The Great Bazaar & Brayan's Gold

Before becoming the fearsome tattooed warrior The Warded Man, Arlen Bales was a messenger. The Great Bazaar and Brayan's Gold shows two of Arlen's notable messenger adventures.

Brayan's Gold depicts Arlen's first overnight trip as a messenger. From nearly the beginning things go wrong for the demon magnet Arlen Bales, but Arlen is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure his trip goes as planned. Arlen's fearlessness is on display in this novella in absurd proportions.

The Great Bazaar takes Arlen to multiple desert locations most notably Fort Krasia. Arlen has risked his life and wealth in search of the battle wards of old yet has repeatedly come up empty handed. Thanks to a boast from the khaffit Abban, Arlen is once more prepared to risk his life to obtain the battle wards.

These short stories make me love that wild man Arlen Bales even more. Arlen repeatedly refuses to be swayed from his long term goal of freeing the world from demons. Arlen just doesn't seem to fit with most of humanity who cower behind their wards at night yet call that freedom.

The story introductions, excisions, and Ward Grimoire are all interesting additions that show just how The Demon Cycle came to life for the author Peter V. Brett. I especially enjoy the Ward Grimoire because it has detailed explanations of all the wards in the series along with images of the wards.

I love The Demon Cycle series and in world novellas so The Great Bazaar and Brayan's Gold give me the best of both worlds.

5 out of 5 stars

An advanced read copy was provided.

The Great Bazaar & Bryan's Gold- This book contains two novellas set in Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle, a rather ingenious fantasy setting that holds much promise and delivers an entertaining story. It is a good introduction to this series and besides these stories, includes some left out material and why it was left out and a dictionary of important terminology related to the series. An interesting trove of ideas and behind the scenes explanation. Bryan's Gold is a self-contained story featuring his main character Arlen on a formative adventure, while the Great Bazaar is complete but also serves as an intriguing introduction that begs to be followed. Be warned- if your like me, you'll be seeking out Peter V. Brett to finish that story.

Its Freaking PETER V. BRETT! Do his books even need reviewed anymore? Or is everyone like me and we will buy anything he puts his name on because we know it's going to be good. If that is not the case and you need to know about this well then allow me. Run don't walk to your nearest book store and grab anything with his name on it.
You won't be disappointed.

The Demon Cycle is one of my favorite series and I think is one of the best series ever written. I finished the 4th book in the series and I’m already dreading the long, long wait until the next book is released when I saw this which I downloaded but waited to read until I could not longer wait. . If the author could release a series of these shorts every 3 or 4 months, then the wait for The Core won’t seem so long as I’ll be able to read about those characters that I’ve come to love so much. Since the author has released 4 books and these only contain stories from the beginning I am sure there are more scenes were cut by either him or someone else and I’ll read them all. I would especially like to see more about Rojer since he will not be in the next book and I am sure there are some stories about his wives that the readers would like to know.

I love these little stories and while they were all good but I have to say that Brayan’s Gold was my favorite. I loved how Arlen handled the bandits and how he was able to overcome the snow demon. These early scenes show the development of Arlen; his determination to not be confined because of demons and that all humans should be able to be "naked" in the night and not barred behind doors and walls.

I enjoyed The Great Bazaar; I already knew that Abban was responsible for Arlen’s being able to find Anoch Sun and bring the long forgotten wards back into existence and I loved the introduction of his nephew, Jamere. Although I knew that Abban was not put to death, I still found myself wondering when the dama stopped outside his tent after their escapade.

I think all women love the way he has written and portrayed Leesha in his novels so having a story in which she is featured was another bonus. I loved how she handled the situation with Brianne, but even more the way she handled Evin and how Bruna approved of it all was another treat.

While the structure of Brett's first novel, The Warded Man, made perfect sense and lent an air of mystery around its main character there was much of his life that went u remarked upon and you got the feeling that those tales would be fascinating. With this collection of short stories the reader gets a glimpse into Arlen Bales life after he began his life as a messenger and before he became the Warded Man. More than just filler both Brayans Gold and The Great Bazaar are interesting stories, fun to read and add a depth to Arlen. Leesha has by now been fleshed out quite well and the choice not to include this aside in the main novel makes sense but that doesn't make it less of a good piece. Her story isn't long in the collection but it is entertaining and gives another look into her character. The story of Arlen in his youngest days is another that is just a short bit but enjoyable all the same. It does feel a bit off of the character we first read in the original novel but it gives quite a bit of insight as to how the author sees this character and that's always a thrill for fans, much as the last section of this book will be. A collection of wards and their meanings is included here and many, many fans will purchase this book simply for that. The wards themselves are fantastic and seem to be original yet draw from a variety of styles that perhaps I'm too simple to suss out. All in all a fine addition to anyone's fantasy collection and a must have for fans of Peter V Brett.

The Great Bazaar & Brayan's Gold is a collection of several novellas and short stories all set in universe of The Demon Cycle series. "Brayan's Gold" is set in Miln during Alren's first days as a messenger. "The Great Bazaar" follows him into Krasia, and also touches on Abban's side of things. "Arlen" is the short story that started it all, and the cut chapter "Brianne Beaten" stands by itself as a nice Leesha short story. Rounding it out, there's even a Krasian dictionary and a grimoire showing off some of the wards and detailing their effects and the demons they deal with. If you find yourself jonesing for some more adventure in the Warded Man world, this book will help sate your appetite.

The collection kicks off with "Brayan's Gold", the name of the northern most mining village in Miln. Arlen is ready to go off on his first trip as a messenger, and the town of Brayan's Gold is in need of some thundersticks. A simple trip to Miln's mines turns into a journey fraught with bandits, the one armed rock demon, and the new threat of snow demons. How does Arlen get out of this one alive? You'll have to read it to find out, but suffice to say it's great little tale.

"The Great Bazaar" follows things up with a trip to Krasia. This one is set before Arlen's rift with Jardir, when he was still a messenger free to roam about and in search of the forgotten combat wards. It covers his trip to a hamlet famed for its ancient pottery and a fight with clay demons. Afterwards the story flips around to showcase Abban as he tries to get Arlen a copy of a map to the fabled Anoch Sun. All in all it's a solid story.

"Arlen" is a short story which is very cool. It's a short story Peter V. Brett wrote for a fantasy writing class. Lo and behold, Arlen and the demons of the core were born. From this spark of an idea, The Demon Cycle series was formed. Here, readers will get to see how it all started. It also provides another glimpse at Arlen's early life as a child.

"Brianne Beaten" is a cut chapter from The Warded Man that showcases Leesha and her skills as a herb gatherer. As with all the stories in this book, Brett shares what this one was about, and in this case, why it was cut from the book. It stands pretty well by itself as a nice little Leesha story.

At the end of the book is a short Krasian dictionary (the one included with The Skull Throne is bigger) and something really cool: a grimoire of wards. This section includes pictures of fourteen wards, detailing their uses against demons, as well as some nice descriptions of each of the different kinds of demons. So not only is it a guide to wards, but it's also a guide to demons.

Having recently finished reading The Skull Throne, I was left in the aftermath of another great emotional epic of adventure. It also left a void of needing something else to read. How can anything compare to Peter V. Brett book? Well, the answer is simple, another Peter V. Brett book. Thus I dove into The Great Bazaar & Brayan's Gold and was pleasantly surprised by how well Brett was able to capture the same magic of the series in these short stories. It's a must read for fans and I give it a five out of five.

I haven’t read anything by Peter Brett but I went to a reading once and liked what I heard so I thought I would read some of his work. This turned out to be a great starting point for me to read. The book contains two novellas along with some deleted material from the series. What I got was several snapshots of what looks like some really great world building and nice character development since the two novellas are at different times in Arlen’s life. I enjoyed the book and now I’ve added The Warded Man to my ever growing TBR.

Brett can literally do no wrong with this series. Original, intriguing, and full of adventure.

The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold by Peter V. Brett

This is a collection of 2 short stories and 2 passages that were cut from The Warded Man. Each story has a short introduction from the author explaining either where the ideas came from or why the scene was cut. The stories were originally published as limited edition hardcovers by Subterranean Press, with this new combined edition being published in trade paperback by Tachyon Publications. The book also includes a short Krasian dictionary, which is not really necessary as all the required terms are explained in the stories themselves, and some examples of wards and the types of demons they’re used to protect against, which is pretty interesting to read.

***** Brayan’s Gold - While an apprentice messenger, Arlen and his master are assigned a longer run than usual, transporting thundersticks to Brayan’s Gold, high in the mountains. But while the compensation is generous, the risks are also high: bandits, harsh conditions, and several nights outdoors with only warded circles as protection against demons. This is a fantastic story with a lot of different elements to it. There’s a surprising amount of variety to the troubles Arlen faces as he heads into the mountains.

***** The Great Bazaar - Using a map procured from Abban, a khaffit from the great bazaar in Fort Krasia, Arlen hunts for treasure, and discovers demons he’s never faced before. This story has scenes from both Arlen and Abban’s point of views. It’s a pretty focused story, but you do get to see a little more of what life is like for the underclass in the bazaar.

Brett manages to pack a lot of content into both stories and writes them in such a way that they fill in gaps left by the novels but explain everything required to enjoy them if you haven’t read the books.

***** Arlen - This is a prologue that didn’t make the book, dealing with Arlen’s life before the events of The Warded Man. It’s an interesting look at his youthful personality and how he was already pushing boundaries.

**** Brianne Beaten - This passage deals with a scene from Leesha’s life that kind of stands on its own, though it involves an unmentioned incident that ruined a friendship. It helps to know what that incident is, but the scene still works if you don’t.

It’s a pretty short book, but the stories are high quality and help flesh out Arlen’s character. If you missed the Subterranean Press editions, then this is a good time to get the stories. If you’ve never read Brett, it’s a great sampler of his work and will whet your appetite for more.

Must-reads for any fan of Brett's series. These stories flesh out the part of Arlen's life between apprenticing as a Messenger and the next time we meet him in Krasia. He's such a fascinating character that any extra background is always interesting!

This is my first exposure to the world of Peter Brett and I am quite taken with it. Incredible detail combined with well realized characters leave me wanting to grab the rest of the books in this series right now