NextRead Rotating Header Image

Review: The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett (HarperVoyager)

Oct 16th, 2008
by gav.

Title: The Painted Man
Author: Peter V. Brett
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Published: 01 September 2008
Review Copy

In the world of The Painted Man no one goes out in the dark. The dark belongs to the corelings, demons, who come out as the sun sets. The only thing that protects the people are the wards that are painted or carved on posts, doorways and walls.

There has been some discussion whether this is Young Adult book. Will it be accessible and enjoyable to younger readers? Definitely. But something I haven’t seen much mention of is the frequent reference either implied or more openly discussed is sex. There is no actual sex scenes but there is the aftermath of a rape scene – which is probably underplayed a little too much – and discussions of what would considered under age sex. (i.e. under 16s) as well as sex between older adults.

Now in context it fits the story – its set in a world similar to ours in an earlier stage of development and in the UK in the 1860s the age of consent was 12.  All I’m staying is that it gets mentioned quite frequently in the early stage of the book and on some occasions it felt intrusive and a distraction from the story.

With that out of the way I really enjoyed The Painted Man. Brett shows that just because we’re scared of something it shouldn’t mean that we can’t do something about it.  Brett tells his story through the eyes of Arlen an apprentice Warder, Leesha an apprentice Herb Gatherer and Rojer an apprentice Jongleur.

These three grow and grow-up through their often challenging, circumstances. And that journey is one of this book’s strengths. Each is brave in their own way and each has skills that come forward that show that the corelings can be challenged and perhaps defeated.

A nice twist is how the defensive magic can also be converted into an offensive weapon though it’s nature isn’t revealed the readers and characters understanding changes quite dramatically especially with the revelation at the end that leads into the next book.

One oddity is that even though these characters age quite a lot they don’t mature in the same way. Their voice seems pretty consistent as does their core selves. It doesn’t spoil it but it did make me pause for thought when I reflecting on their growth from beginning to end. I guess I was expecting something more distinct.

Taking everything into consideration this is an accomplished, readable, entertaining and original fantasy story that deserves the attention and praise it’s been getting but like his character Brett has room for growth. I’m looking forward to seeing him do just that as he’s got a lot of potential.

Posted in: review.
Tagged:

←
→
  • gav
    Hi Peat,

    Thanks for stopping by and reposting this.

    I don't really have much to add apart from agree that every topic from the world should be available for inclusion in a YA novel but I have a feeling that I'm quite liberal in that view.
  • gav
    Hi Peat,

    Thanks for stopping by and reposting this.

    I don't really have much to add apart from agree that every topic from the world should be available for inclusion in a YA novel but I have a feeling that I'm quite liberal in that view.
  • Hi Gav,

    Saw your comment on my blog, and thought I'd repost my reply here as well for your readers:

    It’s completely understandable how someone might think at a glance that The Painted Man was YA. As I’ve said on my blog before, I favor a very clipped and active writing style without a lot of flowery prose. That says YA to some people, as does starting the story with children as protagonists (even though they are adults by book’s end).

    You’re right that sex is generally not considered YA appropriate (though violence and gore is, for some inexplicable reason), and I could have left it out to cater to a wider market, but I think sexuality is a large part of what defines who people are, and making their sexuality clear to the reader is crucial to helping the reader understand their point of view.

    I tend to include the defining milestones in the lives of all my characters. Some of those milestones are violent, some are sexual, and some are both, but that’s life, you know? So I was always intentionally writing to an adult market.

    However, that said, I think it’s debatable whether sexual realities should be hidden/withheld from “young adults”. When my daughter is thirteen, I mean for her to be well aware that there are people in the world she needs to watch out for, and why. I think anyone mentally capable of tacking a 542 page novel probably already knows what goes where, and is ready to understand how it can affect people’s lives.

    Thanks for the great review!
  • Hi Gav,

    Saw your comment on my blog, and thought I'd repost my reply here as well for your readers:

    It’s completely understandable how someone might think at a glance that The Painted Man was YA. As I’ve said on my blog before, I favor a very clipped and active writing style without a lot of flowery prose. That says YA to some people, as does starting the story with children as protagonists (even though they are adults by book’s end).

    You’re right that sex is generally not considered YA appropriate (though violence and gore is, for some inexplicable reason), and I could have left it out to cater to a wider market, but I think sexuality is a large part of what defines who people are, and making their sexuality clear to the reader is crucial to helping the reader understand their point of view.

    I tend to include the defining milestones in the lives of all my characters. Some of those milestones are violent, some are sexual, and some are both, but that’s life, you know? So I was always intentionally writing to an adult market.

    However, that said, I think it’s debatable whether sexual realities should be hidden/withheld from “young adults”. When my daughter is thirteen, I mean for her to be well aware that there are people in the world she needs to watch out for, and why. I think anyone mentally capable of tacking a 542 page novel probably already knows what goes where, and is ready to understand how it can affect people’s lives.

    Thanks for the great review!
  • gav
    In the review I just wanted to highlight that even though it's accessible for younger reader it does have some adult themes and it was something I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere.

    I guess as you could define YA as stories with teenage main characters that appeal to teenagers then The Painted Man fits that. A large section of it surrounds characters that grow up through the book.

    Other authors that come to mind are Garth Nix, J.K. Rowling, Catherine Fisher and Stephenie Mayer. There is a certain cross-over appeal to adults but the vast majority of readers are going to be YAs. And as such they have buying power and they are now a market of their own. Publishers need to sell books so why not sell directly to them.

    I think that's wonderful because some of them will more that passion for reading in Adulthood and remain lifelong readers.

    As for the different perspectives on sex, violence etc. I've never felt that there is anything wrong with children reading anything they want but YA focused books will handle that in a certain way because the characters are YA themselves usually. But the sexual overtones in The Painted Man seemed slightly out of place to me and didn't seem to add a lot.

    I'm not a parent so I've never had to help children make book choices. So I'm far from an expert.

    Anyone else got any thoughts on labelling books as YA? And if violence, sex etc is an issue?
  • gav
    In the review I just wanted to highlight that even though it's accessible for younger reader it does have some adult themes and it was something I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere.

    I guess as you could define YA as stories with teenage main characters that appeal to teenagers then The Painted Man fits that. A large section of it surrounds characters that grow up through the book.

    Other authors that come to mind are Garth Nix, J.K. Rowling, Catherine Fisher and Stephenie Mayer. There is a certain cross-over appeal to adults but the vast majority of readers are going to be YAs. And as such they have buying power and they are now a market of their own. Publishers need to sell books so why not sell directly to them.

    I think that's wonderful because some of them will more that passion for reading in Adulthood and remain lifelong readers.

    As for the different perspectives on sex, violence etc. I've never felt that there is anything wrong with children reading anything they want but YA focused books will handle that in a certain way because the characters are YA themselves usually. But the sexual overtones in The Painted Man seemed slightly out of place to me and didn't seem to add a lot.

    I'm not a parent so I've never had to help children make book choices. So I'm far from an expert.

    Anyone else got any thoughts on labelling books as YA? And if violence, sex etc is an issue?
  • edifanob
    I liked your review.

    But I still have a problem with disscusion whether a book is a Young Adult book or not.

    How is Young Adult defined in case of fiction?

    "Young-adult fiction (often abbreviated as YA fiction, or simply YA) is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents, roughly between the ages of 12 and 18."
    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_litera...

    To be honest this is a definition used in US. We don't use it in Germany where I live.

    And that's the crux of the matter. There are different perceptions about sex, violence and more.

    Normally I ignore statements concerning Young Adult because I want to read the book and I'm nor more an Young Adult. But from time to time - like today - I can't deny myself to add some words concerning this topic.

    Gavin, I hope you understand that this is nothing personal. I don't want to offend you.
  • edifanob
    I liked your review.

    But I still have a problem with disscusion whether a book is a Young Adult book or not.

    How is Young Adult defined in case of fiction?

    "Young-adult fiction (often abbreviated as YA fiction, or simply YA) is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents, roughly between the ages of 12 and 18."
    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_litera...

    To be honest this is a definition used in US. We don't use it in Germany where I live.

    And that's the crux of the matter. There are different perceptions about sex, violence and more.

    Normally I ignore statements concerning Young Adult because I want to read the book and I'm nor more an Young Adult. But from time to time - like today - I can't deny myself to add some words concerning this topic.

    Gavin, I hope you understand that this is nothing personal. I don't want to offend you.
blog comments powered by Disqus