Col Buchanan

he Heart of the World is a land in strife. For fifty years the Holy Empire of Mann, an empire and religion born from a nihilistic urban cult, has been conquering nation after nation. Their leader, Holy Matriarch Sasheen, ruthlessly maintains control through her Diplomats, priests trained as subtle predators. The Mercian Free Ports are the only confederacy yet to fall. Their only land link to the southern continent, a long and narrow isthmus, is protected by the city of Bar-Khos. For ten years now, the great southern walls of Bar-Khos have been besieged by the Imperial Fourth Army. Ash is a member of an elite group of assassins, the Roshun who offer protection through the threat of vendetta. Forced by his ailing health to take on an apprentice, he chooses Nico, a young man living in the besieged city of Bar-Khos. At the time, Nico is hungry, desperate, and alone in a city that finds itself teetering on the brink. When the Holy Matriarch's son deliberately murders a woman under the protection of the Roshun; he forces the sect to seek his life in retribution. As Ash and his young apprentice set out to fulfil the Roshun orders their journey takes them into the heart of the conflict between the Empire and the Free Ports... into bloodshed and death.

After a thousand years of secret conflict, the Neverwar - the war that never was - is finally over. The Star King and his forces have fallen. The New Order reigns supreme.Loyal to the bitter end, a defeated House Brightmorning is forced into exile on the remote moon of Gale, where the winds never stop howling.You play the role of Rooster Quinn, bored blademaster to the House Brightmorning in their exile. As blademaster and House Guard, your job is to protect the Lord Brightmornings son Brilliant with your life. If young Bril dies, then so do you.But events on the blowy moon of Gale are about to take a turn for the worse. The Ultras are coming to town, and with them a Soul Hunter on the trail of a Star King supposedly long dead.With the past finally catching up with the present, keeping the young heir alive may not prove so easy after all ...The Good King is a roleplaying gamebook in which you make the decisions - much like traditional Choose-Your-Own Adventure gamebooks, though updated to make the most of modern e-readers.

As the empire of Mann threatens the world with enslavement, only a single island nation continues to stand in its way - the Free Ports of the democras. For ten years they have held their own, but now the empire draws its noose even tighter over them.Rallying to its defence are those from the secretive network known as the Few, including the cripple and troubleshooter Coya Zezike. Coya has hopes of enlisting the forest contrare in the aid of the besieged city of Bar-Khos. With him is Shard, the only Dreamer of the Free Ports, a woman capable of manipulating waking reality or the strange dimensions of the Black Dream.The Roshun order of assassins have also engaged in the war at last. But Ash, their ailing farlander, has more urgent business to overcome. Facing him is a skyship voyage into the Great Hush, then further journeying to the fabled Isles of Sky, where he hopes bring his dead apprentice Nico back to life. Yet, his voyage into the unknown may save more than just Nico . . . it may save the Free Ports themselves.

When vengeance isnt enough . . .Riding at the head of her army, Holy Matriarch of Mann plans to conquer the fortress city of Bar-Khos, whose walls have held the empire at bay for ten long years of siege. Ash is a man who would see her dead before that. The ailing Roshun assassin is determined to seek vengeance for the Matriarchs previous crimes. But such a course of retribution goes against everything his life has taught him. Meanwhile, Che, a trained killer of the state, watches as the Mannian army slaughters their way across the remnants of the free world, and questions whether he believes the doctrines he has been trained to follow. With the battle for the Free Ports intensifying, more lives are drawn into the bloody conflict: Bahn, the siege-shocked soldier; and Curl, a young woman determined to make a stand even if it costs her life. When the two armies clash all looks set to be decided. But sheer force alone will not be enough to win this war. Only the gruelling determination of one man seeking redemption may be enough to sway the final outcome . . .This is a reissue of Stands a Shadow, the second novel in the Heart of the World series by Col Buchanan, following on from Farlander.

A time of reckoning has begun.For ten years the Free Ports held their own against the despotic empire of Mann - but the empire is now poised to destroy them. The crucial fortress city of Bar-Khos is under attack and its freedom depends on a few unsteady hands.Betrayal could come from any side, at any moment. While chaos reigns, Nico will search for his captive mother and attempt to defend his people. And Shard the Dreamer will hunt for legendary charts, which could yet save the city. However, a Red Guard officer gone rogue could bring about the end, and a visitor from another world has a hidden agenda.With the war entering its darkest hours, will any of them survive?Fierce Gods is the fourth and final novel in Col Buchanans Heart of the World series.

The Heart of the World is a land in strife. For fifty years the Holy Empire of Mann, an empire and religion born from a nihilistic urban cult, has been conquering nation after nation. Their leader, Holy Matriarch Sasheen, ruthlessly maintains control through her Diplomats, priests trained as subtle predators. The Mercian Free Ports are the only confederacy yet to fall. Their only land link to the southern continent, a long and narrow isthmus, is protected by the city of Bar-Khos. For ten years now, the great southern walls of Bar-Khos have been besieged by the Imperial Fourth Army. Ash is a member of an elite group of assassins, the Roshun - who offer protection through the threat of vendetta. Forced by his ailing health to take on an apprentice, he chooses Nico, a young man living in the besieged city of Bar-Khos. At the time, Nico is hungry, desperate, and alone in a city that finds itself teetering on the brink. When the Holy Matriarchs son deliberately murders a woman under the protection of the Roshun; he forces the sect to seek his life in retribution. As Ash and his young apprentice set out to fulfil the Roshun orders their journey takes them into the heart of the conflict between the Empire and the Free Ports . . . into bloodshed and death.

En la continuación de El extraño, el guerrero Roshun Ash deberá decidir entre seguir a su conciencia o llevar a cabo una venganza personal que va en contra de su honorAún de duelo por el asesinato de su hijo, la Santa Matriarca de Mann se pone al mando de sus tropas y se prepara para atacar los Puertos Libres mercianos y conquistar la ciudad de Barkhos, cuyas murallas se le han resistido durante diez largos años. Pero Ash tiene sus propios planes para la Santa Matriarca. El viejo guerrero Roshun esta decidido a vengar los crimenes de la sacerdotisa. La batalla por Barkhos se recrudece y mas vidas se ven arrastradas al sangriento conflicto: Bahn, el soldado asediado al borde de la locura; Bull, el asesino que busca una segunda oportunidad, y Curl, una joven prostituta que esta decidida a buscar la venganza en el campo de batalla. Parece que todo se decidira en el combate. Pero no sera la fuerza la que gane la batalla, sino la atormentada determinacion de un hombre que busca redimirse.

En la continuación de El extraño, el guerrero Roshun Ash deberá decidir entre seguir a su conciencia o llevar a cabo una venganza personal que va en contra de su honorAún de duelo por el asesinato de su hijo, la Santa Matriarca de Mann se pone al mando de sus tropas y se prepara para atacar los Puertos Libres mercianos y conquistar la ciudad de Barkhos, cuyas murallas se le han resistido durante diez largos años. Pero Ash tiene sus propios planes para la Santa Matriarca. El viejo guerrero Roshun esta decidido a vengar los crimenes de la sacerdotisa.La batalla por Barkhos se recrudece y mas vidas se ven arrastradas al sangriento conflicto: Bahn, el soldado asediado al borde de la locura; Bull, el asesino que busca una segunda oportunidad, y Curl, una joven prostituta que esta decidida a buscar la venganza en el campo de batalla.Parece que todo se decidira en el combate. Pero no sera la fuerza la que gane la batalla, sino la atormentada determinacion de un hombre que busca redimirse.

«-Creo que esta noche he matado a un hombre -dijo Nico con un hilo de voz. Ash alzó la cabeza para mirarlo a los ojos. -¿Y cómo te sientes? -suspiró el anciano. -Como un criminal. Como si me hubiera