The Painted Man

The Demon Cycle, Book 1

By: Peter V. Brett

Narrated by: Colin Mace

The stunning debut fantasy novel from author Peter V. Brett.

The Painted Man, book one of the Demon Cycle, is a captivating and thrilling fantasy adventure, pulling the reader into a world of demons, darkness and heroes.

Sometimes there is very good reason to be afraid of the dark…

Eleven-year-old Arlen lives with his parents on their small farmstead, half a day's ride from the isolated hamlet of Tibbet's Brook.

As dusk falls upon Arlen's world, a strange mist rises from the ground; a mist that promises a violent death to any foolish enough to brave the coming darkness, for hungry corelings – demons that cannot be harmed by mortal weapons – materialize from the vapours to feed on the living. As the sun sets, people have no choice but to take shelter behind magical wards and pray that their protection holds until the creatures dissolve with the first signs of dawn.

When Arlen's life is shattered by the demon plague, he is forced to see that it is fear, rather than the demons, which truly cripples humanity. Believing that there is more to his world than to live in constant fear, he must risk leaving the safety of his wards to discover a different path.

In the small town of Cutter's Hollow, Leesha's perfect future is destroyed by betrayal and a simple lie. Publicly shamed, she is reduced to gathering herbs and tending an old woman more fearsome than the corelings. Yet in her disgrace, she becomes the guardian of dangerous ancient knowledge.

Orphaned and crippled in a demon attack, young Rojer takes solace in mastering the musical arts of a Jongleur, only to learn that his unique talent gives him unexpected power over the night.

Together, these three young people will offer humanity a last, fleeting chance of survival.

©2008 Peter V. Brett (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"I enjoyed The Painted Man immensely. Action and suspense all the way." (Terry Brooks)

"If the next two books in this series live up to this one it will be one day named as a classic fantasy series." (Joanne Horsley)

My favourite story

I picked this book up randomly years ago and it became my favourite saga honestly the best I’ve read. Characters strong world strong development strong. Hoping for more from this author!

Must Read

This is one of the best books I’ve come across, first read it a few years ago and thought to try listen to it, and I don’t regret anything. Good character development and even greater story.

A genuinely good and well thought out book

A smart, well written book, lots of thought has gone into making the role feel real.

Fantastic world building and character development. Highly recommend this book.

This book was brilliant. I finished it in a week which is not normal for me. I was gripped by the characters and the concepts. if you are a fan of the dark tower series by stephen king then you will love this book.

Fantastic you will want to continue to the next

Fantastic, you will want to continue to the next book. very well narrated. worth the money.

Without this ending should be great

Nice story, innovative, interesting. Good plot, well delineated characters, but the end !!!! Reminds Rambo or the worse superheroes !!! Anyway I'll buy the second book

Listen instead of reread

First audiobook I listen to, had to get used to it, but turns out to be amazing! Much easier that reading it again, so I am listening to it during work while I organize paper!

my opinion

story started good, but got alitle too edgy at the end.

the reader said: "she said/he said" alot, broke my immersion.

othervise very good.

Pure awesome

I was unsure about this series due to the review some idiot have it. But I was pleasantly surprised, the concept was original, the characters were intriguing and the fighting was exciting. Would definately recommend this to any fantasy lovers looking for a new series to jump into. It took me two days to finish this book and there was not a dull momment. Can't wait to jump into the next one!!

Wow!!! one of the best books I've read.

The premise, the plot, the characters it's all good. And boy did I enjoy Colin Maze's narration! It was spot on!