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.