Book Preview A light so brilliant it was painful bathed Pug as he instinctively threw all his magic into the protective shell Magnus had erected around them just a moment before. Only Magnus’s anticipation of the trap had prevented them all from being instantly vaporized. Energy so intense it could hardly be comprehended now destroyed … Read more
Book Preview M IGHTY DRAGONS RACED THROUGH THE SKIES. Hurricane-force winds struck his face, yet the rider sat confidently astride the neck of his scaled ebony mount; his to command by will alone. Arcane arts kept him firmly in place, and exultation energized every fibre of his being as the Dragon Host rode out in … Read more
Book Preview Prologue Child THE SKIES SHRIEKED. Overhead, a storm of black energies shot out tendrils that reached forth and attached themselves to the first structure they encountered. The sound generated was almost as terrifying as the sight of everything they touched collapsing into rubble. The inhabitants of the city fled in abject terror, ignoring … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER ONE – Sacrifice HOWLS FILLED THE NIGHT. The blasted hills smoked and the stench of char filled the air. Hundreds of robed figures slowly wended their way between rocky debris to reach the huge clearing below the remains of a fortress gate tower. A powerful man stood silently on top of the … Read more
Book Preview ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As always, I am in debt to those who created Midkemia so many years ago, where paper, pencils, funny-looking dice, and cheap beer were excuses to hang out and develop lifelong friendships. We may not always be in touch as we used to be, but each time I tell a story … Read more
Book Preview As always, I could not have completed this work, another chapter in the vast Riftwar Cycle, without the foundation given to me by the original creators of Midkemia. Again, my family and friends, for providing much-needed balance in my life and keeping me sane, or as close to it as I’ll get. Jonathan … Read more
Book Preview As always, the many mothers and fathers of Midkemia, for giving me a world in which to tell stories. To my children, Jessica and James, for keeping me grounded no matter how crazy the world around us gets. To my mother for hanging in there. To Jonathan Matson, again and always. To my … Read more
Book Preview As I have done in the past and will continue to until Midkemia is no more, my thanks everlasting to the mothers and fathers of Midkemia for giving me a wonderful sandbox in which to play. From Thursday to Friday nights, for thirty years your voices echo in my ear each time I … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER ONE – Captive The riders came at him. Kaspar, who had until the day before held the title of Duke of Olasko, waited, holding his chains ready. Moments before he had been deposited on this dusty plain by a tall white-haired magician who, with only a few words of farewell, had vanished, … Read more
Book Preview A bird soared over the city. Its eyes sought out a figure in the throng on the docks, one man amidst the teeming surge of humanity occupying the harbor-side during the busiest part of the day. The Port of Roldem, harbor to the capital city of the island kingdom of the same name, … Read more
Book Preview Shivering, the boy huddled close to the dying embers of his meagre fire, his pale blue eyes sunken and dark from lack of sleep. His mouth moved slowly as he repeated the chant he had learned from his father, his dry lips cracking painfully and his throat sore from intoning the holy words. … Read more
Book Preview Men cursed as they grappled. Jimmy the Hand slipped eel-like between knots of fighting men on the darkened quayside. Steel glittered in torch- and lantern-light, shining in ruddy-red arcs as horsemen slashed at the elusive Mockers who strove to hold them back. Only seconds more were needed for Prince Arutha and Princess Anita … Read more
Book Preview IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. That was fine with Durine. Not that the goddess Killian, whose province was the weather, was asking his opinion. Nor were any of the other gods – or any mortals – for that matter. In more than twenty years of a soldier’s life, both fealty-bound and … Read more
Book Preview This one’s for Janny Wurts, who showed me that two heads often were far better than one. When I think of Honour, Colonel Donald V Bennett, Fox-Green, Omaha Beach, and Sergeant Andy Andrew, Easy Red, Omaha Beach stand before me. When duty called, they served unflinchingly. I am honoured to call them my … Read more
Book Preview JAMES CRIED OUT IN PAIN. He barely managed to pull to the right as the assassin’s blade sliced his left side. Any man a scant instant slower in recognizing the danger would now be lying dead on the floor; but James stepped past the out-thrust arm of the killer, wrapping his own arm … Read more
Book Preview PROLOGUE – Attack The weather worsened. Dark clouds roiled overhead as angry lightning flashed, piercing the night’s blackness on all quarters. The lookout atop the highest mast of the ship Ishap’s Dawn thought he saw a flicker of movement in the distance and squinted against the murk. He tried to use his hand … Read more
Book Preview Prologue – Departures Lines of soldiers marched along the ridge. The baggage train had been broken into two segments, the first of which was now departing with the wounded and the dead who would be cremated with honors back in Krondor. Clouds of dust rose from the trail as wheels rolled and boots … Read more
Book Preview And to Jerry Lutrell, for keeping me apprised of what was what early on. My wife, Kathlyn S. Starbuck, for being who she is. My children, Jessica and James, for keeping me in touch with what’s important daily and for being the most wonderful children any father could ask for. he wind … Read more