
THE FALL ACCORDING TO C.J. CHERRYH
The Roman Empire. Imagine its fall. Now imagine that warring time with cannon — and a working system of magic. C.J. Cherryh did. In The Sword of Knowledge Cherryh has explored the fall of empires and the impact of technological knowledge, while replacing the repressed religion of the Christians with a Church of Knowledge.
In A Dirge for Sabis we saw the Sabirn Empire fall to barbarians because the rulers were too inflexible to make use of the technology available to them.
Wizard Spawn opens centuries later, with the Sabirn empire a blighted memory, and the barbarians established as the new and oppressive rulers.
Now another half millennium has passed, and new barbarians are on the rise. It will be a battle of barbarian vigor vs. The Sword of Knowledge in
REAP THE WHIRLWIND
Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels form a complex tapestry of interaction between human and non-human protagonists with many different cultures and social mores.
Her other main world is one much like our own, but it includes clandestine populations of elves, mages, vampires, and other mythical beings. The Bedlam's Bard books describe a young man with the power to work magic through music; the SERRAted Edge books are about racecar driving elves; and the Diana Tregarde thrillers center on a Wiccan who combats evil.
She has also