The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

I’ve often said that employing the usual fantasy tropes in a novel isn’t an automatic sign of poor writing; it’s what you do with them that matters. Witness the three main characters in Peter Brett’s The Warded Man: a young boy leaving his small hamlet for the larger world, a young girl trying to maintain her independent nature, a young orphan who must make his own way in the world. Anyone seen these before? Anyone? Buehler?

Luckily for us readers, however, Peter Brett does in fact know what to do with them, sharpening the standard character types with a depth of characterization that makes us care about what happens to them, and setting them in an original, often tense, plot.

The world Peter Brett creates is one that once saw an age of magic, followed by an age of science, and, following the fall of... Read More

The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

The Desert Spear is Peter Brett’s very worthy follow-up to his excellent first novel, The Warded Man. The Desert Spear may not be quite as consistently good as The Warded Man, but it remains a strong book in its own right, more than avoiding the pitfalls of that dreaded second novel curse.

One way Brett avoids the second problem is by focusing at first on a character (Jardir) and setting (Krasia) that we were only briefly introduced to in book one. Similar to what he does with Arlen in The Warded Man, Brett takes us through Jardir’s youth as he rises up the tribal ranks of the desert people to eventually become their leader. Brett makes a good structural decision here by showing us Jardir’s rise via long flashbacks between present day where Jardi... Read More

The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

OK, here’s the thing about The Daylight War, Peter Brett’s third book of the DEMON CYCLE, following The Warded Man and The Desert Spear. I really, really want to say, Don’t Read This Book. Honestly. No sarcasm. No humor. That’s my first instinct. Because it’s bad? No. Because it disappoints in comparison to the first two, each of which I’ve given 4.5 stars to? No. No, the reason my first instinct is to say don’t read it is simple — because you’re going to want to read Book Four immediately. And at this point, there is no Book Four. The bastard. Now, if you happen to be reading this review a year or so after The Daylight War came out, and there is an existent Book Four, then ignore what I just said. But until that point, don’t read this book. At least, don’t read this book if you don’t want to read a really good book that continues... Read More

The Great Bazaar by Peter V. Brett

Shame on me for not having read Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man and The Desert Spear yet. I have them on audio and I look forward to reading them — I just keep thinking that I’ll let Mr. Brett get further along in the series before I jump in (the series has been progressing slowly, but book 3, The Daylight War, comes out next February). Yet I’m attracted to Brett’s world and after reading his novella Brayan’s Gold, I wanted more, so I picked up the audio version of The Great Bazaar, another novella set in this land that’s overrun by various types of demons every time it gets dark.

Peter V. Brett explains in his introduction to the print version of The Great Bazaar and Other Stories that The Great Bazaar ... Read More

Brayan’s Gold by Peter V. Brett

I’m really enjoying these little novellas that Sub Press puts out. Because they’re meant as stand-alone side-stories, they’re a great way for me to get a feel for an author’s world and writing style before jumping into a big series.

Peter V. Brett’s Brayan’s Gold is the story of how Arlen, one of the main characters in Brett’s Demon Cycle, goes on his first solo job and meets a snow demon. The episode is referred to in the story collection The Great Bazaar, but hadn’t been written until Brett’s friend asked him about the story. So, here it is.

Even though I haven’t read Brett’s The Warded Man or its sequel The Desert Spear, I had no trouble jumping right into... Read More