The Warded Man

Every night, demons called corelings rise from the earth and hunt. Humanity has fallen from an age of technology into a dark age, and the only defence left is a set of wards, symbols that hold the creatures back. Long ago those same symbols were weapons as well as shields, but the fighting wards are lost, and the corelings grow bolder.

The book follows three people from childhood into adulthood. Arlen, a farm boy, grows up to be a Messenger, one of the travelers who haul cargo and news from village to village. He becomes obsessed with finding a way to beat the demons instead of hiding from them.

A lie destroys the reputation of Leesha, a young woman, and she finds a place as an apprentice healer. Rojer is an orphan whose parents die in a coreling attack. A Jongleur raises him, and Rojer discovers that his fiddle can affect the demons.

This is dark, violent fantasy that leans on horror. Its focus is fear, and what people do when there is no escape from it. It is the first book of the Demon Cycle. A UK edition appeared in 2008 under the title The Painted Man, and Del Rey brought out the US edition in March 2009.