Dan's Blog

The Painted Man is Peter V Brett’s first novel and was published in the UK by Harper Voyager in September 2008. The book is due to be released soon in the US where it will be called The Warded Man. The Painted Man is book one of ‘The Demon Trilogy‘.

I bought this book on the offchance while looking for something at the book shop. One of the things immediately noticable about this book is its compelling cover – which draws you in.

The story is set in a world where demons rise from the ground at night and people hide in fear behind buildings protected by ancient magic. There are 3 main characters that are followed closely in the book, these are Arlen, Leesha and Rojer.

Arlen is a young boy that lives on a farm with his parents until his life is shatered by a demon attack and he leaves home seeking a way to fight back against the demons. Leesha is a young girl that had her life mapped out until her betrothed betrayed her with his words and she chose a different path. Rojer is the sole survivor of a village whose wards failed when the demons came.

The main concepts in the book are the demons or “corelings” that rise from the core at night and the “wards” that provide some protection from these demons. The book develops the world well and in particular the ward magic is a “breath of fresh air” from some of the more conventional magic found in other books.

The only small critisism I have of the book is that the map is not particularly engaging and can easily be memorised – this may seem like a good thing, but refering to the map to try and work out where the characters are is all part of a good read.

The Painted Man is a definate page turner – I was hooked to such a degree I finished it in under 2 days – I will certainly be buying the next in the series when it comes out! Hopefully it will not be a long wait.

The author has a website that can be found at http://www.petervbrett.com/