man and a red-head one?) or even if I'm interested enough by it.There were some things that irked me in this book. One was the characters' fixation with breasts. The allusion to “bosoms” and “paps” was made enough times to make me wonder if breasts have any magical property. Other was the rapid recovery of a raped girl, that only four days after the tragic incident, is ready to a roll in the mud with another man (and one that she hasn't known long).The different nations on The Painted Man are, like in many fantasy works, inspired on our real world, as well as fantasy clichés, which usually leads to stereotyping. This is specially truth with the Krasians, the desert people. Open Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland, on the Desert Nomads entry, and you'll have a very close description of the Krasians (only Krasians aren't nomads).The Painted Man is hardly ground-breaking fantasy, but it has nice concepts and the action packed plot means it's an easy and fast read, and enjoyable enough. I will read the next one in the series, because I want to know what happens next, not because I loved this first book.Also at Spoilers and Nuts

I listened to this book as an audiobook, and, before I get to the book itself, I need to commend the narrator, Pete Bradbury. He has created an outstanding listening experience for me, and I can only recommend him. I am looking forward to listening to more of his audiobooks.

Now, for the book itself. I will spare you the background story of the book, as you have probably read it in the other reviews. So, let's get to the point.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The three characters are all very interesting, and they all just felt right. I don't really know how to describe it, but they felt very real to me.

The Story was great, there was only one time I was annoyed at the author: The book has a few points where it skips a few years. I completely understand that, but it just feels strange to skip four or five years right to the probably most important moment of the story, and then give that moment an introduction of only one or two pages, it just feels wrong to me. I would have preferred a few more pages leading up to that moment, to build tension, instead of jumping right into it.

But overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it. And now excuse me, I need to start listening to "the desert spear".

UPDATE, not related to the Book itself: Peter V Brett is awesome. I just received my Bookplates from him, signed and personalized, completely free and sent from america to europe. I have not seen any other author do something like that. Thanks, Peter ;-).

I re-read this in preparation for books four and five in the series, which I own but haven’t got to yet. It was just as exciting the second time. Great characters and world building. Although I wonder how any non-domesticated animals survive!

such a good read, so glad my friend recommended it. certainly quenched my thirst for a good fantasy read :)

Very good book! I am very surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book. The basic story is very clever with the demons that come out at night and humanity's complete fear of them. I like how it takes us from the villages to the cities in what was some fantastic world-building. I also enjoyed the character building and how we get to meet our main characters early in their lives and them jump forward just a bit to when they had come into their own.

The only reasons that this book was not 5 stars is that it did not really have an ending. The story did not build up to the ending, it just keeps moving along. The final chapters were simply the next chapters in what will be a trilogy (or more). I understand that this book sets up a much larger story, but I still would have appreciated the effort to make it stand alone a bit better.

With that said, I still loved it and am looking forward to the next installment.

debated whether to do 4 stars or 5...went with 4. the beginning of the book was very very slow.... but something about it kept me from returning it to the library, and kept me coming back to it, for more. After the first 3rd, it picked up, and clearly the last half of the book was excellent! well done!!
Very glad I stuck it out, and now I'm off to see if Brett has written Demon Cycle, #2.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett was much better than I first expected it to be. I received the book in December, even though it was my October 2013 LTER book. I absolutely love fantasy books and I often find it hard to get into new series because I have really high expectations for books. However, The Warded Man finds a way to distinguish itself from other series and create its own unique experience.Man is no longer the master of the world. Magical beings, called corelings, roam the night and slaughter all humans who fail to protect themselves. The only defense is to create wards, written symbols that crate magical barriers that prevent corelings from entering and area. Arlen, the first character, is a young boy who aims to become a Messenger so that he can travel the world and help find a way to fight back against the corelings. Rojer, who lives many miles away, finds himself appreticed to a Jongleur (An entertainer with many skills) after his family is killed by corelings. Leesha lives in yet another town and finds herself fighting pressures passed down by her mother's legacy and the society around her. These three distinct characters all live their own lives in a broken world, but find themselves grouped together by the end.First off, I found that the plot simpler than many of the other "epic" fantasy series. While Brett follows the rest of the crowd in using multiple characters to tell the story, each person stays remarkably distant until the last quarter of the book. Unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, there is no interwoven plots within plots. The story just flows along nicely, no sudden twists or crazy subplots to throw you off a plot cliff. There is an occasional time jump (There are time stamps every chapter, making it very easy to keep track of events) a few times throughout the story, but it shouldn't throw you off at all. I actually enjoyed the not simplistic plot structure that Brett used. It's a nice break from the muddled and complex plots that permeate the fantasy genre and makes the book more accessible to read.There is much less world building than in most fantasy books. The book's version of magic, which is never explicitly named, is channeled through the use of wards inscribed on objects. Brett delves a little bit into the history and description of the wards, but they never seem to be fleshed out very well. For something so vital to the world, I expected a much more thorough exploration, but what is given is just enough to get by without being completely confused with what is going on. Also, the entire world just seems much smaller than in other series. The map of the world at the beginning of the book makes it seem fairly small and the description of traveling only supports that idea. Once again, this idea of simplicity makes the world unique in comparison the the gigantic continents and worlds of comparable books.I really enjoyed reading The Warded Man. It is one of the few books that I have read that has actually caused me to lose track of time and read late into the night. Although it's less complex than many of its competitors, Brett found a way make The Warded Man just as engaging, interesting, and in some cases more enjoyable than many of the series like it. The characters are absolutely wonderful and the premise of the series is definitely very intriguing. The Warded Man is a great introduction for those wanting to make their way into epic fantasy and also a wonderful series for fantasy-lovers.

Loved this book! Could not stop reading!! In a world where demons rise at sunset to attack the humans who only have old wards carved and painted to create barriers to protect them, a boy watches his mother die and see a better way than hiding behind such protections. The story of Arlen Bales as he grows from a young boy into a man is a fascinating one. The people he meets along the way, the demons he faces and destroys, the fighter and man he becomes. Highly recommended!

This book has a great set-up and the concepts of magic are well thought through and interesting but the ending really lets the book down. It is possible that the rest of the series makes up for the ending but I am not inclined to continue on.

Nice reading fantasy novel.

Great book can't wait for the next

The Warded Man is the first in a planned five book fantasy series, The Demon Cycle, of which only two are out. It's set in a world where there are demons called corelings that come out at night to destroy and plunder human civilisation. The only things that keep them away are wards - writings of power. If a ward is improperly set or happens to rub off, the demons break through immediately.We follow three characters - Arlen, Leesha and Rojer, from various points in their childhood to maturity. They have very different lives, but they all eventually embark on a journey.The world is pretty interesting - the frequent coreling attacks have reduced humans from a state of advanced technology to the dark ages. There are small hamlets everywhere, but also a few Free Cities, all with very different cultures. Very few people travel, since it's hard to ward yourself when you're not in a shelter.This book had too much incidental sex-related plots for my taste - almost every encounter between a man and a woman has some sexual overtones, no matter what their ages or age differences are. Leesha is so beautiful that every man who looks at her wants to rape her (except the good guys, who are just attracted to her.) There's a lot of incest, rape and general lasciviousness. I know that A Song of Ice and Fire is currently quite popular, but I'm not really a fan of such gritty stories.Aside from that, the book is pretty decent. The world is the most interesting part, I really liked reading about the history. There are a bunch of likable characters, although no one stands out as particularly special. I found most of them to be extreme in one way or another.I'm going to give the next book, The Desert Spear, a shot, but I'm not that excited. Hopefully I'm proven wrong.

The beginning of The Demon Cycle, this book gives the background of Arlen Bales, a man living in a time where demons roam the earth as soon as the sun goes down. People have forgotten how to fight, and Arlen wants nothing more than to remember, and to teach others to fight, as well.

Each night corelings rise, demons from the underworld with supernatural powers and a hatred of human kind. It has been so for hundreds of years with humans slowly losing the battle of attrition with the demons even as they hide behind the relative safety of their wards. In the small hamlet of Tibbet's Brook young Arlen watches helplessly as his mother is torn apart by demons while his father does nothing. In Cutter's Hollow Leesha has been promised to the handsomest boy in the village. When the village begins to recover after a particularly vicious coreling attack Leesha comes to realize there may be more to the world than marrying a man and making his babies. In Riverbridge young Rojer helps his family run the inn. During a coreling attack that wipes out half the town, Rojer's family sacrifices themselves so their young son may live. With hope for mankind's future fading, the three survivors will attempt the impossible, going beyond the safety of the wards in a quest to gain knowledge so humans can make a stand against the night.The Warded Man is the first book in the Demon Cycle. Brett does a great job of giving just enough world building without bogging the story down. Both magic and science have had their turns in history and it feels like humanity has entered a new, possibly final, dark ages where old knowledge needs to be rediscovered. The various demon types are described to make each unique and still leaving them a little mysterious. The pacing of the story is near perfect. The pages flew by.Each character is introduced in a way that builds upon what we already know of the world and doesn't distract from the others. They all have flaws. Arlen is angry and that anger gets the better of him at times. Leesha is headstrong and willful. Rojer is insecure. It's these flaws that make them feel real, giving them challenges to overcome and lets them grow. Each character is also likeable. I was cheering all three of them on the whole way.It's a great start to a series and definitely worth a read.

A promising start for a fantasy series. Surprisingly different to other fantasy settings, interesting enough to catch my attention and to keep me reading for hours.

The setting is a post-apocalyptic world, in which demons raise every night to hunt people. The inhabitants of this world protect their homes with magical wards against the demons, but if these signs are broken, they will find a cruel end at the hand of the demons. The population is constantly shrinking and the people wait for the return of the Deliverer, a man who once united humanity against the demons and forced them to withdraw, leading to years of peace. But humans are humans, so they started to turn against each other and gave the demons the opportunity to return...

We meet the three main characters during their youth and witness the deciding moments for their development into active adults, who want to change something, who want to fight back. All characters in this book, not only the main characters, are three-dimensional, detailed persons with strengths and weaknesses, some of them are quite likeable, while I detested others - quite a realistic society under these circumstances.

One last word: although the protagonists start at a very young age, this book is definately adult fantasy with adult topics and some really gruesome scenes.

This book was recommended via LibraryThing. It was one of the better ones it has suggested so far. There were a couple things I wasn't crazy about. How women were treated was a bit over the top. At the end of the book, a new language was introduced. It seemed forced and not needed as the story was going well without it. This is the first book for this author and it does impress me - very readable and cool plot / ideas. This is one of a five book series and I plan on reading the rest of them.

The story of Deamons took me a bit to get into and continue to hold my interest but after I found a rhythm and flow to the story I was sucked in! The characters how they are so similar yet different came together which was working to the soul. I enjoyed growing in the development how folks from different parts could convene for a common goal. Thoroughly enjoyed this story!

The premise looked interesting, but the execution was not. I found the demon boring, they seemed no better than wild wolves, really. The jumps in years was also badly done. Stopping the series here.

Almost great and refreshing, If it wasn't for the use of some really tiresome tropes that mangles the story by crashing you out of your suspension of disbelief. As it stands, it's an intriguing idea and promising attempt, that leaves you hoping for bettering things to come.

What a great book! I was drawn into the characters from the start and had a hard time putting it down. I am anxious to see what happens in the next book(s) and have already started into the next one greedily.

I had listened to this book quite awhile ago. Got tired of waiting for sequels, set aside after Desert Spear. Book was wonderful, BTW....loved the two cultures and the Demon War. But life intervened, and I missed the publication of the last two books in the series. When I looked at the reviews, I realized that I had forgotten a lot of the characters and the plot development, so I re-read it (and Desert Spear). Still a great read. Fast action, good characterization. The world that Brett built is fascinating...I wonder what caused the corelings and if they can be defeated, which is spurring on my interest in future stories.

The Warded Man (Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett is a terrifying and character driven book that keep me turning pages with reluctant glee! It was like watching a movie with your hand over your face but peaking through your fingers at the tv screen! IThis crazy world could be in a very distant future from ours. At night, different types of demons come out to play but you don't want to be the one they play with.Through certain characters are followed, it all comes together in the end, and now I picked up the next book! Through these characters we learn so much about life in this world and what it takes to live there. There is ward symbols for protection, demons, herb gardeners are the healers, and more! I don't want to say much but I am putting this book on my favorites! Great world building, plot, characters, and suspense. Loved it all!

This is set on an ancient world, a world now gripped by fear, because after dark, the corelings rise. These are elemental demons of wood, rock, fire aid and sand, and they are wanting to kill the fragmented human population.

The people of villages and towns protect themselves with wards, drawings that are marked on surfaces that link together to form a magical barrier stopping the corelings from killing. Any slight error in the ward means that the barrier is compromised, and breaches occur frequently.

Three young survivors of demon attacks, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, each with their own fears and hatred of these demons, start to seek their own destinies. Arlen wants to be a messenger, Leesha a healer and Rojer a Jongleur. Their paths are troubled and tortured, and the story takes you on all their ups and downs, but what they each have is a unique talent to fight these horrendous creatures.

As the story reaches its conclusion, they meet and see what each has to offer against the demons. It is a fraught relationship, but sense prevails as they use their unique talents to battle the corelings with the assistance of Leesha's home village.

I thought that the story was well plotted, with the three main characters stories coming together at the right point in the book. Even though it was 500 plus pages, it didn't feel that long, as some fantasy stories can do. It has also been nicely set up for the second in the series, with the three characters starting to form relationships based on their talents.

After finishing Mass Effect 3, I really wanted to read some sci-fi. So I went down to my local library, and browsed the (rather pathetic) sci-fi and fantasy section. I came back with four fantasy books, and just one sci-fi. Luckily, one of the fantasy books was this one, because it was amazing. I was first drawn in by the cover - rather mysterious - and then the blurb.
The entire concept of demons (or 'corelings') springing up out of the earth after the sun has set - or even when it is dark enough during the day, caused by storms and the like - really interested me. The people of this fantasy world live in fear of the dark, because there is actually something out there, and to prevent demon attacks they must ward their homes, businesses, cities etc, or travellers must create ward circles in which to hide at night. But the wards can be easily disturbed - washed away by rain, covered by snow or leaves, even just a person treading on one of the wards can break the circle. Everyone lives in constant fear, and no-one has the means to face up to the demons. That is until Arlen finds a warded spear in the ruins of an ancient city, and using murals and the spear itself begins to recreate the wards, even going to far as tattooing his entire body - hence the 'Painted' or 'Warded Man'.
I have to admit when I first opened the book and read that the main (for now) protagonist was a ten-year old boy, my heart sunk a little. I often get annoyed by such young protagonists, but Arlen really surprised me. He was clever and a realist, and very, very determined. And his transformation into the Painted Man was fantastic - strengthened by past losses, and desperate to not turn into his father. In fact, all three of the protagonists were very likeable and it was interesting to follow them from their pre-teens (or earlier, in Rojer's case), to adulthood. I like Leesha for her sense of morals and her determination to live her life as she wanted.
Often with fantasy novels, the authors understandably want to create something new, a new world, but some times it can get very complicated. The Warding system was very understandable, and I can't wait to find out more of its back story, along with the history of the Core and corelings - which I hope will be coming up in the next two books.
I really loved the pacing of the book. Brett didn't switch between POVs too quickly, nor too slowly. It felt like just as something big was building up for each character, the POV would switch, which definitely kept me reading to find out what happened next. The action scenes were brilliant and fast paced.
As much as I love fantasy, I haven't found too many series that have really gripped me. The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire go without saying, but I feel this series (trilogy?) could soon join them. I will definitely be looking out for book two, and book three when it is published - apparently February 2013.

Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

This was the first novel I read by this author and I can say that it lives up to the all the good reviews I read prior to reading this. It tells the story of a world besieged by demons who kill any human not protected by wards each night. Well written with good character detail and world building. Looking forward to the sequels already available in this series.

4.5 stars and can recommend to anyone who enjoys dark fantasy with plenty of action.

A surprisingly good book. Somehow, the author managed to stretch the story on and on without the action slowing down or seeming pointless. I'll probably read more from this author.

Okay, so I'm writing this review a little under three months after I actually finished reading it. But looking over my status updates, I can easily remember what I was going to say...

Basically, The Warded Man is a dark, unflinching tale of the human race--not only at the mercy of the demons they fear--but of their own dark natures. It's pretty simple. Basically, each night, demons come up from the Core, which is the equivalent of Hell. Humans once had a way to kill them using wards drawn onto weapons, but this magic was lost to them, leaving them only with meager defenses. So basically, being able to draw wards was extremely important, because it was the only thing to help keep you from getting killed. In the story, people don't travel because of the demons, leaving cities and villages feeling isolated.

We meet our three protagonists, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, as children.

Arlen, from a young age, displayed great courage, and grew to hate cowardice after he saw his father allow his mother to die at the hands of demons. Running away, he sought the life of a Messenger--one of the only professions that allowed a man to travel freely between the cities, carrying messages. Leesha was an ordinary girl looking to take up her father's trade of paper making. She was engaged to a big brute of a boy, but after a demon attack on her village, she found herself on the path to becoming a Healer. Rojer lost his family to a demon attack, and was raised by a Jongleur. Though lacking three fingers, he too, sought to be a Jongleur. Each have a vital skill that is later used to fight back the demons, using magic that had once been long lost.

A great deal of the book sees these stories unfolding independent of each other. It isn't until adulthood that these three characters all come together, and not before many trials. If you look at my status updates, I was rather frustrated with the beginning, because a great deal of time was devoted to dysfunctional backwater hickery involving abuse, rape, and gossip. Thankfully, the story moves away from that, and becomes so much more towards the end.

The action is great and unflinching. Unlike some authors who are afraid to bring any permanent harm to their protagonists, Peter Brett is merciless, and you really get a sense of suspense as you read the dangerous twists and turns. The writing is superb in that Brett does an excellent job painting out the characters in such complex detail.

My only issue was the setting. It isn't that it didn't work. It worked fine as a world. It's more a matter of personal preference, I suppose, when I say that I have no interest in country bumpkin drama...and in this story? There's plenty of it. Plus, the views held by the society at large was just too frustrating for me. Too much ass-covering, chauvinism, and cruelty. I realize this is a dark fantasy, but I've read dark fantasy before, and never has auxiliary characters made me want to kill someone as much as this book has. Keep me on the edge of my seat. Don't make me want to throw the book out the window! It's a fine line, but you have to walk it.

So, in summary...if you're into unforgiving settings and monstrous creatures, great suspense and possibly even horror...if you're into the drama you might see on Law and Order: SVU, or the redneck shenanigans of COPS...then maybe this book is for you. Again, the writing is superb, and the characters really grow on you. Personally, for me, this book was a love/hate relationship, so don't let that stop you from giving it a try! Who knows? You may just love it.

The beginning of a series that's already up to 4 giant novels and 4 shorter entries. I kept hearing good things about it, so decided to check it out.

Well... it's a start. A slow start, however.
The largest part of the book really moved too slowly for me, as it shows us three young people who are bored of life in their small, backward, restrictive towns.

Admittedly, I guess the point is that their lives are restricted and boring... but it got to the point where reading about them was boring, too. And oh, the stereotypes.

The reason that life is so very restrictive and boring here is that, for the last few hundred years, a plague of bloodthirsty demons comes out every night. Anyone caught outside a warded area will be quickly and viciously killed. Whenever it's dark, both the residents of rural villages and the inhabitants of walled cities huddle inside buildings protected by the magical symbols drawn or carved into their boundaries.
It's a war that people are losing, too, by a slow, drawn-out process of attrition.

Understandably, travel is avoided. Villages communicate mainly through traveling duos of Messenger and Jongleur who facilitate news, trade and entertainment. It's a glamorous job, but a dangerous one.

One of the aforementioned bored young people, Arlen, wants nothing more than to be a Messenger. He's got a talent for drawing Wards, and when his family situation goes south, he runs off to try to pursue his dream.

Meanwhile, orphaned Rojer is taken in by a Jongleur and brought to one of the walled cities. While grieving his family, he also learns the trade - and discovers a special talent for the fiddle.

Leesha also has a horrible family situation. An unloving mother and a thuggish fiance cause her to end up with her reputation destroyed. However, she finds new direction in life when she apprentices to the local Herb Gatherer and begins to learn healing arts.

It's not really a surprise to find that eventually, these three stories might merge and, in that convergence, turn out to have something to do with fighting the demons...

It takes a while to get there though, and, as I said, there are just so many stereotypes along the way. The backwards villages with sexist attitudes and uneducated inhabitants are utterly familiar. The walled cities with craftspeople, apprentices, public performers, &c also seem right out of any number of fantasy novels. Then of course, there's the OTHER walled city a few days' ride away that's inexplicably inhabited by a Middle Eastern culture full of every trope about the Middle East you could pull out of a hat. Of course, the countryside is dotted with ancient ruins full of the forgotten Knowledge of the Elders. And that's not even touching on the archetypical behavior that the individual characters exhibit.

I also had a couple of basic logical issues with the setup. First, if the demon plague has been the situation for as long as the narrative says, people would've learned to deal with it a lot better. You just WOULDN'T go running outside your wards after a stray animal, for example. Not doing that would've been beaten into every single person from babyhood. It would be unthinkable.
Second, the concept of painting or tattooing wards on your person just isn't an unthinkable idea. You'd think nearly everyone would've thought to try it. And once one person figured it out and tales started spreading about the Warded Man painted or tattooed with protective symbols - you'd think that tattoos would very quickly become the hottest new trend for everyone.

However, if you're OK with the familiar... the book isn't terrible. The pace does eventually pick up, and ends with a big ol' climactic action scene. Having just finished it... I do have these criticisms, and I think they're valid... but I have hope that it might get better as it goes on. I may just go on to the next book in the series and find out what's happening next.