Devin Coldewey in MobileCrunch reports that fantasy author Peter Brett wrote The Warded Man, a 100,000 word fantasy, on his HP iPaq over three years of subway commuting. “I would have thought it an impossible task to thumb out more than, say, 5-10% on something like a smartphone. But this guy seems to actually thrive doing it,” Coldewey writes. “If he knew he was going to be doing so much typing, why not get something with a really sweet keypad like a Sidekick or Blackberry?”

For an interview with thumbster Brett, a Scribd glimpse of the book and some entertaining comments, check out Coldewey’s blog. The gist of many of the comments is that the Japanese have been writing novels on cell phones for years – we posted about it in fall of 2007. So, not everyone is as impressed as Coldewey about the achievement.

The more germane question is, is the book any good? Well, it’s been published by Del Rey/Spectra, the highly respected science fiction and fantasy imprint of Random House, got some nice quotes (such as Terry Brooks) and 16 five-star Amazon reviews out of 21 posted as of this date. A lot of writers would give their thumbs, pinkies or other choice parts to claim as much.

RC