DO GODS TRULY EXIST? CAN YOU KNOW THE FUTURE? AND WHAT LIES BEYOND THE VEIL OF DEATH?  Winter blankets the land, and more than hope has died. Barred by the tower of Avempartha, the western army cannot invade the Fhrey homeland. So it must seek a way across the Nidwalden River before the fane obtains the secret of dragons. As time runs out for both humanity and the mystic Suri, the only chance for the living rests with the dead. Having made their fateful choice, can a handful of misfits do the impossible, or are they forever lost to an inescapable grave? As in Virgil's  Aeneid , Dante's  Divine   Comedy , and Milton's  Paradise Lost , the most epic tales transcend the world of the living. It's time to see what lies in Elan's  Age of Death .  From Michael J. Sullivan, New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author comes the second-to-last installment in the epic fantasy series The Legends of the First Empire. These novels chronicle a pivotal point in Elan's history, when humans rise against the Fhrey, whom they once saw as gods. Set three thousand years before the Riyria tales, Legends is a standalone fantasy series independent of all other Elan stories. But if you have read the other books, Legends will reveal lies and unmask truths about historical figures. PRAISE FOR MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN If you enjoy epic fantasy, and are perhaps hungering for something with timeless appeal, then I highly recommend picking up Age of Myth . --The BiblioSanctum Heroes will be born in the most unlikely way when women show perseverance, tenacity, resilience and truest of intentions. --Zirev, on Age of Swords The characters feel alive and I deeply cared for them, the threat is terrible, the enemy is merciless and the fate of the human race is in the balance. --The Audiobook Blog, on Age of Swords A fast-paced, compelling read . . . There's betrayal and love, and some electric dialogue. . . . There's battles, and costs, triumphs and consequences. --Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviews, on Age of Swords Fans of David Eddings and Robert Jordan will feel right at home with this series. --sfRevu, on Age of Swords Michael J. Sullivan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author, and no one is more surprised by those facts than he. When just a boy, Michael found a typewriter in the basement of a friend's house, inserted a blank piece of paper, and typed, "It was a dark and stormy night." He was just ten years old and mimicking the only writer he knew at the time: Snoopy. That spark ignited a flame, and Michael's desire to fill blank pages became a life-long obsession. As an adult, Michael spent more than ten years developing his craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck. During that time, he wrote thirteen novels but found no interest from the publishing industry. Since insanity is repeating the same action while expecting a different result, he made the rational choice and quit, vowing never to write creatively again. Never turned out to be too long for Michael, and after a decade, he returned to the keyboard in his forties, but with one condition: He wouldn't seek publication. Instead, he wrote a series of books that had been building in his head during his hiatus. His first reading love was fantasy, and he hoped to foster a similar reaction in his then thirteen-year-old daughter who struggled due to dyslexia. After reading the third book of this series, his wife insisted that the novels had to "get out there." When Michael refused to jump back onto the query-go-round, Robin took over the publication tasks, and she has run the business side of his writing ever since. Currently, Michael has released fifteen novels: The Riyria Revelations (6 books in 3 two-book omnibus editions from Orbit),  The Riyria Chronicles (2 books from Orbit and 2 indie-published),  Legends of the First Empire (3 books from Del Rey and 1 indie-published), and a standalone science fiction thriller called Hollow World (from Tachyon Publications).