Jacob Peppers

War sweeps the land as the sons and daughters of the late King Marcus battle over who will claim their father's throne and able-bodied men and women flock to one cause or the other in the hopes of a better tomorrow. At least, most of them. If life has taught the jaded sellsword, Aaron Envelar, anything, it's that hope is for fools and causes are a sure remedy for breathing. But when his latest job leads him to the corpse of a prince and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the entire realm, Aaron is forced to choose sides in a war he doesn't want, between forces he doesn't understand. Thrust into a world of mythical assassins, a madman with superhuman strength, and a nagging ball of light with a superiority complex who claims to be the embodiment of compassion, Aaron takes on his hardest job yet--staying alive.The debut novel from Jacob Peppers, A Sellsword's Compassion, is a new entry in the great Epic Fantasy tradition of Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Robert Jordan.

Book One of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Compassion

The Silent Blade

The hardest war is the one a man fights alone. One hundred years ago, the Eternals, thirteen men and women of immense power, closer, many believed, to gods than mortals, stood against the greatest threat the world had ever faced. And they lost. They died. All save for one, known as the Youngest, who managed to flee with the enemy leader's weapon, a cursed blade of incredible power. He has traveled for a hundred years since, alone save for his companion, Veikr, the only remaining horse of a legendary breed. The last just as he is the last. Hunted by creatures out of nightmare, he seeks only to survive, to keep the magical blade from the enemy's grasp. Not to save the world, for the time for saving it is past. Instead, he seeks only to delay its ending. It is a battle he fights alone, for after they defeated the Eternals, the enemy used their magic to pose as their conquered opponents, taking over rule of the world in their stead. For the last hundred years, the people have believed that the legendary Eternals triumphed, that they are safe. Only the wanderer knows the truth, that the world crouches with its head resting on the executioner's block, waiting for the axe to fall. And the only thing keeping that axe at bay is him. He had a name once, but he has it no longer. He is simply the Last. The Youngest. He is the Wandering Sword.

Book One of The Last Eternal

The Wandering Sword

The Forging of Dawn

Fifty years ago, the nightwalkers appeared, creatures of shadow and darkness, thirsting for blood and death. Thousands died and the kingdom of Entarna was brought to its knees. Then the Chosen came, six men and women endowed with powers by Amedan, the God of Fire and Light. The Chosen joined with the kingdom's armies and together they managed to defeat the night's creatures. At least for a time.Alesh, servant to Chosen Olliman, the greatest of Amedan's priests, knows well what the darkness holds. He saw it, as a child, when his father and mother were killed, and he was left with a blackened, festering scar that refuses to heal. The day wanes and the night comes again, but when those chosen to protect the kingdom are unable or unwilling to help, when the fellowships of the past have crumbled, it is left to an orphaned servant--a man many believe to be cursed--to stand against the rising darkness.A new entry in the Epic Fantasy tradition of Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Joe Abercrombie.The Nightfall Wars Series eBook Categories:Fantasy gods and goddessesFantasy deitiesFantasyHigh FantasyEpic FantasyDark FantasyFantasy violenceFantasy anti heroFantasy Best SellersFantasy 100 Must ReadsGrimdark FantasyFantasy MercenarySword and SorceryLow Fantasy

Book One of the Nightfall Wars

The Son of the Morning

The Battle is won. But the war is just beginning. Belgarin's forces have retreated, but in the city of Perennia there is no rejoicing. The air is filled with the mourning cries of survivors, and the wind that blows through the city carries the smell of freshly dug graves and death. As the city grieves, Aaron and his companions attempt to hold together an alliance that threatens to crumble around them. While the alliance's leaders bicker and argue, Boyce Kevlane, an ancient wizard bent on revenge, has taken Belgarin's place as king and uses his twisted powers to create an army out of nightmare. To stand a chance of keeping the coalition together, Aaron is forced to venture into Baresh, a city gripped by madness and terror, in search of proof of the coming danger. But evil is a thing of shadows and darkness, and it will not go easily into the light. To survive, Aaron will be forced to call on his friends and the growing power of his bond with a creature of myth. Yet even this may not be enough. For there are other powers in the world, darker ones, and there is no telling what secrets the shadows hold.

Book Four of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Valor

Assassins are bad. Angry gods are worse. All that plus cults and demons? In the hero business, they call that Monday. The worst thing about a man being led to his execution-aside from the whole impending death bit-was that he immediately tried to figure out what choice had brought him there. Which Dannen thought was ridiculous. After all, if a man found himself hunted by assassins, sneaking through were-rat infested sewers, and attacked by sea monsters, then being led to his own execution by city guards, it was a safe bet he wasn't all that good at thinking things through in the first place. The one possible comfort a man could have, when faced with his own death, was that things simply could not get any worse. The problem, of course, was that things could always get worse. Sure, on the surface being saved from certain death seemed all well and good. But what about when that saving came at the hands of the God of Mischief, a deity whose sole purpose was to cause chaos? And what if, after being saved, a man-along with those poor fools unlucky enough to be his companions-found himself facing assassins, a strange magical hermit, a demonic cult and a very demonic demon? If there's knowledge to be gained, if there are lessons to be learned, then they are the same lessons the world had been trying to teach Dannen since his birth. Insane mages make for poor friends, the only thing better than being a hero is being alive, and then, of course, the most important lesson of all... Things can always get worse.

Book Four of The Antiheroes

A Cult Classic

The truest stories are written in blood. The wanderer knows this, for over the last century he has lived those stories, has seen them scrawled in his blood or the blood of others. Others like those dead Perishables scattered about the noble's courtyard, like those servants of the enemy, mortal and not, lying beside them. And yet...he knows it is only the beginning. They are coming. Servants of the enemy, creatures forged and fashioned for one purpose and one purpose only-to kill anything in their path. And now their path leads them directly to the wanderer, to the Perishables, and to the family he has sworn to protect. The story is not yet finished. There is more tale yet to be told, and more blood needed for the telling of it. The cursed blade has been unsheathed, the lone wanderer wanders alone no longer. A hundred years of hiding, of running, but now it's over. Now, the real story begins. And the blood will flow.

Book Two of The Last Eternal

Requiem for a Soldier

I am fire and all I touch turns to ash. Despite the odds, Cutter and his companions managed to bring Matt to the capital where he was crowned king. But instead of getting better, things have only gotten worse. The Known Lands and its people stand at a precipice. One false move, one mistake, and they will all fall into the abyss. Cutter wants only to protect his people, to right his many wrongs. But a warrior's hands are made for killing, not healing, and fingers drenched with blood can only ruin anything they touch. Such is the warrior's truth. Such is the warrior's curse. A Warrior's Curse is the third entry in the bestselling epic fantasy series, Saga of the Known Lands. A grimdark adventure into a world of magical creatures and deadly threats. A legendary warrior prince, an aged assassin, a world-weary mage, and a reformed criminal stand against the armies of the Fey. But against such threats as they face, will even their significant power be enough? Come and find out now!

Book Three of Saga of the Known Lands

A Warrior's Curse

Hero Checklist for a long and happy life: Step One: Don't be a hero. Step Two: If by some horrible miscalculation, a man finds himself a hero, then he should not, under any circumstances, accept a "quest." Particularly one including magical rings, swords in stones, or any talk of "chosen ones." Quests, after all, are only death with a lot of walking beforehand. Step Three: If said hero is so foolish as to actually find himself on a quest, he is advised to run heroically for the nearest exit. He'll die anyway, but if the gods are kind, he'll do so with an ale in his hand. P.S. The gods are never kind. Step Four: If the unfortunate soul is unable to find an exit-or at least one not containing a rampaging troll-he should, by any means necessary, ensure that there are as many people between him and the troll as possible in the hopes that it won't be hungry by the time it reaches him. P.S. Trolls are always hungry. Step Five: If all else fails and a hero finds himself confronting a mythical monster or a magic-wielding necromancer, he is to draw his sword. It won't help, but it will give him something to do while he waits to die. Step Six: If "death" outcome is unacceptable, see steps 1-4. Dannen Ateran had never gone so far as to write the list out, but he knew it by heart. He ought to, as he had been telling it to himself for years and himself-fool that he was-had been ignoring it for just as long. So it was that he found himself standing beside Fedder, Mariana, and Tesler, watching as an undead dragon soared toward them. And if, by some feat of magic or luck-with undead dragons, skill rarely factored into it-they survived, there was only the little issue of a master swordsman and his necromancer brother to worry about, not to mention an undead horde. Plenty of ways to die, then, if a man liked a little variety with his suffering. And the week was just getting started. Don't Feed the Trolls is book two of The Antiheroes, an epic fantasy series by Jacob Peppers, the author of the bestselling grimdark fantasy series The Seven Virtues. It is a tale of mythical creatures and magic, of swordsmen, necromancers and undead hordes. Do you enjoy character driven fantasy with a lot of action and humor? Then come and enjoy the fun. Just...don't feed the trolls, alright? It only makes them hungrier.

Don't Feed the Trolls

To battle the creatures of darkness, one must first leave the light behind. Aaron and his companions return from Baresh with the truth of what the alliance faces, yet such knowledge is little comfort. Throughout the city, men and women whisper of demons, of monsters. But though they might disagree on the nature of Kevlane's twisted creations, there is one thing they have in common. Fear. For the creatures they face are not men--not any longer. They are death given form and function. They are, it seems in the darkest hours--and there are many such now--Telrear's doom. Crippled by indecision, the alliance leaders argue; they argue, they bicker, and they hesitate. A hesitation which, Aaron could tell them--if only they would listen--will kill them swifter than any blade or bow. For shadows move in the night. Shadows which feel no pain or mercy, that have long since forgotten the meaning of compassion. But there are other threats in the darkness, other mysteries, and in poorly-lit taverns, men and women huddle together and whisper. If one listens closely enough, he will hear a name, one spoken in hushed, fearful tones. He will hear Akalians. Little is known about the followers of the Shadow God, only that where the Akalians walk, death follows. Meanwhile, confident of victory, Kevlane bends his dark desire to creating even more terrible horrors. Yet there is one thing he has not accounted for, one which the coming days and weeks will teach him--the strength of a sellsword's will.

Book Five of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Will

When darkness comes, there is no knowing who will carry the light and stand against it. Aaron and his companions have been saved from Kevlane's creatures only to find themselves in the power of the Akalians, a shadowy group of warriors many believe aren't men at all, but creatures of nightmare bent on blood and death. But not all the shadows' secrets are evil ones, and allies are often found in the unlikeliest of places. In Baresh, the tournament has begun, and the ancient mage, Kevlane, adds more twisted creatures to his army, fashioning a force the likes of which the world has never seen. Meanwhile, Grinners sows seeds of distrust in Perennia, turning the city against its would-be saviors, against itself. As suspicion spreads, neighbor turns against neighbor, friend against friend. Blades are drawn in dark alleyways and well-lit taverns alike, and the world's last bastion of hope totters on the brink of destruction, a knife held at its own throat. If Perennia is to be saved from the approaching threat, then its salvation will come not from great kings or queens, but at the hands of ordinary men and women, many whose hands are long-stained with the blood of innocents. A Sellsword's Mercy is the sixth entry in the bestselling epic fantasy series The Seven Virtues.

Book Six of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Mercy

The warriors of Darkness approach. The Long Night comes.With the help of his friends, Alesh has defeated Tesharna and taken over the rule of Valeria, bringing the Light back to a city swallowed by Darkness. But some shadows linger, even in the face of the day, and some threats hide in plain sight. Outside Valeria, the Broken gathers an army of murderers and servants of the Darkness whose only desire is death and destruction while Kale, now known as Argush, musters the nightlings and terrorizes the countryside.Faced with squabbling nobles who care only for their own ambitions, threatened by betrayal from within, Alesh begins the impossible task of preparing the city's defenses. But time is running out-night is coming, one that threatens to snuff out the Light once and for all.The gods themselves cannot help. Javen, the God of Chance, lies dying, the poison of the mysterious God of Shadows coursing through his veins. Amedan is weak from Shira's betrayal and Deitra, the Goddess of Music and Art, grieves, her song one of pain and regret.But as dire as their situation is, Alesh and his companions will not run-not this time. For the Light does not hide, and its greatest strength lies in being seen-even if being seen makes it vulnerable to a host of shadows who seek only to extinguish it.The shadows lengthen and the Long Night comes. If Valeria is to be saved, if Alesh and his companions are to survive the coming storm, then they will be delivered not by the blessings of gods but by the strength of mortals.The Strength of Mortals is the next, action-filled, character-driven epic fantasy by Jacob Peppers, the bestselling author of the grimdark series, The Seven Virtues. If you enjoy magic, battles, and wars in which the gods themselves must take part, you'll love this sword and sorcery tale.

Book Four of The Nightfall Wars

The Strength of Mortals

The final battle has come. Grinner and his conspiracy to overthrow Perennia have been defeated, but victory came at a high cost. The alliance suffered losses it could ill afford, for the true enemy still lies in Baresh, growing stronger with each day that passes. Leading the combined armies of three kingdoms, Aaron and his companions march to the city, but even with such a force, even with the power of the Virtues, victory is anything but assured. For when blades are drawn, when battle begins, the only certainty is blood. Aaron knows this, just as he knows the terrible odds he faces. Yet, he is not alone. His allies march with him-creatures out of myth and legend, cut-throats and thieves, sailors and smugglers, and the mysterious Akalians who have finally chosen to step out of the shadows and into the light. But the ancient mage has allies of his own, creatures endowed with speed and strength greater than any man, bereft of any human feeling, including pain. But there is strength in emotion, a power that even the thousand-year-old mage, even creatures out of legend, cannot stand against. For with emotion comes valor and courage, honor and duty. With emotion comes hope.

Book Seven of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Hope

The path to peace is paved in blood. Or so Cutter tells himself during the long nights as he travels deeper into the Black Wood, wrestling with his inner demons and battling those creatures which emerge from the shadows seeking his life. Meanwhile, in New Daltenia a violent organization thought long-extinct reappears and assassins roam the castle. Matt, Chall, and Priest search for the truth about the Crimson Wolves, a search that will lead them to unimaginable peril. Meanwhile, hoping to stop the attempts on their lives, Maeve is forced to return to the Assassin's Guild, where any wrong move might mean her death and the death of those she's come to love. In the Black Wood, the Fey stir. In the Known Lands, the shadows lengthen, stretching across the world. And one man, known as the Crimson Prince, carries his axe, and the world's hope, as he walks the bloody path before him. He can do nothing else... For such is a warrior's penance. A Warrior's Penance is the fourth entry in the character-driven dark fantasy, Saga of the Known Lands. An action-packed epic about monsters and warriors, mages and assassins, and one man's quest to atone for a lifetime of blood and violence.

Book Four of Saga of the Known Lands

A Warrior's Penance

Death was coming. That was nothing new, for death had been coming for the wanderer for a long time now. But this time, it did not just come for him. It came for Dekker and his family, for Clint and the Perishables, and the villagers of Alhs. Death was coming. And it was he who had called it. The enemy who had taken Ranger's place hunted them, and at his back marched an army of Revenants, creatures who felt no pain, who knew no fear, and so the wanderer and his companions head deeper into the Untamed Lands in search of safe haven. But whatever else they might be, the Untamed Lands are not safe. For in the Untamed Lands, nightmares are given flesh, terrors stalk the darkness, and ravenous beasts hunt beneath the sun. Here, in the Untamed Lands, monsters roam. But the wanderer has lived more than a century and one of the things he learned was that the worst monsters, the worst evils a man faced were those he brought with him. Those evils were coming-they had been coming for a long time now. For the last century he had survived by running, by staying one step ahead. But the time for running was coming to an end. After all, a man could not flee from his demons forever. Sooner or later, he must stand and face them. And so, in the wilds of the Untamed Lands, the eternal wanderer will wander no longer. He will stand and face his demons. He will fight.

Book Four of the Last Eternal

A Ranger's Journey

War isn't coming. It's here.Aaron and his companions prevented the assassination of a queen but in doing so they angered an ancient evil. Angered it, wounded it, but did not kill it, for such evil never truly dies.An army greater than any the world has ever known marches bringing steel and death with it and somewhere a thousand-year-old evil lurks in the darkness, plotting and bending its will toward revenge.Aaron and his companions have gathered allies to help them in the coming battle and each day his bond with the Virtue of Compassion grows stronger, gifting him greater and greater power. But if life on the street taught Aaron anything, it's that no one is better able to stab you in the back as those standing behind you. And as his power with the legendary creature grows, so too does an uncontrollable rage that threatens to consume him.His enemies are many, his friends few, but no matter what happens, they will all learn the truth of a sellsword's strength. He will show them a sellsword's resolve.A Sellsword's Resolve is the third book in the epic fantasy series the Seven Virtues by Jacob Peppers. It is an action-packed dark fantasy tale of sword fighting, magic, and legends come to life.

Book Three of the Seven Virtues

A Sellsword's Resolve

Three strangers chosen by the gods. A castle-servant who can bend fire and light to his will. A musician whose song can soothe even the wildest of hearts. And a nobleman with the gods' own luck. Three strangers gifted with powers beyond that of normal mortals stand against the armies of shadow.But there are other gods, other powers lurking in the darkness, and they too will find their champions.Hunted by mortal and immortal enemies alike, Alesh and his companions flee south to the Ferinan lands. There, they will search for help they desperately need, those who might stand with them against the coming darkness. A nobleman without hope. A musician to whom every song sounds like a funeral dirge. A castle servant at risk of being consumed by an evil greater than any he has faced. They have set themselves against the coming Ever Dark. But shadows are not easily conquered, and no matter how many are cut down, more rise in their place. For the truth of shadows is that they are not born. They are made.

Book Two of The Nightfall Wars

The Truth of Shadows

When a man goes out seeking blood, he will find it. Always he will find it. It was a truth Cutter had learned long ago, for he had been that man. For countless years, on countless battlefields, he had sought violence and blood...and the gods help him, he had found it. Found more than his share. But there was another truth, one he was only now beginning to understand. The truth that, once a man wed himself to violence, to war, he could not easily put it aside, for carnage was a jealous bride who, upon discovering that its groom had forgotten it, set out to make him remember. She did that reminding not with soft words but with battle cries and the screams of the wounded. And death, of course. That most of all. And so Cutter finds himself taking shelter in the woods with the remaining survivors of a bloody massacre. Now, he and his companions journey to New Daltenia, the capital of the Known Lands and the seat of his brother's power. For only there can they prove Matt's royal blood and keep him safe. But Feledias is not the only threat they face. The Fey were defeated once, but while the kingdom of the Known Lands has nearly ripped itself apart during the feud of its royal princes, the denizens of the Black Wood have worked within the shadows. In the darkness of the Black Wood, they have plotted their revenge. They do not know it yet, but the people of the Known Lands are at war. A war taking place not on distant battlefields but in the quiet alleyways of their own cities, within the walls of their own homes. The Fey aren't coming-they're already here. So it is that in order to save the kingdom he failed so long ago, Cutter must stand against his enemies and those he once called friends. Should he fail, should he fall, then the Known Lands will fall with him. And if by some thin chance he succeeds, then perhaps he might find what he has sought for fifteen years-redemption.

Book Two of Saga of the Known Lands

A Warrior's Redemption

The world needed heroes...It got them instead. A swordsman past his prime who has vowed to never wield a blade again. A mage who'd rather throw fists than fireballs and thinks magic is for sissies. An assassin who grows sick at the sight of blood. And a man with a pet squirrel he believes to be an ancient god from long ago. An evil has risen in the land, one that, if not dealt with, threatens to start a war which would include the gods themselves. To counter it, the realm must call on its greatest heroes, its most courageous adventurers. Unfortunately, those great heroes, those brave adventurers, are all busy-being dead mostly. So it is left to Dannen Ateran, known in his youth as the Bloody Butcher but, more recently as the passed-out drunk at the table in the corner, to lead his companions against an army of the dead. They are not heroes. But perhaps they just might do. The Antiheroes is the first book in a new epic fantasy series by bestselling author Jacob Peppers. It is a tale of fast-paced action, swordfights, magic, and humor. Think you can't laugh at undead armies and battles of life and death? Come find out.

Jacob Peppers

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