In The Shadow Of The Gods

'A masterfully crafted, brutally compelling Norse-inspired epic' Anthony Ryan THE GREATEST SAGAS ARE WRITTEN IN BLOOD. A century has passed since the gods fought and drove themselves to extinction. Now only their bones remain, promising great power to those brave enough to seek them out. As whispers of war echo across the land of Vigrið, fate follows in the footsteps of three warriors: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman pursuing battle fame, and a thrall seeking vengeance among the mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn. All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods. Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne. Further praise for The Shadow of the Gods 'Visceral, heart-breaking and unputdownable' Jay Kristoff 'A satisfying and riveting read. The well-realised characters move against a backdrop of a world stunning in its immensity. It's everything I've come to expect from a John Gwynne book' Robin Hobb 'A masterclass in storytelling . . . epic, gritty fantasy with an uncompromising amount of heart' FanFiAddict 'Quintessential Gwynne honed to perfection . . . The Shadow of the Gods is absolutely stunning, one hell of an epic series opener and a spectacular dose of Viking-flavoured fantasy' The Tattooed Book Geek 'Reminds me of all that I love in the fantasy genre. The Shadow of the Gods is an action-packed cinematic read' Fantasy Hive

Packed with myth, magic, and bloody vengeance, John Gwynne's "masterfully crafted, brutally compelling, Norse-inspired epic" (Anthony Ryan) continues in The Hunger of the Gods. THE DEAD GODS ARE RISING. Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest. As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own–and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance. Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her. Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god. Their only hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead...and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth. Praise for The Shadow of the Gods “There is not a dull chapter in this fantasy epic.” —Vulture (Best of the Year) "A satisfying and riveting read. It’s everything I’ve come to expect from a John Gwynne book." —Robin Hobb "A masterfully crafted, brutally compelling Norse-inspired epic." —Anthony Ryan "A masterclass in storytelling . . . epic, gritty fantasy with an uncompromising amount of heart." —FanFiAddict For more from John Gwynne, check out: The Bloodsworn Trilogy The Shadow of the Gods The Hunger of the Gods Of Blood and Bone A Time of Dread A Time of Blood A Time of Courage The Faithful and the Fallen Malice Valor Ruin Wrath

The history of the lake's Canadian shore is explored through stories of the adventures, failures, triumphs, and deceits of those who came to fulfill their dreams. Includes tales of ghost villages, islands, shipwrecks, the railway, and POW camps.

Acclaimed epic fantasy author John Gwynne returns with the first book in a new trilogy, perfect for fans of George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, and David Gemmell. "A Time of Dread reminds me of why I became a fantasy enthusiast in the first place." -- Robin Hobb A race of warrior angels, the Ben-Elim, once vanquished a mighty demon horde. Now they rule the Banished lands, but their peace is brutally enforced. In the south, hotheaded Riv is desperate to join the Ben-Elim's peacekeeping force, until she unearths a deadly secret. In the west, the giantess Sig investigates demon sightings and discovers signs of an uprising and black magic. And in the snowbound north, Drem, a trapper, finds mutilated corpses in the forests. The work of a predator, or something far darker? It's a time of shifting loyalties and world-changing dangers. Difficult choices need to be made. Because in the shadows, demons are gathering, waiting for their time to rise. . .

Heroes shall rise and fall, the earth shall be stained red, and the fate of the Banished Lands will be decided once and for all in A Time of Courage, the gripping conclusion to the Of Blood and Bone trilogy. Now is the time of reckoning... The demon-king Asroth is free of his iron prison, and thewhole of the Banished Lands stands on the brink of domination. With the Ben-Elim broken and routed, half-breed Riv and asmall band of comrades must try to find a way to strike at the demon forces. Meanwhile, Drem is with the Order of the Bright Star on a desperate march south to join the battle. He fears what they will find along the way, even as he knows it is better to fight and fall than to live without hope. Of Blood and BoneA Time of DreadA Time of BloodA Time of Courage The Faithful and the FallenMaliceValorRuinWrath

A breathtaking talent makes her debut with this first book in a dark epic fantasy trilogy, The Bound Gods, in which a mismatched band of mortals led by a violent, secretive man must stand against a pair of resentful gods to save their world. Part Patrick Rothfuss, part Joe Abercrombie, magic and warfare collide in this powerful struggle for a broken world. Eons ago, a pair of gods known as the Twins grew powerful in the world of Fiatera, until the Divine Mother and Almighty Father exiled them, binding them deep in the earth. But the price of keeping the fire lands safe is steep. To prevent these young gods from rising again, all twins in the land must be killed at birth, a safeguard that has worked until now. Trapped for centuries, the Twins are gathering their latent powers to break free and destroy the Parents for their tyranny—to set off a fight between two generations of gods for control of the world and the mortals who dwell in it. When the gods make war, only one side can be victorious. Joros, a mysterious and cunning priest, has devised a dangerous plan to win. Over eight years, he gathers a team of disparate fighters—Scal, a lost and damaged swordsman from the North; Vatri, a scarred priestess who claims to see the future in her fires; Anddyr, a drug-addled mage wandering between sanity and madness; and Rora and Aro, a pair of twins who have secretly survived beyond the reach of the law. These warriors must learn to stand together against the unfathomable power of vengeful gods, to stop them from tearing down the sun . . . and plunging their world into darkness.

From the acclaimed Wolfson Prize-winning author, a dazzling history of the world's emperors For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. In practice they ran the gamut from being some of the most remarkable men who ever lived, to being some of the worst and least remarkable. Dominic Lieven's marvellous new book, In the Shadow of the Gods, is the first to grapple seriously with this extraordinary phenomenon. Across the world peoples, willingly or unwillingly, fell into orbit around figures who reshaped or destroyed entire societies, imposed religions and invaded rivals. Lieven describes the anatomy of imperial monarchy and the principles by which it functioned. He compares the great emperors of antiquity, the caliphs and the warrior-emperors of the steppe before he turns to the Habsburg, Russian, Ottoman, Mughal and Chinese emperors, packing the book with extraordinary stories, astute observations and a sense of both delight and horror at these individuals' antics. The entire breadth of extreme human behaviour is here - from warlords to patrons of the arts, from political genius to feeble incapacity and pathological violence. As one of the great experts both on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history's grandest and most dismaying figures.

The enchanting tale of a wolf who forms an unlikely alliance with Baba Yaga to save the forest from a wicked tsar. "Karah Sutton has crafted a vivid and rollicking adventure that proves a wolf doesn't have to be big or bad to win the day!" --Rosanne Parry, New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans--especially witches--but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf's keen nose for a secret plan she's brewing . . . Before Zima knows what's happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga's hut--and Baba Yaga's body! Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch's help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga's form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all. Infused with Russian folklore and brought vividly to life in Pauliina Hannuniemi's gorgeous illustrations, Karah Sutton's magical debut is a celebration of wolves and witches, and the importance of finding common ground with our so-called enemies.