The Warded Man by Peter V Brett

Wow! Really, I could leave this review at that word, and be satisfied that you will now go off and read The Warded Man. But there really is more to it than just that.

At the core of the Demon Triology (pun intended) are Corelings, Demons from the very Core of the planet, which attack at night. The only way to protect yourself is through wards, but only clear, powerful wards will work, and the Corelings will test the Wards until the sun rises - I know I wouldn't sleep good at night if I knew that at any moment Corelings could rush into my house and eat me! It's dark and scary and makes Brett's world very interesting to read about.

We follow three characters, but spend the majority of our time with Arlen, and this really is his book, and his coming of age story. And it's not a happy story. Our other major players are Leesha and Rojer. All three stories are interesting and echo a theme of finding strength through tragedy.

It has been a very long time since a book captured me like The Warded Man
did. I loved the majority of this book. I have given it a 5 star rating on Goodreads, because they do not allow half stars, I would have given it 4.5, because there were some things in the last part of the book that seriously bothered me. But other than that, I felt that this was the type of fantasy book I've been looking for. Dark, heavy, epic, realistic, with elements of traditional fantasy weaved into it. The last part of the book really did leave me with serious issues, and I've read mixed reviews of the second book in the series, but I think this novel really works, and I'm very glad that I read it. Being that captured by a novel doesn't happen to me very often anymore, and I'm always excited when it does.

So, go forth and read this book. I think you'll be glad you did - but do know what you're getting into up front. This is a dark fantasy world, and it starts off that way right from the beginning. If you are looking for safe and light, this isn't the book for you.