by G. S. Richter
Thirteen years after the worldwide war against a hive mind of alien gods, won by a mercenary force of Berserkers, the Continent is at peace. But the Twin Suns are merging. The stronger devours the weaker. No one can agree as to why. (It’s probably fine.) There are more pressing problems facing the scattered victors of the Great War, such as a man-child inheriting the Continent’s most powerful theocracy; a dead king’s ghost threatening the balance of world powers; a war in the north between raven and rat; and the profound boredom of Peace Everlasting. The Berserkers now wander the world in varying states of disgrace, questing for reasons to live while enemies thought vanquished stir anew. They are Anderran, a warrior turned explorer who has run out of new horizons; Ash, driven mad by the horrors of war and searching for absolution in all the wrong temples; Slandrik, a wisecracking swordsman blessed by good luck and plagued by bad in equal measure; and Shaddax, a half demon tortured by the only power in all the world that can truly harm him: a woman’s love. When, oh when, will Sweet Death bring an end to it all? A secret quest from the dying God-King of Akkadjya, a witch in the employ of a paranoid Ratlord, a sultry young goddess of Secrets and Solace, and a black spire rising from a cursed sea: Such are the mysterious forces weaving the Berserkers back together along gothic and grisly paths. Reunited, they will meet annihilation at last—or be obliged (without their full consent) to save the world once more.
