From one of the most exciting new voices in fantasy fiction comes a spellbinding epic of adventure and mystery, intrigue and magic. . . .
Eight centuries ago, the legendary Keerana Dost conquered a vast empire. Now younger nations battle for the remnants of his realm. As the turmoil spreads, princes and spies, priests and heretics are drawn into the fray.
Nomad leader Rafiq Khast fights to reclaim his homeland and avenge his family honor.
Princess Natalya undertakes a journey for love and finds herself standing alone against forces that could shatter her nation.
And the warrior-priest Malachy Kidd, blinded in combat years before, finds himself holding the fate of the world in his hands, using his powerful battlemagicks in service to his god . . . protecting a figure who may be the very devil himself.Also by Michael A. Stackpole:
Once A Hero
"A magnificent tale! A page turner." --Dennis L. McKiernan
"Enough action, adventure, and romance to satisfy the most demanding." --Roger Zelazny
Talion: Revenant
"Displays intelligence, originality, superior narrative technique...and that most essential of all qualities--the impetus to keep the reader turning pages." --BooklistMichael A. Stackpole is still an award-winning game designer, computer game designer and writer who is uncomfortable about this third-person bio thing. Not much has changed since the last bio, actually, except there is a third dog in the house: Saint, the great-grandson of Ruthless and the great-grandnephew of Ember, the other two dogs living here. Growing up in Vermont, Mike only ever had one dog at a time in the house, but if all three of these Cardigan Welsh Corgis were piled into one dog, they would equal the Labrador with which he grew up.
Mike still plays soccer on weekends and is on a team with players who do all sorts of things to make him look really l3£