Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael and feels trapped within the stone city walls. In Belisaere, she is forced to follow the plans, plots, and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away.
It seems, too, that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King, and Clayr appear to be disintegrating. With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her—and it is herself she must question most of all.
The champion must not waver.
The champion must not fear.
The gate of darkness closes.
Elisa is a fugitive. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves, and they await her at the gate of darkness. Her country is on the brink of civil war, with her own soldiers ordered to kill her on sight.
Her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucero-Elisa né Riqueza de Vega, bearer of the Godstone, will lead her three loyal companions deep into the enemy's kingdom, a land of ice and snow and brutal magic, to rescue Hector and win back her throne. Her power grows with every step, and the shocking secrets she will uncover on this, her final journey, could change the course of history.
But that is not all. She has a larger destiny. She must become the champion the world has been waiting for, even of those who hate her most.
On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.
Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more—the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.
The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.
Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons--a spear and a crown--that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.
But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.
Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all--those lurking in the human heart.
Bestselling authors David and Leigh Eddings welcome readers back to the time before The Belgariad and The Malloreon series. Join them as they chronicle that fateful conflict between two mortally opposed Destinies, in a monumental war of men, kings, and Gods.
When the world was young and Gods still walked among their mortal children, a headstrong orphan boy set out to explore the world. Thus began the extraordinary adventures that would mold that youthful vagabond into a man, and the man into the finely honed instrument of Prophecy known to all the world as Belgarath the Sorcerer.
Then came the dark day when the Dark God Torak split the world asunder, and the God Aldur and his disciples began their monumental labor to set Destiny aright. Foremost among their number was Belgarath. His ceaseless devotion was foredoomed to cost him that which he held most dear—even as his loyal service would extend through echoing centuries of loss, of struggle, and of ultimate triumph.
Captives of His Imperial Majesty... Zandramas had stolen King Garion's infant son and fled to use the child in some ritual that would make the Dark Destiny supreme. Garion and his friends had followed, but now they were captives of Zakath, Emperor of Mallorea, who, while friendly, stubbornly refused to let them leave.
Meanwhile, a horde of demons was ravaging the cities through which they must travel. Zandramas was escaping further toward her goal. And the Seeress of Kell revealed that they must be at the ancient palace of Ashaba within a matter of days or Zandramas would win by default. Then a horrible, fatal plague struck the city of Mal Zeth, closing it against all traffic in or out.
In this second book of The Malloreon, Garion and Ce'nedra continue the quest begun in Guardians of the West. In their party travel the immortal Belgarath the Sorcerer, his daughter Polgara the Sorceress, and the little Drasnian, Silk.
Garion knows that it is the mysterious figure Zandramas who is responsible for the abduction of his infant son, and he and his companions journey many miles and encounter many strange beings in their search for him.
Their way leads through the foul swamps of Nyissa, ruled over by the Snake-Queen, and on into the dark kingdom of the Murgos, where human sacrifices are still made to the dead god Torak. Further on, however, even beyond those forbidding lands, they must face the ultimate danger - not only to themselves but to all mankind...
Thus continues Book Two of The Malloreon
Victory is not judged by benevolence. A hero is not forged by the good deeds they commit, but rather by how many bad deeds they do whilst remaining true to the journey.
The Eldon Star is the last remnant power of a long extinct dynasty of Dragon Deities. Tasked with retrieving it is the aging warrior, Artos Hestrom, who utilizes lies and deception just as frequently as blades and glory to procure who and what he wants.
Standing in his way is the evil Sorcerer, Ruehl, who uses his minions to relentlessly scour the land for the crystal. Betrayals, challenges, and the ever-lingering threat of death loom over the heroes as entire armies are drawn into the conflict.
The world of Edoria is at war as the hunt for the Star begins…