Recommendations based on "The Rise of a Legend"

1st UK ed #408/500. DJ is fine in Mylar. UNREAD

After pitched battle, The White—the avatars of the Five Gods—have briefly turned back the vicious invaders. And now, the priestess Auraya is sent on an urgent mission to reconcile with the powerful, outcast Dreamweavers, for their magical healing abilities may be the key to saving the land. But as a deadly plague devastates their allies and old adversaries resurface, a dreadful surprise may ruin the chance for peace. For Auraya's terrible discovery will force her into a desperate choice—one whose consequences will change the world forever.

Denland and Lascanne have been allies for generations, but now the Denlanders have assassinated their king, overthrown the monarchy and marched on their northern neighbour. At the border, the war rages, Lascanne's brave redcoats against the revolutionaries of Denland. Emily Marshwic has watched the war take her brother-in-law and now her young brother. Then comes the call for more soldiers, to a land already drained of husbands, fathers and sons. Every household must give up one woman to the army and Emily has no choice but to join the ranks of young women marching to the front. In the midst of warfare, with just enough training to hold a musket, Emily comes face to face with the reality: the senseless slaughter; the weary cynicism of the Survivor's Club; the swamp's own natives hiding from the conflict. As the war becomes worse, and as she begins even to have doubts about the justice of Lascanne's cause, Emily finds herself in a position where her choices will make or destroy both her own future and that of her nation.

What began with Sabriel 25 years ago comes to an unforgettable conclusion to the Old Kingdom Trilogy in Abhosren by master of fantasy and globally bestselling Garth Nix, now available in a special anniversary edition with original art by Leo and Diane Dillon.The last hope for the living.The Abhorsen Sabriel and King Touchstone are missing, leaving only Lirael—newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting—to stop the Destroyer. If Orannis’s unspeakable powers are unleashed, it will mean the end of all Life. With only a vision from the Clayr to guide her and the help of her companions—Sam, the Disreputable Dog, and Mogget—Lirael must search in both Life and Death for some means to defeat the evil destructor . . . before it is too late.“Nix brings his trilogy to a literally earth-shattering conclusion. Action explodes from the very first pages. Breathtaking, bittersweet, and utterly unforgettable.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“This title has a cinematic sweep; the tense, climactic confrontation pulls from the very beginning into a tightly constructed, satisfying conclusion.” —BCCB

The first volume in legendary master and New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist’s epic heroic fantasy series, The Firemane Saga—an electrifying tale of two young men whose choices will determine a world’s destiny.For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient covenant and betray the fifth: Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames, ruled by Steveren Langene, known as "the Firemane" for his brilliant red hair. As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy.As a Free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no king. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon’s pavilion, he realizes that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren. The boy is valuable—and vulnerable. A cunning and patient man, Daylon decides to keep the baby’s existence secret, and sends him to be raised on the Island of Coaltachin, home of the so-called Kingdom of Night, where the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the "Hidden Warriors," legendary assassins and spies, are trained.Years later, another orphan of mysterious provenance, a young man named Declan, earns his Masters rank as a weapons smith. Blessed with intelligence and skill, he unlocks the secret to forging King’s Steel, the apex of a weapon maker’s trade known by very few. Yet this precious knowledge is also deadly, and Declan is forced to leave his home to safeguard his life. Landing in Lord Daylon’s provinces, he hopes to start anew.Soon, the two young men—an unknowing rightful heir to a throne and a brilliantly talented young swordsmith—will discover that their fates, and that of Garn, are entwined. The legendary, long-ago War of Betrayal has never truly ended . . . and they must discover the secret of who truly threatens their world.

The masterpiece that started Terry Goodkind's New York Times bestselling epic Sword of Truth series, and the basis for the TV show Legend of the Seeker.Wizard's First Rule is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help . . . and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them--for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not say.In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword--to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed . . . or that their time has run out.

In Hiccup the Viking's misadventures, the stakes have never been higher, and it's friend versus foe to decide the fate of the world. In this, the penultimate title in the amazing story arc that began with How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup is faced with a personal dilemma against the backdrop of an impending battle and the possible destruction of everything he knows.

The next installment in New York Times bestselling author Taran Matharu's Soulbound Saga, continuing the harrowing journey of Jai as he navigates returning to his own people, growing in his magic and as a warrior, fending off attacks both without and within...and, of course, bonding even more with his dragon! Jai dreams of being a dragon rider. He dreams of freedom from the Sabine Empire and a world in which he can lead his people, the Kidara, to freedom. But even though he has his dragon, Winter, she is still growing, just as he's still growing in his own power. And the road to victory is even more fraught than he had hoped. Because even when he finds a tribe on the Great Steppe, they are not his people. More, they are outcasts, the Tainted, and he finds that he knows little of the customs and political intricacies that take place in these vast grasslands. He is a stranger amongst his own kind, and that is even more apparent when he reunites with the Kidara, for Jai's uncle rules, and is loath to cede power to his nephew. And even if Jai was sure he could take the reins of the leadership, he isn't sure he could actually hold them. But the legionaries and Gryphon Guard of the Sabine Empire are wreaking havoc against the other tribes of the Great Steppe, and Jai is forced to learn a lifetime's worth of knowledge in a matter of months. From taming the massive khiroi that make up the tribe's calvary, to levelling up his magic, to becoming a true warrior, worrying over the fate of the woman he loves, and strengthening his bond with Winter, Jai is a dragon rider with a massive weight on his young shoulders. And his greatest hope is that the shoulders of Winter will soon be strong enough to help carry him.

Sweeping adventure, breathtaking twists of fate, and immersive worlds based in Norse mythology are woven into this first volume of the Runestone Saga, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Seven Realms and Shattered Realms series. Since Ragnarok--the great war between the gods and the forces of chaos--the human realm of the Midlands has become a desperate and dangerous place, bereft of magic. Sixteen-year-old Eiric Halvorsen is among the luckier ones--his family has remained prosperous. But he stands to lose everything when he's wrongly convicted by a rigged jury of murdering his modir and stepfadir. Also at risk is Eiric's half-systir, Liv, who's under suspicion for her interest in seidr, or magic. Then a powerful jarl steps in: He will pay the blood price if Eiric will lead a mission to the fabled Temple at the Grove--the rich stronghold of the wyrdspinners, the last practitioners of sorcery. Spellsinger, musician, and runecaster Reginn Eiklund has spent her life performing at alehouses for the benefit of her master, Asger, a fire demon she is desperate to escape. After one performance that amazes even herself, two wyrdspinners in the audience make Reginn an irresistible offer: return with them to the Temple to be trained in seidr, forever free of Asger. Eiric's, Liv's, and Reginn's journeys converge in New Jotunheim, a paradise fueled by magic and the site of the Temple. They soon realize that a great evil lurks beneath the dazzling surface and that old betrayals and long-held grudges may fuel another cataclysmic war. It will require every gift and weapon at their command to prevent it.

The long-awaited beginning of the fourth story arc - Sword of the Canon - in the epic fantasy series, the Wars of Light and Shadow.Betrayed and double-crossed, Arithon s'Ffalenn is held captive by the Order of the Koriathain. The desperate Fellowship Sorcerers have gambled the weal of Athera and forced through the perilous bargain that spared him, as the last Prince of Rathain, and their sole hope of unity. To suspend the Prime Matriarch's decree of execution, Arithon lives only to battle Marak's horde of free wraiths, unleashed one by one from the shielding grip of the star wards.But on the day the last wraith is redeemed, the inflexible terms sealed by Dakar's oath of debt will come to be forfeit...Against a world backdrop, in which the Religion of Light has undergone schism, the zealot True Sect's canon grips Tysan, its high priesthood stands consumed by its thwarted ambition: to conquer Havish, last crown bastion and backbone of order that secures the terms of Paravian survival. Now Lord Mayor of Etarra, Lysaer s'Ilessid must fight the pull of the Mistwraith's curse, and battle for sanity to uphold his just ethic. Another young defender will stand at his side, newly sworn by the Sorcerer's auspices.As Arithon's life once again becomes the fulcrum that shifts the game board, Elaira's choice might save or break the unstable future; while at large and answerable to no mortal law, Davien and the dragon that holds his service throw in the wild card no one predicts...