Showing results by author "Bradley P. Beaulieu" in All Categories

L'ère des rois sharakhiens a pris fin, et la reine Meryam est désormais maîtresse de la cité. Çeda quant à elle est parvenue à lever la malédiction qui pesait sur les asirim. De son côté, le Roi Ihsan est fort occupé à étudier les fameux carnets bleus du Roi Yusam, afin de sauver Sharakhaï d'une destruction certaine.

Alors que la bataille fait rage entre les forces royales et la treizième tribu, les puissances voisines assiègent Sharakhaï. À la tête des Bouclières, un groupe de guerrières du désert, Çeda espère que le chaos ambiant lui permettra de libérer Sehid-Alaz, le roi éternel de son peuple. Elle doit pour cela percer les secrets de la malédiction des asirim, mais les Vierges du Sabre sont sur sa trace. Les envahisseurs ont franchi les murailles de la cité, tandis que les survivants de la treizième tribu sont acculés dans une citadelle de montagne.

In the city of Sharakhai, Çeda fights in the pits to scrape by a living. She, like so many in the city, pray for the downfall of the cruel, immortal Kings of Sharakhai. Then on the holy night when the powerful yet wretched creatures known as the Asirim wander the city and take tribute in order to protect the Kings, one of them tells Çeda the origin of their dark bargain.

Depuis la Nuit des Innombrables Lames, les rebelles des Hôtes sans Lune sont traqués sans relâche. La plupart d'entre eux ont été obligés de fuir la cité. Çeda, qui s'est réfugiée dans le désert, découvre qu'un Roi compte se retourner contre les autres souverains. Elle espère exploiter ces dissensions, mais en qui peut-elle faire confiance ? Tous sont susceptibles de la trahir. Çeda imagine alors un plan risqué : libérer les asirim, les esclaves immortels des Rois. Mais le meilleur stratège de ces derniers, le Roi des Lames, est à ses trousses.

Grand centre culturel et marchand du désert, la cité de Sharakhaï est dirigée depuis des siècles par douze rois immortels, cruels et omnipotents. Ils ont écrasé tout espoir de liberté avec leur armée, leur unité d'élite de guerrières et leurs spectres protecteurs, les terrifiants Asirim. Çeda, jeune fille des quartiers pauvres, va pourtant braver leur autorité. Le lien qu'elle découvre entre les secrets des tyrans et les énigmes de son propre passé pourrait bien changer son destin... comme celui de Sharakhaï.

Çeda est désormais une Vierge du Sabre, une guerrière d'élite. Tandis que les rois de Sharakhaï lui confient des missions secrètes afin de consolider leur pouvoir, la jeune fille s'efforce de découvrir leurs secrets. Elle connaît déjà la terrible histoire des asirim, mais lorsqu'un lien se crée entre elle et ces pitoyables créatures, leur douleur devient la sienne. Les asirim ont soif de liberté et veulent briser leurs chaînes, mais ils sont soumis à la volonté des dieux et n'ont d'autre choix que d'obéir. Et l'atmosphère de Sharakhaï est plus délétère que jamais.

Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo's eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade.

The plans of the desert gods are coming to fruition. Meryam, the deposed queen of Qaimir, hopes to raise the buried elder god, Ashael, an event that would bring ruin to the desert. Çeda and Emre sail for their ancestral home to bring the traitor, Hamid, to justice. To their horror, they discover that the desert tribes have united under Hamid's banner. Their plan? A holy crusade to annihilate Sharakhai, a thing long sought by many in the tribes.

Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself. The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful decision: she frees him.

Çeda, now a Blade Maiden in service to the kings of Sharakhai, trains as one of their elite warriors, gleaning secrets even as they send her on covert missions to further their rule. She knows the dark history of the asirim - that hundreds of years ago they were enslaved to the kings against their will - but when she bonds with them as a Maiden, chaining them to her, she feels their pain as if her own.

When a battle to eradicate the Thirteenth Tribe goes awry, the kingdoms bordering the desert metropolis of Sharakhai see the city as weak and ripe for conquest. Çeda, now leader of the Shieldwives, a band of skilled desert swordswomen, hopes to use the growing chaos to gain freedom for Sehid-Alaz, the ancient, undying king of her people. Freeing him is only the beginning, however. Like all the people of her tribe on that fateful night four centuries earlier, Sehid-Alaz was cursed, turned into an asir, a twisted, miserable creature beholden to the kings of Sharakhai....

Since the Night of Endless Swords, a bloody battle the Kings of Sharakhai narrowly won, the kings have been hounding the rebels known as the Moonless Host. Many have been forced to flee the city, including Çeda, who discovers that the King of Sloth is raising his army to challenge the other kings' rule. When Çeda finds the remaining members of the Moonless Host, now known as the thirteenth tribe, she sees a tenuous existence. Çeda hatches a plan. The kings, however, have sent their greatest tactician, the King of Swords, to bring Çeda to justice for her crimes.

West of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya lies the Empire of Yrstanla, the Motherland. The Empire has lived at peace with Anuskaya for generations, but with political turmoil brewing and the wasting disease still rampant, opportunists from the mainland have begun to set their sights on the Grand Duchy, seeking to expand their empire.

Nearly two years after the harrowing events of The Straits of Galahesh, Atiana and Nikandr continue their long search for Nasim. The clues they find lead them to the desert wastes of the Gaji, where the fabled valley of Shadam Khoreh lies. But all is not well. War has moved from the islands to the mainland, and the Grand Duchy knows its time may be limited if Yrstanla rallies its forces. Worse, the wasting disease and the rifts grow ever wider, threatening places that once thought themselves safe.

When the mighty and cruel must be brought low, it's the killers and the schemers who emerge from the shadows. As plans twist and change, and our protagonists are foiled and beaten, one thing remains true: no matter the cost, the king must fall.