Jon Sprunk

Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see.

Shadow's Son

At the mercy of the very people he has been sent to kill, Horace, a soldier from the west, is forced into slavery until the Akeshians, discovering his talent for sorcery, thrust him into the queen's court where he seeks a path to free himself and the empire's caste of slaves. Original.

Blood and Iron

For fans of Brent Weeks, Joe Ambercrombie, and Brandon Sanderson. Cain is armed only with his knives and his companions, he plunges into a world of eternal night where the sun is never seen and every hand is turned against him.

Shadow's Master

There are some things a son of the Shadow cannot ignore, and some fights from which he can't run. In this battle, all of Caims strength and skill won't be enough. For none can resist the Shadows Lure.

Shadow's Lure

Storm and Steel

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Richard Ford

Myke Cole

Mark Lawrence

Richard Morgan

Kameron Hurley

Michael J. Sullivan

Mark Charan Newton

James Barclay

Anne Lyle

Marc Aplin

Jennie Ivins

Daniel Beazley

Jessalyn Heaton

Miah Sonnel

Rene Sears

Edmund Wells

John Yeo, Jr.

From award winning website, Fantasy-Faction, comes an anthology of short stories and articles celebrating the fantasy genre's diversity.Dragons, magic, clones, portals and swords are just some of what awaits you on the quests and investigations within.Written by a combination of genre giants and previously unpublished authors, this is Fantasy-Faction in a book.

Fantasy-Faction Anthology

Lian Hearn

David Dalglish

Anthony Ryan

Django Wexler

John Gwynne

David Alvarez

Shawn Speakman

Carol Berg

Joseph R. Lallo

Paul S. Kemp

James Enge

Richard Lee Byers

Cat Rambo

Peter Orullian

Snorri Kristjansson

Laura Resnick

Kenny Soward

Tim Marquitz

J. M. Martin

Jean Rabe

Mark Smylie

Anton Strout

Orion Zangara

Arman Akopian

A FANTASY ANTHOLOGY featuring the deadly, the worldly, and the sneaky. Blackguards consists mainly of stories in established series, and the authors range from wildly successful indie authors to New York Times bestsellers. If you enjoy roguish tales of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells, this one's for you.

Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues

Blackguards

Jon Sprunk delivers blood, betrayal, and “sword and sorcery action of a high order” in the thrilling conclusion to his epic fantasy adventure trilogy (SF Signal). In the far wastes of the Northern Marches, the assassin Caim lies in wait. Though he and his allies have defeated the monstrous witch Sybelle, there is a greater threat looming ahead... The Master--a being of nightmarish power who rules the Shadows and holds the answers that Caim has been searching for all his life. But before he can meet his greatest enemy, Caim must face an assassin whose skills and strength eerily match his own. Meanwhile, Empress Josey and the land of Nimea have fallen prey to an unforeseen attack by a barbarian army. Even if he somehow survives, the truth Caim has been seeking for so long may not offer solace. For the destiny he has sought for so long may be the very thing that curses him to a life of eternal darkness and damnation...

Shadow’s Master

The thrilling Shadow Saga collected in one volume for the first time. “A first-rate sword-and-sorcery tale, with intriguing characters, that moves at a quick pace” (Booklist). Shadow’s Son In the city of Othir, there are two kinds of people—the dead and those ones who made them that way. Caim is certainly not dead. Orphaned and adrift, Caim grows up to become a cold-blooded assassin with the aid of his ethereal companion Kit—a useful-but-maddening spirit only he can see or hear. And as far as Caim is concerned, he doesn’t need anyone else getting that close to him. But that changes when he’s betrayed on what should have been a simple job—and his only chance for survival lies with Josephine, the young daughter of the very nobleman he was hired to eliminate. Soon Caim is caught in a wide-ranging conspiracy that stretches from Othir’s gilded halls of power to its bloodied alleyways. He must stay sharp if he is to uncover a cabal of traitors, keep Josey alive, and confront the forgotten truth of his own dark past... Shadow’s Lure After helping his lover Josephine lay claim to the throne of Nimea, the assassin Caim has ventured north to the land that has haunted his dreams—cold, unforgiving Eregoth. He departs seeking answers to his parents’ murder and hoping that this knowledge will explain his ability to bend the shadows to his will. In searching for his past, Caim wanders into war. But Eregoth is threatened by a power more terrifying than any army—the witch Sybelle, Queen of the Dark. If given the chance, her aims at destruction would not cease at Eregoth but storm through Nimea where Josey struggles to secure her reign. With nothing more than a force of ragtag warriors at his side, Caim knows that standing against Sybelle’s onslaught may be suicide. But as a son of the Shadow, he has no choice but to fight. Even if every life he takes brings him closer to the blackness that would claim him body and soul... Shadow’s Master In the far wastes of the Northern Marches, the assassin Caim lies in wait. Though he and his allies have defeated the monstrous witch Sybelle, there is a greater threat looming ahead... The Master--a being of nightmarish power who rules the Shadows and holds the answers that Caim has been searching for all his life. But before he can meet his greatest enemy, Caim must face an assassin whose skills and strength eerily match his own. Meanwhile, Empress Josey and the land of Nimea have fallen prey to an unforeseen attack by a barbarian army. Even if he somehow survives, the truth Caim has been seeking for so long may not offer solace. For the destiny he has sought for so long may be the very thing that curses him to a life of eternal darkness and damnation...

The Complete Shadow Saga

THE WAR CONTINUES, AND THE UNDEAD RAVAGE THE LAND. JIROM, HORACE, AND EMANON BEGIN TO HOPE THEY MIGHT FREE THE EMPIRE. BUT CAN THEY MANAGE TO DO SO BEFORE THE DARK KING CONQUERS THE WORLD? Horace has come a long way from his days of slavery. Now he, Jirom, and their companions think they just might glimpse victory ahead, and the triumphant end to what began as a mere slave rebellion. But first Horace must recover from the loss of his beloved Alyra. And Jirom finds himself asking if even victory will be worth the cost--how can he be sure he and the other winners of this war will rule more justly than the Akeshians did? Meanwhile, a mysterious mass murder-suicide in a temple in Thuum hints that they have more foes than they knew of. And as they advance upon the capital, they find strange obstacles barring their way. Obstacles that suggest the barriers between worlds are growing dangerously thin….

Sun and Serpent

In Othir, he was at the top of the food chain. An assassin beyond compare. A dark shadow in the night. But Caim left that life behind when he helped an empress claim her throne. And now his past has come calling again. Searching for the truth behind the murder and disappearance of his parents, Caim discovers a land in thrall to the Shadow. Haunted by temptations from the Other Side, he becomes mired in a war he does not want to fight. But there are some things a son of the Shadow cannot ignore, and some fights from which he can’t run. In this battle, all of Caim’s strength and skill won’t be enough. For none can resist the Shadow’s Lure . . .

Az árny csábítása

Árnygyilkos

The unforgiving Northlands . . . In Othir, he was at the top of the food chain—an assassin beyond compare, a dark shadow in the night. But Caim left that life behind when he helped an empress claim her throne. And now his past has come calling again. Searching for the truth behind the murder and disappearance of his parents, Caim discovers a land in thrall to the Shadow. Haunted by temptations from the Other Side, he becomes mired in a war he does not want to fight. But there are some things a son of the Shadow cannot ignore, and some fights from which he can’t run. In this battle, all of Caim’s strength and skill won’t be enough. For none can resist the Shadow’s Lure. From the Trade Paperback edition.

"Set in a richly-imagined world, this action-heavy fantasy epic--the third of a four book series--is like a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus"--

Blade and Bone

Az árny fia

After liberating Queen Byleth from the temple of the Sun Cult, Horace has ascended from slave to First Sword and confidant of the queen. He must now harness his power as a sorcerer while navigating complex political intrigue in a foreign land. Further complications arise when Alyra, former spy at court, returns. She has her own mysterious agenda, and Horace is forced to contend with this as well as his growing passion for her. Meanwhile, Jirom and his lover Emanon have joined the growing slave rebellion, rising through the ranks as they fight for the very cause Horace has been commanded to destroy. With the kingdom on the brink of war, a rash of assassinations, and orders from Queen Byleth to crush the slave rebellion at any cost, Horace is stuck between his opposition to human bondage, and his newfound duty as the protector of the realm. The remarkable second volume in The Book of the Black Earth, Storm and Steel is a searing, action packed fantasy epic.

The thrilling Shadow Saga begins in Shadow’s Son—“a first-rate sword-and-sorcery tale, with intriguing characters, that moves at a quick pace” (Booklist). In the city of Othir, there are two kinds of people—the dead and those ones who made them that way. Caim is certainly not dead. Orphaned and adrift, Caim grows up to become a cold-blooded assassin with the aid of his ethereal companion Kit—a useful-but-maddening spirit only he can see or hear. And as far as Caim is concerned, he doesn’t need anyone else getting that close to him. But that changes when he’s betrayed on what should have been a simple job—and his only chance for survival lies with Josephine, the young daughter of the very nobleman he was hired to eliminate. Soon Caim is caught in a wide-ranging conspiracy that stretches from Othir’s gilded halls of power to its bloodied alleyways. He must stay sharp if he is to uncover a cabal of traitors, keep Josey alive, and confront the forgotten truth of his own dark past...

Shadow’s Son

V posvátném městě Otir se dá v každé uličce najít nějaká zrada nebo zvrhlost, což z něj dělá dokonalé místo pro nájemného vraha na volné noze, který k nikomu necítí věrnost a má jen velmi málo skrupulí. Caim se živí ostřím nože, když mu ale nevyjde rutinní práce, znenadání se ocitne přímo uprostřed zákeřných intrik. Nezbývá mu, než se postavit zkorumpovaným strážcům zákona, zabijáckým rivalům a čárám z Druhé strany, a jeho jedinými spojenci přitom jsou Josefína, bohatá dcerka jeho poslední oběti, a Kit, kterou nikdo kromě něj nevidí, protože je strážný duch. V boji o život věří Caim jen svým nožům a instinktům, ty mu ale nebudou stačit, když se v touze po spravedlnosti dostane z nebezpečných otirských uliček do přepychových sídel mocných. Aby odhalil spiknutí v srdci impéria, bude se muset se ujmout svého dědictví jako syn Stínu...

Syn Stínu

In a world of sorcery and sand, a slave rebellion is out of control and an army of undead is approaching. Does Horace have the power and strength to save what he fought so hard to win? In a setting reminiscent of ancient Egypt and Babylon, where God-Kings and God-Queens hold the power of life and death in their hands, Horace, the onetime slave who became a powerful magician, has turned the tables on his former masters. Blade and Bone, the third book in The Book of the Black Earth, follows Horace, Alyra, and Jirom as they navigate the hurdles of managing the slave rebellion under the Akeshian Empire's nose. But evil is not content to sit back and let them gather their strength. A new threat is coming in the form of an unstoppable army of the walking dead. To face this enemy, our heroes will have to dig deeper and find a strength they didn't know they possessed.

An empire at war. Three fates intertwined. The Magician. Horace has destroyed the Temple of the Sun, but now he finds his slave chains have been replaced by bonds of honor, duty, and love. Caught between two women and two cultures, he must contend with deadly forces from the unseen world. The Rebel. Jirom has thrown in his lot with the slave uprising, but his road to freedom becomes ever more dangerous as the rebels expand their campaign against the empire. Even worse, he feels his connection with Emanon slipping away with every blow they strike in the name of freedom. The Spy. Alyra has severed her ties to the underground network that brought her to Akeshia, but she continues the mission on her own. Yet, with Horace’s connection to the queen and the rebellion’s escalation of violence, she finds herself treading a knife’s edge between love and duty. Dark conspiracies bubble to the surface as war and zealotry spread across the empire. Old alliances are shattered, new vendettas are born, and all peoples—citizen and slave alike—must endure the ravages of storm and steel. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Jon Sprunk

About

Books

Join the club