Fall of the Swords Collection

Fall of the Swords Collection
Author: Scott Michael Decker
Publisher: Next Chapter
Total Pages: 1378
Release: 2022-07-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

All four books in 'Fall Of The Swords', a series of fantasy novels by Scott Michael Decker, now in one volume! The Peasant: Following a civil war, an empire grapples with the devastating fallout. His conscience heavy, Peasant General Guarding Bear wants to usurp the tyrannical emperor’s throne. But the general’s rivals continue to play games, seeking to avenge their name and reclaim the Northern Imperial Sword. With his reign threatened and no progeny to his name, the Emperor plots to conceive an heir by stealth. Soon, Guarding Bear enters a world of deception, smoke and mirrors, and must decide where his loyalties lie. The Bandit: Tired of lying in wait, the exiled Noble Bandit seizes his chance at revenge. Meanwhile, as the birth of the Royal Twins nears, Peasant General Guarding Bear is repatriated by the Emperor. Fearing for the safety of his heirs, the emperor orders the general to lay siege to his enemy’s fortress. In preparation, the general recruits the aid of a powerful wizard and a skilled young healer – but none of them suspects a traitor in their midst. As loyalties are tested and new alliances made, who will rise above and claim victory as their own? The Heir: The future of the Empire hangs in the balance. Separated from birth, the Royal Twins have been raised in opposite corners of the empire. Meanwhile, bandits continue to lay waste to the kingdom in their attempt to force the Emperor to relinquish the Northern Imperial Sword. Among them is the Noble Bandit, nemesis of Peasant General Guarding Bear. Tasked with rearing one of the twins, the Peasant General wastes no time in preparing the boy for his destiny of ridding the kingdom of the bandits once and for all. But long-kept secrets are brought to life as the Heir is mistaken for his long-lost brother, and his new rival declares himself Emperor of the northern lands. Their path leads them towards a final confrontation that will forever change the fate of the realm. The Emperor: Seeking Sword looks to the south for only one thing: The Northern Imperial Sword, which now lies dormant in the vaults of the Eastern Empire. Without it, Seeking Sword will always be a bandit. And to get it, he'll have to defeat the Heir. Abandoned to bandits as an infant, Seeking Sword has known adversity, but nothing has prepared him to lead a campaign against such an adversary. It isn't the Heir's formidable fighting skills nor his tactical acumen that so dismays the bandit Emperor. It's the beloved devotion of his people.

The Fell Sword

The Fell Sword
Author: Miles Cameron
Publisher: Orbit
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2014-03-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316212342

When a mercenary and his company are charged with putting down a local rebellion, the consequences will be larger than they ever imagined in this action-packed sequel to The Red Knight. Loyalty costs money. Betrayal, on the other hand, is free. When the Emperor is taken hostage, the Red Knight and his men find their services in high demand -- and themselves surrounded by enemies. The country is in revolt, the capital city is besieged and any victory will be hard won. But the Red Knight has a plan. The question is, can he negotiate the political, magical, real and romantic battlefields at the same time -- especially when he intends to be victorious on them all? If you're a fan of Mark Lawrence, John Gwynne, or Brian McClellan you won't want to miss out on the second book of this intricate, epic fantasy.

Swords Against The Senate

Swords Against The Senate
Author: Erik Hildinger
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2008-11-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786741813

In the first century B.C., Rome was the ruler of a vast empire. Yet at the heart of the Republic was a fatal flaw: a dangerous hostility between the aristocracy and the plebians, each regarding itself as the foundation of Rome's military power. Turning from their foreign enemies, Romans would soon be fighting Romans.Swords Against the Senate describes the first three decades of Rome's century-long civil war that transformed it from a republic to an imperial autocracy, from the Rome of citizen leaders to the Rome of decadent emperor thugs. As the republic came apart amid turmoil, Gaius Marius, the "people's general," rose to despotic power only to be replaced by the brutal dictator Sulla. The Roman army, once invincible against foreign antagonists, became a tool for the powerful, and the Roman Senate its foe.

The Book of Swords

The Book of Swords
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0399593772

New epic fantasy in the grand tradition—including a never-before-published Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin! Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the page: Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a storytelling sensation, a cornerstone of fantasy fiction—and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own outsize tales of magic and swashbuckling adventure. Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters—many of them set in their authors’ best-loved worlds. Join today’s finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel. FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES: “The Best Man Wins” by K. J. Parker “Her Father’s Sword” by Robin Hobb “The Hidden Girl” by Ken Liu “The Sword of Destiny” by Matthew Hughes “‘I Am a Handsome Man,’ Said Apollo Crow” by Kate Elliott “The Triumph of Virtue” by Walter Jon Williams “The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham “Hrunting” by C. J. Cherryh “A Long, Cold Trail” by Garth Nix “When I Was a Highwayman” by Ellen Kushner “The Smoke of Gold Is Glory” by Scott Lynch “The Colgrid Conundrum” by Rich Larson “The King’s Evil” by Elizabeth Bear “Waterfalling” by Lavie Tidhar “The Sword Tyraste” by Cecelia Holland “The Sons of the Dragon” by George R. R. Martin And an introduction by Gardner Dozois “When fine writer and expert editor [Gardner] Dozois beckons, authors deliver—and this surely will be one of the year’s essential anthologies.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Tremontaine

Tremontaine
Author: Ellen Kushner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 688
Release: 2017-05-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 148148558X

"A duchess's beauty matched only by her cunning; her husband's dangerous affair with a handsome scholar; a foreigner in a playground of swordplay and secrets; and a mathematical genius on the brink of revolution. Suddenly long-buried lies threaten to come to light and betrayal and treachery run rampant in this story of sparkling wit and political intrigue."--Amazon.com.

The Red Knight

The Red Knight
Author: Miles Cameron
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2013-01-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316212296

Miles Cameron weaves an epic tale of magic and mercenaries, war and depravity, politics and intrigue in this action-packed debut fantasy The Red Knight. Twenty eight florins a month is a huge price to pay, for a man to stand between you and the Wild. Twenty eight florins a month is nowhere near enough when a wyvern's jaws snap shut on your helmet in the hot stink of battle, and the beast starts to rip the head from your shoulders. But if standing and fighting is hard, leading a company of men -- or worse, a company of mercenaries -- against the smart, deadly creatures of the Wild is even harder. It takes all the advantages of birth, training, and the luck of the devil to do it. The Red Knight has all three, he has youth on his side, and he's determined to turn a profit. So when he hires his company out to protect an Abbess and her nunnery, it's just another job. The abby is rich, the nuns are pretty and the monster preying on them is nothing he can't deal with. Only it's not just a job. It's going to be a war. . . If you're a fan of Mark Lawrence, John Gwynne, or Brian McClellan you won't want to miss out on this intricate, epic debut fantasy.

The First Book of Swords

The First Book of Swords
Author: Fred Saberhagen
Publisher: JSS Literary Productions, LLC
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2020-02-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0979625718

Vulcan the god has a hard task to perform for his bored and restless colleagues — forge 12 magic Swords, quenched with human blood, and scatter them across the world. Each Sword possesses a different power. With them the gods will play a new, grand, and glorious Game. Mere humans foolishly striving for dominion, wealth and glory, are invited to risk their puny lives by joining in. (Later, the gods realize with horror that something has gone wrong in the forging, and with the Game. The Swords are much too powerful, controlling chance, enhancing fortune, changing destiny. And lethal even to their divine creators.) Jord the Smith, drafted to help Vulcan in his task, loses his right arm in the process (receiving the Sword Townsaver as pay). He is too weak to claim Mala, his bride-to-be, who joins a traditional fertility rite, where her partner might be the enigmatic Emperor, his face hidden by a leather mask. Nine months later, she gives birth to Mark. Thirteen years pass, then Townsaver wipes out a raiding party on orange-furred warbeasts, sent to Mark’s village. It falls to Mark to carry the blade away to hide or destroy it.

The Fall of Dragons

The Fall of Dragons
Author: Miles Cameron
Publisher: Orbit
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316302457

Miles Cameron is the master of intrigue and action-packed battles in this epic tale of magic and mercenaries, war, depravity, and politics, the final book of the Traitor Son Cycle. In the climax of the Traitor Son Cycle, the allied armies of the Wild and the Kingdoms of men and women must face Ash for control of the gates to the hermetical universe, and for control of their own destinies. But exhaustion, treachery and time may all prove deadlier enemies. In Alba, Queen Desiderata struggles to rebuild her kingdom wrecked by a year of civil war, even as the Autumn battles are fought in the west. In the Terra Antica, The Red Knight attempts to force his unwilling allies to finish the Necromancer instead of each other. But as the last battle nears, The Red Knight makes a horrifying discovery. . .all of this fighting may have happened before.

The Fall of The Kings

The Fall of The Kings
Author: Ellen Kushner
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2007-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307418464

This stunning follow-up to Ellen Kushner’s cult-classic novel, Swordspoint, is set in the same world of labyrinthine intrigue, where sharp swords and even sharper wits rule. Against a rich tapestry of artists and aristocrats, students, strumpets, and spies, a gentleman and a scholar will find themselves playing out an ancient drama destined to explode their society’s smug view of itself–and reveal that sometimes the best price of uncovering history is being forced to repeat it…. The Fall of the Kings Generations ago the last king fell, taking with him the final truths about a race of wizards who ruled at his side. But the blood of the kings runs deep in the land and its people, waiting for the coming together of two unusual men, Theron Campion, a young nobleman of royal lineage, is heir to an ancient house and a modern scandal. Tormented by his twin duties to his family and his own bright spirit, he seeks solace in the University. There he meets Basil St. Cloud, a brilliant and charismatic teacher ruled by a passion for knowledge–and a passion for the ancient kings. Of course, everyone now knows that the wizards were charlatans and the kings their dupes and puppets. Only Basil ins not convinced–nor is he convinced that the city has seen its last king…