The Warded Man, published as The Painted Man in the UK, is one of the best epic fantasy books that I have read in a long time. Like most of the things I read, for one reason or another I put off reading this one entirely too long. Because of my manic compulsion to buy everything I see that even remotely piques my interest, I bought this book several years ago and it has languished in my TBR ever since. What renewed my interest in the series was, believe it or not, my manic compulsion to… you get the idea. Grim Oak Press, a small, independent publisher specializing in high quality, collectible editions of books, announced their intentions to produce a limited edition of The Warded Man and the only way I could justify spending that much money on a single book was if I really liked it. So, with the only option being to read it, I eagerly set myself to my task. Boy, was I not disappointed.