Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Jan 29, 2012

Peter rated it:

I learned a lot from this book, because I wrote it myself. My rating may be somewhat biased as a result.

2 comments like (44 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

mark rated it:

The Warded Man is an effective, efficiently-written fantasy thriller, one with an ingenious premise: at nightfall, various sorts of grisly 'corelings' rise from the earth to slaughter all living beings. folks live and travel behind various 'wards'. draw an imprecise ward: you are fucked, and probably dead. the novel documents a society which may or may not be in transition to ways that more proactively and aggressively engage with this continual threat. the set-up is particularly effective in i More...

11 comments like (23 people liked it)

May 12, 2011

Paul rated it:

Sometimes it’s easier to be a coward. Easier to not fight back. To not stare in the eye of the bully harassing you. To slink around the corner, avoiding confrontation. Maybe the odds aren’t in you favor. Maybe fighting back could mean serious injury. Maybe it could mean your life.

But what if your family was in danger. Would you stand and watch, paralyzed by fear, unable to help. Or would you fight. Even if fighting meant sacrificing yourself for your loved ones. What choice would you m More...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Apr 09, 2010

Jon rated it:

I devoured this book, ravenous as a coreling in the night. Excellent world building, great character development, driving plot and riveting action. I'm panting and sweating just thinking about the last desperate battle.

Some of my favorite bits of the world building include a post apocalyptic setting, almost an alternate history of our own reality, where humanity is facing extinction from supernatural elements (demons) holding people hostage with terror as they roam the nights fre More...

5 comments like (16 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2011

Dan rated it:

Three survivors of demon attacks spend their younger years learning to fight the corelings in their own ways. Rojer becomes a Jongleur, a wandering minstrel whose fiddle playing can ward off the demon's attack. Leesha becomes a healer and herb gatherer. And Arlen walks the path of a Messenger. At least at first...

Wow. I have to admit I wasn't expecting a whole lot with this book. Fantasy in a pseudo-European setting? Yawn city. Imagine my delight when the book proved to be a b More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Zach rated it:

A fantasy (secondary-world or post-apocalyptic Earth isn’t clear, or at least not in the part of the book I read) in which humankind is subject to attack every night by demons that materialize from the ground. At the opening of the book, the only defense people have is to huddle behind magical wards which the demons cannot breach (unless the chalk or whatever is scuffed or something, I don’t know.) Humans cower in their cities or individual farmhouses, and it would be really great if someone lea More...

9 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

I don't have much to say for this book. I thought the premise was interesting, but there was something about the execution that just didn't grab me. Like Sandi, I found it pretty preditcable and straightforward. Unlike Sandi, I didn't connect with the characters enough for me not to care.

The characters I did like the most were secondary - Bruna, Ragan and Elissa, Master Cox - but after they fill their roll to the main characters, we don't see them anymore. This is has it 'should More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Dawn rated it:

I'm not sure what to call this book. Warded Man? Painted Man? I can see the logic in both titles. Painted Man because the man was all painted up and shit.. Warded Man because that paint made wards so he was all warded up and shit.. I really don't understand the need for the title change when it was released in the US. At least that's what I think happened... I didn't use my google-fu to figure it out, I could but I'm feeling lazy at the moment. I just think that's what I might have heard at one More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2011

Seak (Bryce L.) rated it:

Not only did it rise above the hype, but the hype looks like an ant from up here. This is traditional fantasy done extremely well and with its own unique elements. The Warded Man (The Painted Man in the UK) is exactly the type of fantasy I love.

Goodreads summary:
As darkness falls each night, the corelings rise - demons who well up from the ground like hellish steam, taking on fearsome form and substance. Sand demons. Wood demons. Wind demons. Flame demons. And gigantic rock dem More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2009

Jeffrey rated it:

This new fantasy is excellent. The world is full of demons (corelings) who rise at night and terrorize and kill the humans, who live in scattered homesteads and a few major cities run by Dukes. Most of the people hide behind ancient wards that can stop the demons, but over time, the corelings overcome poorly done wards or negligence and slaughter the humans. Linking the people of the cities with the outlier hamlets are professional messengers who travel at night behind wards. Only one city, Kr More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

Patrick rated it:

I thought this book was very one-dimensional. Demons versus Humans. Character development was interesting, but I believe the author could have spent less time developing them and spent more time developing the world and it's problems.

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

May 14, 2011

Laura rated it:

Reviewed for Book Chick City's Audio Book Sunday Feature

'The Painted Man' is a phenomenal book. I listened to it as an audiobook and it was one of those stories that I downloaded and wasn't really sure what to expect. At nearly 20 hours long, or 560 pages for the paperback version, it's a commitment and not a quick read. But it's well worth your time.

The story is set in a world where humans live in fear. At night, when the dark comes demons, known as 'corelings' rise from the More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2011

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

At times, I believe that humanity is doomed to destroy itself. Actually, I feel that way a lot, although it saddens me. Which is why I prefer reading fiction that is hopeful, or with humans triumphing over the destructive forces within them or around them. Tales in which the monster of the story is a fantastical beast of the inhuman variety, defeatable, even if it requires cost and sacrifice on the part of people.

I couldn’t even imagine living in a world in which every night, de More...

23 comments like (18 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2009

Ruby rated it:

I received this debut novel by Peter V. Brett a couple days ago from Del-Rey for review and so I decided to sit down from my few months being a mom to read it. I was so glad I did. The Warded Man is an intense ride that begins with the lives of three young children that through different diversities survive to fight on in a world where just the corelings or demons aren't the only things that should be feared.

In this well written novel, you will meet Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, e More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2009

Jayden rated it:

I got this book with high expectations, having read a lot of great reviews of it, and I wasn't disappointed.

The characters are very well built, with many flaws and many great points and I loved all of them. The world building is awesome and has a lot of thought into it. And the story is gripping, fast paced, and lovable. I can't wait for the next book.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 29, 2009

Reed rated it:

There have certainly been a lot of strong debut novels the last few years, and Peter Brett's "The Warded Man" is a deserving member of that group. Brett is a self-admitted fantasy fan, and it shows. While his novel is firmly grounded in standard fantasy, he does give it its own personality.

Brett has created a world that is terrorized each night by demons (corelings) that rise from the ground and attack all living creatures. It leads to a fascinating dyamic--a world whe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 24, 2010

Greg rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Jonathan rated it:

I really liked this book but for several reasons I couldn't like it enough to 'go the whole hog' and empower it with divinity. By which I mean to tattoo a five star rating onto this review and ward off all book demons.

I loved the pacing of this book. I loved the very idea of this book. I loved the tone of this book. I loved the shape of this book. I really appreciated the way Peter V. Brett was able to take ideas used before and turn them into something new somehow.

Howev More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2011

Woolfie rated it:

Thoroughly loved this book. It has a understated mythic quality about it, not least because it revolves around the legendary and mysterious figure of The Warded Man, who some claim to be the prophesied Deliverer. Brett succeeds in making the strange familiar and effortlessly endows the commonplace with a renewed sense of wonder and colour.

In a world where people cower in fear behind their wards, dreading the fall of night and the rising of demons, emergence of one with the indefatiga More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 25, 2011

Mike rated it:

This is a tough one for me. I wanted to like this book. It had a good idea behind it, but for me it is a classic example of why a good idea is not enough. There were a few main problems in this book. The first, and this is probably the biggest, is that the storytelling seemed disjointed. There were three viewpoints in the story, two boys one girl. As it would switch from viewpoint to viewpoint the author would jump five years ahead in the narrative, then switching to another character would go f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 26, 2011

Michael rated it:

This is one of the best fantasy debuts I've come across in recent years. Just to give perspective, I would place this book on the same level with Rothfuss's Name of the Wind or Durmham's Acacia. (This is praise I don't bestow lightly.)

I almost didn't buy this book. I am so glad I did! I typically don't care for fantasy novels described as "dark fantasy" or "horror fantasy." I usually don't like for my villans to be "demons" or grotesquely misshapen giant insect-like creatures--such as the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2009

Shari Mulluane rated it:

This is one of my favorite types of fantasies, character driven. Each character is a product of their harsh and unforgiving environment and tempered by their tragic experiences. The result is characters you can cheer for, feel sympathy for and genuinely like. I also loved the premise. This is a world that has forgotten most of what it knew about fighting demons due to a 3000-year break in the attacks and is now scrambling to survive and regain the knowledge it lost. There are also clearly define More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Celia rated it:

Rockin' epic fantasy - every night, "corelings" (big nasty things with teeth, basically) rise out of the core of the earth, and rip anyone whose not in a protected warded building to shreds. As a young boy Arlen is horrified by the cowardice of the people in his village when faced with the corelings, so he grows up and kicks some coreling arse. Like, really kicks it. He's a bit of a superhero when it comes to smashing up corelings.

We also follow some other characters, wh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 19, 2009

Jennifer (JC-S) rated it:

Reclaiming the night: an epic battle

This novel is the first of a promised trilogy, and I am eagerly awaiting the second in the series.
As the novel opens, fragmented societies of humans struggle for continued existence in a world where the night is controlled by demons. Only a few people, it seems, have the courage to try to reclaim the knowledge required from the past in order to try to create a better future. Only by combining forces and knowledge gained from a variety of s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2012

Suzie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Hope rated it:

I was SAD when this very readable fantasy-adventure book ended; I had gotten so attached to the three young heroes and felt so immersed in their world that I just didn't want to leave them, even though their world was actually pretty scary. Although this was a satisfying read by itself, I am looking forward to the sequel!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Lee rated it:

I have to say to took me awhile to get into this book....maybe because it starts off so dark, maybe because I was unfamiliar with the entire demonology repertoire, or maybe it was because he was taking turns writing of three different character's stories and I just wasn't given enough in the beginning to truly get into any of their stories....that being said, I am glad I stuck with it. After about 200+ pages it turned and hooked me. It is dark and gory, but the characters, Arlen, Leesha, and More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Kyleigh rated it:

I found The Warded Man terribly engrossing, to the point that I couldn't put it down. Its characters are authentic, with quirks and flaws and personal motivations. Even better, the characters grow and drive the story through that growth. To me, that is what makes a good book.[return][return]There are areas where Brett's initial offering falls flat. The world building is hollow. Thesa's free cities are two-dimensional replications of one another with a change of resource and populace height, More...

0 comments like

Sep 07, 2011

Chris rated it:

I am usually a little leery of debut novels. The books are good but the whole package needs some work. Peter Brett needs no polish. I loved this book.[return][return]Mankind has been beaten down. Man hides in his hovels at night and cringes in fear of the demons. Slowly mankind is dying. Arlen does not understand why man does not fight back. He determines that he is not going to be a coward. This is his first step towards becoming the Warded Man. A man who takes the fight to the demons More...

0 comments like

Jan 06, 2009

Jane rated it:

I read t his as an advanced reader copy under the title the Warded Man. It was the first published work of this author who lives in NY. He developed the concepts for it while doing a writing assignment in high school. His editor had him do a 75% rewrite. His main goal was to have some solid characters and he choice three one a boy who could draw wards, signs that is the kept demons away. WHile others ran in fear from the demons of the fire woods, and water, Arlen choice to face them and sp More...

0 comments like