War and betrayal, magic and myth collide in this, the tumultuous fifth chapter of Steven Erikson's magnificent The Malazan Book of the Fallen.
After decades of internecine warfare, there is peace . . .
The tribes of the Tiste Edur have at last united under the Warlock King of the Hiroth. And so, yes peace - but it has been exacted at a terrible price: a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly.
To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether, eager to fulfil its long-prophesied renaissance as an Empire, has enslaved its less-civilized neighbours with rapacious hunger. All, that is, save one - the Tiste Edur. And it must be only a matter of time before they too will fall.
Or so destiny has decreed.
Because ancient forces are awakening. The impending struggle between these two peoples is but a pale reflection of a far more primal battle - a confrontation with the still-raw wound of an old betrayal and a craving for revenge at its seething heart . . .
'Marvellously gripping . . . a riveting read, punctuated as ever with pockets of humour and fantastically individual characters' SFCROWSNEST
**Cover may vary**