The world is a dark place. Mankind has been fractured into tiny societies, each society a small bastion fighting to survive each night. Because at night, demons come out to play — fierce magical creatures that suddenly appear and slaughter anything and everything. Welcome to a world where night is truly a nightmare.

This is the premise of Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man (published as The Painted Man in the UK, as in the cover art displayed). Humanity has been broken, once great civilizations nothing but a memory, reduced to tiny cities, towns and hamlets. Travel between villages and towns is all but non-existent – with people only willing to travel short distances from their homes. To get caught outside a warded building overnight is a certain death sentence. To travel, you must face the night.

Only a few dare to travel — Messengers, brave men who risk their life each night on the road.

The only thing that stands between certain death at night when the demons come out are wards — strange magical symbols and patterns engraved in surfaces that prevent the demons from entering any space enclosed by wards. These ancient symbols have been mankind’s only defense against the demons, faint memories from an ancient time when men once fought against demons and prevailed. But mankind has forgotten most of the wards – gone are the wards of attack — now, men cannot fight against demon, only survive.

Men fear to challenge the night. But there is one who will fight.

I was really blown away by this book. I heard about it in passing last year, but I never actually got around to reading it until a few months ago. I’m glad I did. The Warded Man (also called The Painted Man in the UK) was my favorite book of 2008. This is the first book in a series, but oh what a delicious book it was.

What stands out about this book is the interesting world portrayed, vicious action, and strong characterization. The world portrayed is a world without hope. Men are reduced to a food source for demons and the will to fight has been lost. It’s a world that’s ripe for a hero.

The novel is not a perfect one. I will say the novel does falter with the way it handles some of the characterization — the way some of the characters act can seem a bit unrealistic at times.

But don’t let this dissuade you from reading the book! To be sure, this book is very action orientated. But the book combines a hell of a lot of action, very good characterization, and interesting world building.  There is also a keen sense of anticipation and adventure throughout the novel. If you like books like Rothfuss’ Name of the Wind and Feist’s Magician, you should find yourself at home in this book. This book is NOT a complex epic fantasy saga in the vein of Song of Ice and Fire, nor is it a high, nor is it a turn-fantasy-tropes-on-their-heads like The Blade Itself. This is a more classic fantasy tale, but the world building, magic, and characterization are all top notch.

If you are looking for a book that will keep you up all night, I highly suggest Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man.