Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

I have exciting news!! Peter V. Brett, author of The Demon Cycle, has graciously offered to join our discussion of the series!! Woohoo! Thank you, Peter!

For now, please post questions for Peter here, in this topic thread, along with anything else related to the series on which you would like Peter to comment.

If your questions contain spoilers, please use the html to hide them. (Click on the "some html is ok" link and the directions for how to hide spoilers will appear in the box.)

Peter is willing to comment directly in the discussion topic threads each month. However, some people may feel awkward with the author "reading over their shoulders" and that may stifle the discussion, so for now, Peter has agreed to restrict his interactions with us to this thread. As time goes on and if it is the desire of the group members, we may lift that restriction.

So, I'll start. ***spoilers for Book #1, The Warded Man***.

(view spoiler)[In the discussion we had after finishing reading book #1, several readers commented about the sexual assault/rape of Leesha.

Some people felt that, given how important her virginity was to her and the force with which she was raped, Leesha seemed to recover rather quickly (mentally, emotionally). In fact, she was willing to engage in "healing sex" with Arlen very soon after the assault, which seemed out of character for Leesha, as well as unrealistic for any women who had been raped as she was. One of my comments was that Leesha may have seen Arlen as a somewhat magical person who could heal her shame. (hide spoiler)]

I am aware this issue has come up in other discussions of this book/series. Peter, would you care to comment on the scenes in question? Thanks!

Hi, everyone!

I'm so happy to see my series being discussed in the club! Normally I would stay out of things, but I saw you were discussing something serious, and I wanted to offer my view. I don't want to interfere with the club discussion pages, so I've agreed with your gracious moderator to restrict my posts to this thread. I'll try and check in once in a while to answer questions. I've got a young baby at home, though, so don't be surprised if there is a gap in response time now and then.

Kathi wrote: "So, I'll start. ***spoilers for Book #1, The Warded Man***.

In the discussion we had after finishing reading book #1, several readers commented about the sexual assault/rape of Lees..."

This is the topic I wanted to address, because it deals with a theme that tends to (and absolutely should) raise powerful emotional reactions in people. Those reactions are unique to each of us based on our gender, personality and experience, and when they clash, misunderstandings can quickly escalate. I appreciate having the chance to talk about it.

(view spoiler)[ Sexual assault is easily the most controversial thing in The Warded Man. A small percentage of readers even say it ruined the story for them. If I went back in time and cut out a few key scenes from the final manuscript, I'd probably go up half a point or more in my goodreads rating, sell more books, and would have to weather far fewer attacks on my character in some negative reviews.

But I wouldn't do it. I believed then, and continue to believe now, that everything that happens in those scenes is in-character, valuable to the plot of the series, in line with reality, and something I wanted to comment on in the series as a whole. We can't address serious topics in books unless we include them, and I made a point of doing my homework. There are 12 human POV characters in The Demon Cycle (six male, six female), and a more or less statistically accurate number of them are victims of sexual assault. This was a purposeful choice.

As we are seeing now more than ever, sexual assault is a lot more common than many people are willing to acknowledge. One of my best friends spent years as a sex crimes prosecutor in New York, and she will casually tell me stories that are traumatizing just to hear, much less experience firsthand. Yet people do. It destroys some victims, and brings out an incredible strength in others that they never knew was there. Strength that lets them not only pick themselves up and go on with their lives, but to approach life with a new perspective that helps them accomplish great things. I have had the privilege of knowing several of these amazingly strong people, helping where I could in their recovery, and feel it does victims a disservice to pretend they aren't among us.

There is of course no "right" or "wrong" way to act after being victimized. Every person is unique, as are the circumstances they are put in. But that said, though it is seemingly counter-intuitive, I found in looking at case studies and talking to people with more experience than I that it is actually quite common for victims of sexual assault to seek out a consensual encounter soon afterward. This is for a wide variety of reasons, including (but not limited to) a desire to take back control of one's sexuality, create distance from the previous encounter, or hedge one's bets on paternity.

Leesha and Arlen come together almost three full days after the attack, though it seems like less because there are only a few pages in the book for the reader to absorb the initial assault and then shift gears. That was intentional. The characters were still disoriented, and I wanted the reader to be, too.

Both Arlen and Leesha were arguably at the lowest points of their lives, feeling ostracized and misunderstood by everyone around them, and spiritually violated. They saw that reflected in one another and chose to try and take comfort in each other's arms, even though they knew the act itself would be a stressful, emotional experience for them. The driving theme behind the story is the facing of one's fears, and both Arlen and Leesha are terrified of relationships and what comes with them. The fact that they are both virgins in their mid-twenties in a world where most people get married and start having kids as teenagers is a testament to this, and their encounter was an attempt to face that fear.

Soon after that encounter, Leesha is forced to unceremoniously (if temporarily) hero up and shove all her own problems to the side and take on the responsibility of Herb Gatherer of Cutter's Hollow to address the immediate existential problems facing the devastated community. That she was able to do this is a testament to her strength, but it should not be misconstrued as her being "recovered". Victims continue to deal with the ramifications of what happened to them for a lifetime, and the event will have a lasting effect on her development throughout the series.

I absolutely understand if people did not enjoy the way things were handled, but I wanted to make it clear that it was not done simply for shock value, or without care and research. (hide spoiler)]

I hope that helps clarify things a bit, but I am happy to field follow-up questions. Thanks for reading!

Peter wrote: "here are 12 human POV characters in The Demon Cycle (six male, six female), and a more or less statistically accurate number of them are victims of sexual assault."

Thank you for sharing your insights and your reasoning.

**Spoilers for Book #2, The Desert Spear**
(view spoiler)[ I have come across two more sexual assaults and the victims: Jardir (assaulted by Hasik when he was 12) and Renna (victim of incest by her father). I will need to pay attention to see how these assaults, as well as the rape of Leesha, influence their futures. (hide spoiler)]

I have not yet finished Book #2 and so will refrain from reading any replies until I have finished it.

Without giving away too much, both of those things you mention needed to happen for the story to come, but I would note that the series never again gets as dark as (view spoiler)[Renna and her father (hide spoiler)].

I really like Renna and her influence. I read the first three prior to the evening in Manchester. The title difference on book one always throws me on this site.

Helen wrote: "I really like Renna and her influence. I read the first three prior to the evening in Manchester. The title difference on book one always throws me on this site."

I'm exactly the same in regards the title. Is there a particular reason why book one has different titles in different countries Peter?

Unfortunately due to unforseen personal circumstances I didn't have time to read book one in January but I am hoping to read it this month and hopefully catch up with the group in March... fingers crossed. Really looking forward to starting the series.

There are a few other changes too:

Except for the last cover, I prefer the uk covers.

There's really no exciting story about the title. The Painted Man was my original, but Random House didn't like it, even after it was published in the UK, so I pitched some alternates. 9 months later it came out in the US as The Warded Man, which, over time, I have come to prefer.

The covers are mostly the same story. HarperCollins and Random House are not without their pride, and like distinct covers. I don't complain, because it's allowed me to get more amazing character portraits done.

Hi Peter V. Brett. I hope you are still occasionally checking in on this discussion.

I have a question about Renna’s storyline. I have read through book #3, The Daylight War, so if you can not answer fully now, until I have completed the series, please let me know and I’ll hold off.

It’s hard to know exactly what it is I want to ask. (view spoiler)[First off, as we previously discussed, her storyline starts pretty horribly, with incest and rape. But her whole relationship with Arlen just rubs me wrong, and I can’t quite articulate why. She is dabbling—well, more than dabbling, really delving—into the whole demon magic thing as she imitates Arlen, painting wards all over herself, taking such joy in fighting and killing demons, eating demon flesh. Yet she can barely control the magic with which she has infused herself. I just don’t see this ending well for her or those around her. (hide spoiler)]

So that’s not really a question, but more of an invitation for you to comment, if you can without divulging information from the next two books.

Thanks!

Hey Kathi,

Still checking in sporadically. Your feelings about Renna are certainly understandable. She is going through something before the reader's eyes that Arlen went through off camera in the lost years between his tattooing himself in the desert and his appearance as the Warded Man. Magic addiction, out of control emotions, particularly anger and aggression, and a feeling of distance between themselves and normal folk. It's what gives Arlen the empathy and ability to help her through it. Certainly by the end of Daylight War there is a shift for them both. As for how it all ends...

Peter wrote: "Hey Kathi,

Still checking in sporadically. Your feelings about Renna are certainly understandable. She is going through something before the reader's eyes that Arlen went through off camera in the..."

Thank you! I will try to be patient as Renna adjusts.

Peter V. Brett
So a character can just create new wards when needed? Queen demon wards? Or was that because it was Arlen who was creating the new wards? I thought that seemed a bit contrived, especially given we had learned that each ward had to be drawn so exactly in order for it to be effective. Now suddenly wards can just be created on the fly? Why didn’t people just create new wards all along?

I got to the end of the series and still don’t care for Renna as a character, although I understand her story arc better and really can see how her relationship with Arlen helped her through the changes she experienced as she absorbed/accessed/used the magic. And we really see how not having a guide or mentor through that process leads to problems—look at Stela and her fellow Warded Children.

It's more complicated than that. Magic responds to emotions. Humans developed wards as religious symbols to protect them, and over centuries of belief, humanity "taught" magic to respond in certain ways to certain symbols. Magic is eternal, an energy that cannot be created or destroyed, so it did not forget how to respond, even when humans stopped the practice and the religions shrank.

This language is intricate enough that a skilled practitioner could adapt new wards by building off established ones. But in Arlen's case, it was more than that. He was immersed in the source of magic, a part of it. He was able to shortcut the process and create something new, at the price of being consumed by the power.

Peter wrote: "It's more complicated than that. Magic responds to emotions. Humans developed wards as religious symbols to protect them, and over centuries of belief, humanity "taught" magic to respond in certain..."

I see. I did understand that Arlen being in the Source was important, but now I see the bigger picture.

I like how you said “Magic is eternal, an energy that cannot be created or destroyed...” That also means magic is not good or evil, it simply is.

As we get into the last week of May, I just want to thank author Peter V. Brett for graciously making himself available for questions and comments as our group read his series, The Demon Cycle. Your contributions were much appreciated!

You're very welcome! Hope you enjoyed the books.

Peter wrote: "You're very welcome! Hope you enjoyed the books."

Overall, yes, I enjoyed it. An interesting array of characters with strengths and weaknesses, virtues and faults (a big plus for me), plenty of action, plot surprises, and a complex story.

Thank you again!