The Painted Man

Peter V. Brett, 2008, UK, US.

"The Painted Man", released in the US as "The Warded Man", by Peter V. Brett. One of my favourite novels of 2008, first book of "The Demon Trilogy", and after which the rest I am eagerly anticipating.

Brett starts us off in a rural, farming town, however what with the first chapter being entitled Aftermath we soon learn that this is not a place of peace. In fact every night in Brett's world, demons rise from the "Core"(known as Corelings) and terrorize the worlds inhabitants.

The only way people have to defend themselves is through painted wards which can have numerous effects but the primary one being to repel demons. These wards are apparently very complex though and require a steady hand as well as an innate grasp of geometry to ensure the wards cover your entire home. Any hole in the net is sure to be exploited by demons who will soon be feasting on the poor souls within. Due to the unreliable nature of these wards people are almost entirely restricted to their homes and though there are some cities with great warded walls, maintained by entire teams of warders, the average hamlet as where our story starts is constantly under threat of a slip in security and a demon outbreak.

There are 3 characters followed in this book, the main character starting out as an 11 year old farm boy, very cliched I know but give it time, he matures into a much more interesting character as the story progresses. The female character is a herb-gatherer, which is basically the towns doctor with some ancient, long forgotten lore passed down through the generations to give them the edge when dealing with demons and the inflictions they cause on the common man. The third character is a traveling entertainer known as a jongleur, this particular jongleur being a master of his chosen instrument to a very peculiar extent.

Each character seems to represent a different way of fighting back against the demons, shown in their methods and way of thinking. The primary character, Arlen, is a fiercely determined type who becomes almost monk like in his eventual, personal war on demonkind. The character of Arlen definitely drives the story and is more than interesting enough to pull it off, an excellent hero for the story.

There is legitimate complaint that the roles the characters play is stereotyped but the characters themselves are excellent, each evolving into who are they to be for the next books in a very well crafted manner. I actually very much enjoyed the scenes where the characters were growing up, lots of grittiness and in truth it could be argued that this is a world that might deserve its torment. However there was just enough goodness on display for the world to retain a just acceptable level of sympathy from me, while keeping a gritty, dark overall theme, one of my favourite aspects of the book.

For all the darkness of the people of the world it was the demons who disappointed me in this regard. Split into categories based on elements; stone, fire, water, etc. The demons just seemed too neatly pigeonholed and just struck an off note for me, not fully delivering on the potential that the scenario had to offer.

I think that if you look on "The Painted Man" from the outside it seems like a fairly by the numbers fantasy book. When you actually read the book though what you find is a surprising amount of depth, their really is plenty in this book to keep you coming back for more. It is an excellent piece of storytelling, a real achievement by Peter V. Brett for his first novel.

Better than: being dragged to Hell and back.

The Terror

Dan Simmons, 2007, US, UK.

"The Terror" by Dan Simmons, tells the story of the Franklin expedition, an excursion of 136 men, made in 1845 to discover the fabled Northwest passage. This would take them right through the Canadian Arctic into the Pacific ocean. Based on the true story of their fate, the two ships; "HMS Erebus" and "HMS Terror" never made it to the Pacific. An intriguing subject and one which has been the subject of much speculation and documentation, evidence found to support tales of cannibalism and mutiny.

Dan Simmons' story takes a different approach from all the other material on this subject, in an alternate history meets the supernatural mold, proposing an unnaturally strong, fast and intelligent creature living on the ice, preying on the crew. Apart from this terror on the ice the tale is remarkably well researched and has such a deeply imbued feeling of authenticity that you can easily forgive the monster on the ice and mistake this for true historical fiction.

The greatest achievement of this book is the incredible atmosphere to be found throughout. The greatest asset in creating this atmosphere has to be the exceptional research put into the topic. Everything from the steam heaters and iron hull plating of the British navies latest efforts to conquer the Arctic, to the ways the Inuit use to survive the impossible conditions.

The fantastic atmosphere of isolation and desperation is served excellently by the plot. Indeed one of the few criticisms I've seen come up of the book is its weak ending and I can't say that the ending truly lived up to the rest of the story. That is by no means a damning condemnation though, the rest of the story is simply excellent and I actually think that the real problem is that with the rest of the story being so very believable and pulling you in so much, that the ending feels somewhat farcical in comparison, trying to explain the supernatural roots of the beast.

The plot is told through multiple perspectives in the first person, occasionally defying chronological order, showing some adventure though nothing groundbreaking in style. A particular highlight for me was the perspective of the ship's physician, Dr Goodsir. Dr Goodsir's perspective was shown through his diary entries and is an effective window into the character who experiences the most development. His character is the cliched geek who gets no respect but under extreme circumstances rises to the challenges around him. Maybe you've heard this tale before but the character fits into this plot like a Dickensian original, evolving into the staunch, moral bastion of the tale, enduring some horrific treatment along the way.

As you might expect the monster on the ice proves itself to be one of many problems the men face, the conditions, dwindling supplies and each other are just as big if not the greater threat. Hopefully my hints of cannibalism and mutiny wont have given too much away earlier and I shall reveal no more but suffice to say things do get sufficiently gruesome.

All in all, I must say "The Terror" was a fantastic read. A huge book, coming in at over 800 pages, everyone I know has devoured it at a frightening pace regardless. A true pageturner with all the suspense and action you could want combined with fantastic writing and intelligence, cannot recommend it highly enough, can't think of the type of person who wouldn't enjoy this book.

For my first review I had hoped not to waffle on so much but with so much and such terrific subject material I couldn't help myself and I feel I could wax on about this book all day. Just finishing up "Drood" by Dan Simmons, which to me, seems like an unofficial sequel to "The Terror", hopefully review that one soon.

Better than: being eaten alive by your first mate.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog, dear visitors!

In this blog I intend to reveal the mysteries of my opinion on some books that I have read. Now the types of books that I enjoy to read can perhaps be accused of being slightly swords and lasers centric, laser-swords being a particular favourite but I do occasionally stray into slightly more reputable forms of literature and anything I have read and I feel I have something to say about will feature.

So yes, now that we've ascertained that this is yet another fantasy book blog and you've read on this far I'll tell you a bit about me. As it says on the side thing here I'm from Glasgow in Scotland, I'm also male just so you know. That will do I believe on personal introductions, I'm sure you're not here for my life story.

For the most part I expect to be reviewing books I've read in the last year or so, interspersed with whatever new books I pick up in the meantime. I don't think I'll be offering up reviews for books hot of the printing press for the most part but maybe I can tip you off to something you might have missed or you'd be interested in a new take on an old favourite.

Anyway I very much hope you can find something of value here and I sincerely thank you for any time you spare to me.