The Warded Man Still Life

Peter V. Brett's fifth and final Demon Cycle book has a name (The Core), covers (with an interesting creation story for how the US and UK covers were designed), and a release date (October 3, 2017 - pushed back from August).

When I worked at the World's Biggest Bookstore, I often went to publisher run bookseller events. SFF wasn't often represented, outside of YA. The Warded Man was the first adult Random House title I was mailed outside of an event, because I specialized in SFF at the store and they wanted to promote the book. So it has a special place in my heart beyond simply being an incredible debut. In 2009, a few months after it came out in the US/Canada I interviewed Mr. Brett, asking questions about the writer life. A few years later, while handselling book two, The Desert Spear, I opened the book and realized my review of it was quoted in the front! For some reason publishers don't notify reviewers when they do this so it was a complete surprise and only one of two instances (that I know of) that this has happened to me.

About a month ago I noticed that Peter V. Brett was hosting a still life contest on his blog. I'd intended to enter and then completely forgot about it. Well, yesterday I saw a twitter post with some of the entries and decided to do it anyway, even though the contest is over now.

Here's what I came up with:

I think the first shot is better, as it shows the scales and other objects closer and at an angle, but I like that you can see that the cloth is a cloak in the second shot. My idea behind this was that Leesha had just entered her hut, thrown her cloak down and was frantically preparing an herbal remedy for a patient (hence the knocked over bottles).

This second scene isn't as detailed (and yes, the hora should be bone not crystal, and warded to boot), but I wanted to do something to honour Inevera, one of my all time favourite characters.

The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett

The Warded Man (called The Painted Man in Britain) is told from three character's viewpoints.

There's Arlen, who's tired of hiding from the demons that rise from the ground each night, battering the wards (magic that keeps them at bay but which fail all too frequently). He wants to bring the fight to the demons but all the offensive wards were lost centuries ago.

Then there's thirteen year old Leesha, who's ecstatic at the thought of marrying Gared, until one lie from him destroys her trust and propels her towards a very different goal in life.

Finally there's Rojer, trained to be a minstrel, required by circumstance to travel beyond the free cities, but due to a horrific childhood memory, terrified of being outside at night where the demons are not kept away by stout walls as well as the warding.

As the characters age, they are each propelled towards very different destinies than they once believed. And when their paths cross at the end of the book, things REALLY get interesting.

The writing is incredible. Fast action sequences alternate with stretches of introspection, so you feel you really know the characters - both the good and the bad - and what they're working towards. The world is written with such detail that you can almost step right into it. The Warded Man is an epic novel that comes up with a lot of fresh ideas. An excellent read.