Glenda Larke – författare

Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It''s the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn''t get him killed first... Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous... The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die. Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...

The last Stormlord is dead - and war has arrived.The nomadic Reduners have put the Quartern''s rainlords to the sword, leaving their cities without water or hope. Shale still lives, despite being betrayed, drugged and sold to his greatest enemy. Yet Shale needs his adversary more than his freedom, as thousands will die if they don''t channel the rains together. For Shale isn''t a Stormlord in his own right - at least, not yet. Only Terelle could help him now, but she''s a prisoner herself and far from home.And a new force is rising in the desert. While kept as a Reduner whore, Rainlord Ryka Feldspar witnesses a power that can move the sands themselves. The Reduners are hailing this power as god-given, and its impact could transform a world.

Reduner nomads have massacred the Quartern''s Rainlords, leaving its cities vulnerable to the relentless desert. Now Stormlord Shale must stretch his powers to bring rain, or his people will die - if they don''t meet a Reduner knife first. However, Shale can''t hold out alone for much longer, and those who seek to exploit him are closing in.Rainlord Kaneth has spurned these politics for war, and plans to defeat the Reduner leader from his desert stronghold. But there are spies in Kaneth''s camp.Terelle has been Shale''s secret weapon until now, covertly boosting his powers. But her Uncle''s magic compels her to travel to distant Khromatis - and if she disobeys him it will destroy her. Yet Khromatis gave the desert its first Stormlord, so Terelle may find hope there as well as great danger . . .

Stolen from her people as a child and raised as a citizen of the Tyranian Empire, Ligea Gayed is the obvious choice to despatch to her homeland, occupied Kardiastan, with orders to root out a rebel conspiracy. At first, she devotes herself to her new assignment with zeal. Adopted daughter of the Empire''s greatest general, and possessing a fearsome reputation within the ruthless Imperial spy network known as the Brotherhood, Ligea views herself as a loyal servant of Tyrans. But blood will out, and with each day she spends among her parents'' people, her disciplined self-image crumbles a little. And there are secrets in Kardiastan, secrets that will inevitably force Ligea to choose between her upbringing and her birthright. Secrets that will shape the destiny of two nations. . .

Ligea Gayed has been lied to once too often. Now she has turned against her former employer, the secretive Brotherhood of the Tyrans Empire, and must evade Favonius and his Jackals while also recruiting others to fight with her.Yet, despite her best efforts, a rebellion is hard to come by. Except within her own family, of course. Ligea''s son, Arrant, is prey to feelings of inadequacy, and is angry about his mother''s relationship with a man who is not his father. Unable to accept what is happening to him, he becomes susceptible to the blandishments of his mother''s enemies. Worse still, in the middle of a war he is a Magoroth unable to control or use his power in a constructive way.In seeking to punish Ligea for her relationship with Brand, Arrant and those around him might well lose everything . . .

Ligea''s son, Arrant, leaves Tyrans for Kardiastan to take his place as Mirager-heir, while Ligea prepares to halt an insurrection. But Arrant''s skills as a Magoroth are dangerously inconsistent, and his father, Temellin, finds it difficult to communicate with this secretive young man he barely knows. Arrant''s singular ability to communicate with his half-brother, Tarran - a part of the collective mind known as the Mirage Makers - leads them both towards the possibility of a tragic clash with the encroaching Ravage. As Arrant''s enemies among the Magoroth plot to ruin his family and his future as heir, he begins to realise there is a greater mystery to solve if he is to prevail.

THEY FOLLOW WHERE THE DAGGER LEADSArdhi, Sorrel and the excommunicated cleric, Saker Rampion, stow away on a ship to the Spice Islands. They must return stolen items of great power to Ardhi''s home, but there are ruthless men after this power, men who will kill to possess it.At home in Ardrone, an army of demonic origin runs amok while Saker''s superiors in the church struggle to quell it. And the young queen Mathilda struggles with the possibility that her newborn child, the heir to the throne, may be linked to the corruption that has erupted throughout the land.Sorcerers, lascars, pirates and thieves collide in this thrilling sequel to Glenda Larke''s epic fantasy adventure The Lascar''s Dagger.

Excommunicated cleric Saker returns from exile in the Spice Islands to find his homeland in chaos.A dark sorcerer controls the ear of the King, turning him against his own son and heir, while a corrupted army gathers in the shadows.With the illusionist Sorrel and islander Ardhi, armed with magic from Ardhi''s homeland, Saker now must stand between his city and the corruption that threatens to cripple it before it is too late . . . The third and final novel in an epic fantasy trilogy from Glenda Larke, author of the Stormlord series - full of scheming, spying, action and adventure.

FAITH WILL NOT SAVE HIM.Saker looks like a simple priest, but in truth he''s a spy for the head of his faith. It''s a dangerous job, and more lives than merely his own depend on his secrecy.When Saker is wounded by a Lascar sailor''s blade the weapon seems to follow him home. Unable to discard it, nor the sense of responsibility that comes with it, Saker can only follow its lead. It will put him on a journey to strange shores, on a path that will reveal terrible secrets about the empire, about the people he serves, and likely lead to his own destruction. The Lascar''s dagger demands a price, and that price will be paid in blood.

The Eight Stabilities are islands of order surrounded by corrupting, lethal chaos-and the chaos is encroaching.All Keris Kaylen ever wanted was to be a mapmaker like her father. Instead, she finds herself on the run into the realm of Carasma, the Unmaker Lord of Chaos. When her path crosses that of the traitorous aristocrat, Davron Storre, she''s way out of her depth, with no idea that the magic map she''s inherited might make a difference to the world...