The Chathrand - The Great Ship, The Wind-Palace, His Supremacy''s First Fancy - is the last of her kind - built 600 years ago she dwarves all the ships around her. The secrets of her construction are long lost. She was the pride of the Empire. The natural choice for the great diplomatic voyage to seal the peace with the last of the Emperor''s last enemies.

700 souls boarded her. Her sadistic Captain Nilus Rose, the Emperor''s Ambassador and Thasha, the daughter he plans to marry off to seal the treaty, a spy master and six assassins, one hunderd imperial marines, Pazel the tarboy gifted and cursed by his mother''s spell and a small band of Ixchel. The Ixchel sneaked aboard and now hide below decks amongst the rats. Intent on their own mission.

But there is treachery afoot. Behind the plans for peace lies the shadow of war and the fear that a dead king might live again. And now the Chathrand, having survived countless battles and centuries of typhoons has gone missing.

This is her story.

THE RATS AND THE RULING SEA begins where THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY ended; Thasha''s wedding is hours away. It is a wedding that will both fulfil the promise of a mad god''s return and see her murdered. Pazel has thwarted the sorcerer who would bring back the god but both sides now face deadlock. Can Thasha be saved? Can the war between two Empires be stopped?THE RATS AND THE RULING SEA is, once again, focused on the giant ancient ship, the CHATHRAND, but now she must brave the terrors of the uncharted seas; the massive storms and the ship swallowing whirlpools and explore lands forgotten by the Northern world, all the time involved in a vicious running battle with a ship half her size but nearly her match.Robert Redick''s new novel takes the reader further into the labyrinthine plots and betrayals that have underscored the trilogy from the beginning. Robert Redick''s sequel to the acclaimed THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY is a masterpiece of plotting and adventure. As each page turns the reader shares with the characters the dawning realisation that nothing is at it seems.

The latest novel in Robert V.S. Redick''s stunning and original fantasy epic is a taut race against time that takes the Chathrand across the seas in a desperate bid to stop the sorcerer Arunis unleashing the Swarm of Night.From the mysterious River of Shadows to the Infernal Forest, to the Island Wilderness Pazel and his companions face a phantasmagoric journey through altered realities, a nightmare journey which offers glimpses of what might have been while taking them into the terror of what is to come.Will Arunis use the cursed Nilstone to end the world?This is a rich fantasy of nightmares and unexpected beauty and is proof that Redick is one of the most exciting new talents in fantasy.

As it reaches its thunderous conclusion. Robert V.S. Redick''s stunning and original fantasy series combines the invention of Scott Lynch with the power of Philip Pullman.The mighty centuries-old ship, Chathrand is long gone ...At the centre of an enchanted forest stands a clearing. Above it looms a ruined fragment of a vast tower. At its base, a group of friends. Exhausted, terrified. They stand around the body of a sorcerer, Arunis. They have slain this foe, but not before he unleashed the Swarm of Night, an ever-growing cloud of annihilation that is even now spreading across the world of Alifros.Arunis summoned the Swarm using the Nilstone, an artifact from the land of the dead. And only the Nilstone has the power to banish the Swarm again. But to do this the friends, Pazel, Thasha, Neeps and the mage Ramachni, must pass through a deadly, war-torn world, by land and sea, to the very maw of death''s kingdom. Only there, far from any hope of rescue, can the Nilstone be cast away.But the Nilstone is no longer a secret. The sorceress Macadra is searching for the travellers. And while they have only each other to rely on, Macadra has an empire at her command.

Kandri Hinjuman was never meant to be a soldier. His brother Mektu was never meant for this world. Rivals since childhood, they are drafted into a horrific war led by a madwoman-Prophet, and survive each day only by hiding their disbelief. Kandri is good at blending in, but Mektu is hopeless: impulsive, erratic-and certain that a demon is stalking him. Is this madness or a second sense? Either way, Kandri knows that Mektu''s antics will land them both in early graves.But all bets are off when the brothers'' simmering feud explodes into violence, and holy blood is spilled. Kandri and Mektu are taken for contract killers and must flee for their lives-to the one place where they can hope to disappear: the sprawling desert known as the Land that Eats Men. In this eerie wilderness, the terrain is as deadly as the monsters, ghouls, and traffickers in human flesh. Here the brothers find strange allies: an aging warlord, a desert nomad searching for her family, a lethal child-soldier still in her teens. They also find themselves in possession of a secret that could bring peace to the continent of Urrath. Or unthinkable carnage.On their heels are the Prophet''s death squads. Ahead lie warring armies, sandstorms, evil spirits and the deeper evil of human greed. But hope beckons as well-if the "Master Assassins" can expose the lie that has made them the world''s most wanted men.

The Chathrand - The Great Ship, The Wind-Palace, His Supremacy''s First Fancy - is the last of her kind - built 600 years ago she dwarves all the ships around her. The secrets of her construction are long lost. She was the pride of the Empire. The natural choice for the great diplomatic voyage to seal the peace with the last of the Emperor''s last enemies.

700 souls boarded her. Her sadistic Captain Nilus Rose, the Emperor''s Ambassador and Thasha, the daughter he plans to marry off to seal the treaty, a spy master and six assassins, one hunderd imperial marines, Pazel the tarboy gifted and cursed by his mother''s spell and a small band of Ixchel. The Ixchel sneaked aboard and now hide below decks amongst the rats. Intent on their own mission.

But there is treachery afoot. Behind the plans for peace lies the shadow of war and the fear that a dead king might live again. And now the Chathrand, having survived countless battles and centuries of typhoons has gone missing.

This is her story.

THE RATS AND THE RULING SEA begins where THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY ended; Thasha''s wedding is hours away. It is a wedding that will both fulfil the promise of a mad god''s return and see her murdered. Pazel has thwarted the sorcerer who would bring back the god but both sides now face deadlock. Can Thasha be saved? Can the war between two Empires be stopped?THE RATS AND THE RULING SEA is, once again, focused on the giant ancient ship, the CHATHRAND, but now she must brave the terrors of the uncharted seas; the massive storms and the ship swallowing whirlpools and explore lands forgotten by the Northern world, all the time involved in a vicious running battle with a ship half her size but nearly her match.Robert Redick''s new novel takes the reader further into the labyrinthine plots and betrayals that have underscored the trilogy from the beginning. Robert Redick''s sequel to the acclaimed THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY is a masterpiece of plotting and adventure. As each page turns the reader shares with the characters the dawning realisation that nothing is at it seems.

The latest novel in Robert V.S. Redick''s stunning and original fantasy epic is a taut race against time that takes the Chathrand across the seas in a desperate bid to stop the sorcerer Arunis unleashing the Swarm of Night.From the mysterious River of Shadows to the Infernal Forest, to the Island Wilderness Pazel and his companions face a phantasmagoric journey through altered realities, a nightmare journey which offers glimpses of what might have been while taking them into the terror of what is to come.Will Arunis use the cursed Nilstone to end the world?This is a rich fantasy of nightmares and unexpected beauty and is proof that Redick is one of the most exciting new talents in fantasy.

As it reaches its thunderous conclusion. Robert V.S. Redick''s stunning and original fantasy series combines the invention of Scott Lynch with the power of Philip Pullman.The mighty centuries-old ship, Chathrand is long gone ...At the centre of an enchanted forest stands a clearing. Above it looms a ruined fragment of a vast tower. At its base, a group of friends. Exhausted, terrified. They stand around the body of a sorcerer, Arunis. They have slain this foe, but not before he unleashed the Swarm of Night, an ever-growing cloud of annihilation that is even now spreading across the world of Alifros.Arunis summoned the Swarm using the Nilstone, an artifact from the land of the dead. And only the Nilstone has the power to banish the Swarm again. But to do this the friends, Pazel, Thasha, Neeps and the mage Ramachni, must pass through a deadly, war-torn world, by land and sea, to the very maw of death''s kingdom. Only there, far from any hope of rescue, can the Nilstone be cast away.But the Nilstone is no longer a secret. The sorceress Macadra is searching for the travellers. And while they have only each other to rely on, Macadra has an empire at her command.

Kandri Hinjuman was never meant to be a soldier. His brother Mektu was never meant for this world. Rivals since childhood, they are drafted into a horrific war led by a madwoman-Prophet, and survive each day only by hiding their disbelief. Kandri is good at blending in, but Mektu is hopeless: impulsive, erratic-and certain that a demon is stalking him. Is this madness or a second sense? Either way, Kandri knows that Mektu''s antics will land them both in early graves.But all bets are off when the brothers'' simmering feud explodes into violence, and holy blood is spilled. Kandri and Mektu are taken for contract killers and must flee for their lives-to the one place where they can hope to disappear: the sprawling desert known as the Land that Eats Men. In this eerie wilderness, the terrain is as deadly as the monsters, ghouls, and traffickers in human flesh. Here the brothers find strange allies: an aging warlord, a desert nomad searching for her family, a lethal child-soldier still in her teens. They also find themselves in possession of a secret that could bring peace to the continent of Urrath. Or unthinkable carnage.On their heels are the Prophet''s death squads. Ahead lie warring armies, sandstorms, evil spirits and the deeper evil of human greed. But hope beckons as well-if the "Master Assassins" can expose the lie that has made them the world''s most wanted men.