AustLit

'The sorcerer has awoken and blights the land ... while the innocent mage hovers between life and death.

Rafel′s expedition over the mountains to Lost Dorana has disappeared. Now Deenie is having disturbing dreams of her brother and determines to seek the truth. In the company of her best friend she finds a way beyond Lur, only to find that the evil sorcerer, Morg, still holds those lands in a tenuous but strengthening grip.' (From the publisher's website.)

'A brand new series from the bestselling new fantasy author of the last decade

'In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.

'Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it - should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.

'But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands.

'Not even the people they trust.' (Publication summary)

'Alliances shift as decades-old secrets can no longer be hidden. The revelation that Emperor Loethar and his enemy, King Leonel, share the same paternal royal blood destroys previous loyalties. And it seems that Piven is no longer the helpless orphan everyone believed him to be. Perhaps most startling of all is the discovery that the first Valisar princess to survive in centuries is returning to the world and may well wield the famed Valisar Enchantment.

As the empire threatens to tear itself to pieces, former enemies must now work on the same side and friends become the hunted to protect the imperial line.

At all costs royal blood must prevail ... even when it pitches Valisar against Valisar.' (From the publisher's website.)

'The Denova Empire is flourishing under Loethar's rule, to the surprise of many. Peace, prosperity and pride has swept across the realms as Loethar urges the invading people of the Steppes to integrate with the west. The harmony is his great achievement but Loethar is bored. So is Leo, the self proclaimed true king, living in seclusion in the forests. Now 22, he is eager to stake his claim and return the Valisar dynasty to the throne.

Freath, meanwhile continues his double life, secretly loyal to Valisar but working as sage counsel to the Empire. When he learns that the lost invalid heir, Piven, is alive he sets a plan in motion to find and reunite the brothers in safety.

But a new evil is stirring that none could have foreseen and only one person knows that the legendary Valisar Enchantment is rising. Soon the wars and destruction that formed an empire will seem a squabble by comparison to the darkness that is threatening.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Whilst his sister, Maerad, pursues her dangerous destiny in the frozen North, Hem is sent south to Turbansk for his own safety. But soon the forces of the Dark overrun the great city and Hem flees with his mentor, Saliman, his white crow, Irc, and a young orphan girl, Zelika, to join the resistance. He agrees to help fight the Nameless One by spying on the child armies of the Dark. Now Hem has a vision – he too has a part to play in Maerad's quest for the Treesong. But Zelika has been captured by the child army, and Hem's destiny must wait. Hem pursues Zelika to the Dark's stronghold, little realizing that her cause is lost. He reunites with Saliman and, broken-hearted, starts the perilous search for his sister.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Years ago, at the cost of many lives, 
Asher defeated the dark sorcerer, Morg, 
and brought peace to Lur ...

But now, happily raising a family, Asher realises that peace and safety are an illusion. Something has woken in Lur′s earth, creating weather that threatens to tear their world apart. Asher thinks he can save Lur by wielding the dangerous magic that he loathes ... and which may take his life.

Rafel, Asher′s son, is a mage of great power, but he has to break free of his father to truly discover his talents. All previous expeditions over the forbidden mountains have met with disaster and death, but Rafel is determined to try. As father and son struggle to understand each other, elsewhere a great evil is brewing ...' (Publisher's blurb)