The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.
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I picked up this up (from the library - budget win!) after reading a list of great books with horrible covers. Now the one you see above isn't actually all that horrible, lol, so I can't say it was a big deterrent. Instead I had to overcome one of my own biggest reading biases: fear of the unknown. I read a lot of romance because while I love humor, action, and new characters, I don't always want the heavy hitting world building that comes with it. This is not a criticism but a personal preference - I can't always read about extreme violence, incest, and rape ok? It makes my insides hurt.

I made an exception for The Warded Man and I'm very happy I did; as much I hurt for the characters and what they suffered, Brett has created a riveting world filled with good and evil. I couldn't help rooting for the good guys while watching the bad (and the 50/50 ones) try to derail everything they'd accomplished. We're lead on a journey of the world through the eyes of Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer so there's no info dumping and I didn't feel like any one person in particular got shafted in the storyline department. I've already put the two other books on hold at the library, so if you like your fantasy suspenseful and action packed (with some tragedy for all involved) then you should give this a try!

Overall Feeling - B

Series - 1) The Warded Man 2) The Desert Spear 3) The Daylight War