The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
- Written by Jeremy Shane on Thursday, May 20 2010 and posted in Reviews
This is a heck of a way to make a debut. Peter V. Brett blew me away with The Warded Man, it was a book I could not put down.
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Story Type: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5 smileys
Pros: Great characters, POV's kept to minimum, interesting magic system
Cons: none for me
Review:
I initially made the mistake of setting this in my too read pile paying little attention to where it was in the stack. Thanks to comments by other members on the Outhouse about how much they enjoyed it and that I get to it, I well... got to it.
The Warded man mainly follows three characters, two boys and one young woman. Although I really liked all of them, it was The Warded man himself (before he was even the warded man) that I fell in love with. Even though much of the story is spent letting the young characters grow up and get together, you don't feel like you are waiting for the story to start. Everything these characters experience in their lives builds the story and character and shows you more of the world.
The magic is handled in a way that, although somewhat common and integral to the world, is very uncommon in the use most fantasy readers might think. It is done with creating runes; or wards as the case may be, that have specific effects. Much of the wards and magic of the past has been forgotten as society has relied mainly upon the wards that they needed day to day. This is used to create difference in societies as Brett makes the magic system a natural part of his worlds history.
The people live in a world where they are only safe during the day. At night, demons of various sorts rise from the depths and attack anything not protected. This creates even bigger seperations in societies and regions as any travel that takes more than the day is difficult and dangerous. A reader really comes to understand the way the world has come to the point it's at.
Bottom Line:
I can't image too many fantasy lovers not enjoying this book. A reader that likes books such as The Name of the Wind or A Song of Fire and Ice would find this story right up their alley.
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Written or Contributed by: Jeremy Shane
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About the Author - xaraan
Xaraan (zah-ron), you can call him Jeremy if you prefer, but after twenty years of using xaraan online, he'll answer to that faster. When not doing photography, xaraan writes for us covering books, gaming, tv, movies, sometimes even comics, plus creating a weekly webcomic. If you look for him offline, start in the L.A. area; online start at www.xaraan.com.
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