Words of Warding...

A short time ago I found myself perusing the bookshelves of the local bookshop and came across The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett (also known as The Painted Man in some other publication areas).  It's the first in a series of fantasy novels the author's calling the Demon Cycle and if the quality of his writing continues improving I'm sure they're going to be seriously good novels.  With a solidly building fan base, I have hopes that the series takes wing and is a HUGE success, since the quality of the characters, and the story development is excellent through the first work.  The Desert Spear, the second story in the series is out on the market now, with a 3rd hopefully under works.    From first appearances in the next novel the main concern I have is that there may be  a glut of characters throughout his novels, which can create problems with plot focus.  Said plot focus problems are the main reason I left behind the Wheel of Time series Robert Jordan wrote, which is being finished by another author with Mr. Jordans passing.  While a breadth of characters can create some great point of view moments to project the readers all around the world that the author has created... too many and a single novel can loose cohesion and the readers can get lost in the shuffle from place to place.  Still, The Warded Man is a fantastic first novel, and seems to me to have been an excellent exercise in world building.  The concepts and places in the story are fully-fleshed out and vivid...and the world filled with wonders and horrors at the same time.  While the story is fully focused in a fantasy setting, the quality and characters would well and truly make it an excellent read for just about anyone.