Gallow The Last Bastion

The last battle for the fate of your country is coming. My kin are out for blood and revenge. Another empire sees a chance to come in and pick up the pieces of our war. Most of your warriors are stuck hiding in the swamps, always aware that they do not have enough numbers to win a straight fight. And from over the seas, my people bring their most deadly weapons, the Fateguard. Living suits of armour, imbued with mystical and deadly power. The end times have come for your land. I have fought alongside you, I have bled for you, I have made myself a traitor to all I believe in for you. And yet you still do not trust me. But you have no option. This will be our last battle, and there is only one place that it can be fought. We must defend our stronghold, no matter how many lives it may cost, no matter how hard it is. For if we do not, there will be no mercy and no relief from the terrors to come. Good thing I'm on your side.

Gallow has been tasked to carry the pieces of armour that once belonged to the demonic Eyes of Time back to Middislet, to re-forge it with salt and then hide it. Mirrahj, meanwhile, has chosen to leave the valley of Varyxhun to return to her people and, with the sword Solace now at her side, lead them home. Together they travel towards the coast, little knowing that the Eyes of Time is on their trail, urgently seeking what Gallow carries...

The fort of Witches' Reach, where the Aulians buried the Eyes of Time, lies firmly under Marroc control - but the Aulians built a second fort on the other side of the river overlooking Issetbridge. The fort is a ruin, having collapsed decades ago but that doesn't mean there aren't secrets buried underneath it. With Gallow already away and Arda and several of Valaric's men about to sneak into Issetbridge to steal a forge, it falls to Achista to accompany Oribas on his expedition to pry into this lost ruin. In hostile territory, hiding from the forkbeards, Oribas and Achista find themselves embroiled in a Marroc uprising against the Lhosir of Issetbridge before Oribas finds a way into the half-collapsed chambers beneath the ruin of Dragon's Reach. Inside he hopes to find Aulian secrets; what he actually finds is something much more dangerous. . .

I have been Truesword to my friends, Griefbringer to my enemies. To most of you I am just another Northlander bastard here to take your women and drink your mead, but to those who know me, my name is Gallow. I fought for my king for seven long years. I have fled in defeat and I have tasted victory and I will tell you which is sweeter. Despise me, then, for I have slain more of your kin than I can count, though I remember every single face. Collected here are the first three Gallow novels, along with a collection of framing short stories. THE FATEGUARD TRILOGY tells of the years when Gallow discovered that a man as notorious as he was cannot live a quiet life, and in the end must choose a side, even if that means betraying his own people. And when you betray a king, you accept that there will be a reckoning. The Fateguard are coming ... Contains THE CRIMSON SHIELD, COLD REDEMPTION and THE LAST BASTION

With the Lhosir king dead and his army slaughtered and drowned on the walls of Varyxhun castle, King Valaric knows it's only a matter of time before the forkbeards stop licking their wounds and come at him again - and when they do he'd better be ready because there's nothing more precious to a forkbeard than his pride. And one of the things he needs more than anything else is a working forge to hammer out more arrowhead and spearheads and draw more wire for mail; and for a forge he needs tools and an anvil. The nearest working forge that has everything he needs is in Issetbridge. Issetbridge still occupied by the Lhosir so he'd best send someone tough to go and get it, and it has to be someone who knows his way around a forge, but that's not a problem since it was going to be Gallow anyway, his forkbeard smith. What he also has is a man on the inside, a carter whom the forkbeards of Issetbridge will recognise and might even let pass without trying to murder him. It's all good until Gallow's wife Arda points out that half the Lhosir in Issetbridge will recognise Gallow and he's about as subtle and unobtrusive as a smack round the head from a hammer. What Valaric really needs is someone who knows their way around a forge but whom the forkbeards won't notice. A Marroc, not a forkbeard. Better still, a woman. Her. Valaric reluctantly agrees. What he doesn't know is that Arda and Fenaric the Carter have history and it's not pretty.

I have been Truesword to my friends, Griefbringer to my enemies. To most of you I am just another Northlander bastard here to take your women and drink your mead, but to those who know me, my name is Gallow. I fought for my king for seven long years. I have served lords and held my shield beside common men. I have fled in defeat and I have tasted victory and I will tell you which is sweeter. Despise me then, for I have slain more of your kin than I can count, though I remember every single face. For my king I will travel to the end of the world. I will find the fabled Crimson Shield so that his legions may carry it to battle, and when Sword and Shield must finally clash, there you will find me. I will not make pacts with devils or bargains with demons for I do not believe in such things, and yet I will see them all around me, in men and in their deeds. Remember me then, for I will not suffer such monsters to live. Even if they are the ones I serve.

Two alien invasions. Two heroes. One Story. Collects EMPIRES: EXTRACTION and EMPIRES: INFILTRATION in one volume! This groundbreaking collaboration between two Gollancz authors tells of the invasion of Earth by two different alien races - at the same time. Two men become aware of the threat, and must work to sabotage the invasion plans and see off the aliens. Each book follows one hero, uncovering the threat to humanity and the world from their point of view. Each book can be read on its own, and will give the reader a complete, kinetic, fast-paced military SF story. But read both books and the reader gets something else - another view of (some of) the same events and crossover points, culminating in a bloody battle at Canary Wharf. The two books can be read in any order, but together they tell the story of humanity caught in the crossfire between two deadly alien races, who have made Earth their battleground...

This groundbreaking collaboration between two Gollancz authors tells of the invasion of Earth by two different alien races - at the same time. Two men become aware of the threat, and must work to sabotage the invasion plans and see off the aliens. Each book follows one hero, uncovering the threat to humanity and the world from their point of view. Each book can be read on its own, and will give the reader a complete, kinetic, fast-paced military SF story. But read both books and the reader gets something else - another view of (some of) the same events and crossover points, culminating in a bloody battle at Canary Wharf. The two books can be read in any order, but together they tell the story of humanity caught in the crossfire between two deadly alien races, who have made Earth their battleground...