The Cursed Towers

A new age dawns in the kingdom of Eileanan, but not without resistance. Now the Righ, Lachlan the Winged, overturns his dead brother’s decrees against witchcraft. But sixteen years of hatred and superstition have cloaked Eileanan in darkness. And though he has won the power of the Lodestar, Lachlan’s rule is challenged by a mere babe—and a civil war erupts. The flame-haired twins—Iseult the Scarred Warrior and Isabeau the apprentice-witch—must go their separate ways. Iseult to fight side by side with her husband, Lachlan. Isabeau to the Cursed Towers, to master her powers and to find the family she has never known. One woman battling for a new reign, one woman learning the old ways, their separate threads will twist and turn into a tale of mayhem, mystery, and magic.

A new age dawns in the kingdom of Eileanan, but not without resistance. Now the Righ, Lachlan the Winged, overturns his dead brother’s decrees against witchcraft. But sixteen years of hatred and superstition have cloaked Eileanan in darkness. And though he has won the power of the Lodestar, Lachlan’s rule is challenged by a mere babe—and a civil war erupts. The flame-haired twins—Iseult the Scarred Warrior and Isabeau the apprentice-witch—must go their separate ways. Iseult to fight side by side with her husband, Lachlan. Isabeau to the Cursed Towers, to master her powers and to find the family she has never known. One woman battling for a new reign, one woman learning the old ways, their separate threads will twist and turn into a tale of mayhem, mystery, and magic.

The Cult of Rae have infiltrated the Tower of the Seven Stars and doom could follow them. Emma and her brother and friends have arrived at the Tower of the Seven Stars to begin their formal magical training. But their training is cut short when they uncover a plot by the nefarious Cult of Rae to bring the Tower crumbling down. Can Emma and her friends investigate the strange happenings at the Tower while keeping up with their schoolwork and encountering new rivalries? And do they have the magical prowess to stand against the cultists? If not, the entire Tower, and later the world, could come to a tragic end. Another installment in the Seven Stars Universe by Dayne Edmondson, this is a young adult fantasy novel set twenty years after "Shadows Fall" and featuring cameos from some famous characters. Buy now to jump into the adventure.

Lachlan the Winged now holds the Lodestar and is Rìgh of Eileanan. But his battle to gain the throne is only the first of many that he and Eileanan must face. Maya, who wrought such terrible persecution upon Eileanan's witches and fairy creatures, has disappeared. Despite having played a crucial role in his victory, Isabeau feels increasingly uneasy at Lachlan's court. She has taken responsibility for Maya's baby, Bronwen, and fears her brother-in-law's jealousy of the child. Once again she must take to the road, though the road she travels this time is unlike any other . . . Under the watchful eyes of the dragons, Isabeau and Bronwen make their home at the crumbling Towers of Roses and Thorns deep in the mountains. It is there that Isabeau will discover her true heritage – and the true nature of the dragons. As Lachlan seeks support throughout Eileanan, his armies continue to fight the invading Tìrsoilleirean soldiers. Meanwhile, Maya has kept herself well-hidden and makes plans to regain her baby and her power. However in the aloof Margrit of Arran she finds a dangerous ally, and in the end aid comes to her from a most unexpected direction . . . The Cursed Towers is the third book in the series The Witches of Eileanan.

The city of Acre, powerfully fortified and richly provisioned, was the last crusader stronghold. When it fell in 1291, two hundred years of Christian crusading in the Holy Land came to a bloody end. With his customary narrative brilliance and immediacy, Roger Crowley chronicles the tumultuous and violent attack on Acre, the heaviest bombardment before the age of gunpowder, which left this once great Mediterranean city a crumbling ruin.The ‘Accursed Tower’ was the focal point of this siege. As the last garrison of the Crusader defences, it came to symbolise the disintegration of the old world and the rise of a new era of Islamic jihad. Crowley’s narrative is based on forensic research, drawing heavily on little known first hand sources, both Christian and Arabic. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of a pivotal moment in world history.

One-Horn’s daughter is not like the others of her kind. Born of a human father, she lacks the horns so prized by her people and is scorned even by her own mother. Her only chance for escape is to capture one of the legendary flying horses and ride it to freedom. So this strange, feral girl begins a dangerous journey of love, death, and betrayal that will earn her a new name: Rhiannon, the rider no one can catch. Rescued and taken to the home of Lewen, a young man just beginning to understand his own magical potential, Rhiannon is fascinated by the human world and by Lewen. Together they travel through a land where the dead walk and ghosts haunt the living, a place where Rhiannon encounters dark forces that endanger all of Eileanan. But to save the land, she must convince Lewen and the other apprentice-witches to trust the word of a wild half-human girl.