The War with the Mein

Ruling from the island of Acacia, the emperor of the Known World has inherited an apparent peace and prosperity won by his ancestors generations ago. He's an intelligent man, a widower who dotes on his four children and it is this devotion that obliges him to hide a terrible secret from them: that their prosperity rests on the dark realities of trafficking in drugs and human lives. A man of integrity, he hopes that he might bring an end to this vile trade, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then an assassin strikes, a lone killer sent by the Mein, an ancient foe long ago exiled to the frozen north. Now the Mein have returned to take revenge on their old enemy and begin a series of brutal surprise assaults on Acacia. Mortally wounded, the emperor puts into play a plan that will allow his children to escape, to fulfil their destinies. And so begins a quest to avenge a father's death and restore an empire - this time on the basis of universal freedom...

The apocalyptic struggle against the Mein has ended. A victorious Corinn Akaran reigns over the Acacian Empire of the Known World. Bolstered by her mastery of the sorcerous powers contained in the Book of Elenet, she rules with an iron hand. And rebuilding a war-weary empire is not easy. Disturbing news reaches her court from the mysterious Other Lands and Corinn dispatches her brother, Dariel, as her emissary across the uncharted seas of the Grey Slopes. From the moment he sets foot on that distant continent, this former brigand is caught up in a web of ancient rivalries, resentments, intrigue and burgeoning treachery. His arrival ignites a firestorm that once more threatens the Known World with invasion - one that will surely dwarf anything his homeland had yet faced. It seems the wheel turns again, and a new cycle of world-shattering and shaping events is about to begin...