Sto n e wielder is an enthralling new chapter in the epic story of a thrillingly imagined world that takes place in the timeline right after the New York Times bestseller Dust of Dreams left off. Greymane believed he'd outrun his past. With his school for swordsmanship in Falar, he was looking forward to a quiet life, although his colleague Kyle wasn't as enamoured with life outside the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. However, it seems it is not so easy for an ex-Fist of the Malazan Empire to disappear, especially one under sentence of death from that same Empire. For there is a new Emperor on the throne of Malaz, and he is dwelling on the ignominy that is the Empire's failed invasion of the Korel subcontinent. In the vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, lie the answers to that disaster. And out of this buried history surfaces the name Stonewielder . In Korel, Lord Protector Hiam, commander of the Stormguard, faces the potential annihilation of all that he holds dear. With few remaining men and a crumbling stone wall that has seen better days, he confronts an ancient enemy: the sea-borne Stormriders have returned. Religious war also threatens these lands. The cult of the Blessed Lady, which had stood firm against the Riders for millennia, now seeks to eradicate its rivals. And as chaos looms, a local magistrate investigating a series of murders suddenly finds himself at the heart of a far more ancient and terrifying crime – one that has tainted an entire land.... “Epic fiction at its finest.” ― Seattle Post Intelligencer IAN C. ESSLEMONT grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has studied archaeology and creative writing, has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, and lived in Thailand and Japan for several years. He lives in Alaska with his wife and children and writes novels set in the world of Malaz, a world he co-created with Steven Erikson. Stonewielder A Novel of the Malazan Empire By Ian C. Esslemont Tor Books Copyright © 2011 Ian C. Esslemont All right reserved. ISBN: 9780765329851 Stonewielder BOOK I The Sea The so-called Malazan 'empire' began as a thalassocracy. That is, rule by sea power. In the undignified scholarly scramble to identify and distil the empire's early stages this truly defining characteristic is usually overlooked. Yet the Malazan expansion was undeniably one of sea power and this was the key to its early successes. It was also the key to one of its early failures: the ill-conceived incursion into the archipelago and subcontinent known variously as Fist, Korel, or the Storm-cursed. For this archipelago was itself a supreme sea power, if non-expansionist. And in the end of course it was the sea that so definitively, and with such finality, put an end to all hostilities. Imperial Campaigns (The Korel Occupations) Volume II, Fist Imrygyn Tallobant DRAMATIS PERSONAE Of the Malazan Expeditionary Force Greymane / High Fist, Commander of Expeditionary ForceOrjin Samarr Malazan 17th Squad, 4th Company, 2nd Division, Fourth Army Others Of the Malazan Sixth Army On the Stormwall In the Kingdom of Rool Of the Jourilan Army of Reform Of the Crimson Guard Blues Fingers Lazar Shell The Synod of Stygg Totsin Jurth the Third Brother Carfin Sister Gosh Sister Esa Sister Nebras Brother Jool In the Shadow Realm Of the Sea-Folk Copyright © 2010 by Ian Cameron Esslemont Continues... Excerpted from Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont Copyright © 2011 by Ian C. Esslemont. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. Used Book in Good Condition