The votes are in. They are tallied.
And there is a new winner.
Thanks to all of you who voted, I am reading The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett!
It was a closer race this time. The Warded Man came from behind, trailing Black Powder War by Naomi Novik most of the time. The Warded Man ended up the victor though with 27.75% of the votes, beating Black Powder War (24.73%), The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (20.88%) and Storm Front by Jim Butcher (17.86%). For those of you who have not read The Warded Man, feel free to join me for the read! Might be fun.
Here is the dust jacket copy for The Warded Man:
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.
Sounds great! I will begin reading The Warded Man tomorrow, as I am finishing up reading a young adult manuscript written by Todd Lockwood. The Warded Man is smaller than The Name of the Wind but is still a hefty book, one that will take me a while to finish. When I do, I’ll post my review and start another poll.
Now, on to wards and darkness and demons, oh my!
Thanks to all of you who participated!
whew! I’ve read all of them except for ‘The Lies of Locke Lamora’, and ‘The Warded Man’, while no Patrick Rothfuss is still the best of the list provided. IMO just saying. Sadly, it is an incomplete series of which I try to avoid.
Liked the Warded Man, had a real action movie feel, but the world-building and plot development was pretty solid. I’ll definitely be reading the Desert Spear, but probably wait for when it comes to paperback. I wouldn’t call Brett one of the elites of the genre (Martin, Mieville are at the top for me, but Rothfuss may join when stop holding out for the Kvothe series to be completed), but definitely a solid and enjoyable read.