A review by josflippin
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This Book Was Amazing!!  So under hyped!! If you like insane character development, rich world building, political intrigue abounds, and vivid battle scenes this book delivers.  Peter V. Brett takes you on an adventure you will never forget and leaves you hungry for more in the first installment of the Demon Cycle. 

“Hiding isn't always enough, Arlen,' Ragen said. 'Sometimes, hiding kills something inside of you, so that even if you survive the demons, you don't really.”

In this book we follow the lives of three people beginning at various points in their childhoods.  The book begins in Tibbit's Brook in 318 AR (After Return).  Here we meet Arlen and are immediately immersed in the aftermath of a coreling (demon) attack.  We then travel to Cutter's Hollow in 319 AR and meet Leesha and are introduced to the plight and pressure of being a girl during this time.  Its then back to 318 AR where we are introduced to Rojer, the son of the inn keepers at Riverbridge.  We follow along with the three of them as they grow up and find their own ways despite the preconceived roles placed on them by their parents and this society wrought with fear. We join them on their quest to be free of the corelings' stranglehold on the night.

“I don't pretend to see the path, but I know it's there all the same. One day, we'll look back and wonder how we ever missed it.”

The world building in this book is fantastic.  I felt like I was accompanying the characters to each location they visited along their journeys.  I really liked the way the corelings changed with the geography of the locations in the story.  

The plot moved along and seemed enmeshed in the characters giving this book a nice mix of being character and plot driven as there were times that the characters were forced to adapt to the happenings' of the story, instead of fully driving it.  I think this helped to keep the plot moving and the pages turning.  

It is obvious that the author put a lot of thought into the corelings; their behaviors and interactions with humans, their world, and each other increased my feelings of connectedness to the corelings and the terror they bring to the people of this world. The growth of the characters in this story was tremendous their individual suffering and perception of their world truly shapes the path each of these characters takes.

The magic system is rune based and easy to understand and it grows with the characters and their discoveries.

“We are what we choose to be, girl,' she said. 'Let others determine your worth, and you've already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves.”

There were some tough themes tackled in this book right from the beginning.  I would suggest checking triggers because this is a dark epic fantasy and some of the content could be tough for some people. I do not want to list them as they could feel spoilery. That being said these topics are handled tastefully and are not over done or over emphasized.  They add to the story, the character development, and the world building and are not included as filler.

This book was fantastic, and I will be continuing the series.  If you are a fan of dark epic fantasy with adventures on the road, political happenings, 3 unique main characters who are all strong in their own way, and high stakes battles with demons pick this book up.

Hats off to Peter V. Brett.