Book Review: The Warded Man

In the genre of Fantasy there are a few norms, and "The Warded Man" by Peter V. Brett includes these norms, but manages to do so without being formulaic. In fact, his unique angle on these expected elements is refreshing and compelling.

1. World-building. Fans who are patient with the world-building of series such as "The Wheel of Time" and really get into the meat of the story are richly rewarded. In "The Warded Man",  There are three protagonists, whose stories are very different, and Brett is an excellent storyteller, so the three disparate locations of these protagonists are built from detail, secondary characters, vocabulary and setting. It's all done very well. The best world-building happens without the reader really noticing it, intertwining it into the characters' stories in such a way that readers just float along the narrative and get carried away with it.