"Relentless and powerful. This is damned good stuff." - Glen Cook on the Sword of Shadows series
The epic saga of the Sword of Shadows has come to this: Clan Blackhail, perhaps the foremost of the northern powers, is in disarray. A usurper wages war in the clan's name while Raina Blackhail, widow of its murdered chief, plots to take back the clan. Her exiled clansman Raif Sevrance, who possesses the legendary sword Loss, may be the prophesied warrior who can reunite the clans. But having just recovered from a near-fatal blow by an Unmade, one of the undead souls who relentlessly attack the living with swords whose mere touch bring instant death, Raif is captured by those who fear his legendary name: Watcher of the Dead.
Raina and Raif both face trials - she, the challenge of traitors within her clan; he, an entire armed camp of enemies sworn to kill him. Tested in the crucible of their struggles, each, in a unique way, is true to the oaths they've taken, even as they perform acts neither one could have imagined. If they fail, Blackhail and the entire northland will fall - first in battle among themselves, and then to inexorable evil of the Unmade.
In a sharply observed narrative that illuminates these riven lives, Jones has crafted a human drama full of the excitement, suspense, and sheer storytelling power that have made the Sword of Shadows a fantasy series that transcends genre to become a memorable tale of human striving and triumph that speaks to readers as have few others.
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J. V. Jones
Julie Victoria Jones was born in Liverpool, England, in 1963. The daughter of a pub owner, she tended bar from the age of eleven onward. At twenty, she began working for a record label and was part of the Liverpool music scene of the early eighties. She later moved to San Diego, California, where she ran an export business for several years and where she is now the marketing director for an interactive software company. Her interests include music, history, and computer games.
Sword of Shadows :: Series
Series contains 6 primary works and has 6 total works.
In this powerful saga of redemption and renewal, J. V. Jones brings to vivid life the magnificent tapestry of a world at once desperately fighting for survival against supernatural monsters and rent by internecine warfare. The frozen land at the north of the world was once ruled by a legendary nation of superhuman warriors. But that age has passed, leaving ancient clans to struggle for dominance as supernatural forces beyond their control threaten their very existence.
Amid the chaos of world-changing violence, unlikely heroes emerge. An unwanted warrior, a forsaken woman of power, the betrayed widow of a slain clan chief: these are the heroes rising to claim what has been taken from them and to reshape the world.
