In addition to being Peter V Brett's first published book, The Warded Man is the first book in a planned trilogy. Keeping this in mind, I wasn't surprised to find that The Warded Man suffered from this-book-is-an-introduction-syndrome. That, however, is the only problem to point out about the book.

In his original world setting, Brett has created a bleak, depressing world that's beset by demons both real and metaphorical. At night, elemental demons called corelings rise from the ground and hunt down any living thing they can sink their teeth and claws into. As such, humanity which had once been an advanced world-wide civilization has degenerated into a smattering of feuding city-states and little towns and hamlets. The surviving humans protect themselves with magical wards that, when drawn in specific patterns and shapes, can form barriers that hold back the corelings. The wards are not a perfect defense, however, since if they are ever scuffed or even obscured by something as simple as mud, the ward barriers will fall and allow the corelings to feast upon the defenseless ones within.

Humanity has essentially been forced to live in fear; cowering every night and praying that their wards will remain intact so that they may see another morning. Despite the demons that terrorize them at night, humanity is hardly in a better state during the day. The people of Brett's world are, perhaps, more demonic than the corelings. Where as the corelings seem to be driven by a simple blood lust, many of the characters epitomize the plethora of human vices. Cowards flee and hide, leaving friends and family members at the mercy of the corelings; the greedy, deceitful, and proud hoard wealth, resources, and knowledge; lust manifests not only in the rape and adultery but in a culture that turns a blind eye to misogyny and the abuse of women. More than once, characters and the narrator alike reflect, observe, and ask: who's worse, the demonic corelings or us humans?

In such a setting, the virtuous are quick to separate themselves from the crowd and become heroes. The Warded Man focuses on three such characters who grow in years, abilities, and goals to eventually take a stand against the corelings. First, there is Arlen who is sickened by how his father stood behind the safety of wards while his mother was mortally wounded by corelings. He eventually leaves his father and village behind to travel to the large cities. He becomes a Messenger, men especially trained to avoid and defend against corelings as they travel the road between the cities, towns, and hamlets to trade information, resources, and collect taxes on behalf of the rulers of the city-states. Arlen, driven by a will to not just survive but fight back against the corelings, seeks out the legendary wards that can be used as weapons against the corelings. In his quest, however, he learns that his fellow humans prove to be the more treacherous foes.

Leesha is the second of the three main heroes of the book. Driven away from her home village by a thick-headed ex-fiance and her conniving, adulterous mother whose only interest is to live vicariously through her, Leesha becomes the apprentice of her village's ancient but knowledgeable healer. Leesha nearly spends as much time avoiding the unwanted advances of lascivious men as she does becoming an expert in medicine and learns that living in a male-dominated world is harder to swallow and survive than all the studying in the world.

Rojer is the third hero who loses his parents to corelings at a young age. He is adopted by a jongleur: an entertainer skilled in sleight-of-hand tricks and storytelling. In a world as bleak and depressing as this one, jongleurs lift spirits and make people forget about the horror that is their world. Rojer's foray in to the jongleur career is anything but happy-go-lucky though. He apprentices under a coward and drunkard of a man and the other members of the jongleur guild are quick to abuse and exploit. As arduous as his life has been, however, Rojer does find joy in bringing joy and happiness to others with a simple magic trick or a tale of action and comedy. Most importantly, he discovers that his amazing skills with the fiddle can entrance corelings or scare them off.

As I first said, The Warded Man feels like a simple introduction to the world the Brett has created. A quarter of the book each is dedicated to each of the above mentioned heroes, following their experiences, trials, and tribulations from their youth to adulthood. They don't actually meet one another till the last quarter of the book when they find themselves having to defend a village afflicted by sickness and ready to fall into complete destruction once night sets and the corelings rise for the slaughter. Despite the simplicity of the plot and development of the story thus far, The Warded Man is still an amazing book and introduction to a new fantasy world. The characters are living, breathing people you can believe. Following the development of the heroes was engrossing in their own unique and personal ways. Some of the other characters are simple flat caricatures but they still fill the purpose they are meant to embody because of Brett's excellent and fluid writing. The Warded Man also touches upon topics such as religion and politics, reflecting on their destructive and conflicting nature and giving the reader some real-life parallels to muse over.

I have never been so excited over a new fantasy series as I have with Brett's new series. The Warded Man makes for a simple but still engrossing start but it still gives me have high hopes and expectations which I feel Brett will be able to meet.

(An advanced reader's edition was provided by the publisher for this review.)

Title: The Warded Man
Creators: Peter V. Brett
Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN13: 9780345503800
The Warded Man at Del Rey Online.