All destiny in a year in Itaskia: the Greyfellen lords send murderous sorcery against Kavelin. In Hammad al Nakir: the Monster-maker of the Great Wars returns from the dead. In Shinsan: invading armies rip across the Mountains of M'Hand. In the east: an ancient horror threatens the world.
But in Kavelin, King Bragi Ragnarson toys with destiny – and disaster. Rejecting the advice of the wizard Varthlokkur and spymaster Michael Trebilcock, Bragi joins Chatelain Mist's coup against the Dread Empire, and Lady Yasmid's schemes to take the Peacock Throne. Risking his power, friendships, dreams, Ragnarson dangles the fate of his nation in the jaws of his foes, refusing to see that his one true enemy may be himself.
Glen Cook is the author of dozens of novels of fantasy and science fiction, including The Black Company, The Garret Files, Instrumentalities of the Night, and the Dread Empire series. Cook was born in 1944 in New York City. He attended the Clarion Writers' Workshop in 1970, where he met his wife. He currently makes his home in St. Louis, MO.
