The Warded Man (Demon Cycle #1)

The Warded Man by Peter V Brett is an amazing fantasy book and the first in his Demon Cycle series.

The land in which the series takes place could be our own if you went back to the Middle Ages. People live in small hamlets or small cities and work hard from dawn until dusk. The main difference is that from dusk until dawn demons rise out of the Core and hunt. Magical symbols, or wards, are all that stand between demon and death for the humans and animals.

Legend has it that long ago people fought back against the demons. Today no one really thinks it is possible to kill a demon and most attacked by one do not recover.

Arlen of Tibbet's Brook, a small hamlet far from the cities, has reasons to want to fight back. With the events of one night he goes from an innocent child who cowers inside at night listening to the demons try to break through the wards to a young man who has revenge on his mind. His journey will take him farther than most will ever travel. (Since there are very few who will spend the night outdoors even protected by a warded traveling circle.)

Leesha of Cutter's Hollow is promised to a woodcutter. Once she is old enough she will be married and start a family of her own. But when fire demons burn part of the town, she helps the Herb Gatherer to heal the injured and finds a new path in life.

Finally, Rojer of Riverbridge is on of few survivors of a demon attack. He is thrust into the arms of a jongleur (a performer who travels with a messenger to spread news and entertain) by his mother to save his life with her own.

These three great characters follow their paths as readers fall in love them and learn more about the world in which they live. It is a world full of terror and hope. Peter Brett has created a place that readers will hope he continues to write about for the next twenty years, at least. It will be as well loved as Anne McCaffrey's Pern or Tamora Pierce's Tortall.

If you are at all a fantasy reader read this series. I am going to buy the books to read again and again - and as my 3 fans know that is the highest compliment since I am a librarian and have unlimited access to books at work.

Brett, Peter V. (2009). The Warded Man. New York: Del Rey.