Ian
C. Esslemont
Ian Cameron Esslemont
was born in Winnipeg, Canada. He has lived and worked in South-East
Asia, including four years spent in Thailand and Japan. He is currently
completing a Ph.D in Literature and lives in Alaska with his wife,
novelist Gerri Brightwell, and their three sons.
Malazan Empire
Night of Knives
(PS Publishing)
Ed Miller
|
The Return of the Crimson Guard I
(PS Publishing)
Ed Miller
|
The Return of the Crimson Guard II
(PS Publishing)
Ed Miller
|
Stonewielder
|
Night
of Knives
It
gave the Empire its name, but the tiny island and city of Malaz is
now a sleepy, seedy back-water port. However this night things are a
little different. This night, its residents are bustling about, barring
doors and shuttering windows. Because this night a once-in-a-generation
Shadow Moon is due and threatens the good citizens of Malaz with demon
hounds and other, darker, beings...And it was also prophesied that on
this night the Emperor Kellanved, missing for all these years, will
return. As factions within the greater Empire battle over the imperial
throne, the Shadow Moon summons a far more alien and ancient presence
for an all-out assault upon the island. Indeed the cataclysmic events
that happen this night will determine the fate of the Malaz and of the
entire world beyond.
The
Return of
the Crimson Guard
The
return of the mercenary company the Crimson Guard could not have
come at a worse time for the Malazan Empire. Driven by constant
warfare, weakened by betrayal and rivalries, many see the grip of
Empress Laseen beginning to weaken as conquered kingdoms and
principalities test their old independence.
Into
this gathering civil war on Quon Tali, the Empire's homeland comes
the Guard. And with their return comes the memory of their
hundred-year-old vow - undying opposition to the existence of the
Empire. Yet rivalries and betrayals stalk the Guard as well; elements
of its elite, the Avowed, scheme to open paths to even greater power,
and ancient potent entities, Ascendants, also lend a hand exploiting
all sides to further their own arcane ends. Meanwhile, a swordsman,
Traveller, and his companion Ereko, move from one strange encounter to
another in a mysterious dance meant ultimately to bring the swordsman
to a final confrontation from which none has ever returned.
As
the Crimson Guard gathers from around the globe, Empress Laseen
faces a more immediate threat from the generals and old commanders of
her predecessor, Emperor Kellanved, who have lost patience with what
they see as Laseen's mismanagement. Yet there are hints that Laseen may
be using the uprisings to draw out and finally eliminate these last
irksome survivors of her predecessor's rule.
Stonewielder
Ian C. Esslemont
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