The Painted Man / The Warded Man

Mankind has ceded the night to the corelings, demons that rise up out of the ground each day at dusk, killing and destroying at will until dawn, when the sun banishes them back to the Core. As darkness falls, the world’s few surviving humans hide behind magical wards, praying the magic can see them through another night. As years pass, the distances between each tiny village seem longer and longer. It seems nothing can harm the corelings, or bring humanity back together.

Born into these isolated hamlets are three children. A Messenger teaches young Arlen that fear, more than the demons, has crippled humanity. Leesha finds her perfect life destroyed by a simple lie, and is reduced to gathering herbs for an old woman more fearsome than the demons at night. And Rojer’s life is changed forever when a traveling minstrel comes to his town and plays his fiddle.

But these three children all have something in common. They are all stubborn, and know that there is more to the world than what they’ve been told, if only they can risk leaving their safe wards to find it.

The first book in this new fantasy series available in the UK
(as The Painted Man) September 1, 2008!

Available in the US (as The Warded Man) March 10, 2009!

Avatars

These are pictures I drew as chapter headers for the original manuscript. The publishers liked them so much they will be used in the final hardcover editions! Each avatar represents one of the main POV characters in my books, and will appear at the beginning of any chapter in which they appear.

Covers

This gallery will be updated as new covers are completed.

UK

Japan

United States

Poland

Germany

Spain

France

Portugal

Wards

In addition to the amazing portrait of the Painted Man above, Lauren Cannon designed the wards that appear on the site and various other places. Here are her original designs.

Fan Art

Friends and fans have created a lot of lovely images based on my work.
I am proud to be able to include them here.

Spear

Wall Art

Lanterns

Jewelry

Painted Man

Maps

Here is the crappy map I made on a D&D mapmaker program for personal use while writing, as well as the professional map from the UK edition of The Painted Man. (This map is displayed with the kind permission of HarperCollinsPublishers UK, copyright HarpercollinsPublishers UK 2008. Not for sale or distribution, all rights protected.) The UK map was designed by Andrew Ashton.