This epic saga plunges into a world rife with ancient conflicts and intricate factional dynamics. Follow characters seeking peace amidst a constantly shifting landscape of intrigue and peril. The series explores themes of personal redemption, difficult choices, and unexpected twists of fate that test the boundaries of loyalty and courage. It's a journey where the past constantly threatens to unravel the present.
Set against a backdrop of conflict, the story follows Smith, a former assassin seeking a peaceful retirement among the feuding Children of the Sun. His attempt to live quietly is disrupted when he takes on the role of caravan master for a journey from Troon to Salesh. As he navigates the challenges of the trip, old enemies and new dangers emerge, threatening his desire for a life free from violence and conflict.
Set in a magical world filled with adventure and love, this standalone story by Kage Baker combines wit and irony to deliver an engaging narrative. Readers can expect a blend of humor and fantastical elements, characteristic of Baker's previous works, as they explore new characters and experiences in this enchanting setting.
Magic lives in remarkable realms – and in the short fiction of today's top fantasists. In this fifth breathtaking volume of the year's best flights of the fantastic, award–winning editors David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer present a dazzling new array of wonders – stories that break through the time–honored conventions of the genre to carry the reader to astonishing places that only the most ingenious minds could conceive. In the able hands of Neil Gaiman, Kage Baker, Tim Powers, and others, miracles become tangible and true, impossible creatures roam unfettered, and fairy tales are reshaped, sharpened, and freed from the restrictive bonds of childhood. Lose yourself in these pages and in these worlds – and discover the power, the beauty, the unparalleled enchantment of fantasy at its finest.