In many ways, The Warded Man is Arlen’s journey from country bumpkin to man of the world. Rejecting his father’s cowardice in the face of his mother’s death, Arlen flees his village in the hopes of becoming a Messenger – those men with the honed skills and tools necessary to brave the more than a day travel’s worth of distance between villages to deliver goods and messages. It is in this harsh desolate setting that Brett introduces the character of Arlen.Īrlen’s family is torn apart by a savage demon attack and as a result, Arlen is forever changed. In some horrific instances, the corelings manage to break through the wards and kill, burn, and destroy towns. The feel is almost like the Old West or even what the Dust Bowl– these people eke out a meager living getting through their daily tasks and closing up the proverbial shop at night to hide behind the wards that keep away the Corelings, as the demons are referred to by the characters. The world comes through the characters (primary, secondary and background) eyes and their actions. The setting, though not overly descriptive on Brett’s part, is very evocative. People live in small towns in fear of the night, for as the sun sets, demons rise from the earth to wreak havoc. The world in which this novel takes place would best be described as harsh and unforgiving. Brett and his debut novel The Warded Man. In late 2008 (in the UK) and in early 2009 in the US, the author who seems to be making the most waves with readers is Peter V.

The past few years have seen writers like Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, and Brandon Sanderson come onto the scene. Every year it seems a new author bursts onto the scene with a book that catches hold of the collective reader’s imaginations. There’s no doubt that Epic Fantasy is alive and strong.

The warded man demons