As the “audacious and subversive”* Shadow Campaigns novels continue, the weather is growing warmer, but the frosty threat of Vordan’s enemies is only growing worse...   As the roar of the guns subsides and the smoke of battle clears, the country of Vordan is offered a fragile peace…   After their shattering defeats at the hands of brilliant General Janus bet Vhalnich, the opposing powers have called all sides to the negotiating table in hopes of securing an end to the war. Queen Raesinia of Vordan is anxious to see the return of peace, but Janus insists that any peace with the implacable Sworn Church of Elysium is doomed to fail. For their Priests of the Black, there can be no truce with heretics and demons they seek to destroy, and the war is to the death.   Soldiers Marcus d’Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass find themselves caught between their general and their queen. Now, each must decide which leader truly commands their loyalty—and what price they might pay for final victory.   And in the depths of Elysium, a malign force is rising—and defeating it might mean making sacrifices beyond anything they have ever imagined. Praise for The Guns of Empire "Another excellently entertaining novel, filled with battles and politics and personalities...It subverts, interrogates, or outright inverts a good few tropes associated with epic fantasy, and with gender roles."—Tor.com "The Guns of Empire... only serves to further cement Django Wexler as one of the best authors currently writing, and his work as truly spellbinding."—Fantasy Book Review Praise for the Shadow Campaigns Novels   “A fascinating world of dust and bayonets and muskets...and magic.”—S.M. Stirling, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Novels of the Change   "Gritty, brutal, and yet wonderfully intimate...exceptional military fantasy."—Jason M. Hough, New York Times Bestselling Author of Zero World   “Succeeding volumes may end up doing for the Napoleonic Wars what George R.R. Martin did for the Wars of the Roses. Highly recommended.”—Anthony Ryan, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Raven’s Shadow Novels   “Without a doubt, the best book of its year.”—Simon R. Green, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Secret Histories Novels   “[A] mash-up of seventeenth-century technology and demon-summoning assassins.” —*Publishers Weekly Django Wexler is the author of the Shadow Campaigns novels, including The Infernal Battalion , The Guns of Empire , The Price of Valor , The Shadow Throne , and The Thousand Names . His forthcoming novel, Dungeons & Dragons: Spelljammer: Memory's Wake , will release in June 2024. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. When not planning Shadow Campaigns, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts. He is also the author of the middle-grade and YA fantasy novels. Alex Alex stared up at the road from the ditch and licked her lips. Three men. Four horses. They were uhlans, light cavalry from the emperor's regular army, with tall embroidered caps and smart uniforms. Their horses were good ones, and the saddlebags practically bulged with provisions and supplies. They probably have wool socks. For the past three nights, ever since she'd abandoned the last husks of her shoes rather than try to repair them for the hundredth time, Alex had been lusting after wool socks. In the old days she'd hardly ever thought about socks. They'd been hers for the asking, along with clever, noiseless shoes perfect for sneaking across rooftops or padding down darkened halls. Now she was barefoot, and the stony ground of Murnsk had sliced and blistered her feet. Socks, she had to admit, were probably not the most important thing in those saddlebags. If she was going to make it, she needed food, and most of all she needed those horses. They were there for the taking, and all that stood in her way were three young men who'd done nothing worse than sign up to wear a fancy uniform and ride in parades. They work for the emperor, which means they work for Elysium, which means they work for the Black Priests, whether they know it or not. But Alex knew that was thin. All of Murnsk works for the emperor, in the end. Does that make them all just as guilty? She'd been a thief-the best thief in the world-but she'd never thought of herself as a murderer. Once, she'd kept a count of the men she'd killed, when she absolutely couldn't avoid it. Now she'd lost track, or purposely forgotten. It had been three days since she'd eaten, and that had been a squirrel she'd clumsily skinned herself, a few mouthfuls of stringy muscle and fat. Now is not the time for second thoughts. She'd left the Mountain because she loved Abraham and very much thought she loved Maxwell, and also because the two of them were the most sanctim