The Martyr's Blade

Book excerpt: Fear rumbles deep within the halls of the great temple of Bandirma....Brought together by bonds of friendship, love and duty, the Temple's guardians journey into the ice-covered hinterlands to investigate disquieting omens of an ancient foe. Desecrated temples, ruined farms and butchered innocents presage an evil the Temple believed destroyed in a cataclysm centuries ago.Thus begins the epic saga of Wyn, a thief escaping her past, Killock, a threadbare knight, Danielle, a bewitching marquessa, and Bradon, a courageous and compassionate lord, as they fight for survival in the frozen land of Albyn. Their struggle to overcome evil engulfs the country from ancient halls to barren mountains and treacherous ruins; from a newly-crowned queen to an imprisoned child, and from a jealous priest to an eccentric wizard. No one escapes the plots, betrayals, triumphs, tragedies, desires, and despair that encompass them.As they fight to preserve life, and death, their fate is tied to a weapon of myth, the great Blade that felled the Nameless King a millennium ago. Who will wield the Martyr's Blade and how many lives will it claim, this time? In The Martyr's Blade, the first volume in the Chronicles of the Martyr, Joel Manners intricately creates a fantastical world ruled by ice and snow, tradition and belief, love and betrayal, magic and might. His characters linger in the mind long after you've closed the book. A compelling adventure story filled with humor and humanity, each narrator sheds new light on the unfolding, impending devastation with a fresh voice and unique perspective.