The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V. Brett

The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V

The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V. Brett

The Painted Man (also known as The Warded Man for those who like their books American-Made) is one of the best fantasy epics of recent years. Period, exclamation point, throw whatever other punctuation you want at it, doesn't matter; the book seriously kicked it, bringing it like Beckham (That Posh has skillz!) The novel's protagonist, the demon-fighting Arlen Bales, easily captures the mantle of greatest Arlen ever, (trouncing Senator Arlen Specter who doesn't fight demons, he just works with them.) Peter V. Brett's debut was such the tasty fantasy goodness I've taken to stalking Barnes & Noble delivery trucks hoping a copy of the upcoming sequel, The Desert Spear, happens to fall off one. And into my greedy little mitts.

Pathetic, I know, but The Painted Man was that damn fantastic. Like half-blind, bikini-clad Scandinavian supermodel who owns a liquor store and golf course munching on a chocolate chip ice cream cone on a hot summer day kind of fantastic. But then you discoverOh Horrorshe's rocking a purity ring and thinks MTV is high art, and suddenly, you're left wanting more; it makes you greedy.

But like Gordon Gekko says, Greed is good, so embrace it, want more. Maybe even plant a big, sloppy smootch on its kisser. Because sometimes you get what you wantand what you need.

If The Painted Man was a Director's Cut DVD, The Great Bazaar and Other Stories would be the second disc filled with all the Extras. More story, deleted scenes, a ward grimoire; it's all here. Even Brett offering context and insight into the scenes. Love The Painted Man? Then you're going to love this collection, since it features more of what made that book so great.

The majority of the collection is devoted to the short story "The Great Bazaar", a fantastic piece that works incredibly well as a standalone introduction to The Painted Man universe. The story follows Arlen Bales, now settled down, and proprietor of the Bales Motel. Arlen lives with his mother in a nearby house overlooking the motel. One night a blond demon, escaping from her past, checks into the motelAlright, I'm lying. Really, did you think I was going to give it away; the story's short, go read it. Abban, a merchant in the Great Bazaar", is the rockstar in the story. Forget Team Jacob or Team Edward, Abban will have the love-struck pre-pubescents shrilling like wind demons after they catch his deeds in "The Great Bazaar."

If I hadn't read Brett's debut, this story would have forced me to; it's such a wonderful scene. Much better than you'd imagine, and not what you'd expect from material that didn't make the original volume. Often, one hears the phrase deleted scenes, and thinks, This is the stuff that wasn't good enough to make it in. That's far from the case in The Great Bazaar and Other Stories; all the material here has the same high level of quality found in the novel. There's not as much as I would have liked, but hopefully it's enough to get me through to The Desert Spear without getting slapped with a restraining order from Barnes & Noble.

Fans of The Painted Man will love The Great Bazaar and Other Stories. People not familiar with Brett's work will find this a great introduction. Being a fan of the novel, I can only view the collection in that context. Which means I'm biased. Which means I'm going to score this similarly to The Painted Man. Which means that bikini-clad, liquor store-owning Scandinavian supermodel might have just welded that purity ring onto her finger. Because already I want more.

Final Grade: 92 out of 10

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