The Warded Man

The novel is amazing granted a few things, first the character set up is at least 35-40% of this story. The writer does a great job showing their development vs telling it via reflection, you can see the characters growing. Secondly, this book is intended to be one of several, because of that there seems to be a lot of minor loose ends. All of that aside, I think the novel was amazing. Very well thought out, structured and executed. Amazing character development and over all interesting. It kept my attention from the very beginning. Now for the narration, originally I thought Pete Bradbury was going to be too dry to endure. Surprisingly this novel suits him allowing him to show case his control over his voice. However, there are few times where knowing who is speaking can become problem. Overall, the novel is very pleasing and highly suggested.

Brett builds characters extremely well. He spends the entirety of "The Warded Man" developing fascinating personal histories for the three who will, presumably, be the prime movers in the action of the rest of the story. Their journeys are tortuous, often surprising and quite satisfying. By the end we know them intimately so that their every action is rooted in convincing personal history.

Unfortunately I did not find myself nearly so convinced of the reality of the world in which the author places his wonderful players. We are asked to believe that no one in this civilization has ever conceived of the most obvious responses to the plague of demons which terrorizes them. As a result, the whole structure of the story is weakened as we ask ourselves "why don't they just...." Of course they DO eventually "just...." But by asking us to assume a complete lack of imagination and initiative on the part of the entire population of the book, Brett immeasurably weakens his story and renders his marvelously drawn central characters slightly ridiculous.

The most important central conflict Brett paints in this book is between the people and their own immobilizing fear. At some moments that comes through clearly and powerfully, but fear and simple stupidity are two entirely different things.

Why does a great story like this have to be found on accident? How come this book is not being advertised? This is as great as any fiction I have read! The next one is soon to be out as well! If You mix the best of King with the best of Gaiman and combine the best of Koontz as well then it will be something like this!!!!

I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I now do. I'm a gamer, I download audiobooks to pass my time in games with a lil background entertainment. This book was so good, it made me stop gaming, log off and I just listen. It's not in the least bit scarey so I don't know what it's doing listed under horror. Reguardless, the story was Very entertaining. The narrator did a pretty good job with voices. He didn't do those high pitched, annoying sounding "female" voices. I related to all the characters, even the minor ones and I actually cared what happend to them. There's only one not believable part concerning the main female character in the woods. But other than that, I highly recommend this story. There's a sequil comming out that I will deffinitly buy. It's Very rare that I rave about a book, so trust me on this one. Get it.

Without question, one of the finest and most original books I have ever read.

This book was purchased on a whim and now I cannot wait until the next book. The originality of the world and the Corelings, as well as the marvelous character development make this a must read for anyone who enjoys Steven King et al.

The Book:
Every aspect of this book; characters, story, mythology and dialog, is so well thought out that one may feel this is actually a recanting of events and be so drawn into the tale you may need to set an alarm, in order to return to our world. I am excitedly looking forward to the ongoing story in the Second book (The Desert Spear) as well as the novella (The Great Bazaar and Other Stories) coming out in January '10.

The Narration:
An audio book is nothing without a solid narrator and Pete Bradbury nails it. I found myself so lost in the reading that I forgot it was an audio book. In hindsight I was never removed from the story due to the pacing, reading, inflection or tone of the narrator. In my opinion, that is the highest praise I can bestow on the narrator.

I think this book has a unique concept and also the execution of the concept is nicely put together. I enjoyed it immensly, although I have to admit to taking a break a few times due to the fact that the characters interactions are a bit immature, and quite often don't make any sense...they come off sounding like a medieval soap opera more often than not. The women are obviously picked straight out of the authors private fantasy stash...(assuming he is 15 years old...I'm quite aware that he's not).
Frustration and longing for more realistic human discourse aside...it's a VERY entertaining ride and a great yarn.

This book is addictive, engrossing and exciting. It initially roughly follows the "hero's journey" plot structure, but sets itself up to branch out quite a bit in scope in the subsequent novels. Can't wait for the sequel!

ill be honest, the first hour listening i was ready to give up, but i stuck with it and it was the best choice ive ever made

after the character get flushed out of there daily lives it really becomes very interesting,

if you like books with very good character development then you should def get this

Nice plot, with good characters, and I like the new premise of a "warded" man. Has a good history that should create an easily developed back story as the series continues.