Booktagger

 

The Painted Man By Peter Brett ISBN13: 9780007276158

Sometimes i don't like Raymond E. Feist, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore et al. Welcome to the list Mr Brett! Not only could i not put the book down till I'd finished it at 3am, I spent the next day tired at work wondering when the next instalment was available!
When the night is as scary as this, the bravery and determination of this books main characters is refreshing. When most books make the general populace the victims, this book shows the victims have themselves that way, and the heroes really are normal people with a heart that's something out of the ordinary.
Generally you need a few books to really get to know the ins and outs of a world setting, but this book managed to get me in and understand within the first half. For a story as spread out as this, it's a fantastic effort, and really helps you to concentrate on the story, and its a good and original story.
Just let me know when to next one is available, because this is a damned good start to a series!

 

The Painted Man By Peter Brett ISBN13: 9780007276158

I received this book in the mail last Wednesday and had finished it before the footy began on Friday night.

What a cracking good read. The world the author paints (if you forgive the pun), is easy to affiliate with yet hints at long forgotten depths. This world is full of characters who you can side with, bad guys you can boo at, a rather interesting rune system, and some nice political intriguing to boot.

This is a world full of the unknown, where mankind has lone outposts against the onslaught of the darkness. Each Village, Town or City is a rule unto itself, some paying token rule to a Duke, others completely independent. People are aware of the existence of other people, but once any journey is longer than a day, it’s no longer possible to visit them. As we enter this world we are aware that at best we have achieved a stalemate, but in all reality we are losing. Not only is the physical darkness closing in on us, but so is the darkness of ignorance. What little communication there is between villages is tenuous and easily broken. We have slipped back and the knowledge of the world is slowly being lost. The inhabitants have become closed minded, with their own survival their only concern. Life feels and is cheap, and there is a constant gnawing fear that the wards won’t hold tonight, and that tonight the Corelings will break through.

Set against this world is the story of The Painted Man. When you are first introduced to each character they are young naive children, only aware of the world immediately around them. Yet even here the depths of the world start to come into play. Each child has a different view of the world, influenced heavily by what they interact with and what is important to them. This means that reasonably early on in the peace we (as the reader) are aware of a bigger picture than each of them (the characters) is. This big picture is very sketchy at first, and its very cool watching it get filled in. Oh and it’s by no means complete yet.

I loved the richness of the world. I love how there are hints about the Corelings, hints about the runes and hints about the past. There is much, much more happening here than first meets the eye and its teasingly drawn out, with much left for the next books.

My wife who never reads fantasy has already started to read this book. (Voluntarily!!) She described it as a combination of I Am Legend, The Village and The Ends of the Earth. Having read this all the way through and I agree. Its part of each of these, but like all good books its more. If I had to pick author's that he's like, I'd say if you like Jordan, Gemmel, Goodkind, Fairlane or Green, then you'll like this book.
I have already lent my copy out and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Michael

 

The Painted Man By Peter Brett ISBN13: 9780007276158

A great read and not your average fantasy. I really enjoyed this and had such a hard time putting it down. I loved the main character because he had back bone (just finished reading a series where the main character didn't have a back bone, it was a nice change). I like a character with guts basically and the fact that some of the other characters had that as well made a big difference to the story, for me at least. That and apart from a bit of action and magic there was also some humour.
It was a very tightly packed novel and a great first attempt for a new author as well. Enough to make me want to read the next one in the series.

 

The Painted Man By Peter Brett ISBN13: 9780007276158

As the novel opens, fragmented societies of humans struggle for continued existence in a world where the night is controlled by demons. Only a few people, it emerges, have the courage to try to reclaim the knowledge required from the past in order to try to create a better future. Only by combining forces and knowledge gained from a variety of sources can humankind hope to survive. But is there hope beyond survival itself?

In the world created by Mr Brett, we have the struggle between good and evil against a background of lost knowledge and of overwhelming fear. I have enjoyed this opening novel in the trilogy, and am looking forward to the next in the series.

 

The Painted Man By Peter Brett ISBN13: 9780007276158

What a fantastic read! I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy writing. It is a very accessible book with it's central theme of Good vs Evil, nicely interwoven with adventure. Without giving away the ending it was great to see all the threads come together, and I am looking forward to the next book