Book description
In the western sky the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends
like a portent of annihilation. On the continent of Jacuruku, the
Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition in a bid to tame the
neighbouring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is
called Himatan, and it is said to be half of the spirit-realm and half
of the earth. And it is said to be ruled by a powerful entity who some
name the Queen of Witches and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata.
Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs - but
it was the voices from that land's forgotten past that she listened
to. And when her rulers launch their invasion of this jungle, those
voices send her and her brother on a desperate mission.
To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a
foreign warleader, a veteran commander in battered ashen mail men call
the Grey Ghost. This warrior leads these tribes on a raid unlike any
other, deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands.
While word comes to K'azz, and mercenary company the Crimson Guard,
of a contract in Jacuruku. And their employer? Could it be the goddess herself...
IAN CAMERON ESSLEMONT was born in 1962 in Winnipeg, Canada. He has a
degree in Creative Writing, studied and worked as an archaeologist,
travelled extensively in South East Asia, and lived in Thailand and
Japan for several years. He now lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, with his
wife and children and is currently working on his PhD in English
Literature. His previous novels,
Night of Knives
,
Return of the Crimson Guard, Stonewielder
and
Orb Sceptre Throne
are all set in the fantasy world of Malaz that he co-created with his
great friend Steven Erikson.
