The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle, Book 1) Paperback – 31 Jan 2013

This is a well written fantasy novel (albeit not on the level of heavyweights of the genre like George R. R. Martin or Brandon Sanderson) that has an intriguing premise: A world where elemental demons rise when the sun goes down and only magical wards can prevent them from reaching the humans of the world. When the wards fail, a massacre ensues.

Unfortunately I found the book took a very long time to get going, with a lot of back story told for the main protagonist and 2 other characters. This back story literally comprises half the novel. While I appreciate the importance of character development, I found this a little long winded and could have easily been trimmed down somewhat. I also found the final few chapters to feel somewhat anticlimactic and certainly didn't match the brilliance of the previous 10 chapters or so.

It captured my attention enough to have invested me in the world and I will certainly read the next novel in the series, however I would be hoping for it to be an improvement over this novel.

Don't bother with the audiobook. I found it to be of a poor quality.

will start this review by saying that fellow Bald Mage Keith Brady has been nagging me to read Peter V Brett’s first novel for ages so I got the book and left it on my shelf to gather dust. Recently while going through my books I discovered the book again and this time I decided to read it.
The book starts at a slow pace and I must admit I had worries but, as the book went on I began to enjoy it a lot! The aspect I enjoyed the most about the book was that it dealt with some adult themes but the author throws in humour as well to good effect. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the lines spoken by certain characters.
The world building is excellent and I think the story would make an excellent video game; running about slashing up Corelings in the night while being protected by magical wards sounds fun to me! Anyway back to the book, now I’ve mentioned the Corelings I will explain my feelings on these demons that cause chaos at night, killing innocent people in all sorts of violent ways and I will give a big thumbs up to the idea. I enjoyed every different type of demon such as; rock demons, wind demons and flame demons, I could go on and on but the author has given them all different strengths and weaknesses and I found myself thinking that this was an excellent idea.
The story centres around three main characters: Arlen, Leesha and Rojer. We see these three characters start from a young age and grow older during the book which was refreshing to read and their journeys are full of terror and discovery as the three characters evolve into their roles. Arlen’s journey during this book was wonderfully written from his first meeting with Ragen, who dazzles him with stories of the Messengers who fight and protect villages from the demon onslaught with the aid of magical wards and then taking part in the protection of the village while others cower, this leads to Arlen thinking his destiny lies elsewhere and if you get round to reading the book his storyline doesn’t disappoint.
Now for the other two characters, I will start with Leesha. I didn’t enjoy her storyline at first, she lives in a village that’s full of randy men and I found this part quite uninspiring  but, as the story thread progresses she meets an old woman called Bruna who is a herb gatherer and healer, and I implore Peter V Brett to give this character her own book. She was bloody brilliant, I have never laughed out loud before while reading but Bruna’s old hag ways made my eyes widen a lot and I can tell you I’m smiling while typing this section of my review. Leesha learns the art of herb gathering and the skill of healing people, but I found as the story went on she began to irritate me a little and there is one scene in particular that summed up my feelings for the character.
Now for the final character Rojer, he didn’t get as much page time as the first two characters but I did enjoy his character as he trains to become a Jongleur and his skills with a fiddle are amazing as he can tame demons with wondrous musical notes but there is a catch, he has to keep playing or he dies!
My final thoughts are that I’m glad I finally got round to reading this book, I enjoyed the world and cultures of each different race encountered during the journeys of the three main characters. The Coreling/Demon idea is really inspired and I did enjoy the battles scenes a lot. I also would like a book with all the wards that can be used against the demons to protect my own home against their onslaught. However I did have some negatives, I thought the book ended really quickly after a slow and gradual build up and  the handling of Leesha’s anger in one particular scene really annoyed me. But overall I did enjoy reading it and I’m looking forward to starting book two.

The Painted Man is the introductory installment in the 5-book saga of the Demon Cycle. The story centers around the three main characters, Arlen, Leesha and Rojer, starting with their childhood and ending into their adulthood. While the stories develop indepedently at the beginning they tie up together in the end. The author chooses a simple and clear writing style without excessive exposition and complicated sentences.

But the book is not without problems. The two story lines for Leesha and Rojer read like filler until the very last chapters of the book and are generally uninteresting. Additionally, some will find the author's writing style more suitable for children or teenagers. Finally, while the set-up and the world is generally interesting, the book's plot itself is rather generic and there are a few plot holes. The book ends in a minor tease/cliff hanger and I intend on reading the next installment.

In short, the book is a decent introduction to the Demon Cycle saga for people who want a light reading with a fantasy setting.

This is not the genre that I would usually choose to read, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I found it a little bit of a struggle to get into at first but the more I read the more I enjoyed. The knitting of multiple stories throughout the book was enjoyable and frustrating all at the same time. Seeing the story from three different perspective gave me an insight into the "life" of the world Peter Brett has created.

The characters were relatable and exotic in the same breath, which added the appeal to continue reading. The story itself is something that has been richly created and the "lore" surrounding the Demon Wars seems so complete that I feel as if I could teach Warding and Herb Gathering after just this one book. I will definitely be reading the next book.

I read this a few years ago and have gone on to read the other 3. I love this story, the writing style, the characters. I got thoroughly wrapped up in this world. While the Story centres round a post apocalyptic world that has lost its advanced technology after winning, then losing its fight against Demons hordes in the night. Later in the series it also focuses on two main societies, the Krasians and the Thesans which draws heavy Political and Religious parallels (for me anyway) between some Eastern and Western cultures in our own reality, but please don't let this put you off, it’s incredibly interesting.
The profiling of each main character and many of the more minor ones is meticulous and sympathetic, no one is purely bad or purely good.
There are so many layers to this story, all wrapped in great writing. I eagerly await the 5th instalment.
Why not 5 Stars? I save that for books that blow my mind (which has been a very,very long time) So 4 Stars to me is probably most peoples 5 Stars.