The Warded Man
Series: The Demon Cycle, Book 1
By: Peter V. Brett / Narrated By: Pete Bradbury
Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
Superb crafting… except for oooooone MAJOR character… who inspires wishes to throttle most soundly…!
-But before I get to THAT-
Lemme just start with kudos to author Peter V. Brett for a grand premise, good pacing, excellent character development (Aside from aforementioned wench I wanted to throttle), and just a truly spectacular bit o’ WorldBuilding. From the get-go, where we enter into an apocalyptic world, where demons have just razed most of a township, complete with human casualties and survivors sitting in smoking rubble, Brett has us hooked, especially with the introduction of our main protagonist, Arlen (Yeh yeh yeh, there are three main characters, including Leesha and Rojer, but Arlen is the main mover and shaker, manipulator of events, mover of plot).
Arlen is but 11-years old when The Warded Man opens, and a steady drip of witnessed cowardice marks him heavily. He’s taught that to be Alive and Safe, even if much-loved friends and family are destroyed by demons, is much preferable to Being Hurt/Killed… and Fighting the demons, striking out, being something so much more than an impassive victim.
Rojer’s youth is also marked by tragedy… and the loss of fingers… and his journey to young manhood and to joining with Leesha and the Warded Man is eased by a musical ear, talent and few-fingered skills with the violin. Soon, and strangely, he discovers that music holds a certain fascination for the demons. They are mesmerized, they are repelled. Music, he discovers, can be a formidable weapon, wielded with courage and a desire to fight and do the right thing.
… and then there’s Leesha… whom I came to call Yeesha, as in: Yeesh! is she either weeping or condemning AGAIN?! In perhaps the most misguided effort to start her character arc at Square One, where she’s a limp noodle who dissolves into tears at the most prosaic of slights, a slightly harsh word she’d do muuuuuch better to just ignore, Brett slowly moves her from said weepy mess into a character with a spine who boldly speaks her truth? NAY, rather she becomes a vindictive wench… who STILL cries, like, All The Freaking Time. Worse? Something truly awful and reprehensible happens to her which, rightly, turns her into a fetal ball… that cries -BUT- then she’s all: Oooooh, I’m in love and now I’m going to act and speak as tho’ nothing happened at all. All in the name of Instantaneous Love, doncha know? Further, her Truth is NOT boldness but is Harsh I’m RIGHT and You’re WRONG, and I’m gonna beat you over the head with just how right I am. She’s judgmental; she’s vindictive. Basically? By the time I got close to the end, and Yeesha was written Full-Bore Vile, Vindictive, WHINY Wench, I kept hitting the 30 sec. Fast Forward arrow to just get through her scenes.
So Booooo!!! She moved along her character arc, but her exTREMe lack of character was galling, annoying, and very much wasted my time.
Pete Bradbury. Just Bravo, sir! Job well-done. There are a MULtitude of characters here (Did I mention that this is an 18+ hour Epic?), and each of them are very well-portrayed by Bradbury. Also, this story can be a methodical unfolding of story, it can be a Hit-and-Run Nonstop Action Free-for-All. Bradbury emotes with the best of them, and he manages both slow story and action-packed with pathos, with great verve. The only ding is that apparently he performed Yeesha as written and, seriously, I wanted to throttle the beJESus outta that, how MANY times have I used the word: Wench? Shall I go for the simple and more respectful: Lass?!
Anyhoo—Bradbury? Excellent job!
18+ hours long and engaging enough that Big Sis started on Book 2 of the series (Which comes in at waaaaay more than those 18+ hours, ya know?). Me? Other than having to Fast Forward at 30-second increments at the end, where all hell was breaking loose and there was death, mayhem, carnage galore, I thought it was a jolly good Listen. A solid High 4-Star Listen…
… that was dropped to 3-Stars…
Cuz, seriously? When ya wanna squelch the hell outta Yeesha’s any and all words and activities? And said character is one-third of our Team O’ Heroes?
Oh yeh, there’s a DEFINITE drop in star-rating, ya know?
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