The Warded Man Comments
The Warded Man (Peter V. Brett)
Description (Publisher)
As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.
Night is here and the demons have come out to play. This is the premise to Peter V. Brett's awesome The Warded Man. The tale told is one so good that it keeps you glued to the pages with nary a break until you flip that last page. The story is not perfect, but world created and the cast of characters are incredibly enticing. Don't expect some pithy, intelligent twist on the genre as in Abercrombie's Blade Itself or Bakker's Prince of Nothing, The Warded Man is all raw action and standard fantasy conventions (village boy), but if you want a really damn good book that won't let you sleep, read it. Also check out The Warded Man book review on my blog. The sequel has has been released a couple months ago and it's a good read, though not as good (I have a few complaints with how some of the characters interact and the way the story is structured). But overall, the Warded Man and it's sequel are some of the more exciting reads in the fantasy genre.
Feel free to rate The Warded Man on the Community Book Review section of the site.
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I must have read some 3000+ fantasy and sci fi books over the years. I really liked the idea and the magic system. The basic plot idea was good too and I thoroughly enjoyed the first book reading it almost in a sitting.
The second was boring. I'm quite happy wading through long slow paced books - it was just that every scene was predictable, indistinguishable from a similar scene that had appeared 3-5 times before or had cardboard characterisation.
This is o e of those cases where I wish he'd lost everything on his hard disk and had to rewrite from scratch. It would have been far better for it. Not a chance of buying the third book
I absolutely loved both The Painted Man and the 2/3 of The Desert Spear I've read so far. I've only just put it down to check out this list 
The characterisation is superbly done and the story is engaging. I loved the way Desert Spear took you back and deeper into parts of the first book and interlinked the stories. I completely fell in love with the Painted Man. I can't wait for the Daylight War.
I'm a massive fantasy fan, my all time authors being Gemmell, Feist and Brooks. This book presented something new, with a believable character set, intriguing story-line, and a real 'feel' of a new, violent world. I couldn't put this book down. I'm a little bit confused by the poor reviews given above. I for one loved this book.
I read the painted man due to the high ratings it got but was hugely disappointed. I could have written this book with my eyes closed. The characters are so shallow, the action is boring, the plot is just utter tosh. The demons remind me of pokemon or digimonsters (or whatever they're called). I truly wasn't excited at any time while reading this book. I find it horrifying that it's up here in the top 25. Those who rated it as 'excellent' either are newcomers to fantasy or somehow forget that to judge a fantasy book you have to keep in mind other books out their so as to get a good benchmark. If this book is 'excellent' then it means this 'book' is in the same catergory as Lord of the Rings???
you must be joking or read a different book or something. These are some of the best developed characters I have ever read. Brett does such a good job, and the desert spear only builds it even further. The daylight war comes out in 2012 and it WILL be a top seller.
I am new to fantasy and all I have to say is, if this is one of the top 25 greatest fantasy stories out then I am going to be sorely disappointed with the genre.
And then the first 150ish pages of the second book stop the series cold. It's all stuff that the author should know, but I didn't need to be dragged through all of it.
The rest of the second book was very good though. Nice to see someone fighting things that they don't have to wonder whether they are justified in fighting.
In my opinion this book was great. I loved the idea of the Corelings and although i have not started Desert Spear, I'm sure that it will be just as good. Anybody looking for an intriguing fantasy novel should read this book. I've read Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin and have tried to read the book about Thomas Convenant, and i can honestly say that the Warded Man is not a disappointing read.
Loved the 1st book. Instead of the hero looking for a weapon, he moulds himself into a weapon. Simple, uncomplicated FF. The 2nd book was much mature, mellow and built on the 1st one. The 1st one is amongst the best I have read.
Btw the way, The Name of The Wind is a pretty amazing book. Am waiting for the sequel.....what a debut.
I am surprised to see that Celia Friedman is not featured here. Her Coldfire Trilogy is outstanding and so is her most current Trilogy. Definately deserves a mention.
The warded man is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
It was a page turner with characters that I came to think of as friends.
The second book did what it was supposed to do, it advanced the story. I have great hopes for this series.
I thought both books were v. good. In fact one of the best recently published series in the gendre. I do not agree that book two is not as good as book 1. Its just that book 2 is obviously a bridge in the story but I found it just as appealing. Its obvious he could not have completed the story in 2 books and book 2 develops and deepens the plot lines of book 1. I loved them both. As to the best, well I have already said in another thread that you cannot rank books as top anything until the series is complete. The Name of the Wind (ranked 4 I think) is excellent but the author has'nt even finished book 2!
If you are talking about just some of the best all time, then the warded man was excellent, regardless of the sequels. We are talking about single books, right? This book was awesome. I couldn't put it down. The next wasn't as good, but as a single book, The Warded Man was amazing.
a first book from a first time author ?
i read the book, and liked it a lot, but wait a few more books.
in a genre that is usually defined by series of books, sometimes series of series ... a first book is just to early for declarations.