For hardcore fans of Peter Brett’s Demon Cycle series, The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold will be a welcome treat in the same way fans of a particular band will swarm all over a collection of b-sides and rarities. It’s a deep dive into the world of The Warded Man, including reference material, scenes cut from various official chapters in the series, and a couple of additional stories that flesh out the personal history of Brett’s protagonist, the Messenger Arlen Bales.
The first piece, “Brayan’s Gold,” is a deep dive into Arlen’s personal history. It details his first solo run as a Messenger, hauling a load of dynamite up the side of a mountain for the benefit of a tightfisted noble. Along the way he’s ambushed by bandits and demons and abandoned by his traveling companion, but he brings the load home thanks to some Sgt. Riggs-level theatrics. As an adventure it’s rollicking enough, with Arlen coming face to face with a new breed of demon and making an ingenious escape. Where the story’s on less sure footing is in Arlen’s interactions with others. His uncompromising sense of duty and black-and-white morality may feel right on a classic fantasy protagonist, but here they play out largely through interaction with characters who feel a bit straw-mannish. Arlen’s morality is absolute, but it’s also never really challenged, and so the moral victories he scores feel less earned than the physical and magical ones.
The second piece, “The Great Bazaar,” drops in later in Arlen’s history (according to the author, it’s set between chapters 16 and 17 of The Warded Man, when he’s working with the Krasnian merchant Abban. Following Abban’s instructions, Arlen uncovers a treasure trove of salable pottery left behind on sacred ground after its makers were slaughtered by demons. This is just a prologue, however, as Arlen leverages the incomplete intel Abban provided him with into getting a map showing the whereabouts of the lost city of Anoch Sun. Abban is certainly the more amusing character here, playing off both Arlen and the strict cultural mores of Krasnia with equal aplomb. Clever, witty and charming, the merchant gets exactly what he wants, even with the killer dama bearing down on them. Arlen, on the other hand, comes off second best, making a series of bad and impetuous decisions. They may fail to come back to haunt him, but one gets the feeling that he might have gotten a helping auctorial hand along the way. Still, the action moves at a brisk pace, and Brett’s world building is shown to great effect here.
Next are two short sections cut from The Warded Man, “Arlen” and “Brienne Beaten.” The former is largely a curiosity; it’s easy to see why, tone-wise, it didn’t fit with the rest of the book. “Brienne Beaten” is a more complex, interesting piece, dealing with events in Arlen’s home village with a deft hand and a sly sense of humor.
Rounding out the book is a fair bit of reference material on the world, including guides to wards and various demon types. This sort of thing is catnip to completists, and to his credit Brett provides them with plenty to chew on. This is another place where his world building is shown to best effect, with the detailed information offering an interesting look into the systems and thoughts behind key aspects of the setting.
For hardcore fans of the Demon Cycle series — especially those trying to track down earlier versions of the two titular novellas — this one’s a no-brainer. More casual fans will probably get a kick out of the two longer pieces, while newcomers can probably pick a better place to start. Still, Tachyon is doing readers of Brett’s work a service by putting this short collection together, and its intended audience will no doubt receive it warmly.
(Tachyon, 2015)
[Editor’s note: Peter V. Brett has a website.
Leave a Reply