We also get to meet the lad who sparked Brett's 'Mud Boy' short story in the Unfettered anthology. Without spoiling I will say that the last 20% of the book is a bit like a ten chapter Red Wedding - Brett mercilessly winnows his very sizeable cast with loved and not so loved characters falling in droves. In some ways that part of the story is waiting for the rest to catch up - Arlen is almost demi-god-like and there's really no place for him in the main tale other than bringing everything to a conclusion (I presume) in a boss-fight to end all boss-fights in the final book. The 'headline' story of the Painted Man plays out slowly and sparsely compared to that of the remaining cast, so don't expect enormous progress there. There are lots of very human stories spinning out along with the super-powered battles, and Brett does a great job with both. Alongside this we get the unfolding of quite complex events featuring all our favourite characters, with court intrigue on both sides of the Krassian / Hollower divide. It's a big fat book, packed with violence, massive fight scenes, and some sex. But at the Grim Gathering Peter pointed out to me that I was an idiot (with great diplomacy) - there's a family tree and glossary of terms at the end. The penultimate installment in Brett's demon cycle quintology (the V in Peter V Brett is in fact the Roman numeral for 5, it was always going to be a quintology).Īnother great read that I consumed in chunks over the course of 6 weeks.Īt first I was confused by the sheer number of names of ranks and people that I'd forgotten since the last book.

Only Renna Bales may know more about the fate of the missing men, but she, too, has disappeared. In the north, Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to forge an alliance between the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians before it is too late.Ĭaught in the crossfire is the duchy of Lakton-rich and unprotected, ripe for conquest.Īll the while, the corelings have been growing stronger, and without Arlen and Jardir there may be none strong enough to stop them. In the south, Inevera, Jardir’s first wife, must find a way to keep their sons from killing each other and plunging their people into civil war as they strive for glory enough to make a claim on the throne. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a savior, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all.īut Arlen Bales, the Warded Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honor refuse. Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honor and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay.

The warded man book 4