The Castle of the Winds
Twelve years after the last, and some thousand years earlier, a return to the chronicles of one of the most powerful and successful domains of modern fantasy, a world of magic, myth – and Ice.
Centuries before the beginning of The Anvil of Ice, before the building of the Great Causeway, when the enveloping Ice seems to have reached its limit, the young lands of North and South are on uneasy terms. War appears to be inevitable. But some trade between them still continues, especially for the peerless and power-filled metalworks of the Northern mastersmiths.
In one small town Kunrad, a single-minded young mastersmith, is carving out a reputation as a fine armourer. In secret he has created the greatest suit of armour ever made; armour fit for a king or a hero – or to make one.
When that armour is stolen by a powerful adversary, Kunrad has only one concern – to regain it, by whatever means he can. It soon becomes clear that darker forces may be ranged against him. But hopeless as it seems, helped and hindered by his two young apprentices, the ox-like Olvar and the glib, quick-tongued Gille, Kunrad sets out on an epic journey of discovery, filled with danger, magic, war – and love.
And at the heart of it all lies the awesome fortress of Ker an Aruel...
Michael Scott Rohan
Michael Scott Rohan (1951-2018) was a Scottish fantasy and science fiction author and writer on opera.
He had a number of short stories published before his first books, the science fiction novel Run to the Stars and the non-fiction First Byte. He then collaborated with Allan J. Scott on the nonfiction The Hammer and The Cross (an account of Christianity arriving in Viking lands, not to be confused with Harry Harrison's similarly themed novel trilogy of the same name) and the fantasy novels The Ice King and A Spell of Empire.
The Winter of the World
The chronicles of The Winter of the World echo down the ages in half-remembered myth and song - tales of mysterious powers of the Mastersmiths, of the forging of great weapons, of the subterranean kingdoms of the duergar, of Gods who walked abroad, and of the Powers that struggled endlessly for dominion.
The Winter of the World consists of six books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
