The Painted Man is the first book in The Demon Cycle. It is followed by The Desert Spear. It follows the lives of three central unlikely characters who are tired of constantly living in fear of corelings and of the night. It is time to fight back and end their reign.

Main CharactersEdit

• Arlen Bales
• Leesha Paper
• Rojer Inn

BlurbEdit

Sometimes, there is a very good reason to be afraid of the dark...

Arlend lives with his parents on their small farmstead, half a day's ride from the isolated hamlet of Tibbet's Brook. As dusk falls each evening, a mist rises from the ground promosing death to any foolish enough to brave the coming darkness. For hungry demons materialize from the vapours to feed, and as the shadows lengthen, humanity is forced to take shelter behind magical wards and pray that their protection holds until the dawn.

But when Arlen's world is shattered by the demon plague, he realizes that it is fear, rather than the mosnters, which truly cripples humanity. Only by conquering their own terror can they ever hope to defeat the demons. Now Arlen must risk leaving the safety of his wards to discover a different path, and offer humanity a last, fleeting chance of survival.

PraiseEdit

"I enjoyed The Painted Man immensely. There is much to admire in Peter Brett's writing, and his concept is brilliant. Action and suspense all the way." - Terry Brooks

Amazon.co.uk placed it as one of the Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy books of 2008.